The Muser
Physics & Physiology of Color
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The Muser |
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The Color Musings Return to |
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 Notice how this word is spelled. The root word is the same as for the word "complete." A pair of colors which can be additively combined to produce white light are called complementary colors, because together they complete the spectrum.
If a medium-value, medium-chroma red ink is printed over a medium-value, medium-chroma cyan ink, the result will be a grey.
Here we go again. Your first grade teacher probably told you red and green were complementary. They aren't. There's no red color of light that can be added to any green light to produce white light. And there's no red paint that can be mixed with any green paint to produce a neutral grey. Try it-if your red and green paint colors are pure enough, you may be able to mix a black, but you can't mix grey. You'll get a dark brown. If you dilute the paints, or tint them with white, you'll get lighter browns, but you won't produce grey. Many people think complementary colors are so called because they look well together. Complementary colors are often combined to produce a pleasing effect. But they're called complementary because they complete the spectrum. Follow this link to a mind-blowing color effect that demonstrates a fascinating property of complementary colors. © J. C. Adamson, 1997 |
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The blue we use as an additive 
When complementary colors are combined 
Now, Look again at the color wheel. You'll see that the complementary color pairs are directly opposite each other on the wheel. That relationship holds true for other colors than the ones shown. For example, orange lies between red and yellow on the color wheel. It's complement would be a cyan-blue color on the opposite side of the wheel. The complement to a green-cyan color would be a magenta-red color.