The Building Blocks: Primary Colors

Primary colors are the superstars of the color world. We call them primary because just like you can’t break down the ingredients of a basic cake, you can’t make primary colors by mixing other colors. Every other color that exists in the world originates from primary colors. There are three primary colors – red, blue, and yellow.

Red

Blue

Yellow

The Next Generation: Secondary Colors

When you mix two primary colors, magic starts to happen. We get a brand-new color family: the secondary colors. Let’s learn with an example (pun intended) –

Red + Yellow = Orange

Yellow + Blue = Green

Blue + Red = Purple

Think of a juicy orange, a vibrant green apple, or a beautiful purple flower – each of these is possible because nature decided to mix to primary colors for us!

The Extended Family: Tertiary Colors

Ready for even more color fun? Tertiary colors are formed by mixing a primary color with a secondary color. These create in-between shades with interesting names. Let’s check some examples:

Red + Orange = Vermillion

Yellow + Orange = Amber

Yellow + Green = Lime Green

Blue + Green = Turquoise

Blue + Purple = Violet

Blue + Orange = Brown

If you see the probability of combinations that can be created using a mix of primary and secondary colors, you will get an astronomical figure (3^27 to be exact). Now you can understand why we get so many colors from just 3 primary colors. The universe works in mysterious ways surely.

If you want to learn more about the magic of probability you can also check: Unravelling the Magic of Probability

Practicing Color Theory

Color theory isn’t just on a painter’s palette – it’s all around us! Next time when you look at beautiful color, try to image how this color is made. Is it a mix of primary colors? Are multiple colors combining to create the shade? Or is it just a lighter or darker version of the same color? That’s where hue and saturation come in.

Hue: When we talk about colors, we hear the word hue a lot. But what exactly is a hue? Simply put, hue is just the color in its pure form. For example, 100% red is a red hue. If we have an equal mix of red and yellow it is a 100% orange hue. Every hue has a percentage value of mix of primary or secondary colors. If it’s too geeky, you can simply say every color is a hue. You don’t have to be fancy to impress others.

Saturation: If you tweak with brightness of a color, you get different shades of same hue. Simply adding white or black to a color can reduce or increase its saturation. You can consider saturation as the intensity of the color. If the color is looking faded it is less saturated, on the other hand, if the color is very vibrant it is highly saturated.

Also check: Learn Statistics for Beginners

Conclusion

Now that we understand the basics color theory. Let’s try this practically using a color mixer. Try mixing different shades of colors by clicking on their corresponding circles. You can click on any color multiple times to add it more than one time. Moreover, you can add water to your color mix to set the transparency of your color. Let your imagination go wild and play as much as can.

Let’s Get Creative!

Colors teach us to be expressive. So its time for you to go out and explore the world of colors. Pay attention to how colors mix in nature, in your clothes, or even on a plate of food! Have fun playing with color combinations and unleash your creativity.

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