Gray plus purple what color will you get? How to get black

It is extremely individual and depends on how the human eye perceives rays reflected from various surfaces. There are surfaces that do not reflect rays, but absorb them. When absorbed, a person sees. This is why black is called a “dead” color or “lack of color.”

Therefore, the answer to the question of how to get black from paints is the following: true black cannot be obtained by mixing any other shades of the spectrum. However, it is possible to create very dark shades that, when contrasted with others, create the feeling of black. To find out what paints need to be mixed to get black, you should turn to the theory of art and the psychology of color perception.

Color models and color synthesis

There are two models of color synthesis, that is, obtaining new colors and shades.

Additive - a model for producing color based on adding and superimposing rays reflected from the surfaces of objects. This model is used in monitors and screens, its main color range is RGB. Additive color synthesis is based on three main lights: and blue. By superimposing and mixing these rays, all other shades except black are formed. In this model, black is considered to be the complete absence of reflection.

Subtractive - a model based on mixing physical pigments and paints. In it, white is considered the absence of color. And black is obtained by mixing all the main shades. So what colors do you need to mix to get black? In the subtractive model, the primary (or main) hues are magenta, cyan and yellow.

Subtractive mixing method

Compared to additive color synthesis, the subtractive model produces fewer shades. In addition, theoretical or mathematical model subtractive synthesis is radically different from what is obtained in practice. For example, theoretically, mixing three primary colors should produce black. However, in practice this color comes out very dark brown.

The subtractive method is used in printing and printing, where it is very important to achieve true black color. In order to get it, a “key” color is added to the three main colors. This is where the name of the main range of the subtractive model comes from - CMYK, where C is cyan (cyan, in Russian it is called blue or greenish-blue), M is magenta (a shade of purple), Y is yellow, and K is key color (key color). In this range, natural black is key. Asking the question of how to obtain black from paints of the chromatic spectrum, printers realized that not a single shade obtained could replace natural black.

Three primary colors

According to Johannes Itten's theory of art, there are three, when mixed, which produce all the other colors of the spectrum. Itten identified red, yellow and blue as the main ones. Subsequent theories determined that the ideal primary colors were magenta, cyan, and yellow. These are what are called primary colors - colors that reflect a larger spectrum and which cannot be obtained by combining other shades.

In fact, red and blue are not primary. They absorb more light than they reflect, but despite this, they are still often called primary colors and are used to create the rest of the color wheel.

Note: White and black are not included in the spectrum and are called achromatic. How to get black from paints has always varied and depended on the many theories that currently exist.

Pure colors

According to early theory, the pure colors were red, blue, yellow and green. It was believed that they could not be obtained by mixing other shades. Later, with the development of technology, it turned out that the three primary colors that cannot be obtained are purple, cyan and yellow.

Modern color theory distinguishes three primary, three secondary chromatic and one achromatic - black. What paints to mix to get black varies. Everything from mixing primary hues to mixing red, blue and yellow, or even red and green works in comparison.

Secondary colors are green, blue and red. Green is obtained by mixing yellow with greenish-blue. Magenta and cyan make blue. And by mixing purple with yellow, you can get red.

In theory, the question of how to make black from paints is solved by mixing the three primary colors in their ideal shades. These are cyan, magenta and yellow. However, it is practically impossible to achieve perfect black by combining others. Natural black color is used in typography and painting.

Natural black

Black is actually the absence of color. The more light rays an object's surface absorbs, the darker it appears. There is no absolute black color in nature, but the darkest Vantablack carbon comes as close as possible to 100% light absorption; it reflects only 0.035% of rays.

The main natural pigments from which black paint is made are carbons. Among them, the main ones are graphite and carbon black. Even at the dawn of painting, artists thought about what paints needed to be mixed to get black, and came to the conclusion that black could not be achieved. During the High Renaissance, painters extracted black from burnt bone. It was the darkest matte shade available during the Renaissance.

Black is an achromatic shade that completely absorbs all colors. In other words, black color indicates the absence of luminous flux as such. Black color is the opposite of white color, which reflects the radiation falling on it. Black color, on the contrary, absorbs it. There is no absolute black color in the world. However, material has already been found that is as close as possible to it. It's called Vantablack. As of 2014, this particular substance was named the blackest on the planet. It absorbs 99.965% of the radiation incident on it, which means not only light itself, but also radio waves and microwaves. Now we’ll talk about how to get the most black color possible and what you need for this.

What colors to mix to get black?

There are several ways to obtain black. The first one is mixing green and red. As already mentioned, it is almost impossible to achieve a completely black color, but using this method you can get a color that is as close to a black shade as possible. If you want to get a more saturated black color, then you can try the following method - using a subtractive circuit. To do this, tediously mix purple, cyan and yellow. These colors are called primary. Blue and purple colors have another name - cyan, magenta. You can mix oil, watercolor or acrylic paints.

How to get a shade of black

In addition to the classic black color, there are also its shades, with which you can add originality to your work. In order to consider this issue, let's plunge into history and look at what shades of black existed before and which of them are common in our time. Previously, the following shades of black existed:

Slate shade. It is black and gray in color.
Anthracite black shade. This is a very rich black color with shine.
Karamazy shade.
Klushi.
A shade of oxblood. It is a black color mixed with red.
Bardadym.

Currently, other shades of black are used. With different proportions of paint used, black may turn out to be bluish, brown and other shades. Moreover, by adding white to the already obtained paint, you can achieve one or another shade of black. Let's look at several shades of black, and also tell you how you can get them.

Soft shade of black. To get this shade you need to mix turquoise, pink and yellow. You can also add a little white to the already obtained black paint.
Medium black shade. This color will have much more black tint than a soft shade of black. To obtain it, you need to mix pink, ultramarine and light yellow.
Rich black color. This color of black can be obtained not only by mixing the three primary chromatic colors. To obtain it, you can mix red, yellow and blue paint.
Blue-black shade. It can be obtained by mixing brown and dark blue paint.

If, when you receive a particular shade, the color does not suit you, then you can add red, yellow or blue paint to it.

To achieve a black paint color, you will have to work hard when mixing colors, since you need to add paints in certain proportions. However, in the future it will be much easier to do this, since you will already have a lot of experience in mixing colors.

Black and white colors considered a virtual absence of color. Therefore, to the question of how to get black, you can answer that it is only possible to get a color close to it by mixing several.

Features of black color

For an artist, this color means the darkest, and for scientists, it means the absence of color. Black is an achromatic shade that absorbs all light. In terms of absorption of light flux, it is opposite to white, which completely reflects the light and radiation incident on it. In the natural environment, there is a material close to it in tone - this is dark Vantablack carbon, which absorbs 99.96% of incident light and other radiation.

Even during the Renaissance, masters of painting tried to obtain black paint and concluded that it was impossible to do this from other paints. Therefore, they used burnt bones, from the soot of which they made a matte black paint.

Today, black paint is made industrially from natural carbon pigments such as graphite and carbon black.

In practice, 2 main color models are used:

RGB- additive, which is based on the superposition of rays reflected from the surfaces of objects. It is used in computer monitors and contains the main colors: R-red, G-green, B-blue. The remaining colors and shades are obtained by overlay.
CMYK- subtractive model, which is based on the physical mixing of pigments, with white being the absence of color, and pure black obtained by mixing cyan (C-cyan), magenta (M-magenta) and yellow (Yellow) tones, K (key color) - key. This system is used in the printing industry and printing on printers.

What colors should I mix?

To get a black color close to ideal, you can go by mixing paints of the following colors:

Red and green– the resulting tone will be close to the desired one (in fact, it turns out to be very dark, and if you look closely, it’s not quite ideal).
Blue, yellow and red– if you take these 3 primary colors, then mixing them will also allow you to get a fairly rich color scheme.
D additional colors (brown, purple, blue)– you need to mix them in small quantities, then you will get an approximate color.

You can use any paints intended for painting or household purposes for mixing: acrylic, gouache, watercolor and oil. If there is no ready-made dye of a classic tone, then there are a lot of options on how to make black paint from others.

To obtain a pure color, you will have to work hard and select the necessary proportions, gradually adding different colors.

On the video: what colors to mix to get black.

There are many shades, slightly different from classic black, that will allow the artist to add originality to his work. Historically, the following shades have developed:

Slate - Essentially a dark grey, the name comes from the slate slate that was previously used in blackboards.
Karamazy – synonyms for “dark-haired”, “dark-skinned”.
Anthracite is a highly saturated color with some shine.
Ox's blood is a black and red color.
Bardadym is the name of the king of black suit in the game of cards.