TEACH THE CORRECT COLOR THEORY SCHOOL

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Naomi Magdalene Murphy
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1 Page 1 of 7 TEACH THE CORRECT COLOR THEORY IN SCHOOL Teachers in public schools are still teaching the wrong color theory to children. Here is a list of reasons why this is done, why it is wrong for teachers to do it, and what must be done to correct the problem: REASONS THE WRONG PRIMARIES ARE STILL TAUGHT: 1. Tradition dies hard. 2. Art schools are still teaching the wrong primaries. 3. The "masters" used the wrong primaries. Artists worship the masters. 4. Teachers teach it the way they learned it at school. 5. The names of some colors are too broad. 6. Cheap boxes of crayons and paints do not contain the correct primaries. 7. Art supply stores still sell books and color wheels showing the wrong primaries. 8. The wrong primaries do work, but cannot produce many bright colors. 9. Oil colors do work with the wrong primaries, but for different reasons. 10. Not enough is taught about the correct primaries for teachers to learn them. 11. Most elementary teachers are experts in language or social studies, not science. The old primaries.

2 Page 2 of Until recently, the correct primaries were available only as toxic compounds. WHY THE CORRECT PRIMARIES MUST BE TAUGHT: 1. There are actually two sets of primaries: light, and pigment. 2. Color photography requires both sets of correct primaries. 3. Full color printing requires the pigment primaries. 4. Color TV uses the light primaries. 5. Anyone creating colors on a computer screen needs the light primaries. 6. Anyone printing colors on a color printer needs the pigment primaries. 7. Any medium except oil paint will fail using the old primaries. 8. Oil paint uses both types of mixing. 9. Sometimes the old primaries work only through leakage of imperfect pigments. WHAT ARE THE CORRECT NAMES OF COLORS? 1. "Blue" covers too many colors: - Cyan, the color of robin eggs and peacock feather spots, is Isaac Newton's original blue. Teal, turquoise, robin egg blue, and peacock blue are other names for. - Newton's indigo, the color of most blue ballpoint pens, is the scientists' blue. - Today's indigo has a lot more violet than Newton's indigo. - Navy is a dark version of Newton's indigo. - Royal blue, - azure blue, - true blue, - cerulean blue, and - sky blue are in between. 2. "Red" covers too many colors: - Magenta is not in the spectrum. It is the color of redbud trees in spring. Fuchsia is another name for magenta. - Scarlet is Newton's red. It is the color of the ripest red tomatoes. Cardinal red is another name for scarlet. Scarlet is the scientist's red. - Cerise and - carmine are in between. - Vermillion is oranger than scarlet. 3. Today, Newton would say the spectrum contains: - red, - orange, - yellow, - green, -, - blue, and - violet.

3 Page 3 of 7 LET'S STANDARDIZE COLOR NAMES: We need more precise colors names, so we can better describe them. Here is a suggestion of hue names, equally spaced around the color wheel * = Primary color magenta*, - cerise, - red*, - orange, - yellow*, - leaf, - green*, - aqua, - *, - azure, - blue*, and - violet. WHAT ARE THE OLD PRIMARY COLORS? 1. The old artist's primaries are: - Red, which is scarlet. - Yellow, which is the color of daffodils, and - Blue, which is Newton's indigo. 2. Greens and violets are produced only where the pigments leak other colors. 3. Mixing transparent pigments in old primaries makes dull greens and violets. 4. These colors are found in a Crayola (TM) box of 8 crayons. 5. Four-color school watercolor paint boxes are made with these colors, plus black. 6. Most materials for teaching colors at schools use these primaries. 7. Many toys made in these colors are mistakenly labeled "educational." 8. These primaries work better for oil colors because: The blue usually used turns to at low concentrations. The red usually used turns to magenta at low concentrations. Opaque pigments mix using light primaries, but with darker results. 9. A toy top was made that attempted to mix these colors like light. The greens and oranges were almost white. With pure pigments, the green would have been white. WHAT ARE THE CORRECT PIGMENT PRIMARY COLORS? 1. The correct pigment primaries are: - Magenta (fuchsia), which is the correct pigment primary "red," - Yellow, which is the color of daffodils, and - Cyan (teal), which is the correct pigment primary "blue." It was "blue" to Newton. 2. Rich greens, blues, and violets are possible

4 Page 4 of Only the yellow is found in a Crayola (TM) box of 8 crayons. The Crayola (TM) colors Magenta, Yellow, and Teal are the correct primaries. These primaries may or may not work with certain oil pigments. The secondary colors of pigment are the light primaries. Look at colored comics with a magnifier and see dots of pigment primary. Full color printing is done with these primaries. Ink jet color printers use these primaries. WHAT ARE THE LIGHT PRIMARY COLORS? 1. The light primaries are: - Red, which is scarlet. - Green, which is the color of most leaves, and - Blue, which is Newton's indigo. 2. Overlapping beams of different colored light mix using these primaries. 3. Tiny nonoverlapping dots of color mix in this way. 4. All three colors are found in a Crayola (TM) box of 8 crayons. 5. Reflective glitter mixes like light. 6. The secondary colors of light are the pigment primaries. 7. Look at a color TV with a magnifier to see dots of light primaries. 8. A spinning disk with sectors of light primaries on it mixes in this way. 9. That toy top should have used the light primaries. WHY DOES IT WORK? The human eye has three kinds of light receptors. The receptors are individually sensitive to the three light primaries: The red receptor is sensitive to red, orange, and yellow. The red receptor is somewhat sensitive to green and violet. The green receptor is sensitive to yellow, green, and. The green receptor is somewhat sensitive to orange and azure. The blue receptor is sensitive to, blue, and violet. The blue receptor is partially sensitive to aqua. Other colors are mixtures of stimuli on the receptors. Yellow light equally stimulates the red and green receptors. Orange light stimulates the red receptor more than the green receptor. Cyan light equally stimulates the green and blue receptors. White light is a mix of all colors, and stimulates all three receptors equally. Magenta light is not in the spectrum. It an equal mix of red and blue light, and stimulates those receptors. Black is the absence of light, and stimulates no receptors. Mixtures of primary lights stimulate the receptors the same as other colors. A mixture of red and green light stimulates both receptors, simulating yellow light.

5 Page 5 of A mixture of green and blue light stimulates both receptors, simulating light. A mixture of red and blue light stimulates both receptors, making magenta light. A mixture of red, green, and blue light stimulates all receptors, simulating white light. A mixture of strong red and weak green light simulates orange light. A mixture of strong red, weak green, and weak blue light stimulates all receptors, simulating pink light. This effect makes color television and color photography possible. Pigments remove colors from the light falling on them. White pigment reflects all colors, appearing white. Magenta pigment absorbs yellow, green, and light. Removing those colors from white leaves red, blue, and violet, making magenta light. Yellow pigment absorbs, blue, and violet light. Removing those colors from white leaves red, yellow, and green, making yellow light. Cyan pigment absorbs red and yellow, and some of the violet light. Removing those colors from white leaves green,, and blue, making light. Mixtures of primary pigments remove the colors removed by each pigment. Mixing magenta and yellow pigments removes all colors except red, leaving red light. Mixing yellow and pigments removes all colors except green, leaving green light. Mixing magenta and pigments removes all colors except blue, leaving blue light. Mixing magenta, yellow, and pigments removes all colors, leaving no light. It appears black. Pigments can be diluted, allowing some light to leak through. Mixing diluted magenta and full-strength yellow pigments makes orange. Mixing diluted magenta and diluted yellow pigments makes pink. Mixing full-strength magenta and yellow pigments with diluted pigment makes brown. Mixing equally diluted magenta, yellow, and pigments makes gray. Mixing full-strength magenta and diluted pigments makes violet. Different receptor types give different light primary colors: HUMAN EYE TYPE LIGHT PRIMARIES PIGMENT PRIMARIES normal human - red, green, blue protanomalic blue - orange, green, - magenta, chartreuse,

6 Page 6 of 7 deuteranomalic - red, yellow, blue aqua - magenta, orange, protanopic - green, blue - green, blue deuteranopic - orange, blue - orange, blue tritanopic - red, green - red, green monochromatic - blue - black cone-blind (and normal night vision) - - black ANIMAL EYE TYPE LIGHT PRIMARIES PIGMENT PRIMARIES cat - red, green, blue some fish - red, green, blue dog - yellow, - yellow, many birds - red, yellow, green - purple, orange, most insects spiders - green, violet, ultraviolet - green, blue, violet, ultraviolet - green-uv,, violet-uv (we can't see or name them) pit vipers - infrared, blue - infrared, blue PRIMATES LIGHT PRIMARIES PIGMENT PRIMARIES old-world - red, green, blue new-world, 1/2 of females* - red, green, blue new-world, 1/2 of males, 1/4 of females* new-world, 1/2 of males, 1/4 of females* - green, blue - green, blue - orange, blue - orange, blue nocturnal prosimians - - black

7 Page 7 of 7 HUMAN EYE MATCHING 4-COLOR LIGHT PRIMARIES LIGHT SECONDARIES** normal human set 1 blue - red, leaf, aqua, green, normal human set 2 - red, yellow, aqua, blue - magenta, orange, leaf, * The X-chromosome has only one space for a color cone gene, and can take either the red or the green cone gene, but not both. The Y-chromosome can not accept a color vision gene. So males must be dichromats, but females can be either dichromats or trichromats. The dichromatic females receive two copies of the same cone gene. ** The pigment primaries are those of normal human vision. These are attempts to make a better color monitor that covers more colors. LINKS: HOME PAGE UFO PAGE

SEEING. Seeing lecture 2 The retina and colour vision. Dr John S. Reid Department of Physics University of Aberdeen

SEEING. Seeing lecture 2 The retina and colour vision. Dr John S. Reid Department of Physics University of Aberdeen SEEING Seeing lecture 2 The retina and colour vision Dr John S. Reid Department of Physics University of Aberdeen 1 The retina Forming an image on the back of the eye is the easy part. Seeing the image