What do Green and Red make? | Color Mixing and Techniques

The colors red and green are opposed; red is a primary color, and green is a secondary color. However, they combine well to produce a completely different color. There are various accounts of the final color produced by red and green; thus, you must analyze the situation to determine what color to expect. 

Besides red, other primary colors are yellow and blue, while secondary colors are orange, green, and violet. Red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, and red-violet are tertiary colors. Tertiary colors result from the combination of primary and secondary colors.

So, what color is formed when red and green are combined? 

Yellow color is produced when red and green are mixed. In some cases, increasing the intensity of either of the two colors may result in a Yellow-gray final color.

What Are the Different Color Mixing Methods? 

There are two color mixing options: additive color mixing and subtractive color mixing. 

Color Additive Mixing 

The additive color mixing method differs from the traditional method of color mixing that we use daily. Unfortunately, today’s modern system has become a standard method of color mixing that we see daily without even realizing it. 

When mixing different colors, you can use different spectral light combinations in additive mixing. The additive color model is used in cameras, televisions, phones, and computer monitors. The additive color model describes the process by which light produces color. For example, red, green, blue, or RGB are additive colors.

Colors can be mixed in two ways with additive mixing: one with two colors and the other with two or more spectral color lights.

Electron guns in television, for example, will fire two different colors rapidly, and your eyes will see these colors mixed into a completely new emerged paint in an addictive mix of two colors. The other type of additive color mixing involves combining two or more lights by placing them close to each other, causing your naked eyes to mix them into different colors. 

Color Subtraction Mixing 

This is used in printing, silk-screening, painting, and other mediums applied pigment to a substrate. The subtractive method of color mixing is a more intuitive process than the traditional method of color mixing. When pigments within a specific object absorb white light and then reflect other pigments within the color, the subtractive way of mixing colors is observed. 

For example, except for the red pigment, the red color reflects all wavelengths of white light. This straightforward explanation is how our minds perceive color, whereas other colors are not reflected outwards.

This is the primary method of subtractive color mixing. This method is commonly used in the printing industry. 

The Various Color Wheels 

Color wheels are used to distinguish between additive and subtractive color mixing techniques. 

The Color Wheel in RGB 

The primary light colors used on the RGB wheel are red, blue, and green. The secondary colors are created by combining the primary colors. For example, Cyan, Yellow, and Magenta combine two primary colors.

When the primary colors are arranged in the RGB color wheel, mixing the red and green results in yellow; Cyan secondary color is formed by combining the primary colors Green and Blue. Finally, the combination of red and blue primary colors creates magenta secondary colors.

The RGB color wheel is almost directly opposite the CMYK color wheel option for color production using a light spectrum. The RGB color wheel employs the additive method of color mixing to create new colors. In contrast, the CMYK color wheel employs the subtractive process of color mixing.

Color Wheels in CMYK 

Unlike the RGB color wheels, which are used to combine colors along the light spectrum, the primary colors in CMYK are Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow—these are the secondary colors formed in the RGB color wheels. Because the primary colors in the CMYK color wheel are the secondary colors in the RGB color wheel, new colors can be created by combining secondary colors. 

Color combinations are created in the print processing industry by overlapping the layers of the primary colors- Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow (CMY). These overlappings are done with varying degrees of transparency. Once the colors overlap, light is transmitted through the ink and reflected off the surface below the substrate.

Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow CMY ink is typically applied as halftone dots. The inverse percentage of the RBG (Red, Blue, and Green) is subtracted from the reflected light so that your eyes can perceive the final intended color.

What Do Complementary Colors Mean? 

Complementary colors are two colors that sit across each other on their color wheels. When these two polar opposite colors are combined, they frequently become grey. 

Red and green, for example, were revealed as complementary colors on the CMYK color wheel. However, when red and green are combined in the true sense, they produce shades of grey and brown, depending on the specific shades you are working on.

For example, combining red with a blue-green color mix may combine certain pigments that appear grey to your eyes. On the other hand, a saccharine green may combine with red to produce a more brown color. This brown color was caused by the high concentration of yellow pigments in the green color, which contributed to warmer tones in the color mixture combination.

Keeping this in mind, the final result of color mixes will be determined by the method of mixing used.

Conclusion 

There are more relaxed and warmer colors in color mixes. Warm colors produce more intensity and make the final colors thicker or more intense. Reds, yellows, and oranges are examples of warmer colors.

More excellent colors have been shown to reduce the intensities of the final color obtained from the color scheme. More excellent colors such as blue, green, and violet can lessen the powers of final colors in a color mixing scheme—neutral colors, including black, white, and greys, function similarly to more excellent dyes. Monochrome, adjacent colors, triad, single split complement, and double-split complement can all be used to create different color relationships.