Off Topic: Colors

 Ok, this is just something I want to get off my chest. I was watching a YouTube video about making brown with RGB color system. It was very interesting, and the creator got a lot right. I think he was correct about the Additive color theory, as this is an area of knowledge I only have a passing familiarity with. Additive color is when you add more wavelengths of light to change the color. This is how our devices with displays make color. He had even had this great part about context where he had the same brown-orange and switched the surrounding color from black to white and back. In doing so, the orange seemed to change from orange to brown.

The problem I had with the video was that he was applying the Additive color theory to Subtractive colors. Subtractive color is how real world objects get their color. They absorb certain wavelengths of color (subtracting them from white light) and reflect the wavelengths that give the object its color. So if you see a crimson thing, it is absorbing all of the violet, indego, yellow, oranges, greens, etc. and just reflecting the crimson wavelengths.

In the video, he explained that to get brown paint, you make the orange paint darker by adding black. He then mixed some black and orange paint on a paper plate, and he got brown. But he explained it as working for the wrong reasons.

In paint (Subtractive Color), complimentary colors will blend to give neutral colors, ie browns. The complementary pairs are Orange-Blue, Red-Green, Yellow-Purple. The exact brown you get will depend on the exact pigments and ratios used. A lot of warm yellow and a dab of purple will give a sandy brown. A little more green and some cool red will give a greenish brown.

Mixing Compliments for Brown.. Source: found via Quora

Again, in the video, the creator mixed orange and black to make brown. I am 95% sure that he used Mars Black for this. Mars Black is one of the safest (and cheapest) black pigments as it is just made of iron oxide. This particular black has a cool hue with a blueish hint to it. Thus, when mixed with orange, it does make brown. But it does this because it is reflecting blue light and orange light, not because you are making the orange darker. Source: I have a BFA, and even though I did not focus on painting, I did have to learn the basics. 

Sorry for the little rant. I'll get back to games next weekend, or even this week, time permitting. In the meantime, keep playing.