50
MIXTURE & BALANCE
and yellow usurp too great a portion of the circumference. Starting from a false basis, the Brewster theory can only lead to un-balanced and inharmonious effects of color.
The fundamental color sensations are red, green, and violet-blue.
| Red has for | its true complement | blue-green, |
| Green | its true„ complement„ | red-purple, and |
| Yellow | its true„ complement„ | violet-blue |
all of the hues in the right-hand column being compound sensations. The sensation of green is not due to a mixture of yellow and blue, as the absorptive action of pigments might lead one to think: Green is fundamental, and not made by mixing any hues of the spectrum, while Yellow is not fundamental, but caused by the mingled sensations of red and green. This is easily proved by a controlled spectrum, for all yellow-reds, yellows, and ereen-yellows can be matched by certain proportions of red and green light, all blue-greens, blues, and purple-blues can be ob- tained by the union of green and violet light, while purple-blue, purple, and red-purple result from the union of violet and red light. But there is no point where a mixture gives red, green, or violet-blue. They are the true primaries, whose mixtures produce all other hues.
Studio and school-room practice still cling to the discredited theory, claiming that, if it fails to describe our color sensations, yet it may be called practically true of pigments, because a red, yellow, and blue pigment suffice to imitate most natural colors. This discrepancy between pigment mixture and retinal mixture becomes clear as soon as one learns the physical make-up and behavior of paints.
