Kunstiõpetuses öeldakse: „Sinine, punane ja kollane on põhivärvid. Põhivärve ei saa teiste värvide segamise teel tekitada. Sinist, punast ja kollast omavahel segades saame tekitada kõiki teisi värve."

Füüsikaliselt ja ka füsioloogiliselt loogilised värvisüsteemid on RGB (põhivärvusteks on siis punane, roheline ja sinine) ja CMYK (põhivärvusteks on siis tsüaan, magenta ja kollane). Miks kasutab kunstimaailm teistsuguseid põhivärve ning kuidas need kaks maailma omavahel seotud on?

It's easy to get confused: why do painting use different primary colors than printing? Anyone who has been exposed to digital graphics tools knows that the primary colors are Cyan, Magenta and Yellow (CMYK). However, blue, yellow and red are used in painting. Why?

The answer lies in the difference between these two worlds - digital and natural. While the digital world is based on "pure theory," the natural world is practical: natural pigments are used to produce colors.

However, good results can be achieved in painting using yellow, magenta, and cyan, and many paint manufacturers have such colors available. However, in this way, many of the opportunities offered by mixing natural pigments are lost.

In printing, red (CMYK) is created by printing magenta and yellow on top of each other (they are not mixed), but in painting, it is possible to use very different pigments to get the same result, either separately or mixed with other colors. There are many more possibilities.

It is also said that the basis of successful color mixing is the use of colors containing only one pigment. This information is usually also written on the paint packaging, although few people read the information given in the small print. There are a large number of reds, yellows and blues, all made from a single pigment.

Of course, mixing colors is difficult and requires learning - not every mix of red and blue makes a good purple.

As physicists, we can give one more generalization of all this wisdom here: the RYB (Red, Yellow, Blue) color scheme. As always, real life is much more nuanced here.