Toby Atkin-Wright

I was interested by the results of my poll last week. The most popular choise was "Red, Yellow and Blue", which I guess is what we were all taught to be primary colours in art classes at school; primary colours from primary school.

A dictionary definition of primary colours says 'those from which all others can be derived' (Chambers Consise Dictionary), and goes on to list several possible combinations of colours that could be considered primary colors. There is no single set of colours when it comes to primary colours

Looking at the answers I provided in my poll:

• Red, Yellow and Blue The basic simple answer, and arguably the wrong answer. Because red, yellow and blue aren't evenly spread around the spectrum, mixing them gives only a limited gamut, meaning that some colours can't be produced, including bright greens, cyans and magentas.
• Red, Yellow, Blue and Green Artists became aware of the limitations of red, yellow and blue, and added green to the mix to enlarge the gamut. Leonardo da Vinci used RYBG (together with the addition of black and white). The Insights wheel uses RYBG.
• Red, Green and Blue The common additive primary colours, used for mixing coloured light, RGB is used in computer monitors and televisions. All colours on web pages are expressed in RGB.
• Cyan, Magenta and Yellow The subtractive colour model is used for mixing paints, inks, and the like. Black is added (refered to as K) because practical problems in mixing CMY don't allow the mixing of a pure black, so it is often referred to as CMYK. Almost all printed colours will have been expressed in CMYK.

So a simple conclusion: all the options in the poll are primary colour except for 'Red, Yellow and Blue'.

I was interested by the results of my poll last week. The most popular choise was "Red, Yellow and Blue", which I guess is what we were all taught to be primary colours in art classes at school; primary colours from primary school.

A dictionary definition of primary colours says 'those from which all others can be derived' (Chambers Consise Dictionary), and goes on to list several possible combinations of colours that could be considered primary colors. There is no single set of colours when it comes to primary colours

Looking at the answers I provided in my poll:

• Red, Yellow and Blue The basic simple answer, and arguably the wrong answer. Because red, yellow and blue aren't evenly spread around the spectrum, mixing them gives only a limited gamut, meaning that some colours can't be produced, including bright greens, cyans and magentas.
• Red, Yellow, Blue and Green Artists became aware of the limitations of red, yellow and blue, and added green to the mix to enlarge the gamut. Leonardo da Vinci used RYBG (together with the addition of black and white). The Insights wheel uses RYBG.
• Red, Green and Blue The common additive primary colours, used for mixing coloured light, RGB is used in computer monitors and televisions. All colours on web pages are expressed in RGB.
• Cyan, Magenta and Yellow The subtractive colour model is used for mixing paints, inks, and the like. Black is added (refered to as K) because practical problems in mixing CMY don't allow the mixing of a pure black, so it is often referred to as CMYK. Almost all printed colours will have been expressed in CMYK.

So a simple conclusion: all the options in the poll are primary colour except for 'Red, Yellow and Blue'.

We're getting together for lunch at Bella Italia on Bell Street, St Andrews on Sunday. Would anyone like to join us? Let me know and I'll get a table booked.

So far we have me, Beth, kateaw, qidane, zephyravictrix, houstonjames, theworldofhelen, ioevri1 and lil' Keith.

Vague plan: meet at our house from midday, and we'll then walk or drive into town for lunch at 1pm, then back home for tea and cake later in the afternoon.

We're getting together for lunch at Bella Italia on Bell Street, St Andrews on Sunday. Would anyone like to join us? Let me know and I'll get a table booked.

So far we have me, Beth, kateaw, qidane, zephyravictrix, houstonjames, theworldofhelen, ioevri1 and lil' Keith.

Vague plan: meet at our house from midday, and we'll then walk or drive into town for lunch at 1pm, then back home for tea and cake later in the afternoon.