Complementary color

Complementary colors are pairs of opposite colors. What is meant by opposite can be different between color science, and art and the printing process.

Color science

In color science "complementary colors" are colors opposite to each other on the color wheel. Primary colors and secondary colors are typically paired in this way:

• red and cyan ( red   cyan ) (where cyan is the mixture of green and blue)
• green and magenta ( green   magenta ) (where magenta is the mixture of red and blue)
• blue and yellow ( blue   yellow ) (where yellow is the mixture of red and green)

Afterimages

If a person stares at a single color for about a minute then looks at a white surface, an afterimage of the complementary color will appear. This is because of eye fatigue. For example, if the person stares at a red color, the photoreceptors (cells in the eye which catch colored light) for red light in the retina (the back part of the eye) become fatigued. When photoreceptors are fatigued they are less able to send information to the brain. If the person then looks at white light, all photoreceptors will send information. Because the photoreceptors for red light are fatigued, the information they send will not be as strong as the information about the colors other than red and the illusion of seeing the complementary color is created.

Art and design

a Blue-Yellow-Red color wheel. Opposite colors are called complementary.

Because of the limited range of colors that was available throughout most of the history of art, many artists still use a traditional set of complementary pairs, including:

• red and green
• blue and orange
• yellow and purple

The complement of each primary color (red, blue, or yellow) is roughly the color made by mixing the other two in a subtractive system (red + blue = purple; blue + yellow = green; red + yellow = orange). When two complements are mixed they produce a gray or brown.

The use of complementary colors is an important aspect of art and graphic design. This also extends to other fields such as contrasting colors in logos and retail display. When placed next to each other, complements make each other appear brighter. On an artistic color wheel, complementary colors are placed opposite one another. Although these artistic complements may not be precise complements under the scientific definition, most artistic color wheels are laid out roughly like the HSV color wheel discussed above.

Complementary Color Media

• 

  Complementary colors in the RGB color model.

• 

  Complementary colors in the traditional RYB color model.

• 

  Complementary colors in the opponent process theory.

• 

  In the CMYK color model, the primary colors magenta, cyan, and yellow together make black, and the complementary pairs are magenta–green, yellow–blue, and cyan–red.

• 

  A traditional color star developed in 1867 by Charles Blanc. The traditional complementary colors used by 19th-century artists such as Van Gogh, Monet and Renoir are directly opposite each other.

• 

  The colors of the RGB color model, which uses combinations of red, green, and blue light on a black screen to create all the colors seen on a computer display or television. Complementary colors are opposite each other.

• 

  A chart of color combinations.

• 

  Newton's color circle (1704) displayed seven colors. He declared that colors opposite each other had the strongest contrast and harmony.

• 

  A Boutet color circle from 1708 showed the traditional complementary colors; red and green, yellow and purple, and blue and orange.