– What happens when an artist mixes paint for a painting? Are the pigments actually changing physically/chemically? What is actually happening to make the paints change color?

Question

– What happens when an artist mixes paint for a painting? Are the pigments actually changing physically/chemically? What is actually happening to make the paints change color?

In: 4221

Answer 1

Colors are either additive or subtractive. If a color source is creating light, like the sun, a light bulb, a monitor or a flash bulb then it is adding light frequencies that the eye sees. Adding different light frequencies will appear to make the objects shown become lighter until finally our eyes see “white” when all light frequencies are being created. A monitor will show specific frequencies and we see that as colors.

If a color source is reflecting light, like any object which is bouncing photons/light, then the color is subtractive. Assuming a percentage of all light frequencies are reflected with a “white” object then adding different pigments causes specific light frequencies to be absorbed to a certain degree. Our eyes see what remains and interprets that as “color”. If all frequencies are absorbed then we see that as black.