This is a common question that many people have when learning about color theory and color mixing. The short answer is no, combining yellow and white pigments or light does not make blue. However, there are some interesting aspects to explore regarding this question that help illustrate why mixing these colors doesn’t produce blue.
Additive vs. Subtractive Color Mixing
There are two main types of color mixing – additive and subtractive. Understanding the difference between the two is key to answering whether yellow and white make blue.
Additive Color Mixing
Additive color mixing refers to mixing colored light. The primary additive colors are red, green, and blue light. When you combine all three in equal amounts, they make white light. Computer and TV screens use additive color mixing by combining tiny dots of RGB colored light to create the colors we see.
With additive mixing, combining any two primary colors makes the secondary color between them – red and green make yellow, green and blue make cyan, and blue and red make magenta. No combination of additive primaries can make white light.
Subtractive Color Mixing
Subtractive color mixing involves combining pigments, dyes, inks, or paints. The primary subtractive colors are cyan, magenta, and yellow. When you combine these three, they absorb all light and make black. Printers and paintings use subtractive color mixing when layering and blending colored inks or paints to create different hues.
The secondary colors in subtractive mixing are red, green, and blue. Mixing two subtractive primaries absorbs some wavelengths of light and reflects the secondary color between them – yellow and magenta make red, magenta and cyan make blue, and cyan and yellow make green. No combination of subtractive primaries can make true white.
Why Yellow and White Don’t Make Blue
Now we can address the original question with this background knowledge. Yellow and white do not combine to make blue because:
Additive vs. Subtractive Mixing
– In additive color mixing (light), yellow and white together just make a lighter yellow or off-white shade. Additive mixing cannot produce blue by combining yellow and white light.
– In subtractive mixing (pigments), yellow and white pigments combined just make a pale yellow or cream color. You cannot subtract more wavelengths by mixing them, so they cannot combine to produce blue.
Secondary vs. Primary Colors
– Blue is a primary color in both additive and subtractive color models. Primary colors cannot be created from mixing other colors.
– Yellow and white are secondary/derived colors in both models. Mixing secondaries cannot produce a primary color directly.
Complementary Colors
– Yellow and blue are complementary colors. Mixing complements results in a grayscale or brown tone from the neutralization, not in the complementary color itself.
Color Wheel Basics
Looking at a color wheel helps reinforce why yellow and white do not combine to create blue.
Additive Color Wheel
| Red | Yellow | Green |
| Magenta | White | Cyan |
| Blue | Purple | Violet |
– Additive secondary colors are between the primaries – yellow is between red and green. Mixing adjacent colors makes the secondaries.
– Blue is a primary, not between yellow and white.
Subtractive Color Wheel
| Cyan | Green | Magenta |
| Blue | Red | Purple |
| Yellow | Orange | Violet |
– Subtractive secondaries are between the primaries – yellow is between cyan and magenta. Mixing adjacent colors produces the secondaries.
– Blue is a primary, not next to yellow and white.
Exceptions and Special Cases
While yellow and white do not generally combine to create blue, there are some special additive or subtractive circumstances where they could produce a blue color:
Overlapping Projected Lights
In certain staged lighting situations with projected colored lights overlapping, you may see small areas that appear blue where concentrated yellow light overlaps with bright white light. However, this depends on angles, intensities, and other factors. It is not a reliable way to make blue.
Yellowed Whites + Optical Brightening
Some laundry detergents contain blueing agents and optical brighteners. These can make yellowed whites appear more blue and bright after washing. However, the starting white is not pure – it has yellowed over time. So this is more neutralizing yellow than strictly making blue.
Digital Color Mixing
In digital applications like photo editing, “mixing” highly saturated yellow with pure white can produce a sky blue. This is because digital mixing calculates colors differently than physical light or pigments. The colors are defined differently to start with.
Why Do We Perceive Blue?
If yellow and white don’t actually combine to make blue, why are there some situations where we seem to perceive blue from these colors blended together? A few different visual effects can cause this:
Optical Illusions
Some optical illusions and patterns with yellow and white can appear to produce a flashing or glowing blue from the vibrating contrast and effects on rods/cones in our eyes. This is not true color mixing but an optical trick.
Afterimages
Staring first at a saturated yellow image then quickly looking at a white image can produce an apparent blue afterimage. This is caused by eye fatigue and overstimulation of cells in the retina. Again it is not a real color mix.
Surrounding Colors
In some contexts around other strongly colored elements, pale yellows can take on a blueish cast due to simultaneous contrast effects. The surrounding colors impact how we perceive interior ones.
Color Properties of Yellow and White
To summarize, here are some key color properties of yellow and white that help explain why combining them cannot create blue:
Yellow
| Hue | Yellow |
| Wavelength | 570-590 nm |
| additive/subtractive | Secondary/secondary |
– Yellow has a wavelength of 570-590 nanometers and is between red and green on the color wheel in both color models.
– It’s a secondary color, meaning it is created by mixing two primary colors, not the other way around.
White
| Hue | N/A (achromatic) |
| Wavelength | Full spectrum visible light |
| additive/subtractive | Combination of all/absence of all |
– White contains all wavelengths of visible light. It lacks an associated hue.
– In additive mixing, it requires all primaries. In subtractive, it reflects all wavelengths.
Conclusion
In summary, the answer is no – combining the colors yellow and white does not produce blue. This is because:
– Blue is a primary color, while yellow and white are secondary colors derived from primaries. Primaries cannot be created by mixing secondaries.
– Yellow and blue are complementary colors. Mixing complements results in graying/neutralization, not blue.
– Additive and subtractive color mixing follow particular rules about combining primaries. Yellow and white do not make blue in either model.
While some interesting optical effects can make yellow and white seem to produce blue in certain contexts, this is not true color mixing. Understanding the fundamentals of how chromatic colors are derived from different mixtures helps explain why yellow and white do not combine to make blue.
