When it comes to mixing paint colors, there are seemingly endless possibilities. However, some color combinations are impossible to create through mixing. This occurs when paint mixtures result in colors that are not within the visible spectrum of light. While paint mixing allows us to produce millions of colors, the constraints of human vision mean that certain hues remain out of reach.
Primary Colors
To understand impossible color mixes, we must first consider the basics of color theory. The primary colors are red, yellow and blue. By mixing the primaries together, we can create the secondary colors:
| Red + Yellow = | Orange |
| Red + Blue = | Purple |
| Yellow + Blue = | Green |
Starting with just the primary pigments, we can mix a wide array of colors. Add white to make tints, black to produce shades. But despite the many colors that can be created, there are still limitations.
The Visible Spectrum
Human vision is limited to a specific range of electromagnetic radiation known as the visible light spectrum. This spans wavelengths from approximately 400 to 700 nanometers. All the colors we can perceive fall within this range. Mixing paints allows us to produce most hues within the visible spectrum. But not all imaginable colors can be perceived or replicated through mixing.
| Violet | 380-450 nm |
| Blue | 450-495 nm |
| Green | 495-570 nm |
| Yellow | 570-590 nm |
| Orange | 590-620 nm |
| Red | 620-750 nm |
Our eyes contain three types of color receptors, or cone cells. These sense red, green and blue wavelengths. All the colors we see are combinations of signals from these cone cells. This means that any color our vision perceives can be matched by mixing the primary paint colors.
Impossible Colors
While paints can replicate colors within the visible spectrum, mixing cannot produce colors that fall outside our vision. Here are some examples of impossible colors:
– Infrared and ultraviolet: These wavelengths fall outside the human visible spectrum. We cannot replicate them through mixing paints.
– Super saturated colors: Very pure, vivid hues that exceed what our eyes can perceive. They appear surreally intense.
– Stygian colors: “Darker than black” shades that absorb all light. Like a black hole, stygian colors are hypothetically possible but cannot be optically created or perceived.
So while paint mixing allows extensive flexibility, we cannot recreate colors that push the limits of human vision. Optical constraints create color combinations that are impossible to produce through mixing pigments.
Mixing Complementary Colors
When paints are mixed, the resulting color is determined by the combinations of light wavelengths reflected. Mixing complementary colors (those opposite on the color wheel) tends to produce grayish hues. For example:
| Red + Green = | Brown |
| Yellow + Purple = | Dark tan |
| Blue + Orange = | Neutral gray |
This mudding occurs because complementary pairs contain wavelengths that cancel each other out. The mixed color reflects little visible light. Dark browns and grays result.
While complementary mixes yield dull hues, they cannot produce a true black. Formulating a perfect black paint requires carefully balanced pigments that absorb all visible wavelengths. Complementary mixes simply cannot absorb enough light to create a stygian black.
Fluorescent and Phosphorescent Colors
Fluorescent paints appear to glow with their own light. This effect results from pigments that absorb ultraviolet light and emit it as visible wavelengths. Common fluorescent paint colors include neon yellows, greens and oranges.
Similarly, phosphorescent paints glow via a process of photoluminescence. They absorb and re-emit light over time. Glow-in-the-dark paints are phosphorescent.
While fluorescent and phosphorescent paints seem unnaturally bright, they cannot recreate hypothetical colors beyond the visible spectrum. The emitted hues are constrained by the same limits of human vision. These paints manipulate light in clever ways, but cannot surpass optical boundaries.
Digital Color Mixing
Unlike painters, digital artists are not restricted to mixing colors within the visible spectrum. Software for digital illustration provides access to a far wider gamut of colors.
RGB color models allow mixing light wavelengths beyond what paints can replicate. By increasing the luminance of all three primaries, hyper-intense super saturated hues can be produced.
| High R + High G + High B = | Super Saturated Neon |
Adjusting individual RGB values enables non-spectral purples unattainable through paint mixing. Digital artists can also darken beyond black using out-of-gamut CMYK values. This allows access to hypothetical stygian colors.
So while tangible paints cannot create colors past the visible spectrum, digital painting software transcends these optical limits. Programs like Photoshop greatly expand color mixing possibilities through virtual pigments unconstrained by human vision.
Synesthetic Colors
Synesthesia is a phenomenon where sensory inputs cross between pathways in the brain. Synesthetes might associate colors with music, or smells with shapes. This blending often produces experiences of imaginary colors.
Synesthetic colors do not correspond to any wavelengths of light. Rather, they are hallucinations within the brain. Examples include:
– Grapheme-color synesthesia: Letters/numbers elicit color perceptions. A synesthete might see “5” as red.
– Chromesthesia: Hearing sounds produces color visions. A trumpet note could trigger seeing purple.
– Lexical-gustatory synesthesia: Words/concepts generate taste sensations. “Computer” might elicit flavors of chocolate.
These hypothetical colors cannot be optically created or mixed with paints. But synesthetes vividly perceive them via crossed sensory wiring in the brain.
Impossible Future Colors
Human vision may one day evolve to see a broader spectrum of light. Ultraviolet and infrared detection could become natural abilities. Our brains might also adapt to handle supersaturated colors outside current perception.
Implanted cybernetic eyes or genetic engineering could provide enhanced ultraviolet, infrared and super-saturated color vision. Such technologically augmented sight could perceive previously impossible shades.
Contact lenses that filter light in unconventional ways might also reveal new colors. Or neurostimulation methods might trigger synesthetic hues by activating crossed sensory pathways.
While impossible colors remain elusive, future biological and technological advancements could expand human vision. Paint mixing capabilities would grow in parallel to recreate these new perceptible hues.
Conclusion
When blending paints, the resulting colors are constrained by the limits of human visual perception. While millions of chromatic variations can be produced through mixing, some hues are impossible to generate. Hypothetical colors that push or exceed the boundaries of our visible spectrum cannot be optically created or matched through paint mixing. Digital programs provide expanded color options by transcending the physical restrictions of pigments and light wavelengths. Imaginary synesthetic colors further demonstrate that some hues can only exist within our minds. But future advances in human vision could reshape the limits of visible colors and our ability to reproduce them with blended paints. Until then, impossibly intense, dark and non-spectral colors remain out of mixable reach due to the inherent optical constraints of our visual system. Yet perhaps one day, evolutions in sight and technology will unveil a broader visible spectrum and new chromatic frontiers to explore.