Secondary Colors

A Secondary Color is a color made by mixing two primary colors in a given color space. Examples include the following:

Additive Secondaries

Light (RGB)

Red + Green = Yellow

Green + Blue = Cyan

Blue + Red = Magenta

Light (RYB)

Red + Yellow = Orange

Yellow + Blue = Green

Blue + Red = Violet


Subtractive Secondaries

Pigment (CMY)

Cyan + Magenta = Blue

Magenta + Yellow = Red

Yellow + Cyan = Green

Traditional Painting Prescripts (RYB)

Red + Yellow = Orange

Yellow + Blue = Green

Blue + Red = Violet

In the RGB color space the colors are added, thus you start with levels of dark colors which are added to produce lighter colors. RYB uses pigments, which are not added, and thus combining colors using the RYB color system will result in a darker color.

Pigment (GVO)

Green + Violet = Blue

Violet + Orange = Red

Orange + Green = Yellow