The perception of color is extremely individual and depends on how the human eye perceives rays reflecting from various surfaces. There are surfaces that do not reflect the rays, but absorb them. When they are absorbed, a person sees a black color. That is why black is called "dead" color or "lack of color."
Therefore, the answer to the question of how to get black color from paints is the following: real black cannot be obtained by mixing any other shades of the spectrum. However, you can create very dark shades that, in contrast with others, create a feeling of black. To find out what colors you need to mix to get black, you should turn to the theory of art and the psychology of color perception.
Color models and color synthesis
There are two models of color synthesis, that is, obtaining new colors and shades.
Additive - a model for obtaining color, based on the addition and superposition of rays on each other, reflected from the surfaces of objects. This model is used in monitors and screens, its main color range is RGB. Additive color synthesis is based on three main lights: red, green and blue. By superimposing and mixing these rays, all other shades are formed, except for black. In this model, black is considered a complete lack of reflection.
Subtractive - a model based on a mixture of physical pigments and paints. In it, the absence of color is considered white. And black is obtained by mixing all the basic shades. So what colors do you need to mix to get black? In the subtractive model, the primary (or main) shades are magenta, cyan and yellow.
Subtractive mixing method
Compared to additive color synthesis, the subtractive model produces fewer shades. In addition, the theoretical or mathematical model of subtractive synthesis is fundamentally different from what is obtained in practice. For example, theoretically, when mixing the three primary colors, a black color should be obtained. However, in practice, this color comes out very dark brown.
The subtractive method is used in printing and printing, where it is very important to achieve a true black color. In order to get it, add a “key” to the three primary colors. It is from here that the name of the main range of the subtractive model is CMYK, where C is cyan (cyan, in Russian it is called blue or greenish-blue), M is magenta (shade of purple), Y is yellow (yellow), and K is key color (key color). In this range, the key is natural black. Asking the question of how to get black from the colors of the chromatic spectrum, printers realized that not a single shade could replace natural black.
Three primary colors
According to Johannes Itten's theory of art, there are three primary colors that, when mixed, produce all other colors in the spectrum. Itten highlighted red, yellow, and blue as the main ones. Subsequent theories have determined that the ideal primary colors are magenta (magenta), cyan (cyan), and yellow. They are called primary - colors that reflect a wider spectrum and which cannot be obtained with a combination of other shades.
In fact, red and blue are not primary. They absorb more light than they reflect, but despite this, they are still often called primary colors and are used to create the rest of the color wheel.
Note: White and black are not included in the spectrum and color circles and are called achromatic. How to get black from paints always varied and depended on many theories that currently exist.
Pure colors
According to an early theory, pure colors were red, blue, yellow, and green. It was believed that they can not be obtained by mixing other shades. Later, with the development of technology, it turned out that the three primary colors that cannot be obtained are purple, blue and yellow.
The modern color theory distinguishes between three primary, three secondary chromatic and one achromatic - black. What colors to mix to get a black color varies. In comparison, everything works: from mixing basic colors to mixing red, blue and yellow, or even red and green.
Secondary colors are green, blue and red. Green is obtained by mixing yellow with greenish-blue. Purple and cyan give blue. And by mixing purple with yellow, you can get a red color.
In theory, the question of how to get black from paints is solved by mixing the three primary colors in their ideal shades. These are cyan, magenta and yellow. However, it is practically impossible to obtain perfect black by combining other chromatic colors . Printing and painting use natural black.
Natural black
Black is actually the lack of color. The more light rays the surface of an object absorbs, the darker it appears. There is absolutely no black color in nature, but the darkest carbon Vantablack is as close as possible to absolute absorption of light, it reflects only 0.035% of the rays.
The main natural pigments from which black ink is made are carbon. Among them, the main ones are graphite and soot. At the dawn of painting, artists thought about what paints should be mixed to get black, and came to the conclusion that mixing black paints could not be achieved. During the High Renaissance, painters mined black from burnt bones. It was the darkest matte shade available during the Renaissance.