Product Manual

CHAPTER 8: DARKETING PRIMARY COLORS The Scooter

™

Making primary colors darker is a relatively simple task, and is the first step in learning how to

blend colors for desired results. Suppose you want to darken Yellow. You can do it three basic

ways:

1. You can add a very small amount of Blue, and it will go darker. But if too much is added, the

Yellow will begin to go Green.

2. Or you could add a small amount of red. This too would cause the Yellow to darken.

Too much Red will cause the Yellow to go towards on Orange.

3. And you could add Violet. Violet is made of Blue and Red. Adding violet to Yellow will also

darken the yellow, but in a different way. Violet will tend to dull Yellow. This is because a

true “Violet” is 50% / 50% Red and Blue, and Yellow, Red and Blue cancel each other out, or

“dull” each other.

To alter the Yellow without destroying it, we want to change it only slightly. (Adding too much

Violet will cause the Yellow to go to a dull Purple). This would be a simple task in a laboratory

with accurate means of measuring the relative strength and quantity of colors. But without such

means at our disposal, this is not so cut and dry. There is no simple, effective way to measure

the color(s) you see on the floor. In other words, you must guess.

First determine how you want to darken the Yellow. Then add a very small amount of the

appropriate complimentary color. Keep in mind that Yellow is the lightest of the three primary

colors, and is therefore the most easily dominated. If you are experimenting or learning, figure

what, in your opinion, is the appropriate amount to equal a 10% change of color (10% is the

smallest amount that humans can recognize). Then cut that amount back by half to give

yourself a safety margin. Remember: You can always add more dye if necessary, but you

cannot remove dye nearly as easily.

The principles described above are true for all primaries. To darken a primary color:

1. Add one of the other primaries.

2. Or add both of the other primaries.

3. Keep the addition of the color in increments of 10% or below 10%.

4. Use less dye than you think is necessary (until you get a “feel” for mixing), since you can

always add more.

Generally, the way to darken a Brown is to add Blue to it. In doing this, you are continuing to dull the

Orange and deepen the color.

Blacks are similar to browns in that they are composed of all three primaries. They are different in

that they are a much closer balance of the three. It is a common misconception that Black is an equal

balance of them. In fact, however, there are several shades of Black, depending upon which of the

three component primary colors is dominant. For instance, there are Yellow-Blacks, Red-Blacks, and

Blue-Blacks.