Color pages [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Where is Blue?
http:// www.agu.ac.jp / ~vicks62 / jeffreyb / blue1. html


Color Cube
Let's slice our Color Cube (photo on left) into sixteen layers (0 to 15=f) perpendicular to the blue axis. The top layer (bird's eye view below) has 256 colors. All of them composed of 15 units of light. Let's look at the arrangement. We have bright blue (hex code 0000-ff) in the lower left corner and cyan (00-ff-ff), magenta (ff-00-ff), and white (ffffff) in the others. As we move in a straight line from blue to each of the other corners, we are adding red (horizontally) and/or green (vertically) units of light. They interact with the blue light. Each unit of green combines with a unit of blue, converting it into a unit of cyan light (g+b=c). Likewise each unit of red converts a blue unit to magenta (r+b=m).

Reoriented
White (top)
Black
(bottom)
Combining an equal number of green and red units with blue converts that same number of blue units into white units (g+r+b=w). That's what happens when you move diagonally from the blue corner to the white one. This diagonal line divides our layer into two trianglular areas: a cyan area and a magenta one. As you move around inside each area, you flip some of the 15 units of light. Moving perpendicular to the blue-white line flips blue units to white as you move up and to the right. It flips white units to blue as you move in the opposite direction (down and to the left).

Inside the Cyan Triangle, moving horizontally (perpendicular to the cyan-white line) flips cyan to white if you go right, and white to cyan if you go left. Moving vertically flips cyan to blue (down) OR blue to cyan (up). Inside the Magenta Triangle on the other hand, moving vertically flips white and magenta, while moving horizontally flips blue and magenta. What do you suppose happens when you move diagonally from the cyan corner to the magenta one? As you move through the Cyan Triangle, you flip two units of cyan to one blue unit and one white. After you cross into the Magenta Triangle, you flip one blue unit and one white unit into two magenta ones.

color
systems		 pigment Crayola Munsell Natural CS Pantone
r-g-b 3333-99 1f-75-fe 00-93-af 00-87-bd 00-18-a8
blue          
           
rr-gg-bb 3333-99 22-77-ff 00-99-aa 00-88-bb 00-11-aa
15 interval
analysis		 c[ 0] [ 3]w
b[ 6] [ _]m		 c[ 5] [ 2]w
b[ 8] [ _]m		 c[ 9] [ 0]w
b[ 1] [ _]m		 c[ 8] [ 0]w
b[ 3] [ _]m		 c[ 1] [ 0]w
b[ 9] [ _]m

Above are some other versions of "blue". Let's mark them (or their upper projection) with an "x" on the top layer of the Color Cube (below).

        
000
black 		00f
blue 		 f0f
magenta 		0ff
cyan 		 fff
white 

This is the blue "pallette". You can use
magenta OR cyan, but NOT together.

What about some other shades of blue? Where are they? What are their proportions?

   (pw) periwinkle = bce c[ 1] [11]w
b[ 2] [ _]m
   (pd) powder blue = ade c[ 3] [10]w
b[ 1] [ _]m
   (ac) acquamarine = 9de c[ 4] [ 9]w
b[ 1] [ _]m
   (cn) cornflower = 9ce c[ 3] [ 9]w
b[ 2] [ _]m
   (by) baby blue = 8ce c[ 4] [ 8]w
b[ 2] [ _]m
   (sk) sky blue = 7de c[ 6] [ 7]w
b[ 1] [ _]m
   (tq) turquoise blue = 6de c[ 7] [ 6]w
b[ 1] [ _]m
   (Cn) Cornflower = 69e c[ 3] [ 6]w
b[ 5] [ _]m
   (R-1) royal blue = 46d c[ 2] [ 4]w
b[ 7] [ _]m
   (S-3) steel blue = 48b c[ 4] [ 4]w
b[ 3] [ _]m

[blue] [red] [green]
[0] Black = 1 [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
 c [14]
00-eeee		          P7        e w [14]
eeeeee
  
00-dd-ee		         tqsk  acpd   d   
ee-dd-ee
  
00-cc-ee		           by cn pw c H1  
ee-cc-ee
  
00-bb-ee		          T3M8   b      
ee-bb-ee
  
00-aa-ee		              a       
ee-aa-ee
  
00-99-ee		         Cn   9        
ee-99-ee
  
00-88-ee		           8          
ee-88-ee
  
00-77-ee		       R1  7L2          
ee-77-ee
  
00-66-ee		         6    I6       
ee-66-ee
  
00-55-ee		       5              
ee-55-ee
  
00-44-ee		      4               
ee-44-ee
  
00-33-ee		     3                
ee-33-ee
  
00-22-ee		   2                  
ee-22-ee
  
00-11-ee		  1                   
ee-11-ee
 b [14]
0000-ee		 0                      m [14]
ee-00-ee

 red [0] 0 1 2  3 4 5 6  7 8 9 a  b c d e  red [14]

   (L-3) sLate blue = 65c c[ _] [ 5]w
b[ 6] [ 1]m
   (C1-7) Indigo = 408 c[ _] [ 0]w
b[ 4] [ 4]m
   (77-7) navy blue = 008 c[ _] [ 0]w
b[ 8] [ 0]m
   (aa-8) midnight blue = 227 c[ 0] [ 2]w
b[ 5] [ 0]m

Upper projections (on the right) of darker colors (less than 14 units of light) in the Blue Zone:

   royal blue = 46d +111=57eR1
   steel blue = 48b +333=7beT3
   pine green = 077 +777=7eeP7
   midnight blue = 036 +888=8beM8
 
   cadet blue = aab +333=dded
   navy blue = 008 +666=66e6
   midnight blue = 227 +777=99e9
 
   thistle = dbd +111=eceH1
   slate blue = 65c +222=87eL2
   indigo = 408 +666=a6eI6

Last updated March 2025
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