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

Where is Green?
http:// www.agu.ac.jp / ~vicks62 / jeffreyb / green. html


Color Cube
Let's slice our Color Cube (photo on left) into sixteen layers (0 to 15=f) perpendicular to the green 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 green (hex code ff-0000) in the lower left corner and yellow (ff-00-ff), cyan (ffff-00), and white (ffffff) in the others. As we move in a straight line from green to each of the other corners, we are adding blue (horizontally) and/or red (vertically) units of light. They interact with the green light. Each unit of red combines with a unit of green, converting it into a unit of yellow light (r+g=y). Likewise each unit of blue converts a green unit to cyan (b+g=c).

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

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

color
systems		 pigment Crayola Munsell Natural CS Pantone
r-g-b 00-a5-50 1c-ac-78 00-a8-77 00-9f-6b 00-ad-43
green          
           
rr-gg-bb 00-aa-55 22-aa-77 00-aa-77 00-99-66 00-aa-44
units
of light		 y[ _] [ 0]w
g[ 5] [ 5]c..		 y[ _] [ 2]w
g[ 3] [ 5]c		 y[ _] [ 0]w
g[ 3] [ 7]c		 y[ _] [ 0]w
g[ 3] [ 6]c		 y[ _] [ 0]w
g[ 6] [ 4]c

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

        
000
black 		0f0
green 		 0ff
cyan 		ff0
yellow 		 fff
white 

This is the green "pallette". You can use
cyan OR yellow, but NOT together.

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

   (iv) ivory = ffe y[ 1] [14]w
g[ 0] [ _]c
   (lm) lime = bf0 y[11] [ 0]w
g[ 4] [ _]c
   (ch) chartreuse = 7f0 y[ 7] [ 0]w
g[ 8] [ _]c

   (99-7) forest green = 282 y[ _] [ 2]w
g[ 6] [ _]c
   (77-7) green = 080 y[ _] [ 0]w
g[ 8] [ _]c

[red] [yellow] [green] [cyan] [blue] [magenta]
Black = 0 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
y [15]
ffff-00		          O7  L4   M9 iv fw [15]
ffffff
 
ee-ff-00		                   e  
ee-ffff
 
dd-ff-00		                 d    
dd-ffff
 
cc-ff-00		                c   B6 
cc-ffff
 
bb-ff-00		lm              bF5     
bb-ffff
 
aa-ff-00		             a  S7     
aa-ffff
 
99-ff-00		            9         
99-ffff
 
88-ff-00		           8        P8 
88-ffff
 
77-ff-00		 ch             x7       aq x5     T7  
77-ffff
 
66-ff-00		             6           x6   Q2    
66-ffff
 
55-ff-00		           5       x5 x5   x5        
55-ffff
 
44-ff-00		         4                        
44-ffff
 
33-ff-00		       3                          
33-ffff
 
22-ff-00		     2                            
22-ffff
 
11-ff-00		   1                              
11-ffff
g [15]
00-ff-00		 0             sp         se       c [15]
00-ffff

blue [0]0 1 2  3 4 5 6  7 8 9 a  b c d e  f blue [15]

   (aq) aquamarine = 7fb y[ _] [ 7]w
g[ 4] [ 4]c
   (se) sea green = 0fc y[ _] [ 0]w
g[ 3] [12]c
   (sp) spring green = 0f7 y[ _] [ 0]w
g[ 8] [ 7]c
   (Q-2) turQuoise = 4dc y[ _] [ 4]w
g[ 1] [ 8]c
   (B-6) cadet Blue = 699 y[ _] [ 6]w
g[ 0] [ 3]c
   (T-7) Teal = 088 y[ _] [ 0]w
g[ 0] [ 8]c
   (S-7) Sea green = 385 y[ _] [ 3]w
g[ 3] [ 2]c

Upper projections (on the right) of darker colors (less than 15 units of light) in the Green Zone:

   spring green = eeb +111=ffcM9
   olive green = bb5 +444=ff9L4
   olive = 880 +777=ff7O7
   mustard green = 663 +999=ffcM9
 
   forest green = 282 +777=9f99
   green = 080 +777=7f7x7
 
   turquoise = 4dc +222=6feQ2
   forest green = 6a7 +555=bfcF5
   green = 2a7 +555=7fcx5
   cadet blue = 699 +666=cffB6
   teal = 088 +777=7ffT7
   sea green = 385 +777=afcS7
   pine green = 077 +888=8ffP8

Last updated March 2025
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