Optical mixing

The process by wich the eyes blend bits of pure color placed next to each other in an image.a demonstration of optical mixingIn a picture, this means the merging of juxtaposed dots or brushstrokes of pure colors when seen from a distance to produce a hue often more luminous and saturated than that available from a premixed pigment. Optical mixing is important in Impressionist and pointillist painting.Other Internet resources concerned with optical mixing: "Chalkboard" on color theory, painting materials and techniques. It includes an excellent page on optical mixing. Chalkboard comes from the College of Art at Southern Arkansas University. In 1894, toymaker Mr. C.E. Benham discovered that a spinning disk with a particular pattern of black and white marks could cause people to see colors. Mr. Benham called his disk an "Artificial Spectrum Top" and sold it through Messrs. Newton and Co. Benham's Top (or Benham's Disk) has puzzled scientists for over 100 years. See a page about Benham's Disk by U of Washington faculty member, Dr. Chudler, and make your own. Also see complementary colors, definition, photoreceptors, retina, science and art, and subliminal message or subliminal advertising.