RYB colour model

The RYB colour model deals with a subtractive method of colour mixing, commonly used in traditional art and painting where opaque pigments are in use.

  • The three primary colours in RYB are red, yellow, and blue.
  • By mixing these primaries in pairs and in the correct proportions, artists can create secondary colours like:
    • Orange (red and yellow),
    • Green (yellow and blue), and
    • Purple (blue and red).
  • Overlapping all three primaries creates darker and more complex hues.
  • While historically significant, the RYB model has been largely replaced by RGB and CMYK in modern digital design and printing due to the incompatibility of RYB with these technologies.
  • Many commercial and industrial paint shops have adopted computer-based systems that rely on tinting or colour-matching machines that can accurately reproduce wide ranges of specified paint colours that exactly match colour swatches or colours identified using RGB, CMYK, LAB or Pantone colour values.
  • The RYB colour model is a subtractive method of colour mixing commonly used in traditional art and painting with opaque pigments.
  • The three primary colours in RYB are red, yellow, and blue.
  • By mixing these primaries in pairs and in the correct proportions, artists can create secondary colours like:
    • Orange (red and yellow),
    • Green (yellow and blue), and
    • Purple (blue and red).
  • Overlapping all three primaries creates darker and more complex hues.
  • While historically significant, the RYB model has been largely replaced by RGB and CMYK in modern digital design and printing due to the incompatibility of RYB with these technologies.