Cyan, magenta and yellow are the new primary paint colors in town.
One of the first things most of us learned in art class was that red, yellow and blue are the primary colors. All other colors could be made from some combination of these three, we were told, plus black and white for tints and shades. We probably even remember mixing various amounts of red, blue and yellow together to make the secondary colors of orange, green and purple.
Except making purple was always a problem, wasn't it? Did anyone ever make a vibrant purple mixing red and blue together? No. It usually came out a sort of muddy eggplant color instead of the bright iris purple we were looking for. As artis Anna Evans shared in a recent Facebook post, "I used to get very frustrated trying to mix purples, they always came out the colour of dried blood. It was not purple." After hours of research on color theory, she added magenta to her palette and never looked back.
There's a reason for that. We've basically had the primary colors for pigments wrong.
Instead of red, yellow and blue being the primary colors for paints, magenta, yellow and cyan are more accurate. This isn't really a new idea—CMYK has been used for printing for over a century—but for most of us, the RYB = primary colors equation has practically been as unquestionable as 2+2=4.
Color theory can get a bit complicated, especially since color works differently with light (additive color) than it does with pigments (subtractive color), but in some ways this new color wheel simplifies things on both fronts.
The CMY color wheel (outside) with the older RYB color wheel (inside)
EugeGreco/Public Domain
The reason our red and blue paint mixing experiments always created muddy purple is because there's actually yellow in most red pigments. Yellow and magenta can actually be mixed to make red. In addition, cyan and magenta can be mixed to make blue, so the idea that nothing can make red or blue because they are primary colors isn't actually true.
What makes this color wheel simpler than the RYB one is that red, blue and green are the primary colors for light, while cyan, magenta, and yellow are secondary. For pigments, in the CMY color wheel, it's just the opposite. That's easier than trying to wrap your head around light colors being so different than pigments when it comes to primary and secondary colors; all you have to remember is that they're swapped.
If all of this sounds bunk and you're absolutely sure that red, blue and yellow must be the primary colors because that's what you learned and have always believed, check out artist Jazza's experiment in which he tries to make cyan and magenta out of red, blue and yellow. It's quite entertaining.
However, there is some controversy over this whole concept in the art world. While some have been thrilled to realize why their colors didn't always come out the way they wanted them to using the RYB color wheel and have found CMY to be much more color-mix friendly, there are arguments for not throwing the RYB baby out with the bathwater. It's not so much that it's entirely wrong as that our definition of primary colors might need a bit of revamping.
For a more in-depth and nuanced view of what primary colors actually are and why there are arguments for considering both RYB and CMY as primary colors, check out Florent Farges' excellent explanation of the whole primary color controversy here:
If there's one takeaway from all of this, it's that when it comes to pigments, yellow clearly reigns supreme. All hail the almighty yellow!
This article originally appeared on 3.19.24
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."