Section 3 | Page 6

Subtractive Color System (CMY)

The subtractive color system involves colorants and reflected light. Subtractive color starts with an object (often a substrate such as paper or canvas) that reflects light

is reflected back to the viewer and it appears black. It is the subtractive process that allows everyday objects around us to show color. Remember the example of

and uses colorants (such as pigments or dyes) to subtract portions of the white light illuminating an object to produce other colors. If an object reflects all the white light back to the viewer, it appears white. If an object absorbs (subtracts) all the light illuminating it, no light

the red apple? The apple really has no color. It has no light energy of its own. Colorants in the appleÆs skin absorb the green and blue wavelengths of white light and reflect the red wavelengths back to the viewer, which evokes the sensation of red.