Red B + Orange = Red G Blue R + Green = Blue G Yellow R + Green = Yellow G
Red G + Yellow R = Orange Blue G + Violet = Blue R Yellow B + Orange = Yellow R
Red G + Violet = Red B Blue G + Yellow B = Green Yellow B + Blue G = Green
Take, for example, a special case, namely to turn a piece of crimson calico into a full rich scarlet. The crimson color contains a great deal of red, mixed with a little blue. If the piece were after-dyed, or “topped,” with yellow, even in small quantities, the result would probably be “muddy,” the yellow and blue together being in such strength as to seriously diminish the strength of the red, and make it more or less brown in shade.
If, however, a reddish shade of orange were used for shading, instead of yellow, the red of the mixture would be constantly increased, while the yellow was “killing” the blue, i.e., turning it, with a little red, into grey; and before long the crimson, or bluish shade of red, would turn first into a true but softened red, with neither blue nor yellow predominating, and finally into a scarlet, with distinct traces of yellow.
In making these Three-color Shades, therefore, the component parts of each dyestuff used must be studied; and in every case care must be taken to have the third color, whatever it is, added in such minute quantities as only tosoften and not to spoil the first shade. A teaspoonful, sometimes even a few drops of a solution of one strong color, will generally be enough to soften, and take the edge off, some gallons of dye-liquor containing a hard, clear mixture of the other two. A cupful, on the other hand, or even two or three tablespoonfuls might utterly spoil the bath and turn it into “mud,” as a dyer would say.
It is worth mentioning here that, as a general thing, it is distinctly more interesting to build up shades by dipping first in one bath, and then topping with the second and the third color than it is to mix the different colors to the desired shade first and then dye the material in the single bath. On a small scale there is the same difference, although not so marked and less easily noticed, as that between even dyeing and rainbow dyeing. There is often a loss in regularity and evenness, but the gain in life and light when one color shines through another which covers it more than compensates. This overlaying is not so perceptible in the even dyeing of fine, thin materials, whether yarn or cloth; but with coarse, heavy yarns and thick textiles, effects can be obtained by after-dyeing which cannot be approached when the goods are dyed in one bath.
Matching Shades.—Some people, I believe, go so far as to say that, in order to be really expert at true shade matching when using the three colors in dyeing, a dyer must have begun to learn the art in the person of his grandfather, ninety or a hundred years ago, and kept in practise ever since.
It certainly is true that heredity and early training both have a great deal to do with skill in this art, and a good color dyer will show an almost uncanny instinct, as he instantly picks out differences in shade which an untrained eye would never notice, and without any hesitation prescribes the exact remedy for the defect. Still there are plenty of good, even first-class dyers, nowadays, who have learned their art quite late in life, with the aid of a good eye and intelligent perseverance.
The chief rule to remember is this: Red, blue, and yellow, when mixed in equal strength, make a neutral grey or black. Accordingly any one color will form grey or, as we may say, willneutralize, or becomplementary to a mixture of the other two. Thus red will form grey with green; blue with orange, and yellow with violet. Accordingly if there is too much red in the dye-bath, it can be killed by the addition of a little green; and vice versa. The same is true with the other complementary colors. If this simple rule be kept clearly in mind, most of the problems of matching colors and of getting pleasant and harmonious shades can be worked out easily. It is chiefly a matter of practice, and perseverance.