It is found that equal parts of the primary colors red, yellow, and blue make neutral grey. Any binary color plus a primary color makes grey. For instance, a binary green, which is made of the two primaries yellow and blue, added to a primary red produces grey.
In the same way, a binary orange, which is a combination of primary red and yellow, added to blue makes grey.
COLOR CIRCLE
For explanation of this “Color Circle” see [page 50]
A binary violet, which is primary red and blue, added to yellow makes grey.
Colors may be softened or greyed by adding a little black or brown dye or by adding the complementary color. A bright green, for instance, is softened either by adding a little black or brown or the complement of green, which is red.
Dyes are mixed in much the same manner as paints and it is necessary to know the action of one color upon another. Especially must one know how grey is produced so as not to produce this effect when such a result is undesirable and yet avoid too vivid combinations. In mixing dyes both brown and black are valuable to tone down the clear colors. There need be no fear of producing a muddy color by adding black or brown dye to the colors, as is produced by adding black paint, because the black dye is made up of particles of other colors.