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PY154
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PY35
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PY184

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PY110,
PY150

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PY129 PY35.D
PG36

GE
PY43
PG7 OLIVE PO20
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PG17
TURQUOIS

†PO49
PG18
[Link] PO73
BROWN

RED
RU
PG26
PG50 PB36.T PBr7 BU [Link] †PO48
PR188
CYAN ♂V PR101
GRAY PR108
MAROON
E COLO S

PB35
R

PR179 PR254
†PB33
PB15 PB27 PV19 PV19γ
PV23
DG

PB60 PV16 †PR88

”E

PB28 PR122
OL

PB86
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PV15.R
“C

PB29 PV14
PV15.B PV49
UE

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INDIGO cc 2023 Peter T. Donahue

MAGENTA NK
@[Link]
BASED IN SCIENCE
•The hue angles and
chroma scale for pigments
are defined by CIECAM02, a PURPLE
color appearance model that
accounts for viewing context and
which is recommended for judgement of
surface colors by Bruce MacEvoy.
•Edge color circuits show the lines traced through
CIECAM02 by the two spectral “edge color” series, which encompass purely “warm” and
“cool” colors. Hues centered in these loops (blues and oranges) are the safest for CVD
accessibility. Greens & pinks are neither warm nor cool.
•Color names around the ring reflect the most frequent basic color categories perceived
and named by English speakers, based on the research of Mylonas & MacDonald. Iʼve also
marked approximate centroids of some frequently used names for high- or low-chroma
THE COLORDISK
variations: cyan, indigo, magenta, maroon, brown, and olive. Version 7.1
•Artist’s pigment hue/chroma positions are based on Bruce MacEvoyʼs average
spectrophotometer readings of watercolors (except PB86). By Peter T. Donahue -- cc 2024. This artist tool may be
USE THIS RESOURCE TO used, altered and reproduced freely, but derivative
• communicate about color across disciplines and across colorspaces. works may not be copyrighted or sold. Learn more
• assess correct perceptual color complements, which are based in additive mixing, about this productʼs creative commons license here:
not pigment mixing, and are opposite each other on this wheel.
• plan harmonious palettes with gamut masking, a method described by James Gurney. [Link]
• estimate the chroma cost of mixing two paint pigments. Pigment mixing is not purely
subtractive, and mixing paths follow curves through the colorspace influenced by a bias CAVEAT: Be aware that the token colors presented on this ColorDisk will
toward the additive primaries (Red, Green, Blue-Violet). Use the TRILLIUM overlay to not correctly print on CMYK printers nor accurately display all colors on RGB
predict the hue/chroma curvature when two pigments are mixed. screens. This tool is NOT designed for color-matching or color identification.
 THE TRILLIUM

WHAT IS THE “TRILLIUM” ? HOW TO USE THE OVERLAY

Most artists know paint mixing is different from additive • Print this page on clear acetate.
mixing. But most also wrongly assume paints mix • Select a starting pigment and a target pigment. Center the overlay on the starting
subtractively. Paint mixture, or the integration of pigmentʼs dot on the ColorDisk. Do NOT rotate the Trillium; it should always be
different-colored pigments in a viscous medium, is a aligned the same way.
compromise between subtractive and optical mixing. • The lines of the Trillium pattern will then predict how the starting and target pigments
(Harald Küppers called it integrative mixing.) on the ColorDisk will interact, with a reasonable degree of accuracy. (No
two-dimensional figure can predict pigment mixture with complete accuracy, because
Named after the three-petaled flower it resembles, the different pigments have different scattering and absorption coefficients at every visible
Trillium is a pattern of curved and straight lines that wavelength; a pigmentʼs transparency/opacity will also influence its mixing path.)
emerges in predictive models of pigment mixing, such as • EXAMPLE: Center the Trillium on PG7 (Phthalo Green). The curved line connecting it
Kubelka-Munk theory and Scott Burnsʼ “weighted to [Link] (Burnt Sienna) tells us to expect these pigments to mix through a
geometric mean” approach. The patternʻs ability to near-neutral. If we follow the curve beyond the edge of the Trillium toward PR122
predict the bias of paint mixtures is not infallible, but is far (Quinacridone Magenta), the model predicts it will mix with PG7 to create low-chroma
more accurate than other methods that assume pigments violets and purples. Some quick mixing on your palette will bear this out.
mix on straight lines through a perceptual colorspace. • When centered on the ColorDisk, the Trillium will predict hue shifts when white is
added to a pigment. For example, cool reds will shift toward magenta as they lighten.

Don’t have acetate? you can print the ColorDisk and Trillium on regular printer
paper, and use a light table or bright window to see through the paper.
 GAMUT MASKS

EXAMPLES OF USE

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HOW TO USE THE GAMUT MASKS

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Use the Gamut Planner to explore and PURPLE

troubleshoot limited palettes.

Print this on cardstock, and cut out both “C” shapes.

to create handy “knobs,” cut the small tabs with a craft LIME
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knife and bend up. These knobs will make it easier to slide RE
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By arranging the shutters to obscure some areas of the
colordisk and reveal others, you can approximate the range

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of low-saturation hues and neutrals available when you

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choose specific pigments as “subjective primaries.”

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Through experimentation, you will discover that the
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Gamut Planner canʼt show all possible limited

palettes, but will show a greater variety of color
plans than the classical “color harmonies” you
may have learned in school.
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GAMUT MASKS

LET’S REDEFINE BASIC

COLOR TERMINOLOGY:
GAMUT
the range of colors that can be mixed from a given
set of primary colors.
PRIMARY COLOR
a color at the corner of a gamut.
SECONDARY COLOR
a color along the edge of a gamut.
TERTIARY COLOR
a color within the area of a gamut, not on the edge
or at the corner.
NEUTRAL
the color at the geometric center of a gamut.
COMPLEMENTS
a pair of colors which perceptually neutralize each
other within a given gamut; colored light stimuli that
when mixed neutralize to perceived white.

*Note that paint pigments with perceptually comple-

mentary colors may or may not mix to gray, the
perceptual neutral of the total gamut of human vision.
The quirks of how pigments mix should not limit the
way you define visual contrasts or harmonies.
PIGMENT LIST
HUE
02 AM0
2
AM OUR EX OUR EX
CIEC COL IND CIEC COL IND
98 PY35 Cadmium Lemon  ≈18 PV19 Quinacridone Rose
97 PY184 Bismuth Yellow 7 PV19 Quinacridone Violet
86 PY129 Copper Azo Green-Gold 1 PR122 Quinacridone Magenta
89 PY154 Benzimidazolone Yellow 266,299 PV15 Ultramarine Violet BS & RS
82 PY35 Cadmium Yellow  331 PV16 Manganese Violet 
77 PY150 Nickel Azo Yellow 334 PV49 Cobalt Violet Light 
? PY83 Disazo Yellow 299 PV23 Dioxazine Violet
63 PY110 Isoindoline Yellow 271 PB60 Indanthrone Blue
63 PY35 Cadmium Yellow Deep  245 PB27 Prussian Blue
≈64 PY43 Yellow Ochre 245 PB28 Cobalt Blue 
≈55 PY42 Gold Ochre 254 PB29 Ultramarine Blue
44 PO20 Cadmium Orange  237 PB15 Phthalo Blue
35 PO48† Quinacridone Orange 231 PB35 Cerulean Blue
37 PO73 Pyrrole Orange 201 PB36.T Cobalt Turquoise
PBr7 Natural Iron Oxides 223 PB33† Manganese Blue 
(Raw & Burnt Umber 217 PB16 Phthalo Turquoise
Raw & Burnt Sienna, 199 PG50 Cobalt Titanate Green / Teal 
Mars Violet / Caput Mortuum) 178 PG7 Phthalo Green
≈30 PR101 Venetian Red 177 PG18 Viridian
20 PR179 Perylene Maroon 180 PG26 Cobalt Green Dark 
24 PR108 Cadmium Red  139 PG17 Chromium Oxide Green
24 PR254 Pyrrole Red 162 PG36 Phthalo Green YS
22 PR209 Quinacridone Red
PBk7 Ivory/Bone Black
PW6 Titanium White PBk26 Spinel Black

THE COLORDISK LIME

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