New to the board

I thought black was all colors and white was the lack of color?

Maybe I have it backwards. It wouldn't be the first time.
It depends on how you view it. White light includes all of the visible color spectrum. In order to see the color white the visible light needs to be reflected back. Colors change by what colors of light are absorbed by the object reflecting back the visible bands in the colors that we see.

Black absorbs all of the light in the visible spectrum, visible spectrum zero = black.

White absorbs none of it, therefore it appears as white because of the color reflection in the visible spectrum.
 
Black is the absence of color in the additive process (like when you "add" color by shining colored light together), white is the absence of color in the subtractive process (like when you "take away" color by putting chemicals down that only reflect a certain portion of the spectrum back, like in painting). The reverse is also true, white is all colors in the additive, and black is all colors in the subtractive.
 
Back
Top