Abstract
We studied the relationship between color afterimages and complementary colors. The hues of afterimages of 24 inducer hues, uniformly distributed over the rgb color circle, were measured by an iterative method of adjustment. The judgment of equality of hue of the afterimage and a synthesized patch was effectively judged at the moment immediately after the switch-off of the inducer, when the synthesized patch went through any number of iterative adjustments. The two patches—both phenomenally present, but only one optically presented—appeared to the left and right of a fixation mark that was fixated throughout the whole procedure. Thus, both patches were present in eccentric vision. The hues of afterimages were found to be quite different from the hue of the complementary of the inducer. Almost one half of the color circle (orange to chartreuse) leads to afterimage hues in a narrow region of purples. This implies that color circles based on diametrically opposed inducer–afterimage hues are necessarily inconsistent. Yet, perhaps surprisingly, the relation between primary and afterimage hues is still approximately an involution (they are reciprocally related).
Highlights
If one intently fixates a colored blotch for a while, one becomes aware of a differently colored blotch on extinguishing the inducing stimulus
Our results indicate that most afterimages do not correspond to the supplementaries of the inducers
What is perhaps most striking in the present findings is that there is only one unique pair that corresponds to supplementary colors and is at the same time reciprocal
Summary
If one intently fixates a colored blotch for a while, one becomes aware of a differently colored blotch on extinguishing the inducing (primary) stimulus. Artists routinely use the afterimage (Quiller, 1989) intentionally in order to find the color that is “complementary” (a word with various, mutually distinct meanings) to the inducer These complementaries tend to have opposite affective connotations (Albertazzi, Koenderink, & van Doorn, 2015), such as warm–cool, so they have important functions in the art of composition. Any color allows of infinitely many “complementaries,” defined as colors that are coplanar (in CIE XYZ space, say) with the inducer and the (arbitrarily assigned) “achromatic direction,” but of a distinct dominant wavelength (Koenderink, 2010; Wyszecki & Stiles, 1967) It is an awkward concept, as it refers to a fictitious and phenomenological object (the achromatic direction), that ill fits the fully objective nature of colorimetry and varies considerably between observers (Witzel, Valkova, Hansen, & Gegenfurtner, 2011).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
