12/06/2026
I thought this was so interesting!
Magenta isn’t on the color spectrum. How do we see it?
Scientists have learned that, when the human brain sees red and violet waves, it invents a new colour – halfway between the two colours. Magenta has no wavelength attributed to it, because it is really a bridge between red and violet. Instead, our brains blend these two extremes to fill the gap in the spectrum, making magenta.
Magenta is a phenomenon that illustrates our brain’s innate tendency to make sense of colour. So, the next time you use a tube of Permanent or Quinacridone Magenta, or see its red-violet hues splashed across a canvas, remember that the colour you are seeing is in fact a construct of your mind. (WN)
Insight from Lauren Ann Seel
