Color Commentary
Art
work is typically colored by imitation of life, personal preference,
materials available, and knowledge of the way people will react. This page is meant as an idea starter, reflecting a subjective viewpoint. It includes descriptions that are not sight-dependent, as it was originally crafted
for those who have never experienced optical vision.
Common colors - These descriptions and the remarks that follow do not reflect how I choose or relate to color on a conscious level. They are simply descriptive notions:
Black - Empty space, total commitment.
Purple
- Laughing. You cannot have everything purple all the time, because it
would be like laughing all the time without talking, sleeping, or
eating.
Blue - Openness. Blue has a number of important distinct references in day to day life.
Green
- Physical life itself.
Chlorophyll is the substance that gives a
plant the ability to turn energy from the sun into life-supporting
sustenance, and chlorophyll is green. Mammals are not green, with very
rare exception.
Yellow - Warmth.
Orange
- In the U.S., it is nearly inseparable from the fruit. I would go
along with that. Very strong, tart, with an element of surprise.
Red - Suddenness.
White - Ice.
Brown - the very essence of the physical earth.
About skin color: People describe other people as black, white, etc. These
have nothing to do with the descriptions above, and are
abbreviations for obvious contrasts in a range of variations.
Variations on a theme: Combining
colors to create a new color provides something that resembles the
elements that went into it. However, if you do not utilize optical
vision, I think each color will have its own separate definition. While
I would see lavender as a combination of white and purple, others might
benefit more from knowing it as a light perfume. While I might know
the color avocado as it relates to something I eat or an appliance
choice from a certain era, someone else may gain more from experiencing
it as profound calm.
Color matching and clashing: Some colors can create discomfort when experienced alongside
each other. This phenomenon is sometimes used to draw attention,
especially in advertising. Fashion trends often suggest keeping certain colors
of clothing together or apart. Colors in nature cannot typically mismatch, but much of what
people see is man-made, and thus, trickier to coordinate. Color
preferences are personal and cultural and can change over time.
Something to explore: There is a lot you can learn about colors in nature, ancient sources of color, modern color creation, and even how color exists! Specific
minerals or plants can be processed to bring out desired colors and to
put them in usable forms, which is how paint is made. It takes me much longer to find colors I like when I work on the computer than it does when I paint. I use a lot of phthalocyanine blue in my paintings, and when I paint, I play and learn a lot by using and mixing different colors.
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