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Color Paints a Beautiful Picture
September is an interesting time of year. It is a month of transitions. Summer is coming to a close yet, some days the air is still warm. School is back in session so there is more work to do. The same is true with the season. The colors of summer are bright and lovely. The same is true of fall colors. Fall colors tend to be more rustic and subdued.
With the changes in seasons and the changes in colors it got me thinking about the different colors. With any discussion about colors it almost always begins with the colors black and white. The colors black and white have been debated for years. According to scientists black is the absence of color. If you were to ask a child or an artist they might say that white is not a color. Are black and white colors?
One way to go about answering this question is to think of the color generated by the television. The question then becomes are black and white really colors when generated by light? The answer may actually surprise you. Again, the color black is the absence of all true color. When a room is completely black, there is no light. When people need to develop photographs they go into a dark room where there are no protons of light, meaning there is no color. On the other hand, white is simply the opposite of black. White is the blending of all color and therefore, is in fact a color.
When we seek to find an explanation we can look to the sun. Sunlight contains all the colors on the color spectrum. A great example of this is a beautiful rainbow. When the atmosphere conditions are perfect the light rays are then blended to create color.
Speaking of color perhaps Crayola is the most famous for manufacturing color. On March 31, 2017 (National Crayon Day), Crayola made a somewhat shocking announcement saying they would be retiring the yellow color of dandelion. They added they would be sending dandelion on a retirement tour of all his favorite places. I have no idea what that means. Needless to say, this news surprised many people causing them to leave comments on Facebook over dandelion’s retirement. One person voiced how they hoped to buy dandelion singles before it retired. According to the Associated Press, this is the first time that Crayola has removed a color from a box of 24.
With all this talk about a color retiring I was interested in knowing how many colors have been retired in the past. In 1990 it was the first time that Crayola retired colors. A total of 8 colors were inducted into the Crayola Hall of Fame. The colors included maize, lemon yellow, blue gray, green blue, orange red, orange yellow, and violet blue. I’m assuming the reason for the retirement of these colors was to make room for new colors, because soon after 8 new colors were added. They were wild strawberry, royal purple, teal blue, dandelion, fuchsia, cerulean, jungle green and vivid tangerine.
Again in 2003 a similar thing happened as a result of the Crayola centennial celebration. The colors named mulberry, teal blue, blizzard blue, and mint magic were retired. For the next century wild blue yonder, jazz berry jam, mango tango, and inch worm were the newest Crayola colors.
Well, there is about to be one more exciting change. In 2009 a chemistry professor at Oregon State University named Mas Subramanian discovered a new blue pigment. The blue pigment discovered was the first in 200 years. Therefore, this new pigment became the very inspiration for a new blue color crayon. Now that Crayola has the color, they need everyone’s help to find the perfect name. Go to the Crayola.com to share your naming ideas.
The ideas of colors have always intrigued me. They are so beautiful and yet colors are a way to express myself and my creativity. More than that, colors can let people find their own voice. In addition with the “new blue” color art projects will have a whole new twist to them. Have fun creating your new art projects.
