Written By Mary Nunn, Strathroy Working Artist, Educator & Mentor
Blue is a cool colour, swimming pools are a blue/green, try and imagine diving into a red pool? In the early 1900’s, pink was considered a stronger colour and males were dressed in pink and white; now we associate blue with males.
Blue skies, blue water, blue eyes (10% of population) blue jeans, may be the most favourite colour in the world. There so many variations of blue, from cool blue green to blue violet a whole spectrum to choose from.
There are 3 distinct forms to describe a colour; Hue or Colour, Value, a scale describing the colour from very light to dark and Chroma, which denotes its brightness/ intensity or its muteness.
Cobalt Blue, would be considered a central or mid blue colour, not to light, nor to dark. At one time blue was a rare and valuable colour, an artist in the Renaissance would have a Patron, who would help the artist get access to these pigments.
Some older ones still in use today, are Ultramarine, Lapis Lazuli, Prussian blue, Manganese, has been in use for Centuries. In recent decades, more stable and permanent colours have been developed i.e. Phthalocyanines. Manganese has been removed from use for the artist, different jurisdictions in the world, will not allow certain pigments onto their shelves.
In the mid-eighties, there was a trend among people to discover which colours suited them best, according to “Season” author Carole Jackson, who helped you determine it.
Earlier than that, clothing manufacturers produced garments for the specific season; for example, greens and browns predominated in the fall. Now, there is a greater variety of colours, transcending seasonality. A European council decides which colors will be produced two years in advance. This affects fabrics, thread, clothing, art work produced, and furniture.
Navy Blue is a colour of strength and integrity, the Navy/Military and Police Uniforms are a Conservative colour. Every politician of every stripe has a navy-blue suit (except Mark Carney).
The bad guys wear black, so to avoid being seen it would be better to wear indigo blue; there is an indigo plant, but in paintings it is usually a mixture of blue and black.
The thin blue line; blue blood (European royalty, it was believed that they had blue blood because of their light skin, they would not have gone out in the sun); the editors use blue pencils. Food specials are plated on a blue plate, so the food looks less appetizing, quenches the appetite. Blue and white pottery, is a feature from Japan, the UK and the Netherlands and some Slavic Countries.
I feel blue, sad, blue moon, a steak request could be ‘blue’. Flowers can be blue, delphiniums and blue bonnets; gems stone, turquoise, sapphires are highly valued, blue murder, blue jays, birds and team, blue bayou, Jet Blue, Blue Danube. Oddly, blue appears rarely in our foods: blue corn and blueberries is all I could think of.
