Have you ever wondered why you prefer one colour and dislike others? Have you ever noticed that your mood and actual emotions play a role in your colour preferences? Scientists revealed many years ago that we give strong unconscious reactions to different colours, for example some of them give us an energy boost or others calm us down.
During my teenage years I had a strong desire to be an artist. I had an aunt, who was a fine artist, she painted wonderful paintings. She was inspired by music and many of her paintings are actually an illustration of a certain music (she used to have her exhibitions with a walkman under the canvas - so that visitors can hear the music she depicted).
I often visited her, and I soon realised that - despite the numerous hours I had spent on different arts, drawing, painting, sculpturing etc. classes - I am not talented enough to choose arts as my profession. It can be a hobby, even a very serious one, but will not do as a way of living...
But my passion for colours remained. I remember that I was theoretically "hunting" for The Elements of Colour by Johannes Itten or for The Theory of Colours by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (yes, the poet was also dealing with colours!). These two books were sort of cornerstones for me when I started to dig myself into this topic.
Later, when I became a psychologist I learned a lot about the symbolic, psychologic and spiritual aspects of colours. There are a lot of interesting theories about the background of our color preference. Maybe the first author in this field was Max Lüscher, his book The Lüscher Color Test was translated to 7 languages. It was quite a revelation for me when I first read it, I am using this test quite often in personnel selection or as part of different development programmes. Another interesting system is Dewey Sadka's Color System. Both rely on colour preferences and give a valid profile based on this information. So with a little exaggeration: choose your colours and I tell you who you are! :-)
I love strong colours, I sense the good vibes radiating from them. I am amazed for example by the wonderful gothic windows or the spiritual mandalas monks form from coloured sand. My friends say that similarly to "absolute hearing" I have an absolute vision, because I can remember the exact shade and saturation of a colour. (My friend used to buy her curtains and carpets with me, because she knew I would precisely remember the colour of her sofa and other pieces of furniture. :-)
Every following part of this series I will introduce one colour to you, I will share the history, the symbolism and the psychological meaning of it. I hope that by the end you will see why I am passionate about this topic.
So I wish you a colourful and bright journey! Stay tuned!
Following episodes you will find here:
Fiery Red
Cool Blue
Golden Yellow
Forest Green
Vivid Orange
Royal Purple
Sources of pictures
Oh, I am so excited about this series! I have been in-love with color since my mother introduced me to a multitude of arts, namely photography, when I was a child! I too found that much of the hand-crafted art was difficult for me to perform, but I found my passion in lighting for theatre, concerts, and music events.
I have a serious interest in learning how to utilize color in-concert with imagery and music to provide cathartic and therapeutic multimedia presentations. I am glad that you are providing some knowledge that will help me on my quest!
Thank you for this wonderful content!
I will definitely be following!
-@lightingnerd
oh you can perform wonderful things with lights. This is an art, too. Once I have seen a performance where they created special effects on the facade of a house. It was really magical! :-)
Thanks for the nice words!
Ahh yes, with projection mapping you can make objects disappear into the night, or buildings age and collapse on themselves. I've even seen mapping where they took the wire-frame model from the original blueprints of a structure, and created the illusion of transparency. But that's totally off-topic, haha!
:-)
Awesome and well written, Thanks for sharing @ksolymosi
Oh, this comment is funny! :-)
Is that you?
Ohhhh, first time there was a woman, now it's a man, that is obviously not you... :-D
I've heard that pastels, especially pink, painted on walls had a huge calming effect on prison inmates when tested.
Yes, that's true. Pastels are usually calming, for example a lot of surgery rooms are painted pastel green, which is also calming.
Pink is interesting, because if there is a lot of red in it, then it gives energy rather than takes it away. but there is a shade of it with a little blue and a lot of white that has a calming effect.
Sounds like a fuschia but with white, leaning toward purple almost. Interesting
Yes, one of the interesting things about colours that you can mix cold and warm shades from the very same colour. Eg. orange or yellow that are considered to be "warm" colours can also have cold shades. Amazing, really.
In respect to your last paragraph, i cant wait to know the history, symbolism and the psychological meaning of the colours
All right, please come back tomorrow for the first one! Many thanks for the encouragement! :-)
i will
Colour is the way of life. One who involves see the beauty.
:-)
Interesting read! Will look into the Luscher book for sure.
It is great I can truly recommend it. :-)