Thinking in Color

Picture the contrast red and blue create when they are placed side by side. Imagine blue again, only this time paired with another tone of blue. Have you decided how much gray to mix in to create that tone? When you have, picture blue, your blue tone, and two additional tints or shades of blue next to one another. In what order should they be placed? As what shapes? This is very difficult to do and can lead to an enormous mess without some planning.


And that's why it's helpful to 'sketch' out a draft onto a digital medium whenever creating complex images based on contrast or color. For this particular color project I chose to use Flash MX. It was very useful in ensuring variety, aesthetics, and as a tool for observing personal preference.

Colors of the Moon (as viewed from Earth)

The term 'blue moon' can mean one of two things: a fairly uncommon occurrence where a full moon emerges twice in the same month, or like the phrase suggests, the actual blue tinting of the moon. Depending on where one lives, there is a greater chance of witnessing an actual blue moon, rather than a second full moon. This is the case in large polluted cities, areas prone to forest fires, and in areas of volcanic activity. Suit and ash particles from pollution and smoke tend to deposit high into the Earth's atmosphere, and as a result can cause the moon to appear blue. The moon can take on a red hue as well - a common attribute of lunar eclipses. During an eclipse, the moon remains visible due to residual (remaining) light deflected towards it from the Earth's atmosphere. This light is primarily from the red part of the light spectrum, and thus tints the moon red, and sometimes even brown. Finally, the moon appears orange more in the Fall than during any other time of the year, because it is celebrating Halloween (credit for the bad joke sited below). The actual reason for this is the moon's trajectory path. During Fall months, the moon stays low to the horizon, and therefor its light has to travel through more atmosphere than usual. As a result, blue, green, and purple light is heavily scattered by the time it reaches our eyes, and we are left with an orange moon in the sky.

sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/07/30/blue.moon/index.html
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20031103/redmoon.html
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/kids_space/orangemoon.html (bad joke)

Blue...Blue!

The second project of our color mixing unit had us investigate beyond the mixing of primary colors. White, black, and gray tones were now to be added to a primary color of our choice, in order to achieve new hues, tints, shades, and tones beyond the basic color wheel. Though we were supposed to select the primary color we most disliked, I was not impartial to either three, and therefor chose blue, because it happened to be the color of my shirt that day. Blue was an interesting color to work with, because it is relatively darker than red and yellow, steering me to mix three times as many tints/tones as I did shades (9 step scale). In addition to the monochromatic scale, we were required to create an analogous scale and a complementary scale (the most difficult). Though it was tedious working with orange (complement of blue), the end result was fascinating to look at. The scale began blue, gradually transitioned into an olive green (the center), and finally changed into orange. It is not possible to witness such a gradual change in the natural world, which is why the project was worthwhile to me. Finally, there were several unexpected results on the analogous scale that displayed to me vibrant hues/tints of blue that I had thought were unachievable with the colors I chose.

Color Blindness

Does being color blind mean you can only see in black and white?

Although it is true that some color blind people are unable to perceive any color, complete color blindness (monochromacy) is the rarest form of color blindness (.00001% of cases), and it is therefor a misconception to think that those who are color blind can only see in black and white. In actuality, 99% of those with a color deficiency have Red-Green color blindness, and as its name suggests, they have trouble distinguishing red and green hues. The next common form of color blindness, although rare in itself, is Blue-Yellow. Interestingly enough, around 12% of the population experiences some form of color blindness, the majority of which are male (24:1). Although there is no current treatment for the condition, it is for the most part hereditary, and those with it have a low amount or complete absence of one of the three color sensory receptors (red, blue, green). It may not be entirely bad news to be color blind, as a loss of color perception often leads to better motion detection.

sources:
http://www.toledo-bend.com/colorblind/aboutCB.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_blind