FROM HOT RED TO “BEIGE PARENTING,” SHADES, TINTS, AND HUES ARE CONSTANTLY WORKING HARD

by Edward M. Gómez, in dialogue with Daniel Wojcik, Alma Realm, Karen Kleber, Cathy Ward, Laura McManus, Jim McManus, Kate van Houten, and Margret Avery

Color, glorious color, we’re not through with you yet.

Last month, brutjournal took a close look at the character and allure of color in general and at the quirks and charms of various specific colors, too. (The jury is still out on brown. What is it about brown or its cousin many times removed — beige?)

We’re aware that assorted fields of scientific inquiry have their own approaches to color and that, over time, they have yielded valuable insights about this phenomenon and deepened our understanding of its complexity. Optics, of course, is one of those fields; so are chemistry, evolutionary biology, and even anthropology, among others. All of these areas of investigation have advanced our understanding of the nature and effects of color far beyond that which came with the British scientist Isaac Newton’s discovery, in the 17th century, of the visible spectrum of light.

Experimenting with a prism, Newton found that white light is composed of a range of colors; he went on to create the first color wheel to convey his findings. Among them: the revelation that all secondary colors — orange, purple, and green — can be produced by variously mixing the primary colors: red, blue, and yellow.

To explore our examination of color, click on any color swatch in the color grid that appears on the home page of brutjournal’s recent November 2022 issue. You’ll be linked to an article and photo essay related to that particular color; many of these texts include comments about specific colors from artists and other creative types.

Now, continuing that wide-eyed look at color’s character, expressive power, and impact, we have some more observations from our color specialists to share.