Deceit, thy name is yellow
Comments: 5
I’ve never been a big fan of the colour yellow. Lemons are fine, of course, and I love seeing them on the counter next to the blue of the Bombay bottle as I twist the lid off a bottle of tonic water. But I really only like Naples yellow — or at least I thought I did.
It turns out that the colour I’ve been calling Naples yellow (for years, and with a somewhat pompous air) may actually be Indian yellow. Although looking at that painted swatch of Indian yellow, I would swear it’s Naples yellow (and vice versa, come to think of it). It’s just a treacherous colour, really.
I think I’m switching my allegiance to Indian yellow, not least because it’s made from the urine of cows that have been fed mango leaves.
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Posted to General Rants • 2004.12.08 (Wed) • 01:07
Comments
Posted by Raff 2004.12.08, 02:57
Very interesting article on colour, I agree completely! Im not very good with colours but I can appreciate.
On a side note the front page of your web-site does not display correctly under IE, I personally prefer Safari and Firefox; however I was at school.
I have had the same problem before, and I belive it was linked to floating the sidebar and the order that the sidebar and the main content showed up. We have a very similar layout, so feel free to take a look at my CSS. (I like your desing better though!)
Posted by Christopher Holland 2004.12.08, 05:51
Hey, I already knew about the cows and mango leaves reference. Now I’m gonna have to find my fix of useless knowledge someplace else. Seriously, though, if you are even the slightest bit interested in color and its origins you should read the book Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay (non-affiliated Amazon link).
If you enjoy travel and exotic places you will also enjoy the book, as it is basically a journal of her travels to find the historical sources for various colors. Very fascinating.
Posted by em 2004.12.08, 12:38
okay..naples yellow, indian yellow…they re fine and lovely colours but im more partial with your earlier reference to the blue…ah bombay, how i love theeeeee.
Posted by Paul 2004.12.08, 23:07
I read somewhere once that Frank Zappa’s fave color was Naples Yellow. Just to add my 2 cents of trivia.
BTW I like the “non-affiliated” Amazon link above. “I’m not an Amazon pimp. I’m just sayin’…”
Posted by dev 2004.12.17, 19:48
Well, be sure to get the real (physical) deal before you worry too much about misplaced colour allegiances. It’s particularly difficult to get a match in colour spectra between subtractive (swatches) and additive (comp monitors, tv’s etc). Not only that, but the colour will likely look different under various light sources.
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