blog for the color curious
Here are the answers to the Blue in the Face Matching Game in the form of color chips for each of the skin colors. The colors range from the warmest blues such as Meanie Blue to the coolest blues such as Beauregard Blue; from the most saturated, Blue Man Blue to the least saturated, Walters Blue; and from the darkest, Warhol Blue to the lightest, Krishna Blue. As you can see, its easy to find many variations of one color – and color names can come from anywhere!
I read recently that our different races are all the colors of the earth – the dirt, the soil, the clay, the sand. Since there is no blue earth, characters with blue skin seem unnatural and other worldly. Here’s a fun matching game on blue skinned folks seen in shows, movies, TV, artwork, and comic books. Note that I drew the line at humanoids. No Cookie Monster or Blue dogs. (You can tell that we watch lots of science fiction in this house! ) Match the photos to the list below and then let me know if I missed your favorite blue face, real or imaginary.
A. Andy Warhol, 1967 self-portrait
B. Beast, from X-Men 3
C. Aayla Secura, from Star Wars 2
D. Aelo, international performer
E. William Wallace, from Braveheart
F. Smurfette, the only female smurf
G. Taureg tribesman, from the Blue Men of the Sahara
H. Commander Shran, Andorian from Star Trek
I. Blue Lady, Picasso
J. Grand Admiral Thrawn, from the Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy
K. Obama, poster by Shephard Fairey
L. Blue Man, international performer
M. V’Sal, Bolian barber on Star Trek
N. Lord Krishna, Hindu God
O. Mystique, from X-Men I
P. Fred Walters, sideshow star
Q. Blue Meanie, from Beatles Yellow Submarine
R. The Amazing Bobinski, from Coraline
S. Pa’u Zotah Zhaan, from Farscape
T. Dr. Manhattan, from Watchmen
U. Violet Beauregard, from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
My mother’s favorite color is blue. She collects blue glass bottles and displays them in the windows of our house in Ohio. She prefers cobalt blue but all varieties of blue make it onto the shelves.
Over the years many of the bottles were accidently broken – one time a whole window’s worth came tumbling down! – but Mom was always very philosophical about the loss. I’m sure she feels some sadness over the breakage but she always quickly forgives the breaker.
I just spent a lovely week with my mom and dad and I want to thank my mom for teaching me to accept everything and forgive everything and thank my very gregarious dad for being so curious about everything.
Blue: A History of a Color by Michel Paotoureau is a beautiful book. Since I am not buying anything new this year, I bought it used for a reasonable amount on Amazon. Gorgeous!
Since summer ends this weekend, let’s look at some of the color forecasts for the Fall.Â
Even though I don’t believe that color forecasts are always accurate, it is fun to look at them and find colors that you might like to try in your work.
This Fall’s Pantone Colors are a mixture of deep earths, soft earth pastels and a few lightened up rainbow colors.Â
Its not an especially smashing group of colors but the idea is not to use them all together but to use a few of them to add fresh flavors to stale color combinations.
In addition to black and gray (the perennial neutral favorites for fall and winter) the colors that I like the best for this season are Carafe - a variation of last years dark chocolate brown, Stargazer - a deep peacock blue, and Dusk – a slightly muted periwinkle blue.
The combination of darks and pastels in stripes and prints is still a popular trend. You might want to try some new pairings; Chili Pepper with Green Moss, Purple Wine with Deep Ochre, Stargazer with Shale Green.
CAUS is a member organization. You have to be a member to get the advance forecasts but they publish the current forecast for free on their website.
 The Color Association of US fall colors for interiors and men’s, women’s, and youth’s fashions include more colors than the Pantone forecast. Â
Go to “Color Trends” and then open the “Interactive Color Forecast.” The site allows you to look at the colors in three textures and to play with creating different groupings of colors.
The forecasts are fun to look at but don’t depend on them for creating your fall palette. Use them to give you a feeling for current color trends. And use them for inspiration.
Mixing ExerciseÂ
Clay is on sale for .99 at Michaels this week. Buy some Premo Cobalt Blue, Zinc Yellow, Fuchsia and try to make colors to match the forecast with just these three primaries plus white. Here are some formulas that will get you close.Â
Note that one unit can be any size you like. The samples I made are all close to 16 units. I like to use a 1/2″ square or circle cutter to cut the units from a sheet of clay rolled out on thickest setting of the pasta machine.
You will want to tweak these colors to work with your fall palette. Have fun mixing and matching these new colors with your old favorites!
Formulas for Pantone Colors
Carafe: 3 cobalt, 8 z.yellow, 6 fuchsia
Burnt Ochre: 1/8 cobalt, 3 z.yellow, 5 fuchsia, 8 white
Chili Pepper: 0 cobalt, 3 z.yellow, 10 fuchsia, 2 white
Stargazer: 14 cobalt, 1.5 z.yellow, 1 fuchsia
Shale Green: 5 cobalt, 3 z.yellow, 1/4 fuchsia, 9 white
Dusk: 4 cobalt, 0 z.yellow, 2 fuchsia, 11 white
Green Moss: 2 cobalt, 6 z.yellow, 2.5 fuchsia, 6 white
Lemon Curry: 0 cobalt, 16 z.yellow, 1/16 fuchsia
Cashmere Rose: 1/2Â cobalt, 1/2 z.yellow, 4 fuchsia, 12 white
Purple Wine: 1/2 cobalt, 0 z.yellow, 13 fuchsia, 3 white
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