You’ve read what the title said…what are colors? That’s what I will be explaining today. You might also wonder, why the need to make a story about what colors are? Well, not many know what colors ACTUALLY are and even if you did know what they were, do you know what they were for others? Do you know that certain colors under the same name look different depending on the brand? I’m sure if you don’t pay attention in art class or don’t study up on things such as this, you may not know the answer to these questions, so that’s what I’m here for.
According to this link, Colors are when electromagnetic radiation hits a range of wavelengths that can be visible to the human eye. The wavelengths of radiation sets up a piece of the electromagnetic spectrum that is called the visible spectrum which can be observable by the human eye. Now, there is another answer about what colors are, which is on a more personal level to them, and I will go more in-depth in the next paragraph.
To some people, colors are not just colors to them. They have a much more personal connection that can stem from multiple, good or bad, experiences. It could be stirred up by a psychological or emotional response with people who have a certain association with colors, and just seeing a certain color or pattern can trigger a memory of it, whether good or bad. If they had a bad experience with a color, for example, light violet(lavender) they can be reminded of something important in their childhood home that got destroyed because of a fire, and cause them to in turn have a traumatic response to seeing the color. If they had a good association with a color, they might wear only that color or collect things with only that color because they love it so much. Though this doesn’t always mean it is always for those reasons, it could be because they have sensory issues, or the fact that one color can mean something completely different from one culture to another. Have you ever thought about how sometimes when you have a color on a project, it looks different after a few minutes working on it? I might have an answer for you in my next paragraph!
If you use colors often, you might notice that certain colors look different even though they use the same name! There could be two reasons this happens: colors have something called undertones. Undertones cause the color to look warmer(yellow, orange & red undertones) or colder(purple & blue undertones). Color theory plays into the next reason, which is that the color depends on the surroundings. For example, a neutral color looks lighter against a dark background and vice versa with dark on light.
To me colors are important for multiple reasons, but one of the ways color helps me is when I organize by color. There’s a lot more that can be said about what colors are that I didn’t add to any of the paragraphs, like going into more detail about how it’s possible to see part of the electromagnetic spectrum(colors) and not the other parts of it. If you want a more detailed explanation of what colors are, you can check PANTONE to get an answer to your question.
