A-Z Color Game

[BJtheDJ]

Gamboge

 

Gamboge is a deep yellow pigment derived from a species of tree that primarily grows in Cambodia. Popular

in east Asian watercolor works, it has been used across a number of media dating back to the 8th century.

 

Easy to transport and manipulate into a durable watercolor paint, Gamboge is notable for its versatility as a

pigment in how it has been used in paintings, printing of books, and garment dyes.

 

Though used in a number of different contexts, Gamboge is known not to react well with lime surfaces

therefore making it unsuitable for frescos and with white lead. For its popularity, Gamboge has not been

extensively identified in works of art from any time period; the few instances wherein art historians have

attempted to identify whether or not the pigment was used in a given work have confirmed its widespread

use and its longevity as staple within watercolor painting particularly in eastern art

[Beowulf25]

Harlequin

[Chelsea]

Icy White

[BJtheDJ]

Kelly Green

[BikerBoy]

Limerick

[BJtheDJ]

Maize

 

The shade maize or corn refers to a specific tone of yellow; it is named for the cereal of the

same name - maize (called corn in the United States and Canada).

 

In public usage, maize can be applied to a variety of shades, ranging from light yellow to a

dark shade that borders on orange, since the color of maize (the actual corn) may vary.

 

The first recorded use of maize as a color name in English was in 1861.

[Beowulf25]

Napier Green

[BJtheDJ]

Opera Mauve

 

Mauve is a pale purple color named after the mallow flower (French: mauve). The first use of the word mauve as a color was in 1796–98 according to the Oxford English Dictionary, but its use seems to have been rare before 1859. Another name for the color is mallow, with the first recorded use of mallow as a color name in English in 1611.

 

Mauve contains more gray and more blue than a pale tint of magenta. Many pale wildflowers called "blue" are more accurately classified as mauve. Mauve is also sometimes described as pale violet.

 

The first recorded use of opera mauve as a color name in English was in 1927

[Beowulf25]

Peach Puff

[BJtheDJ]

[HEADING=2]Quinacridone Magenta[/HEADING]

 

“Magenta” was a violet red aniline dye first produced in 1859. Originally called fuchsine by the French Chemist

François-Emmanuel Verguin who made and patented the dye, it was later renamed to commemorate the

Italian-French victory at the Battle of Magenta on June 4, 1859, which was near the Italian town of Magenta

in Lombardy.

 

In 1935, the family of quinacridone dyes were developed and the transparent intense violet-red pigment

Quinacridone Magenta was born shortly afterwards, being first produced in 1958. Winsor & Newton were the

first to make this colour for artists.

 

Quinacridone pigments are unique because they are strong colours whilst also being transparent, ranging in

hues from yellow to orange to red to violet. These are synthetic pigments which are considered high performing

due to their colour intensity and lightfastness, as a result they are used in industrial and automobile industries.

 

The discovery of the family of quinacridones would eventually lead to the first reliable and lightfast alternative

to the intense, but fugitive, alizarins. These days, though modern formulations of Winsor & Newton’s alizarin are

lightfast, they have a Permanency Rating of B (moderately permanent) whilst Quinacridone Magenta has a higher

Permanency Rating of A (permanent).

 

For a colour so renowned for its’ intensity, there is a surprising fact about Magenta: it is not on the light spectrum.

So, if it isn’t there, how can we see it? The answer lies in how we see light. When our brain sees waves of light from

two ends of the spectrum, red and violet, scientists have learned that our brain invents a new colour for us,

halfway between the two colours. Magenta has no wavelength attributed to it, unlike all the other spectrum

colours, because it is really a bridge between colour; it was invented by our minds to address a perceived gap.

 

The light spectrum doesn’t need to fill every gap, but obviously the human mind wants to make sense of colour,

and a part of that process of making sense of colour created magenta.

[Beowulf25]

Roman Silver

[BJtheDJ]

Seance

[BikerBoy]

Turquoise

[BJtheDJ]

Ultra Pink

[BikerBoy]

Viridian