8/6/2019 Colour Introduction

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Understanding Colour

Colour influences our every waking moment and it can also pervade our dreams. There is colour indaylight. You see it in the sky and in landscapes, in nature, in our skin, hair and eyes. All-encompassing in our daily lives, colour is sometimes consciously, but mostly unconsciously taken forgranted. Curiously it goes unnoticed by the majority of us. Its influence affects us emotionally,making things warm or cold, provocative or sympathetic, exciting or tranquil.

Colour is light and light is a form of energy. It is measured in wavelengths.Sunlight consists of theentire electromagnetic spectrum. The human eye is sensitive to light which lies in a very small regionof the electromagnetic spectrum. This "visible light" corresponds to a wavelength range of 400 - 700nanometres (nm) and a colour range of violet through to red. We are not capable of "seeing"radiation with wavelengths outside the visible spectrum. The visible colours from shortest to longestwavelength are: violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. Ultraviolet radiation has a shorterwavelength than the visible violet light. Infrared radiation has a longer wavelength than visible redlight. White light is a mixture of the colours of the visible spectrum.

Colour is pigment and the colour of a pigment is the colour of the light it reflects.

Colour is a sensation. The sense of sight functions only when light reaches the eye.Very simply, theeye is a ball with a hole in front. The hole is called your pupil. Light comes through the pupil andsplashes on the rods and cones of your retina. There, the light causes a chemical reaction. Opticnerves carry information about the light to your brain.The optic nerve connects your eyes to yourbrain. It understands the chemical reaction and carries a message to your brain.

When we say "colour" we are often talking about hue. It is the component of colour we talk aboutmost. It indicates whether a colour looks red, green, blue, yellow, orange, etc.

Saturation represents how pure a colour is. For example the brown of a chocolate bar at 90% cocoacontent (high saturation)is a deeper brown than a milk chocolate bar (low saturation).

Brightness tells us how strong a colour is. For example, the sun has a high brightness, while abirthday candle has a low brightness. Colours like whites and yellows have a high brightness. Colourslike browns and greys have a medium brightness. Colours like black have a low brightness.

Colour enriches our world and our perception of it. A colourless world is inconceivable. Colourprovides certain information. We stop at red traffic lights; we identify the ripeness of fruit andvegetables by its colour. By the same token, we identify flowers, birds, animals and the local footballteam. Colour helps us to distinguish and diagnose illness, anger and fear.

Our colour preferences are keys to buried emotions. This is important when it comes topsychotherapy. Many therapies are based on the properties of colours.