NOTES ON COLOR AND MOOD:

All of the vast world of color which so greatly beautifies our world, and upon which I thrive as an artist, is basically boiled down to a perception in the brain.  Recall science class, where we learned about the color spectrum and the varying frequencies and wavelengths of light in it.  Violet is the shortest wave, and Red is the longest.  A Red object is not intrinsically red, but rather, has a molecular make up, such that it absorbs all of the light waves except Red, which are reflected off that object, and seen, then absorbed and perceived by our brains.  Small wonder then, that color has the power to influence our moods and our very lives... 

Never underestimate that power.  Never take color for granted.  It has the potential to serve you well.  An example of this power:  in the early twentieth century, psychologists studied inmates who became more calm and docile when their quarters where painted an imperceptably subtle shade of pink.

Color Psychology has been studied more formally for the last hundred years or so, but people have probably been making personal observations about color and its effect, since the begining of humankind.  There are many universal associations connected with each color and some associations are cultural .  (For example, in Western cultures, we wear black as a symbol of grief, for funerals.  In Eastern cultures, white may be worn to funerals as a sign of purity of  the deceased in the afterlife.)  There are also specific personal associations. (My room was soft warm yellow as an infant, and today, that color makes me feel cozy and secure.)

 

A TOUR OF THE COLOR WHEEL:

Red has classic associations:  it is the color of the lifesource itself, blood.  It's also the color of fire and passion.  Recently, a magazine article reported to women that wearing red could be an aid in attracting men.  The study showed men a group of women's photographs, and the women identified by the men as the most attractive were the ones wearing red in the photos. 

Of course, not everyone's association with Red is the same.  That's where the personal factor  comes in.  Someone who's been traumatized by seeing a lot of blood at a young age would have their own connection to the color red, and, most likely, it would be an uncomfortable one.  I know just such a person.

Orange has been found to have the same vibrational frequency as DNA, and is psychologically connected with vibrant health.  It has been shown to positively affect one's sense of well being. It is the combination of Red and Yellow, Life and Alertness. It's also worn by monks in several Eastern religions.

Yellow is the color of alertness.  A sign with a bright Yellow background will get anyone's attention.  Students wishing to attend better as they study would be smart to put some bright Yellow in their field of vision.

Green  The color of the season of abundance, summer.  Interior designers try to use some green in every room, for its balancing effect.  Green is the combination of Yellow and Blue:  of the conscious and the subconscious.

Blue is the color of the spirit and heart. (Interestingly, it is the color of blood which is not oxygenated and on its way back to the heart and lungs.)   Anyone wishing to know their own heart and subconscious mind better is well advised to surround themself with blue.

Purple is the color of royalty, principly, because purple dyes were rare and expensive in ancient times.  Purple is the combination of Red and Blue, of Body and Spirit.  It is known as a power color for women, probably because of its royal associations.

Brown:  The perfect blending of all colors, or of two complementaries... The most common color in our natural world... The color of soil. (Does it evoke our agrarian ancestors' urge to plant?)  Brown has a way of making people want to roll up their sleeves and get down to some hard work.  Anyone trying to be more productive should wear more brown.

These are but a few of the psychological properties associated with the main colors. (I included Brown because it deserves its own category by virtue of census.)  All colors are derived from the first six, the color wheel, or spectrum.  From the six basic colors, (plus black and white) an INFINITE number of other colors can be made.  (Get out your watercolor set and start mixing, if you don't believe me.) 

These countless combinations (of the basic colors) each have their own blend of pyschological associations.  It's fun to ponder, and also begins to explain why we are mysteriously drawn to some shades of a color, over others.

 

 NOTES ON STONE COLORS, AS RELATED TO STONES'  BENEFICIAL QUALITIES:

Many, though not all of the beneficial qualities assigned to various stones, are linked to the psychological properties of their respective colors.  It is thought that Blue stones have beneficial properties for the spirit and heart, similar to the effect of the color blue on the spirit and heart.  More on this later.

 

NOTES ON WEARING COLOR EFFECTIVELY: 

Have you ever known someone who got their hair highlighted, only to be dissappointed in the results?  Rather than giving them a youthful look, it made them look aged.  While most colorists are very good at matching hair color to skin tone, some miss the mark, or are just not well educated in color. 

After all, color is a rather broad subject, which  is only covered basically in most educational settings.  If you want to have a powerful ally in looking and feeling your best, make it your business to better understand color.

You probably learned about the color wheel.  The six basic colors were divided into WARM and COOL subcategories, right?  (Red, Orange & Yellow are WARM colors, while  Blue, Violet and Green are COOL colors.)  Well, here's what they didn't tell you:  EVERY COLOR HAS A WARM AND COOL VERSION OF ITSELF.  Remember this:  it will help you to look and feel your best.

For example, Red, while technically a warm color, can also have cool versions of itself.  Picture a firetruck, which is usually a warm orange red.  Now, picure a new red rubber ball, like kids use on the playground.  That is a much cooler form of the color red.  It actually has some blue in it.

This same principle applies to skin colors as well:  every skin color is either warm or cool, no matter what shade it is. People can appear to have the same skin color, but on closer examination, (look at the underside of the wrist) one person has cool undertones, and another has warm.  This is why some colors can make you look sicklly or sallow:  if you have warm undertones and wear a truly cool color, it will not agree with your coloring at all.

Further, if you take a look at individual color preferences, you'll probably discover that, for some reason, people's preferred pallettes are generally within the same families of colors as their skin undertones.  The noted color theorist, Johannes Itten, of the Bauhaus school in the early twentieth century, noted this in his classic book, The Elements of Color.  He wrote about how most of his painting students tended to favor certain color palettes in their work, and believed that people generally gravitate toward colors which flatter them.  Listen to your instincts about color, and they will steer you in the right direction a lot of the time.  Inform yourself on the subject of color, and you will make even better decisions.

For more reading on this subject, I recommend the classic book, Color Me Beautiful, by Carole Jackson.  It is a  timeless piece which will inform your color decision process and forever cure you of making bad personal color decisions, in the process, saving you a bundle of cash.