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Psychology of Colour – Green

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Oasis, Art Photograph, Hugo Richardson

Green symbolises life, fertility and resurrection.  Green is calming.  The colour can help put people at ease in a new place.

God said, “Let the earth grow green with vegetation, plants yielding seed and trees bearing fruit, each according to its kind.” And it was so.  The earth turned green with vegetation, plants yielded seeds and trees bore fruit, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning; it was the third day.  Genesis 1:11-13

Lake Wood, Northumberland, Art Photograph, Hugo Richardson

Space and interior designers often use green plants and green colours in public spaces, restaurants and hotels.

Buildeo is an interior design company with clients that include Holiday Inn, Hilton and Formby Hall Golf Resort.  Their advice for hotel lobby colours is green colour based.

Customers will feel connected to nature with green.  The addition of a fountain, waterfall and unusual green plants evoke a sense of peace and tranquillity in a space.

Thames Sluice, Henley-on-Thames, Art Photograph, Hugo Richardson

The awards that have been given at the Chelsea Flower Show this year have themes of water and green plants – particularly the ‘Ecotherapy Garden’ .

Yellow and reds (see past blogs) generate feelings of stimulation.  Red and yellow is attention grabbing, can stimulate hunger and motivate speed.  Not surprising that KFC, McDonalds and Burger King use the yellow and red pallet.

Green has many layers to it and a rich history.  Mixing blue and yellow produces green.  The word for green and blue in some languages is the same!

Ancient Egypt associates green with regeneration and rebirth.  Ancient Egyptian artists ground malachite for green pigment.  Malachite is a copper mineral and stalagmites and stalactites that are green have copper deposits mixed with the calcium carbonate.

Malachite was used by the Ancient Egyptians for tomb decoration, but this fell out of use over time as it oxidised and went black over time.

Ancient Romans use copper to make green pigment.  This was achieved by soaking copper plates in wine which made Verdigris – the colour found as patina on old metal.

Place de la Republique, Lille, France, Art Photograph, Hugo Richardson

Verdigris was used for mosaics and painting.  This technique for green production was used through the medieval period where monks would use this pigment to paint scenes in illuminated manuscripts.

During the Renaissance, plants began to be used to make paint.  However, the pigment from plants faded quickly.

Green is often associated with the Islamic religion, but this idea was only developed in the 12th Century.  In the Quran green is mentioned eight times, always in a positive sense, as a colour of vegetation, spring and paradise.

Michel Pastoureau, described as a ‘historian born in colour’, and a master of medieval images, symbols and colour has written about this.  He believes that in the 1100s green came to be seen as a unifying colour for the muslims.  Green became the sacred colour. That is why many copies of the Quran from the Middle Ages had green bindings, as they do today.

Michel Pastoureau has written a full book titled ‘Green – The History of a Colour – translated from the French by Jody Gladding.

Similarly, a great number of religious dignitaries wear green clothing. Muslims believe green is a “symbolism associated with paradise, happiness, riches, water, the sky and hope”.

In 1775 the Swedish chemist, Carl Wilhelm Scheele made green pigment with arsenite, a chemical compound of arsenic.  This was as deadly as it was vibrant.  The colour was used for curtains, art, clothing and toys.  It sickened people for decades and is thought to be a contributory factor in Napoleon’s death.  The wallpaper in the room where he was exiled contained Scheele’s green.

More positively, green is restful, soothing, cheerful and health giving.  Green is thought to relieve stress and help heal.  Those who have a green work environment experience fewer stomach aches.

Green landscape photography, available in different sizes, can have a positive impact upon a room.  Please call me with any questions with reference to images that may help the professional space within which you work.

Landscape, Goudhurst, Kent, Art Photograph, Hugo Richardson

Green is the colour of balance and harmony and can, therefore, be helpful in times of stress.

So many of us are exposed to the glare of electronic screens on a daily basis. Prolonged use of computers have been noted as having an aggravating impact on tinnitus.

If you expose yourself to green environments, research suggests this can lower blood pressure and heart rate.  If you click on this text area, you will see evidence that green stimulates recovery and relaxation and has a positive impact upon mental health.

Sulhampstead Cattle Bridge, Kennet Canal, Art Photograph, Hugo Richardson

Colour-chakra theory from Hindu scriptures adds green; strengthens bones and muscles, disinfects bacteria and virus, and relieves tension; used to treat malaria, back problems and blood pressure.

Goldstein asserts “under the influence of green (as with blue) light, time is likely to be underestimated.”  “Also, weights will be judged lighter.”

Theale Lagoon, Theale, Art Photograph, Hugo Richardson

Negative associations:

Boredom, stagnation, envy, blandness, enervation, sickness

 Positive Associations : (source: Envato Pty. Ltd.)

Health, hope, freshness, nature, growth, prosperity

hugo.richardson@image-memory.com

Tel.: 07476 343 777

Next week in the Psychology of Colour series – Pink

The Psychology of Colour – YELLOW

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Fields of Yellow from the Prehistoric Hill of the Uffington White Horse

Coldplay’s song ‘Yellow’ is about “Brightness, hope and devotion”, according to Chris Martin their lead singer.  He felt it reflected the mood of the band.  The lyric “I swam across, I jumped across for you” encompassed the devotion that the band members had for each other, the lyric supports a group motivational force.

So, ‘Yellow’ is regarded as a bright, happy, warm colour – ‘Mr Happy’ is coloured yellow, for example, as is ‘Mr Brave’.

As a pigment, yellow has been used in painting since the beginning of time.  Animals depicted in the caves of Lascaux in Southwestern France were painted yellow by Cro-Magnon artists in about 23,000 BC.

The word for the colour comes from geolu, Old English, meaning yellow or yellowish.

The yellow sun is worshipped by many cultures, with a quality recognised as being imperishable, eternal and indestructible.  In Egyptian art, anything portrayed in yellow usually held this connotation.

Our sun is four and a half billion years old and essential for growing our food.  Stars, like our sun, burn for 10 billion years so our sun is about half-way through its life.

Late evening sun, Vale of Pewsey

Some plants and flowers follow the light of the sun.  In the movie, Calendar Girls, the sunflower is mentioned.  As soon as the sun rises, if there is no cloud, the sunflower lifts its head to face the light.

In a newly-published article in Science, researchers say the young plant’s sun-tracking system (called heliotropism) can be explained by circadian rhythms – the behavioural changes tied to an internal clock that we humans also have, which follow a roughly 24-hour cycle.

Sunflower field, Halstead, Essex

But how does the colour yellow affect your mood?

On the colour wheel, yellow is placed between orange and very light green.  These warm colours are found to induce warmth, happiness and optimism.

When children are given a spectrum of coloured pens or crayons, they are more likely to pick the yellow colours.

Buttercup Meadow, Flood Plain of the Kennet Canal

In studies made by retailers Carrefour and Finfare, yellow labels were used to depict a price reduced basic range of food items. Yellow was felt to be the best colour for this and ‘Reduced’ items in all supermarkets, with short use-by dates are usually marked with a yellow sticker.

Leatrice Eiseman in her book ‘Color: Messages and Meanings’ states that psychologically, yellow is the strongest colour.  Yellow has been in use since the 19th Century to signify optimism and hope.

The symbol of a yellow ribbon became widely known in the 1970s as a reminder that an absent loved one, either in the military or in jail, would be welcomed home on their return journey.

During the Vietnam War, in October 1971, newspaper columnist Pete Hamill wrote an article in the New York Post called ‘Going Home’.

In it, he told a variant of the story, in which college students on a bus trip to the beaches of Fort Lauderdale make friends with an ex-convict who is watching for a yellow handkerchief on a roadside oak in Brunswick, Georgia.

L Russell Brown and Irwin Levine picked up on the tale and wrote the song ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree’, which reached No. 1 in the charts in 10 countries in 1973.

According to the world expert on the unconscious effects of colour, Angela Wright in her book ‘Beginners Guide to Color Psycholgy’, yellow is associated with self-esteem, emotions and creativity.

Yellow aids the release of the chemical Serotonin in the brain, which acts as a mood stabiliser, also known as a happy chemical. Hence the use of yellow on smiley badges, Harvey Ball’s hottest selling image of the 1970-71 era.

This smiley face became the predecessor to emojis.  Shigetaka Kurita created the first 180 emoji collection for a Japanese mobile web platform in 1998 and the concept spread quickly.

Vincent van Gogh used yellow extensively in his art.

Vincent van Gogh, Sunflowers

On the 27 May 1888, Vincent van Gogh agreed to contribute towards the costs of having the house on Place Lamartine in Arles repainted inside and out.

The Yellow House, previously dilapidated, became visibly much fresher and brighter than that of the twin, left hand side of the structure, occupied by a grocer’s shop. He paid half of the bill of 10 francs on 10 June.

The effects of yellow on the brain include:

  • Strong analytical thinking
  • Increased levels of mental activity
  • Heightened sense of awareness
  • Increased levels of enthusiasm and energy
  • Increased rate of metabolic activity

Yellow is an attention-grabbing colour, so it is used extensively in advertising and also on traffic signs.

Black with yellow on wasps and bees signal two things to predators.  Either the insect is equipped with a toxic bite or sting or it tastes particularly unpleasant.

 

To Bee or not to Bee, Greeting Card by Hugo Richardson (no branding on the front cover, available for sale at Wellington Farm Shop )   

Greeting cards also available at Doodles Cards, Gifts and Balloons, 96 High Street, Crowthorne, the No. 96 Shop, Northbrook Street Newbury and 10a School Road, Reading,    H F Newberry Cards and Gifts, Twyford, Yateley Post Office, Harpton Parade, Yateley and Reading Museum

Next Week – Psychology of Colour – Green

JMW Turner – The Elements – Water

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Emulation of Turner’s work with Abstract Art Photography

Joseph Turner, Britain’s famous artist, gave around 30,000 pieces of art to the Nation for us to appreciate his artistic capabilities.

He was a complete genius at painting the elements.  His work has inspired me to take a series of photographs that depict light on water in its many guises, to try and emulate his unique style.

A recent visit to Tate Britain allowed me to look more closely at his phenomenal skill at capturing the force of sea waves.  For example, please see this stunning piece of art called “Fishermen At Sea Off The Needles” first exhibited in 1796 (he was only 21 when he painted this). The sense of movement in the water is breath taking:

Turner used a mixture of art materials for the effects he wanted. His use of colour and gouache (a type of paint made from pigments bound in water-soluble gum, like watercolour, but with the addition of white pigment in order to make it opaque) allowed him to explore dramatic scenes like this painting.

‘Stormy Sea’ Painting JWM Turner 1830 above.

‘Rushing Water’  abstract art photograph inspired by Turner’s style:

Mastering the movement of water, through painting and sketching, meant research. Turner took this to the limits.  He requested to be tied to the mast of a ship, in order to prevent himself from being thrown overboard during a sea storm in 1842. Ultimately it was so he could experience the torrent of a storm from a ship, thereby obtaining insights into the movement of water.

‘Water in Turmoil’ – Abstract Art Photograph

Turner always lived close to the river Thames, probably because he loved experiencing the movement and reflective quality that water gives us. 

Following on from the admiration of his work, I have recently taken some photographs that show both the power and light that water has.

‘White Water Swell’ another abstract art photograph

Please note waves turning in the mid left

NEXT WEEK – Turner and the Elements – AIR

Birds of Burghfield – Part One

/ Hugo Richardson / 1 Comment

When we first moved to Burghfield we were amazed at the wide variety of bird life, particularly aquatic, that live around the Kennet and Avon Canal and local stretches of water.

One of the most amazing species of bird that we have observed is the heron.  It is a very tall bird, with strange strands of feathers at the front, that make it look somewhat unkempt.

Fiona and I continually discuss the extraordinary features that this sizeable bird has. Their quirks include a bendy neck that it retracts when flying.  This is unlike other birds, like swans and geese, that straighten out their necks in front of them when in flight. The heron has 20 to 21 cervical vertebrae in its neck, which makes this possible.

They look like cloaked school masters in profile. Or the poem ‘Haegri’ (Shetlandic for Heron, please click on ‘Haegri’ for the full poem) by Roseanne Watt aptly describes her heron as ‘curled like a question mark’. They are one of the few species of birds that are prehistoric. I must admit they don’t look like a bird from this epoch when they fly, watching them makes me feel I have been transported millions of years back in time.

The heron is reluctant to take off because they weigh up to 2 kilograms and are up to 98cm in height, with feathers that provide some resistance to flight.  Consequently, a big wingspan is required and this measures up to a full 1.95 metres.

An adult heron needs around half a kilogram of food per day and they will continue on the hunt till this target is reached.  They eat fish, voles, frogs, eels, insects and young birds, like ducklings for example.  Mind blowingly we have seen a grown heron fly towards a mink in a distinctly aggressive way.

I am also convinced that the heron was the model for the birds in the Avatar films (please click on Avatar video clip for the plumes).  If you look closely at the photograph above, you can see a long dark plume of feathers trailing behind its head.  Their plume is like the reins that the avatars used to ride on the backs of magnificent birds depicted in the movies.

Please see photo below that shows the heron with neck fully retracted in flight.

Herons are also very solitary by nature.  I have only ever seen them on their own. Of course, they must find a partner in Spring, or the numbers would deplete quickly! The female will lay up to 10 pale blue eggs and both parents incubate the eggs for 25 days.

Sources of information include:

https://community.rspb.org.uk/ https://www.everyheron.com/

https://www.heronconservation.org/herons-of-the-world/heron-taxonomy-and-evolution/
 

hugo.richardson@image-memory.com 

Photographs by Hugo Richardson

Tel. 07476 343 777