Yellow!
Judith is presenting Yellow this month. She was going to start with a Joltz, handing out a yellow post-it note and having you write down all the names for yellow you can in 30 seconds and then sharing.
Here is a bit of help.
Apparently it is that the sensitivity of our eyes is at its peak when it perceives the wavelengths that we see as yellow. Some say that it evolved as a way to help discern the fruit from the leaves on a tree.
So: This is why taxis are yellow, pencils are yellow, post-it notes and the original highlighter are yellow, caution signs are yellow and the first emoji, the smiley face, is yellow!
Cultural Uses and Beliefs
In China, the colour yellow was reserved for emperors, with less pure shades being given to royal relatives.
Ancient Muslims used it for less royal reasons; they tagged Jews and Christians with yellow badges.
In 13th Century England the Jews wore yellow patches.
1930s Nazi's tagged Jews with yellow stars.
Currently in Afghanistan the Taliban tags Hindu's.
Lamas of high levels wear yellow hats.
Zen equates yellow with wealth, health, knowledge and wisdom.
Aboriginals of Australia considered yellow to be important because it symbolized the sun and the creator.
Yellow is the colour of illness, especially jaundice.
In ancient Greece, blonds were prostitutes and bleached their hair.
Yellow rooms can increase focus for many. Too much yellow causes stress.
Consider these uses:
Yellow-bellied, mellow yellow, yellow journalism, yellow peril (associated with the influx of Chinese immigrants), the golden ages, golden girls, golden handshakes, gold medals. Some are positive and many are not, reflecting the many and various opinions about the colour.
Oscar Wilde was imprisoned because he was seen carrying a Yellow pamphlet, seen to be a sign of dissidence, pornography and avant-garde thinking. Yellow was the colour of those thinkers going against the norms of the day.
Dyes
Yellow dye that didn't discolour of fade was hard to come by. The two early pigments, orpiment and gamboge were both very poisonous. Naples yellow was sulphurous, India yellow was made (some say) from cow urine. Lead-tin yellow, used from 1300-1750, suddenly went out of favour and wasn't rediscovered until the 1940s, with the help of modern chemistry.
And so, think of yellow differently when you see it next! Enjoy!
PS
And (drum roll, please) Pantone's colour of the year is Illuminating Yellow and Ultimate Gray.
Thank you for the yellow presentation. Such a great colour to study on these grey days!
My first picture is my yellow pages created using the confetti technique incorporating many hand dyed fabric with free motion writing.
The yellow spectrum includes paint chips with great names. My favourite is Fuzzy Duckling.
What is yours?
