Sunshine Challenge 2020 - Prompt 6 (Indigo)

[greerwatson]

Given that I've already done TURQUOISE (Newton's "blue") and BLUE (Newton's "indigo"), what's left for INDIGO?

Well, the plant produces a blue-purple dye; and the colour is usually described as lying between blue and purple. So what's that?





Some might call this simply BLUE, especially if it presented in contrast with YELLOW, RED, and GREEN:





If, however, we compare it with BLUE and PURPLE (what I think of a a perfect PURPLE), then we can see it lies in between:





What we're looking at here is, I think, a sort of transitional colour: one that lies on the border between two basic colours. In the same way, GOLD is transitional between ORANGE and YELLOW; and CHARTREUSE is transitional between GREEN (especially lime green) and YELLOW.

Going back to BLUE and TURQUOISE: I often see a peacock colour used as "blue" in contexts that make me think there are people who see that as a perfect shade of BLUE:





Again, you might call this BLUE when presented in contrast with YELLOW, RED, and GREEN:





I wonder if that is "blue" to people who don't think of TURQUOISE as a separate colour? It would be logical that those who distinguish the two shift the locus of perfect BLUE so that is further away from any hint of TURQUOISE for maximal differentiation.





The truth is that each basic colour term applies to a wide range of actual shades; but, in the real world, we mostly don't see them in isolation. Instead, they are seen in a context where they're contrasted with the other colours around them.

In a garden, there are very few flowers that are any shade of BLUE. Delphiniums are one, though they also come in other colours. Blue lobelias and iris are at least a shade of indigo. However, the word "blue" is often used to describe the bluest-flowering varieties of such plants as petunias, which come in shades of magenta, plum, and pink. So-called "blue" petunias are actually PURPLE. (It's the magenta petunias that are called "purple".)







This photo of a delphinium comes from Wikimedia Commons, to which it was uploaded by Harry Chen on 14 January 2011.

This photo of Lobelia erinus comes from Wikimedia Commons, to which it was uploaded by Bernt Fransson on 1 August 2015.

This photo of "Easy Wave Blue" petunias comes from Wikimedia Commons, to which it was uploaded by David J. Stang on 11 August 2006.

Comments

[enemytosleep]

That first shade you shared is just lovely. I'm enjoying these color discussions and really thinking about how often I lump shades together in my brain when there is such a wide range of colors out there (and with names in English, too).

The bluest flowers are so pretty to me. I guess those are delphiniums?

[greerwatson]

Yes, those first ones are delphiniums.

I think, if we didn't have general terms, we'd have trouble talking about colour at all. I mean, there are a lot of different kinds of chairs. Even so, we still need a general term for "chair" to distinguish individual-seating-that-has-a-back from sofas and stools, not to mention tables and such; and we also need an even more general term for "furniture" to contrast with words for fruit, vehicles, and kitchen utensils. So there are a lot of shades of blue, many of which have their own names; but, if we didn't have the term "blue", we'd have trouble saying that the blue shades collectively contrast with red, yellow, green, etc., which are totally different colours.

Blue isn't my absolute favourite; but I like it a lot and wear it often.

[abyss_valkyrie]

I love seeing colours in comparison, really makes me realize how often I see a dark blue as blue rather than indigo!

[greerwatson]

Well, "indigo" at its darkest is the same as "navy blue", which is the darkest shade of indigo dye. It is mostly seen as a shade of blue, just as peacock is. Neither is normally treated as one of the basic colours.

However, when people are taught the seven colours of the spectrum, one of which is the unfamiliar "indigo", they're pretty well bound to hunt for a meaning for the word. From the order of the spectrum, "indigo" has to be between BLUE and VIOLET. So, if you take BLUE to be BLUE, then it follows that "indigo" has to be some shade of blue-purple.

It would have been so much simpler if Newton had used the same colour terms as people do today!

[silveradept]

Contrasting the colors with other shades helps me see the differences, which is very helpful. That makes indigo a rather interesting thing, as I would expect it to land in the center line between blue and purple, if we're going by Newton's spectrum, and it still seems to be a lot more blue than purple.

[greerwatson]

I look at your response and that of bemused_writer, right below, and find it a bit amusing. One of you sees indigo as basically a shade of blue, the other as basically a shade of purple. Which sort of proves the "in between" thing.

Also, of course, we probably all have slightly different monitor settings. That is almost inevitable.

[silveradept]

Happy to be an object lesson in the thing I thought wasn't happening, then! *g*

Yes to monitor calibrations all being slightly different. And, probably, our eyes all being different, too, even if our screens were all calibrated according to the same profile. As the thing with the dress proved some time ago, people can look at the same thing and see something completely different from each other.

[greerwatson]

"And, probably, our eyes all being different, too,"

I don't know about all eyes being different; but it's certainly true that some people draw the boundaries between colours differently. My sister and I have both commented on our mother's vision. A colour that we all call "plum" is considered a shade of purple by us, but was called "brown" by my mother. And she had some towels in a shade that we both consider maroon (a shade of brownish red), but she considered "rust" (a shade of orange-brown). It's kind of as though the boundaries got shifted sideways.

(I should add that she wasn't colour-blind, though I think her father was.)

plum		maroon

[silveradept]

That's also interesting. Until I really looked at the plum closely, it looked red, perhaps because of the maroon so close by. Colors are fascinating, clearly, and I've been taking them for granted.

[bemused_writer]

It seems that no matter what indigo is put next to it still looks like a shade of purple to me. (^^)" It's interesting how color works! I enjoyed reading about it and I love those flowers you shared. It's true there aren't many blue flowers out there.

[greerwatson]

I look at your response and that of silveradept, right above, and find it a bit amusing. One of you sees indigo as basically a shade of blue, the other as basically a shade of purple. Which sort of proves the "in between" thing.

Also, of course, we probably all have slightly different monitor settings. That is almost inevitable.

[bemused_writer]

That is pretty amusing and good evidence for it being just that! Kind of reminds me of that dress that everyone saw as different colors. Pretty interesting stuff.

Oh, monitor settings will definitely influence it too.

[icecheetah]

When I was drawing the art for my 'Indigo' entry I basically took the hex code wikipedia gave me and everything in the same hue was allowed. It was, to me, quite a navy looking blue, and I always had thought of Indigo as a darker blue.
Now I'm wondering if I should have done a bit more purple... . Ah well.

[greerwatson]

Honestly? At this point, I don't trust Wikipedia on colours. I mean, from a scientific viewpoint, maybe. But not otherwise.

[icecheetah]

Yeah.