All of us are familiar with the colours red, blue and yellow. Why not? They are primary colours in the colour spectrum and most often, the first few colours taught to us. As we got older, we were introduced to purple, pink and green (secondary colours) which slowly progressed to teal, magenta and aubergine (complex colours).
Now, let's go a step further since most Journaling Clubbers are on the verge of young adulthood. OK, lame joke, I know. Listed below are the top ten unusual colours often used in art, paintings, crafts, fashion, where ever.
Vermillion - A vivid reddish orange
The word vermilion traces to the Late Latin vermiculus, meaning kermes. Kermeses are the dried bodies of insects, of the genus Kermes (see picture below), used to produce this ancient red dye.
Verdigris green - A yellowish green
Ancient Greeks manufactured this pigment by hanging copper plates over hot vinegar in a sealed container. When copper naturally oxidizes, a verdigris green film forms on its surface. This process has also occurred naturally which you can see on the Statue of Liberty (see picture below).
Titian - A brownish orange
In the paintings of the great sixteenth-century Italian artist, Tiziano Vecellio who was often called Titian, the women often have distinctively brownish-orange hair. Such depictions as shown in the picture below inspired the colour name titian.
Bisque - A light greyish brown
Bisque is probably a shortened and altered form of biscuit, meaning earthenware or porcelain after the first firing and before glazing. This is because the biscuit (see picture below)resembles the colour and look of Anglo-French besquit or twice-cooked bread.
Puce - A dark red
Puce entered English from French, where puce translates as flea. The relationship between the flea and the colour (see picture below) is almost certain refer to the flea's hunger for blood, which is dark red.
Cattleya - A medium purple
This colour comes from a kind of orchid named for William Cattley, a patron of botany whose enthusiasm for orchids helped fuel a British craze for the flowers in the 1700s. The most common form of one of Cattley's original orchids, the cattleya labiata (see picture below), highlights the colour cattleya.
Smalt - A medium blue
The colour name comes from the blue glass (see picture below) of the same name. Smalt is created by fusing together melting potassium carbonate, silica, and cobalt oxide. The word's Germanic ancestor means ‘to melt’.
Damask - A greyish red
It may or may not have originated in Damascus but the name of the damask rose, a flower that travelled to Europe during the Middle Ages, honours that Syrian city. The hue of the blossom as shown in the picture below lives on as a colour name.
Jasper - A blackish green
The colour name jasper comes from the name of the opaque quartz stone called jasper (see picture below). The ancient Hebrew word from which jasper comes may have meant something like ‘glittering’ or ‘polish’.
Bittersweet - A deep reddish orange
The oval berries of the European bittersweet plant taste first sweetish and then bitter. But it was the American plant called false bittersweet with its orangey-coloured fruits (see picture below) that inspired the colour name bittersweet.
Now, let's go a step further since most Journaling Clubbers are on the verge of young adulthood. OK, lame joke, I know. Listed below are the top ten unusual colours often used in art, paintings, crafts, fashion, where ever.
Vermillion - A vivid reddish orange
The word vermilion traces to the Late Latin vermiculus, meaning kermes. Kermeses are the dried bodies of insects, of the genus Kermes (see picture below), used to produce this ancient red dye.
Ancient Greeks manufactured this pigment by hanging copper plates over hot vinegar in a sealed container. When copper naturally oxidizes, a verdigris green film forms on its surface. This process has also occurred naturally which you can see on the Statue of Liberty (see picture below).
Titian - A brownish orange
In the paintings of the great sixteenth-century Italian artist, Tiziano Vecellio who was often called Titian, the women often have distinctively brownish-orange hair. Such depictions as shown in the picture below inspired the colour name titian.
Bisque - A light greyish brown
Bisque is probably a shortened and altered form of biscuit, meaning earthenware or porcelain after the first firing and before glazing. This is because the biscuit (see picture below)resembles the colour and look of Anglo-French besquit or twice-cooked bread.
Puce - A dark red
Puce entered English from French, where puce translates as flea. The relationship between the flea and the colour (see picture below) is almost certain refer to the flea's hunger for blood, which is dark red.
Cattleya - A medium purple
This colour comes from a kind of orchid named for William Cattley, a patron of botany whose enthusiasm for orchids helped fuel a British craze for the flowers in the 1700s. The most common form of one of Cattley's original orchids, the cattleya labiata (see picture below), highlights the colour cattleya.
Smalt - A medium blue
The colour name comes from the blue glass (see picture below) of the same name. Smalt is created by fusing together melting potassium carbonate, silica, and cobalt oxide. The word's Germanic ancestor means ‘to melt’.
Damask - A greyish red
It may or may not have originated in Damascus but the name of the damask rose, a flower that travelled to Europe during the Middle Ages, honours that Syrian city. The hue of the blossom as shown in the picture below lives on as a colour name.
Jasper - A blackish green
The colour name jasper comes from the name of the opaque quartz stone called jasper (see picture below). The ancient Hebrew word from which jasper comes may have meant something like ‘glittering’ or ‘polish’.
Bittersweet - A deep reddish orange
The oval berries of the European bittersweet plant taste first sweetish and then bitter. But it was the American plant called false bittersweet with its orangey-coloured fruits (see picture below) that inspired the colour name bittersweet.
