The colors yellow, red and black close this analysis on general aspects and on the way in which they are used for paintings.
by Rodrigo Infante Tirado*
After analyzing the origin and meaning of the colors white, violet, blue and green, in this third and last part of this special, we will analyze three last colors: yellow, red and green.
Yellow
Its wavelength in the electromagnetic spectrum ranges from 570 to 590 nanometers.
In the paintings it is a very bright, transparent color, and of little stability to sunlight. It is used in road signage for its high visibility and significance, in that it means danger in the animal world, which in combination with black and white, is used in the mounds of the streets to slow down.
According to psychologists, yellow stimulates mental processes, the nervous system, memory, and communications.
It is a color of high visibility, and denotes danger in the natural environment; Queen Elizabeth of England wore it in the dress of the marriage of her grandson William, to be noticed within the concurrence, in addition to indicating that it is still in force.
It is said that 75% of the wooden pencils sold in the U.S. were yellow, and were painted with a paint that contained basic Chromatic Lead as a pigment, today this pigment is prohibited because it contains Lead and Chromium.
Among the negative things about yellow, it denotes sadness in Greek culture, jealousy for French culture, and greed in the Christian religion.
For bullfighters, bad luck attracts, in journalism it is morbid, that's why we talk about the yellow press, and in football it marks a warning warning.
Like any color of high visibility and danger, it is used in the road signage, along with red and black as a sign of warning and danger. For this reason the Taxis are yellow to be easy to visualize, as well as the current tennis balls, which went from white to yellow.
Amber of yellow color, is a fossilized vegetable resin of pines that do not exist today, and due to its scarcity it is very valuable within the jewels of the ancient monarchs.
In China it is the predominant color in clothes and ornaments, the most famous river of them is called the Yellow River. In India, the color yellow is related to marriage, in China with the emperor, and orange yellow is worn by Buddhist monks.
Saffron, which is yellow, is the most expensive species in the world, and is widely used to dye the rice of Paellas.
People who suffer from Jaundice, acquire in the skin and eyes, a slight yellow color, produced by bilirubin, due to a malfunction of the liver.
It is a very popular color in flowers, for this reason it is observed in paintings, fabrics, and clay objects in various cultures.
Sulfur is yellow, and they are associated with the devil, since yellow within the natural world means danger, for this reason insects such as wasps of this color are poisonous, as well as yellow guara snakes, and yellow animals such as the Puma and the Lion, are dangerous, and if they have black stripes, they are even more, like the tiger that came to be revered by the Mayans and Aztecs.
It is said that blonde women are more dangerous than brunettes, and in Chile almost all of them who are blonde.
Yellow cards in football, indicate danger and warning, before expulsion with the red card.
The yellow color of sunlight is a source of life, but also of danger.
In the 2010 World Cup in Africa, the most violent teams were Germany, the Netherlands, and Chile; the first two had black shirts with yellow, almost gold, which means danger for the opposing team, while Chile wore the classic red shirt, which in addition to generating violence, means preparing for a dangerous situation, which is not good when it comes to beating the opposing team, it is rather an advantage.
The yellow ointment was used in the past to control Conjunctivitis and fungus in the eyes, it was a Mercury Oxide, and that's why it was discontinued.
As for the colors of cars worldwide, it is believed that Yellow is only 1%, while in India for its meaning it occupies the 5th place, which corresponds to 6%.
Red
Its wavelength in the electromagnetic spectrum ranges from 640 to 700 nanometers.
The orange that is on the border between yellow and red, is between 640 and 700 nanometers.
Its light, especially the infra-red, is the one that transports the heat of the Sun's rays, and it is the only color we see at night due to the Rhodopsin <chromophore protein> that we have in the cones, for this reason the indications of escape in the cinemas, and the instruments of night use are red.
In the paintings it is used in vertical signage such as the discs "Ceda el Paso y Pare", for its significance in terms of generating warning and dangerousness.
If we observe the red color, we experience physiological changes in our body, in the sense that it increases our heart rate <pulsion>, blood pressure, dilates our pupils to increase vision, increases vitamin K which is a healing agent, and adrenaline, which is a hormone that helps us to pass difficult situations, making us run with greater speed, generating for all this an attitude of alertness; for this reason it is used in the road signs, especially in the "Disco Pare", along with other warnings of danger. For this reason, the use of this color in sports shirts is not so good, because it generates in those who wear them and in the opposing team, a suggested alert situation, which is not entirely beneficial for the team, but rather an advantage for the opposing team.
In China the color red is considered life-giving, because some fruits such as pomegranate, strawberry, raspberry, and others, are toning drinks.
For women it is the symbol of fertility, and for men it is the symbol of virility.
The Bible describes the red clay with which God modeled the first human being, named Adam.
In India it always stands out as the symbol of love, and during the marriage ceremony, her parents offer their daughter a red "sari", as a symbol of fertility, since she is a married woman.
The most abundant pigment on the planet is iron oxide, which is responsible for the reddish color of the earth, and is used to this day in paints, plastics, and papers.
In Chile it is considered the national color, and this is why it is on the flag, a symbol of the blood shed by the Araucanians, in the fight against the Spaniards.
There are a lot of nicknames that have been associated with this color, such as Italian red, Venetian red, rust red, blood red, Ferrari red, Bugatti red, and the classic reddish of the Chilean national team.
In royalty it is always on the red carpets, and this goes back to the color of the proscenium of the ancient Greek tragedy, called Agamemnon, as a symbol of the arrogance of human beings.
At the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, red cards were used for the first time for expulsion, and yellow cards as a sign of dangerousness and warning.
It is said "Solferino" to the washed red color, in honor of a tree called "Palo de Tinte" <Haematoxylum campechianum> of the town Labcáh in the state of Quintana Roo of Mexico, because when it rains, the dye of the wood of the tree, becomes soluble in water, and dyes the soil a reddish color.
Cinnabar or Vermilion (for its color), also known as Cinbarite, is a mineral of the sulfide class. It is composed of 85% mercury and 15% sulfur. In its symmetry and optical characters it bears a remarkable resemblance to quartz. Its chemical formula is HgS (mercury sulfide).
As for the colors of cars worldwide, it is believed that Red is only 8%, which corresponds to the 6th place, while in India by its meaning it occupies the 3rd place, which corresponds to 16%.
Black
It is the most difficult color to define, because it is also called the "absence of color", however it exists as a color, and is found in nature as such, and in combinations with other colors, such as white, which is present in some animals, such as seagulls that are the princesses of the sea, together with the princes, the Penguins.
Black as theoretically does not emit any particular wavelength, that is, it absorbs them all, and for this reason it is the color that heats up the most, because it absorbs very well the infra-red, which is the one that transports the heat. This property has some animals that need heat, such as the Polar Bear, which has black skin and white hairs; so also the Penguins that need a lot of heat, have a black back and a white belly, and when the winters are very cold, they are grouped in circles, leaving the back out of the circle, so the black color of them absorbs the little heat of the long winters.
Within the paintings, the black color is the brightest, and the one that covers the most, that is, it is the one with the greatest opacity.
Black is our Latin culture, it is a symbol of elegance and death, that is why it is used in the clothes of elegant meetings, as well as in people who mourn. This dates back to the Roman Empire where a black wool hat was worn on the head as a sign of mourning.
In martial arts, Jigor Gano, founder of Judo, chose the black belt as the meaning of the highest category, because it is the sum of all the colors of the previous ones.
The Black Panther as a nocturnal animal, has it as a camouflage color, as well as some marine animals, such as the Orca, the Seals, and the Sea Lion.
Black is the least luminous color of the entire visible spectrum, for this reason it is used to darken the performance halls that require it, and the interiors of the old cameras.
Octopuses throw away a black liquid as camouflage, and the Chinese used it as ink to write on papers, called Chinese Ink, very difficult to erase; they also obtained it from the burned oil.
In the paints the black pigment is obtained, with the burning of wood and charcoal, just as they achieved in the Middle East with the smoke generated by the oil lamps.
Black is associated with darkness, and when in large shopping centers the light is turned off, absolute darkness occurs, which allows us to lose space and its depth.
Brown-skinned people have a pigment called black melanin, which is the best sunscreen.
On Black Friday leading up to Thanksgiving in the U.S. there are large sell-offs in stores.
They say that black, brown and green cars are the most likely to crash.
The most famous cell phone is the Black Berry, in honor of the fruit called "Mora" which is black in color.
The famous film "blacker than the night" shot in 1975, was made by Carlos Enrique Taboada, and in it worked Claudia Islas, famous actress of the time for her beautiful blonde hair.
During the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, at the end of World War II, the sky and rain are said to have turned black.
The earthquake with Tsunami of Japan on March 11, 2011, which was grade 8.9 Richter, the seawater acquired a slightly black tone when it entered the Japanese territory.
Seeing a black cat is a sign of bad omen in almost everyone, except in England.
The famous group called the "Black Panthers" in the United States, was an African-American political organization, which was founded in 1966, with the ideas of Malcolm X.
The black holes in space correspond to very densified matter, which has a great gravity, capable of attracting light.
In Chile in 2008, many Black-necked Swans died in the Cruces de Valdivia River, due to a contamination of chemical waste products in its waters.
The black flag has always been the sign of anarchism.
The streets and highways are gray, close to black, and are demarcated with white and yellow paints, achieving a harmonious contrast of high visibility.
By the black color of ants, we say when a situation gets difficult and dangerous, it got "ant color".
As for the colors of cars worldwide, it is believed that Black is 23%, being in second place after metallic colors, while in Brazil, it also occupies the second place with 25%, and in India the 6th place with 6%, and in Europe it occupies the first place with 27%.
* Rodrigo Infante Tirado holds a degree in Chemistry from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. They can write to the email: [email protected]
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