blue (2022)

As you walk along the riverside, around the Fleet library of RISD, the color and design of the flags have changed. Most of them are blue and some are black and white. The primary color of RISD has recently changed into blue. It’s not just a light sky blue, a strong neon blue. I guess it’s ultramarine. When I first came here and went to the risd store, I was very happy to find out that blue became the school color. My favorite color is blue since I was in high school. It felt like risd was greeting me with blue color. But people around me kept complaining to me that blue as a school color is too boring. They told me blue doesn’t seem like an art school, they limit the creativity in school designs, and blue is such a common color that is used everywhere, companies, organizations, parties, etc. It’s true partly, but I was quite sad to hear all those complaints, as blue is so special to me.

Almost everyone has their own favorite colors. Having favorite colors can give special meaning to one’s ordinary life. Because just using that colored items make one’s day joyful.  Half of my stuff is blue. When I should buy something among different color items, my choice was almost always blue. I always end up choosing blue. Not only does it reduce my time to choose objects but adding that to my blue collection makes me feel happy.  For me, friends always call me a blue girl, and on my birthday, they often gave me something related to blue: blue socks, a blue shirt, a blue notebook, blue stickers, blue oil colors. Some tell me they always think of me when they see something blue. I don’t do that often these days, but I used to dress up with neon cobalt blue shirt and sweatpants. I looked like a blue human.

Even though blue is now a popular color, beloved by most of the people, it was not the same in the History. Its meaning and cultural significance has changed throughout time. While blue was regarded as the color of barbarianism in the European society, blue was considered a lucky color in Ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptians believed that the blue casts out evil spirits and brings prosperity. Blue meant the sky, the Nile, the creation, and sanctity. Blue was also related to funeral rituals for protecting dead people. Blue has appeared as the color of the clothes of Virgin Mary in icons since 12 centuries. It was a huge turning point of the status of blue in the west, as the Western people had devalued blue. Blue clothes of Virgin Mary in icons played a major role in making blue be the new popular color. Blue was the most popular color among the upper class in France. The French revolution reinforced the absolute position of blue and became one of the three colors that symbolize France. In 20 centuries, Blue was the color of the working class. Indigo dye was used for blue jeans, which was created as a stronger pants for working men. Nowadays, jeans symbolize the democratization of Fashion, and until now blue is beloved by many people.

Blue is so special because you can’t find blue in nature. There aren’t many creatures that have a blue color itself. Some birds and butterflies have blue wings but still, it’s uncommon. You may think that sky is ‘blue’, but the sky isn’t always blue. Even the sky doesn’t have its own color. It’s the result of the scattering of light. I feel so happy when I see the blue sky without clouds. Because unconsciously I know it’s hard to find blue. When we look at ancient people's murals, we can’t find blue, because they could barely get blue pigment from nature. People used blue in the past, but it had been quite an expensive color for a while. Ultramarine, my favorite among blue, origins from the Latin word “Ultra(over)” and “Mare(ocean)”. It means that color came across from the ocean. The ingredient for Ultramarine was Lapis Lazuli which was imported across from the sea. It was also so complicated to make that coloring, so Ultramarine was one of the most expensive colors in the history.

On the other hand, blue has negative meanings. “I feel blue” means that you are depressed. But I barely use that phrase because I feel quite odd to relate my favorite color into some negative circumstances. But I can’t deny that color blue is the ‘cold’ tone color. I can feel the coldness and some loneliness from certain blues. Blue reminds me of ice, winter, ocean. It is very different from the fact that red is related to fire, warmth, autumn, sun, and so on. The warmth is missing in blue color. Am I a cold person? Why do I like cold blue color so much?

There are also some awkward situations when blue comes up. According to a research, blue decreases the appetite. There isn’t much restaurant where their wall or the plate color is totally vivid blue. They often use neutral colors such as white and grey and use warm colors such as orange or yellow to increase people’s appetite. There isn’t much blue food. Only blue berries are blue itself. There are some ice cream or cakes where artificial colorants are used, and blue “Powerade” drink might seem fresh, but there isn’t much ‘blue’ food. A friend of mine once gave me a blue colorant for food. I tried putting those into different food: water, lemonade, ice cream, yogurt, and even rice. But it doesn’t seem like a food. Blue food seems like a result of scientific experiment, which contaminates all the food. There wasn’t a difference of the taste of the food, but I just felt quite strange.

Many artists used blue for their own artworks. For example, Picasso painted blue nude, which shows loneliness and emptiness. On the other hand, Ives Klein’s blue nude colored with vibrant ultramarine is sensual. I think Ives Klein is the artist of blue. He was the one who loved blue from his heart. He thought that blue was the most perfect color. He painted the full canvas with only blue. He was not satisfied with the existing blue, so he invented his own color blue in 1960: International Klein Blue, which is brighter and clearer. I love blue so much that I want to paint my whole room blue someday. But I don’t think the blue is the perfect color for every circumstances. Blue is beautiful and somewhat mysterious to me, but they lack some warmth and naturalism.

As those artists loved blue, blue has been an important part of my artwork. I have been doing line drawing with only blue. I did the nude painting with various colors of blue, such as ultramarine, Prussian blue, cobalt blue, as an homage to some artists. I made a printing with illustrations and letters telling the history of blue. Sometimes blue doesn’t appear as a primary color, they are often used as a background color, for example to depict the skies, in my art works. However, for diversity of my artworks, I intentionally avoid using blue. It could be a great character of my art, but as a student who is learning to be a great artist/designer, I should experiment with different mediums, I feel like I should not limit myself just in blue. Trying out different things and learning different color effects seems important. In my freshman design class, I am designing an imaginary animal, “Raspberrow”. I wanted to invent a bird which loves having berries, as I love having berries, such as raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries. But why did I end up choosing the bird whose main food source is raspberry? Because I didn’t want to make my bird ‘blue’ again with blueberries. I didn’t want to limit my color pallet into blue. If I work as a professional designer in the future, I should always choose between my personal interest and the client’s taste. I should not force too much of my taste to professional projects. I should practice so that I can use different styles in different projects.

Even though, I should try different colors, I am still going to use color blue on my design projects. When I go to the bookstore or exhibitions, I can find many designs which are using blue. Blue is often used with color white, so that it can emphasize the blue. It has clean but strong impact. What can I do to make my blue design different from others? Before to make final blue project, I think I should try out as much as I can with blues. Using different art mediums like pen, colored pencils, oil pastel, watercolor, acrylic color etc. Differentiate the weight and value of the blue lines, drawing different subjects just with blue, trying out how many blue colors I can make, using blue for primary color or for substitute colors, thinking about the relationship of blue with other colors are things that I can do.  I will start those from today.

I don’t know when until the blue would be my favorite color. It might change into green or grey someday. But still, I love blue, and I am so happy to find blue objects in my everyday life. Just using blue pen on the blue notebook makes me feel special. I feel like something great would happen. After finishing this essay, I will wear my blue jacket, take my blue pen, and start doodling while enjoying the sun under the blue sky.