Hello, artenauta! We continue with our study of the different colors to stop now in the color par excellence of Christmas: the color red.
In the following lines we are going to tell you some interesting aspects about this color, so that you can understand it a little better and know how it can affect the viewer when you use it in your works. We will also tell you about its characteristics and composition. Here we go!
Curiosities of the color red
- According to color psychology, red represents action, passion, desire, heat, blood or strength.
- It is the color of blood. This is one of the reasons why it is generally recognized as a danger sign (also because it is one of the most striking colors to the human eye, and therefore easier to identify. Safety equipment, such as fire extinguishers, is often presented in this color).
- Red is a very vivid color that is generally not present in nature, except in some flowers, animals and in the blood of living beings.
- It is one of the most stimulating colors, inciting us to action.
- It is recommended to use it in small quantities and combined with other colors, since it is a color that is quite tiring to the eye, saturating us if it is abused.
- In ancient times, it was a color reserved for the nobility, due to the high cost of the pigment.
- Red is widely used in the advertising sector since, as we mentioned before, it is one of the most attractive colors in general. Since it symbolizes attraction and seduction as well as warmth and confidence, products and services from different fields use this color for their advertisements and packaging.
- Some people attribute the relationship between the color red and the Christmas season to the Coca Cola brand (with its famous Santa Claus dressed in this color), but although the advertising of this famous brand has reinforced the concept, the truth is that the use of green and red as Christmas colors dates back to the Victorian era, with earlier paintings with a Christmas theme, in which these colors are already used in the palette.
How to make the color red
- Red is a tertiary color, a mixture of yellow and magenta (more of the latter than the former). Depending on the amount we use of each one, we will obtain tones that tend more to orange or carmine, thus receiving different names such as garnet or vermilion.
- In the market we can find different pigments, with a great variety of tonalities, that we can choose (according to the result we are looking for).
Once you have seen the characteristics and composition of the red color, we recommend that you also read about the brown color, the green color, the electric blue color, the white color and the orange color.
But if you want to know in depth the Color Theory, learning concepts such as primary colors, broken tones… we recommend you to visit our Painting Course where you will learn everything you need to know to master color and become a true artist.
