Pastel Journal - USA (2019-08)

Color Decoder

I

s that violet—or is it purple?

I know I was confused about this

nomenclature when I first started

painting. Many artists treat the

terms “violet” and “purple” inter-

changably, but there actually is a

difference between the two.

Violet is a spectral color, meaning

that it can be found in the visible

electromagnetic spectrum. It sits

between blue and ultraviolet, occup-

ing the area between 380 and 420

nanometers. Purple, however, can’t

be found in the spectrum, which

means you’ll never see it in a rain-

bow. Instead, it’s a composite color

made from the primary colors blue

and red. You’ll find it on your color

wheel between those two colors.

Still, for the purposes of this

column, let’s consider violet and

purple to be the same, since they

act so much alike—and I’ll use the

term“violet.”

TheBeautyofViolet

Violetcanrangefromthered-violet

ofa beettotheblue-violetof,well,

a violet.Wefindthecolorin,among

otherthings,eggplants,amethyst

crystalsandinsomeshellfish.

Thecolorhaslongbeenassoci-

atedwithroyalty,partlydueto

InTheBlackHat(ca1890;24x1715/16),Mary

Cassatt(American,1844–1926)usesbeautiful

grayedvioletsinthebackgroundandreflects

themintotheskinofthefacetomakethe

warmnotesofthefleshappearevenwarmer

andricher.

Not Such a

Shrinking Violet

You say purple, I say violet. Whatever we call it, it adds a luscious

excitement wherever it’s used.

By Michael Chesley Johnson

COLLECTION OF MR. AND MRS. PAUL MELLON/NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

8 Pastel Journal AUGUST 2019