The blue hour is the period of twilight at dawn or dusk when the sun is below the horizon. 20-30 minutes right after sunset and right before sunrise, the indirect light takes on a blue shade that is different from the blue of the sky during a clear day.
Curious about how we perceive blue while the other colors dim, I did a bit of research into the phenomenon. One site talked about Rayleigh scattering, in which blue light bounces around our atmosphere. The next site said Raleigh scattering is incorrect, and attributed the effect to the ozone. The Atlantic had an interesting theory about how rods and cones in our eyes trade off when light is dim, but the blue cones continue.
According to Max Joesch, now of Harvard, and Markus Meister of CalTech, within the retina there are rods and cones. Rods are more sensitive to light, while cones are most sensitive to color: specifically green, red or blue. Signals from the cones are sent to the brain which then translates these messages into the perception of color. As the light dims, the cones don’t work as well and the rods become more active. The rods dampen the output of the red and green cones, much as when we stare at a green field, the receptors for green are dampened and we see red after staring at green. In low light, the rods take over as the other cones become less active, except the blue cone keeps going all on its lonesome. That gives you the impression that you’re seeing blue. (The Atlantic)
Calling all doctors and scientists to please chime in!
Until then, please enjoy the paintings featuring Blue.
These paintings aren’t about the blue hour, they’re from Picasso’s Blue Period, in which Picasso painted lots of … blue. But notice how he uses the white, yellow, and red. The red and yellow colors are muted into browns, but within the blue environment they still read as red and yellow.
Other Blue-ish Nocturny Paintings
This collection may feature images that are past the Blue Hour precisely, but notice how the blue is full, and the other colors are muted, giving us the sensation that the light for red and yellow is not just dark, but dim, muted, while the blue is full strength.
Susanna Coffey, Sevres Green Foliage From Plot Road
Susanna Coffey, High Moon Toward Mt Mansfield
Susanna Coffey, Water Years
Charles Burchfield, Winter Twilight
Can you think of a Blue Hour artwork not represented here? Please send it in, or post the artist and title on the website with this post.
If you haven’t seen Wayne Thiebaud’s cakes, his gumball jars, the ice cream cones in rows, you simply MUST check them out. They are what made Thiebaud famous, and with good reason. But don’t look here for gumballs and meringues. They are not here. This post has a few of his sketches, and less common …
Hatching (making parallel marks) and crosshatching (making parallel marks overlapped with parallel marks) are some of the most valuable tools for adding value, contour, movement, energy, and texture to a drawing. For materials, a sharp pencil or pen on smooth paper works great. Old fashioned pen and ink is made for this. If you’re new …
Painting above by Fredericka Foster. More by Foster at the end of this post. What makes painted water look like water? Is it the tone of blue, or by the reflective color of the sky? Is it optic magic from glazes and transparent pigments? Or is it indicated by perfect color mixes, sequences of color matches? What about …
Marina Abramović is a Yugoslavia-born performance artist based in New York. Her work explores the relationship between performer and audience, the limits of the body, and the possibilities of the mind. I realize not everyone admires the work of Marina Abramovic. She’s been called an attention seeker, a bullshit producer, an egoist. Dr. Lisa Levy, …
Blue Hour
The blue hour is the period of twilight at dawn or dusk when the sun is below the horizon. 20-30 minutes right after sunset and right before sunrise, the indirect light takes on a blue shade that is different from the blue of the sky during a clear day.
Curious about how we perceive blue while the other colors dim, I did a bit of research into the phenomenon. One site talked about Rayleigh scattering, in which blue light bounces around our atmosphere. The next site said Raleigh scattering is incorrect, and attributed the effect to the ozone. The Atlantic had an interesting theory about how rods and cones in our eyes trade off when light is dim, but the blue cones continue.
According to Max Joesch, now of Harvard, and Markus Meister of CalTech, within the retina there are rods and cones. Rods are more sensitive to light, while cones are most sensitive to color: specifically green, red or blue. Signals from the cones are sent to the brain which then translates these messages into the perception of color. As the light dims, the cones don’t work as well and the rods become more active. The rods dampen the output of the red and green cones, much as when we stare at a green field, the receptors for green are dampened and we see red after staring at green. In low light, the rods take over as the other cones become less active, except the blue cone keeps going all on its lonesome. That gives you the impression that you’re seeing blue. (The Atlantic)
Calling all doctors and scientists to please chime in!
Until then, please enjoy the paintings featuring Blue.
Picasso’s Blue Period
These paintings aren’t about the blue hour, they’re from Picasso’s Blue Period, in which Picasso painted lots of … blue. But notice how he uses the white, yellow, and red. The red and yellow colors are muted into browns, but within the blue environment they still read as red and yellow.
Other Blue-ish Nocturny Paintings
This collection may feature images that are past the Blue Hour precisely, but notice how the blue is full, and the other colors are muted, giving us the sensation that the light for red and yellow is not just dark, but dim, muted, while the blue is full strength.
Can you think of a Blue Hour artwork not represented here? Please send it in, or post the artist and title on the website with this post.
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Hatching (making parallel marks) and crosshatching (making parallel marks overlapped with parallel marks) are some of the most valuable tools for adding value, contour, movement, energy, and texture to a drawing. For materials, a sharp pencil or pen on smooth paper works great. Old fashioned pen and ink is made for this. If you’re new …
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