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.
People posted hundreds of drawings for our 30 day January challenge, in which artists are invited to respond to a daily prompt posted on our V. Notes blog. Unlike other drawing challenges, these prompts are wildly varied, open to non-typical materials around us, and are designed to feed a broad spectrum of creative skills at …
Today we models in a changing interior, as the models moved between poses. I drew with my vine charcoal taped to a 4′ dowel so I could stand back and still reach the paper. The stick was a physical luxury so I didn’t have to reach high and low to reach the expanses of my …
Last week I stood in front of a group of artists and said, “I am a mark on a page.” A dark mark. Charcoal, probably. Vertical. I leaned a little left, then swayed right, describing the changes as though someone were drawing me. Let the tilted mark meet the edge of the paper. The rectangle …
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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