Color A Day #19 - Smog

 Today's color is....Smog.

Image via Wikipedia

Yes, Smog.  That icky, thick layer of air that hangs over large metropolitan areas around the globe.  Nobody likes smog.  It's bad for our lungs, after all.  I live near LA.  I see the stuff on a regular basis.   I' see it anytime I fly into LAX.  Or, when heading down to the city floor after a trip to the mountains. There the layer of sludge sits.  Smog is not a sight anyone particularly appreciates.

Image by Metro Transportation Library and Archive via Flick

  But, have you ever considered the COLOR of Smog? Forget the  negative elements for a moment, and look only at the color itself.  It's really an interesting, subtle color.   A variety of taupe.  Not pink, or purple.  Not brown or tan, not altogether gray...but a combination of all those elements.  And I'm here to suggest that smog (the color, at least) is actually kind of pretty.  

by Inky Compost on Etsy

by Spooky Shades on Etsy

Related articles

• How Smog Can Affect Allergies and Asthma (webmd.com)
• Smog cancels and delays flights in Beijing (cnn.com)

Color A Day #17 - Raspberry Jam

The other day I watched a friend eat a very yummy looking Raspberry Croissant.  As she tore into it, the lush purple-red contents dribbled out.  The color of that raspberry filling has stuck with me…nagging me….as if to say, “Make me your color today!”.   But, other color inspiration intruded over the ensuing days, and I put off picking that luscious color as the color of the day.  Until now.  So, here today is that insistent Raspberry Jam.

Color A Day #15 - Mojave Gray

The Mojave Desert.  It's the driest place in North America, and is the site of the highest recorded temperature as well.  Conditions are harsh, with huge extremes in temperature and blustery winds.  This place is brutal.  So, it makes sense that the colors of the place are bleached and muted.  Vivid colors don't stand a chance in this environment.  But, there is a great beauty and nuance in these soft hues, as these photos taken at Joshua Tree prove.

Color A Day #14 - Golden Monzogranite

 Joshua Tree National Park is an inspiring spot.  It's a place full of a great variety of textures; prickly cactus, rough stone, sandy foot-paths, spiked succulents, and weathered wood.  The monzogranite rock formations of this place are simply stunning.  But the colors of the place are strikingly muted: greys, browns, tans, taupes, silvers, and golds.  These neutrals combine together to form a warm golden tan, strikingly juxtaposed by a brilliant blue sky.

Color A Day #13 - Joshua Tree Green

I had the opportunity to make a brief visit to Joshua Tree National Park this weekend.  It's hard not to be inspired by this place...so full of stark beauty.    Great, old Joshua Trees dot the landscape adding touches of soft green to an otherwise muted palette of neutral tans and browns.   I'm inspired today by this silvery, yellow-tinged green.  Joshua Trees makes such a living statement against the desert tan-scape as they reach their green spiked arms up into to cobalt sky.

Color A Day # 12 - Bird of Paradise

A friend and I were chatting today, and as we passed by a Bird of Paradise bush she remarked, "Oh, there's my favorite flower!".   I can see why it's her favorite.  It's such a showy looking blossom - with a shock of fiery, in-your-face orange plumage on it's crown.  I admire these flowers - with all their vibrant, pointed color - and featured a BOP prominently in one of my Frida Icon paintings. 

BOP, the bird.

BOP, The flower.

The Virgin Enthroned  by Alisa Proctor

  

Color A Day #11 - Old Map Blue

Maps have always been a delight to me.  As a kid I remember laying on the floor for hours just looking at page after page of the World Atlas.   There's a specific color found on maps, especially older maps,  to designate water.  It's a pale blue with a hint of green.  A lovely color, really.

via roddy&ginger.blogspot.com

(All map images from vintageprintable.com/wordpress/)

Color A Day #10 - Vintage Pink

Oh, how I love vintage....antiques, old photos, aged ephemera.  There's a pink that pops up often in these old treasures.  It's a dusty, mellow, muted color.  It's homey, and I can almost smell my great-grandmother's floral perfume when I see it.  The color today is...Vintage Pink. 

Berdena and Henry, 1940

Color A Day #9 - A Warm Brown

It's the end of the day.  I'm short on inspiration this evening.  I just want to snuggle down into my comfy couch and veg in front of the TV.

My couch is brown.  A warm brown.
That's it then: Color A Day #9 is A Warm Brown.

In My Garden by alisapSTUDIOS on Etsy

from Vintage Printable

Color A Day #8 - Solid Gold

Color #8 - Solid Gold. Rich, and shimmery. Gold makes everything it touches look more opulent. There is a great history of using gold-leaf in paintings and on precious objects. And, although I enjoy working with gold leaf...those delicate fluttery sheets of pounded metal....today's color is the modern-day, easy to use version: metallic paint.

Painted Book by Parrish on Etsy

by Imagine Studio on Etsy

Diego Icon by alisapSTUDIOS on Etsy

Color A Day #7 - Happy Green

Green is my favorite color.   I like all shapes and sizes of green, all shades, hues, variations.  I'm open to all things green.  I've been thinking about this particular green for a few days now.   It just keeps popping up here and there, catching my eye.   I've got a little knitted finger-puppet, and a felted wool hummingbird ornament displayed on my computer stand...just because the color green in these two pieces makes me happy.
So, happily, Color A Day #7 is Happy Green.

Knitted finger-puppet in Happy Green

Oil painting by RozArt on Etsy

My beloved felted wool hummingbird.

Happy Green wedding decor.

Color A Day #6 - Seed Pod Red

Color inspiration today comes from a photo I took of my son holding three small reddish seed pods.  The color could also be described as brick red or terra cotta, I suppose.  Or even rust.

But for today I'm calling it  Seed Pod Red.

from Vintage Printable

from Carl Christensen on Etsy

The rusty truck photo comes from one of my favorite Etsians: Carl Christensen.  Be sure to visit his Etsy shop.  It's full of some of the most gorgeous images I've seen.