Why's an apple red?
I'll tell you when I present WHAT IS COLOR? in Rhinebeck this Sat. at 11 AM
Why does this apple look red?
Well… I can tell you this Saturday 11 AM at the Starr Library in Rhinebeck. I’ll be presenting my book about how color is made—and seen—called What Is Color? All ages are welcome! Copies will be for sale thanks to Rough Draft in Kingston and you can register for the event here.
Beyond particle physics (the short answer to why that apple is red is photons) I’ll tell you all my favorite color stories from how you make purple by slicing up thousands of sea snails, to how you make brown by stealing and grinding up mummies. How rude, right!?
But for now, back to some apples.
These days when I need a studio break I’ll walk right outside and survey the apple trees that surround my home aka the Spruceton Inn.
Of course, while I take apple breaks, our neighborhood blue jays are working full time. Selfishly, they seem to relish in ruining said apples. I can see them from my studio window, flying over from a neighboring maple, pecking away, never finishing one.
Though I suppose I wouldn’t eat a whole apple either if it were half my size…
Even with the jays, I love this time of year. The colors and light are never quite the same day to day. Plus, in a year like this, we have A LOT of apples. So even if the jays ruin some, I still have plenty to eat.
And paint, too.
Hope to see you Saturday! Or at some point later this fall. I’ll be talking color everywhere from DC, to NYC, to Maine, to KC, and Texas! Details are here.
-Steven
PS - About that mummy brown. My favorite example is in this Eugène Delacroix self portrait. All the brown in the background? Yep, it’s ground up dead people who in no way consented to being pigment. That said, pigment wasn’t the worst of it with the mummy powder. Up until the 1900s, people often used it as a sort of cure-all medicine. Blech!
I love this, Steven! Wish I could see this live. But I'll probably just buy the book! Anyway, your work and life are inspiring. Someday maybe we meet in a stream somewhere.