The Day The Colors Fought Back

The day the colors fought back – seriously? I love telling a good story and using a small number of my acrylic paintings to illustrate the tale, I have let my imagination run riot. Read on and find out more about just how naughty colors can be.

The Day The Colors Fought Back

Living In Harmony

The colors were all lined up on the shelves in the art studio. They spent a lot of time asleep, waiting for the artist to arrive and provide some fun. Some of them had been there a long time and seen a lot of exciting paintings and experiments. Others were new and were getting used to their surroundings.

Some colors got a lot of use, others not so much. Some knew they were special as they were a favorite of the artist. Purple, in particular, got made fun of by the other colors as it was used so often.

The Cracks Start To Show

As time went on, some of the newer colors started to get fed up and wanted to see more action. They became quite strident in their demands, jostling in front of other older, more steady, colors in order to get attention.

Splitting Into Factions

Gradually, the colors began to split into different factions. The cool colors, blue, green and purple, would take a stand against the warmer colors of red, yellow and orange. The neon colors often showed their reckless and sometimes disturbing nature by voting against all the others, even when it was in their best interest.

Sometimes the dark colors would get together, bringing a rather somber mood to the studio. On other occasions, the bright colors would get together with the neon ones, giving everyone a headache!

Red, yellow and blue had something of an elitist attitude. They often would say loftily to the others that they are the only colors that cannot be made by mixing two other colors.  Then the white and black and would point out that, without them, where would the base coats be for the acrylic pours, and the highlights on paintings? The other colors would reply scoffing that black and white are not real colors, they are neutrals so they don’t get to have an opinion.

There were groups of colors who preferred acrylic pours, another group that preferred brush painting and even a third that didn’t mind either way. The first two groups did not see eye to eye and would not even discuss the other’s point of view sensibly. Both groups believed they knew best regardless of other opinions. Color harmony seemed but a distant memory.

The Peacekeeper

Yellow worked overtime trying to keep the peace. It worked with blue to create beautiful shades of green. Then it crossed to the warmer colors and worked with red to create wonderful shades of orange. It worked with purple as a complimentary color. But it was to no avail. The paint brushes and palette knives shook their heads and sighed, longing for the good old days when everyone got on together.

The Artist Lost Control

Sometimes during a painting session, the artist lost control of the colors as they took over, creating chaos. The wrong ones would mix together to create a muddy color overall. The artist would sigh and scrape off the paint and start again.

Other times the colors were too keen and would spill over the canvas, ruining the design. The artist would shake her head, pack away her brushes and leave the studio in disappointment. The colors were fools to themselves as, by ruining the painting session, their chance of fun had gone.

Time Catches Up With The Colors

Things settled down over time, though the bickering and factions were still there. But gradually the colors mellowed as they aged. They were coming to the end of their lives. The colors fought to keep their youth, and as the sands of time started to sweep towards them they fled in all directions. Their colors mingled and ran out as the inevitable happened and the sand buried them.

And a whole range of new colors appeared on the studio shelf to start the cycle all over again.

Before you go

My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.

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Thank you for reading!