This is a section from Triiibes‘ ‘Color and Form’, a freely distributed eBook available to view and download on Scribd or here.
There really is no such thing as color. Color is just the reflection of light, which is why at night things are shades of grey, or black – there is no light to reflect. During the day, or with a flashlight, different substances or objects absorb and reflect different wavelengths of light, making us believe we are seeing color when we’re not.
The power of color then is its ability to alter our consciousness, our thoughts, our emotions, our perceptions. White is the presence of ALL color and the absence of all color. Black is the absence of all color and the presence of all color. If you mix all the primary colors – you get black. Yet you cannot mix any pigments to get white, although through additive and subtractive mixing of light you can. Where does the color go? And where does it come from?
Yet, if you need proof that white holds all color then notice a rainbow where moisture acts as a prism, causing the refraction of light to bend light rays and allow us to see each separate color. If you think about it, when you look at the sky without the re-fractional properties of moisture, you’re actually seeing an integrated rainbow. It’s when the light bends that the curtain is stripped from your consciousness and you *see* a rainbow. It’s been there all along. You just couldn’t process it. When you hold a prism up, it too provides the key inside “white” and grants us the ability to see beyond all color to a specific color. It’s a lot like life that way. The answers to everything are present, but we need something or someone to “decode” the layers for us. The secrets to the universe are held in understanding the properties and possibilities of black and white.
Becky Blanton is a Ghostwriter, Author, Photographer, and Graphic Designer who lives, works and travels around the Country in her white, 1975 Chevy van with her mostly black Rottweiler.
