Redness

“ The physical quality which constitutes redness is perfectly well known, and when its presence in some external body is otherwise established, it may be confidently foretold that it will produce the sensation of red in persons normally constituted. But subject to what has been said above, we know nothing of the objective side of beauty. ”

“ Blood was its Avatar and its seal—the redness and the horror of blood. ”

“ Thus, while our general love for color leads us to prize golden hair, we do not like a sallow complexion; while it leads us to see beauty in rosy cheeks and red lips, which are signs of a healthy circulation, we do not admire the same redness in the nose, where it is usually a result of dyspepsia or dissipated habits, either of which is bad for the race at large. ”

“ Now, it is precisely this circumstance—the seemingly invariable association of the object with a certain impression—in this case, redness—that leads our judgment astray, and makes us believe that the colour is in the object. Most people live out their lives without anything occurring to them which would give them the least idea that the colours of the objects they see around them are not in these objects themselves, but are derived from the light that falls upon the objects. ”

“ On the subject of real inflammation, as distinguished from redness originating after death, or pseudo-morbid redness, as it is commonly termed,—a subject of great consequence to the medical jurist,—the reader may consult with advantage a paper by Dr. ”

“ But that part of her skin that remained in shadow appeared of a dimmer white, and the underlying colour varied from dim, rosy purple to dim blue. With the skin the colour of the eyes harmonised perfectly. At first, when lit with anger, they had appeared flame-like; now the iris was of a peculiar soft or dim and tender red, a shade sometimes seen in flowers. But only when looked closely at could this delicate hue be discerned, the pupils being large, as in some grey eyes, and the long, dark, shading lashes at a short distance made the whole eye appear dark. ”

“ Now, as the red nerves begin to be fatigued, the action of the other two sets will be relatively more powerful than at first, so that gradually the sensations of green and violet begin to add themselves to that of red, or, what is the same thing, the sensation of white mingles itself with that of red and makes the red color of the paper look a little grayish. The success of the experiment with the pure colors of the spectrum, which contain no white, is easily accounted for by the explanation just given. ”

“ It is, however, more congenial with yellow than with blue, and thence partakes more of the character of the former in its effects of warmth, the influence of light and distance, and action on the eye, by which the power of vision is diminished on viewing this colour in a strong light. On the other hand, red appears to deepen in colour rapidly in a declining light as night comes on, or in shade. These qualities of red give it great importance, render it difficult of management, and require it to be generally kept subordinate in painting. ”

“ If we look hard at bright green, we tire the green-seeing nerves, and things look red-blue, which is purple. An eye tired of blue, sees yellow.
The curious thing about this is that about one man in thirty and one woman in three hundred is “born tired” to red. Such persons are said to be red blind. Otherwise they can see as well as anybody; but red things do not look colored at all. None of us can see red far round to the side out of the corner of the eye, as well as we can see green and blue. Color-blind persons have the corner of the eye all the way across, and cannot see red anywhere. ”

“ In the nations of Southern Europe, such as Italians and Spaniards, the browner complexion to some extent hides this red, which among darker peoples in other quarters of the world ceases to be discernible. Thus the difference between light and dark races is well observed in their blushing, which is caused by the rush of hot red blood into the vessels near the surface of the body. The contrary effect, paleness, caused by retreat of blood from the surface, is in like manner masked by dark tints of skin. ”

“ Red is strong and vivid in its nature and at once arrests attention by its power and striking effect on the retina of the eye. It is symbolical of all the attributes of warmth, heat and agitation of the senses, the red cloth incenses the bull, whilst the red flag has also its associations of stirring character. It is used as a signal for danger, and at the same time is found in colour combinations where it is intended to produce an influence of comfort and warmth, the reds and their derivatives are found largely in articles intended for winter wear as the prevailing aspect is that of warmth. ”

“ White again is quite distinct from all the colours in the narrower sense of that word, and black, which we must accept as a sensation, as an affection of consciousness, even if we regard it as the absence of sensation from the field of vision, is again distinct from everything else.53 Hence the sensations caused by different kinds of light or by the absence of light, which thus appear to us quite distinct, and which we may speak of as ‘native’ or ‘fundamental’ sensations, are white, black, red, yellow, green, blue. ”

“ For it is a common psychological fact that in a hysterical condition red is the color most commonly seen subjectively; the sensation of red not only persists in hysteria, when other color sensations disappear, but it is common to have it take the place of another color, especially violet. ”

“ Her hair was red and her eyes were purple with fire in them; her lips were red as a flame-tree's flower, or maybe more red. She was slender without being slim and moved as easily as a pandanus leaf swinging in a little breeze. ”

“ The principal red pigments are carmine, vermilion, chrome red, scarlet lake, madder lake, light red, burnt sienna, for yellow reds; and Venetian red, Indian red, crimson lake, for blue reds. Red, in Christian art, represented by the ruby, signified fire, divine love, the Holy Spirit, heat or the creative power, and royalty. In a bad sense, red signified blood, war, hatred, and punishment. Red and black combined were the colours of purgatory and the devil. (See Realgar, Indigo.)
Red Chalk or Reddle is a mixture of clay and red iron OCHRE, used as a crayon in drawing. (See Ochre.) ”

“ Red breaks and diffuses with white with peculiar loveliness. It is discordant when standing with orange only, requiring to be joined or accompanied by their proper contrast, to resolve or harmonize the dissonance. In landscapes, &c., abounding with hues allied to green, a red object properly placed as regards light, shade, or distance, conduces wonderfully to the life, beauty, harmony, and connexion of the colouring. Red is, indeed, the chief element of beauty in floral nature, the prime ornament of the green garb of the vegetal kingdom. ”

“ The very bright red, again, is one of the ugliest warm colours that art ever stumbled upon: it is never mellowed by damp or anything else, and spoils everything near it by its intolerable and inevitable glare. ”

“ The blending of colors so as to secure their greatest effect depends on this fact; red and green go well together because each rests the parts of the visual apparatus most excited by the other, and so each appears bright and vivid as the eye wanders to and fro; while red and orange together, each exciting and exhausting mainly the same visual elements, render dull, or in popular phrase 'kill,' one another. ”

“ If now to red and violet we add green, which has a rate of vibration about midway between red and violet, we obtain a sensation of white. Red, green and violet are therefore the three fundamental colours.
4. Physiological Characters of Colours.—Colour physiologically is a sensation, and it therefore does not depend only on the physical stimulus of light, but also on the part of the retina affected. The power of distinguishing colours is greatest when they fall on, or immediately around, the yellow spot, where the number of cones is greatest. ”

“ Red is truly a delightful colour to deal with in shadowed interiors, its sensitiveness to light, changing from colour-tinted darkness to palpitating ruby, and even to flame colour, on the slightest invitation of day-or lamp-light, makes it like a living presence. It is especially valuable at the entrance of the home, where it seems to meet one with almost a human welcome. ”

“ We are familiar with the effects of red which are stimulating, exciting, or irritating. The toreador, recognizing this principle, waves a flaming red mantle before the bull. Blue has an exactly opposite effect. It quiets and soothes, and when it runs into violet, it becomes depressing. Experiment with purple lights and you will find that they give a note of gloom, mystery, or of impending disaster. Yellow is the color that brings gaiety and light-heartedness, as you will recall when you contrast your own feelings on a sunshiny day and on a gray day. ”

“ In the Young theory, it is held that the green sensation is always mixed with white, whilst the red is fairly pure, and thus, for equal luminosities, the surplus green sensation is much less stimulated than the red, which offers a consistent explanation of this fact. ”

“ First, because it conveys this notion of filling the world with one private folly; and secondly, because of the profound idea involved in the choice of colour. Red is the most joyful and dreadful thing in the physical universe; it is the fiercest note, it is the highest light, it is the place where the walls of this world of ours wear thinnest and something beyond burns through. It glows in the blood which sustains and in the fire which destroys us, in the roses of our romance and in the awful cup of our religion. ”

“ The faint touch of rouge—every actress must rouge, whether she likes it or not—gave the intense blue eyes an added depth and brilliance, which the long dark lashes veiled now and again, but to rise and render the brilliance and color more marked by their temporary concealment. ”

“ On the other hand, a timid, delicate nature could often gain courage and poise by living in surroundings of rich red tones, the tones of the old Italian damasks in which the primitive colors of the Middle Ages have been handed down to us. No half shades, no blending of tender tones are needed in an age of iron nerves. People worked hard, and they got downright blues and reds and greens—primitive colors, all. Nowadays, we must consider the effect of color on our nerves, our eyes, our moods, everything. ”

“ A real red intoxication and no perspiring blaze not even a silk hat, is there no stranger showing, is there not a selection. The pleasantest elegance is in a collar, it is and there is the red exactness that shows color and no such light. ”

“ The pleasure in bright red, or yellow, for instance, may thus well be the feeling-tone arising in the purely physiological effect of the color. If red works like a trumpet call, while blue calms and cools, and if red is preferred to blue, it is because a sharp stimulation is so felt, and so preferred. ”

“ The red will stimulate the red sensation of the green-blind, but not being spectrum red it contains a certain amount of yellow, which stimulates the green sensation if the observer be red-blind. The green is of such a colour that it will stimulate both the red and the green sensations. ”

“ And then red—red, the horrid whipper-in and huntsman of us all, meaning life, fire, lust, pain, carnage, sex, revolution and war, scarlet-lipped scorn and mockery—the raw, gaping, ever-bleeding, ever-breeding wound, in short, upon the body of the Cosmos which we call Humanity. ”

“ The red-blind, be it recollected, sees no red, and if I can place in front of the lens of the lantern some medium which cuts off the red as completely as possible, the audience as well as myself will see the colours approximately as the red-blind would do. ”

“ My hair is too red—brilliant, dark, fiery red, like a chestnut when it tumbles out of its shell, only burnished like metal. If I had the usual white eyelashes I should be downright ugly, but, thank goodness! by some freak of nature mine are black and thick, and stick out when you look at me sideways, and I often think when I catch sight of myself in the glass that I am really very pretty—all put together—but, as I said before, not a type to please every one. ”

“ All colors of red were red. Black was black, and brown was just plain brown until it became yellow, when it was no longer brown. Purple he had always imagined was red, something like blood, until she taught him better. Once they rode out on a high hill brow where wind-blown poppies blazed about their horses' knees, and she was in an ecstasy over the lines of the many distances. ”

“ Those tints which contain the element of red are by painters called warm, and those in which the element of azure abounds are termed cold.
Red is the strongest and the most vivid colour: it is the colour of fire and of blood, and it warms and inflames all the tints into which it is introduced. ”

“ Red glass only lets the red rays through and cuts off all the rest. How could it help being a lot fainter? And, what's more, red doesn't excite the nerves of the eye as much as white does, so that if there were two lights of equal power, one red and one white, the red would be less easily seen. ”

“ A horrible majesty in the fierce aspect increases it terror, and renders it more superb. Red glow the eyes, and the aspect infected, like a baleful comet, with envenomed influences, glares around. A vast beard covers the chin—and, rough and thick, descends over the shaggy breast.—And like a profound gulf expand the jaws, foul with black gore. ”

“ When we see a grey patch as rose-red, as though it were so independently of the action of the complementary light previously or simultaneously, that is to say, as though it would appear rose-red to an eye independently of this action, we surely misinterpret. ”