Green is cool, but its fun factor is ramped up when mixed with orange and yellow, which both sit on the warm side of things without getting too hot. All together there is an ease to this colour combination, perhaps because each colour transitions into the next on the spectrum. Truly, this combination is citrus personified – summery, sunny, and whimsical while maintaining a certain sourness, thus preventing the whole thing from being too cute to tolerate.
Green is natural, full, and lush, while black is powerful, demanding, and forceful. Both colours make strong statements, with green evoking optimistic prosperity. Black can also imply prosperity, as it is often employed by the rich to denote luxury – think black leather – but even in the most opulent settings, it obviously remains decidedly dark. There is an indifference to black, a certain better than thou quality that green cannot compete with, as green is so eager, and down to earth. Even in its most rich and vibrant jewel tones, green cannot supersede black’s inevitable dominance. But green isn’t red, it’s not trying to be a rival to black. It’s happy in its own lane, pleased to be a pop of colour in an otherwise somber palette, without trying to dilute that mournful mood.
Crisp, cool, and collected. These are terms that can be used for both grey and green. While green evokes all that is organic, such as forests and glens, and grey is rather industrial, with images of smoke and steel coming to mind, both are calm colours. Unflappable, resolved, wise, and serene. Paired together they are perfect for a professional look. Think business meeting served with a luncheon.
Blue is so calm and reassuring it can often be seen as a neutral. It is crisp and cool, no-nonsense, but also soothing and helpful. All of these terms could also apply to green, though it also carries an earthiness which makes it a tad warmer than blue. Green and blue can be tricky when paired since they are so close together on the spectrum. In fact, some languages don’t even differentiate between the two colours, and only have one term for both. Yet they are distinct, as green is a combination of blue and yellow and therefore contains yellow’s optimism and positivity, perfectly balanced with blue’s calm intelligence. A vibrant, emerald green will pair well with a baby blue, just as cobalt will work well with lime. Juxtaposed in this way, both blue and green are elevated, and become more bold than either would be on their own. Do not underestimate these cool tones, as their forces combined will heat up a room.
Both purple and green are secondary colours, and often associated with villains in comic books. This villainy is natural for both when they are juxtaposed because while they are tonally similar, they are very much at odds. Both refuse to concede to the other, and both attempt to be dominant when juxtaposed. Both have a cool element, from their common blue, and both also have a certain warmth, which green gets from yellow and purple gets from red. Certainly, from this perspective, purple wins, since red will beat yellow in almost any battle, but somehow green puts up a hell of a fight when battling it out with purple.
Orange is optimism and cheerfulness. It is youthful without being infantile and warm without being hot. Green is abundance, wealth, and growth. It is calming but never stagnant. Together, green and orange are ebullient and comforting. A walk in the park on a sunny day. Do be careful though, to wear sunscreen during your walk, because orange also represents danger, and green can be sickly.
Green is the colour of nature, and is associated with growth, freshness, fertility, and wealth, but also jealousy, and in some cultures, illness. Pink is associated with femininity and therefore nurturing and soothing qualities, but sometimes its so over the top in its sweetness that its sickly sweet. While these colours are on opposite ends of the spectrum, they are actually pretty much the same. Perhaps it is because they are opposites that they get along so well.
Green is calm,
controlled,
most of the time.
The taste of green is lime,
sweet and sour,
good sweet, good sour.
The sound of green is synchronized,
good tune.
The feel of green is leaves,
Naturally alive.
Green is smart,
clever,
good.
Arms in the air,
always there.
Green, somewhat distraught by her recent interactions with Grey, decides to seek out her good friend Black. Black can always be counted on to take control of any situation, and steer it in the right direction. Black takes Green downtown, where they walk down the most bustling street in the city. Green confesses to having turned somewhat teal after her day with Grey, and wonders if there is anything to be done about the current state of affairs. What state of affairs, wonders Black suspiciously. Green acknowledges that the world is neither good nor bad, and what some perceive as a dystopia is a utopia for others, and vice versa, and yet, she feels certain that she can do something to bring the utopia closer for all, or at least even the playing field somewhat. She’s never thought of herself as an idealist, but she knows there are things that could be done, and she’s never been afraid of hard work.
Black, with a twinkle in her eye, smiles slyly and takes Green’s arm, leading her down an alleyway populated by dumpsters, broken bottles, and discarded cigarette butts. Look around, what do you see, asks Black. Garbage and graffiti, answers Green. Graffiti? Are you sure? Green wonders what Black is getting at, and looks more closely at the scene before her. She sees it now. It’s not graffiti, it’s art. The walls of the alley are covered in strikingly lovely murals. The colours are bright and intermingling, and add a warmth to this otherwise foreboding alley, even on a cold spring day such as today.
Yes, I understand that everything is a matter of perspective, I’ve already noted that, says Green, slightly impatient. No, you don’t get it, chuckles Black. It’s not a matter of noticing something dirty and perceiving it as beauty, it’s a matter of deciding something is beautiful because it is dirty. There can be no light without dark, and no beauty without ugliness, but true contentment lies in finding comfort in the dark, in what is normally distasteful. Finding the power that lies in the twisted and obscure. If I were a sensitive sort, I’d be offended that everyone equates me with bad, muses Black. But I revel in it. I find strength in it. This artwork is only impressive because it’s in an alleyway. Context matters. If these same murals were in a museum they would be bland and uninteresting. But here, the trash that surrounds the art elevates the art. Here, among the debris of the city, the murals remind us to always look up, because there is more than what lies at our feet. We can soar if we are willing to reach.
