MELLOW YELLOW

By Natalie Bright

One of the first colors recognized in prehistoric cave art is yellow, a pigment made from clay. The color was used widely in tomb paintings by Egyptians, although the billiant orpiment, from arsenic, was highly toxic. The pigment orpiment was included in a paintbox found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

The color of sunshine, Vincent van Gogh was a fan, writing to his sister in 1881, “Now we are having beautiful warm, windless weather that is very beneficial to me. The sun, a light that for lack of a better word I can only call yellow, bright sulfur yellow, pale lemon gold. How beautiful yellow is!”

Creativity, cheerfulness, and good-humor side of yellow emerged into a dark side in the 20^th century. Yellow triangles with the Star of David were sewn onto clothing of the Jews in German-occupied countries. The color yellow became a symbol of exclusion, judgment and spite.

Yellow is the most highly visible of all colors which is why it is used for pedestrian crossings. In some communities, red emergency vehicles are being replaced with yellow fire trucks and ambulances. It is the most popular color for neon signs.

Write deeper using Yellow:

Beige straw peach apricot butter buttercup lemon chartreuse citron canary chrome gold topaz ochre Sulphur mustard butterscotch orange tangerine persimmon