Identification of traditional Thai colours used for mural paintings and Khon masks

Thai colour names used for mural paintings and Khon masks are not well known, uncommonly used, and some are forgotten. They are normally known today only among few artists who inherited the knowledge to paint them from their elders. However, the artists cannot quantitatively describe the characteristics of these colours, and this is a major impediment in colour identification and preservation studies that are necessary for future restoration works of temples and artifacts. The purpose of this article is to describe our research for identifying and quantitatively describing traditional Thai colours, as part of our effort to create a “Thai Colour Name Dictionary.” In this article, we show information about colour names which have never been mentioned in any international journal until now, and we describe the method we used to identify them with physical colours. The method is exemplified on 10 colour names. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 38, 229–234, 2013.     

A general framework to study the price‐color relationship in paintings with an application to Mark Rothko rectangular series

We propose a general framework to study the relationship between the price of a painting and its color‐related attributes. To this end we focus on four key aspects: dominant colors, features of the color palette, color harmony, and color emotions. We demonstrate the usefulness of this approach with an example based on Mark Rothko's post‐1950 paintings (the “rectangular” series), and auction data from the 1994 to 2018 period. We identify two distinct price‐color regimes in Rothko's market: (a) [1994‐2005], a period in which prices are explained mainly by the growing popularity of the artist regardless of the color attributes of the paintings sold; and (b) [2006‐2018], a period in which color‐related attributes explain most of the prices. Furthermore, we find that in this second period, the dominant colors and the diversity of the color palette, are by far the most relevant attributes that influence the price; color harmony and color emotions hold almost no explanatory power during this period. Finally, we propose a new metric based on the Herfindahl Index to describe color diversity; this metric seems to be promising at characterizing the effect of the color palette on the price of a painting.     

Chromaticity changes of inorganic pigments in Chinese traditional paintings due to the illumination of frequently‐used light sources in museum

Optical radiation can cause permanent damage to the color of Chinese traditional paintings, which have extremely high responsivity in the museum illumination. In order to obtain quantitative influence laws of artificial illumination on inorganic pigments in Chinese traditional paintings and provide basis for choosing light sources, a long periodic illumination experiment was carried out to examine how prolonged exposure of three light sources (tungsten halogen, metal halide and white light emitting diodes), frequently‐used in museums, affect the chromaticity of five inorganic pigments [azurite (blue), cinnabar (red), orpiment (yellow), ancient graphite (black), clam shell powder (white)], commonly used in Chinese traditional paintings. Through the experiment, we found that the illumination causes a color change to inorganic pigments, and the degree of which is related to the photochemical stability of pigments and the high energy shortwave radiation in the light source spectrum. We also obtain the color change laws of the five pigments and the quantitative relationships of color damage for different painting types. These results can provide data basis for related research on Chinese traditional painting illumination and choice basis for light sources in museum lighting designs.     

An interactive method for generating harmonious color schemes

We present an interactive visualization tool for generating color schemes that can be used by both professional artists and novice designers to improve their design efficiency. The method is developed on two color harmony principles of familial factors and rhythmic spans from conventional color theories. The interactive tool makes use of these principles for users to interactively generate colors palettes containing harmonious combinations in the hue, saturation, and lightness color space in as few steps as possible. A pilot study with 20 participants has shown that this tool provides efficient workflow, color‐scheme harmony, and intuitive interaction, demonstrating the usefulness of the method. This work contributes to an artistic‐theory driven harmonious color‐scheme generation and to interactive user interfaces visualizing color relationships. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 39, 70–78, 2014     

景德镇新彩瓷的现状与发展前景

就当今景德镇整个新彩瓷艺术发展状况而言,已呈现出多元化的发展态势。但是,中国传统绘画的表现形式依然是新彩瓷发展的主流。在体现中国绘画审美意趣的同时,艺术家们把新彩瓷创新的视角转向材料性能、工艺、烧成技术。新彩材料潜在性能的挖掘、工艺手法的综合利用,是新彩瓷形成多元化发展趋势的必然途径,而"技"与"艺"的交融将成为景德镇新彩瓷发展的必然前景。     

Digitally reconstructing Van Gogh's Field with Irises near Arles. Part 2: Pigment concentration maps

Colors in many paintings of great art historical value have changed over time, due to the combined effects of natural ageing, accumulated surface grime, and materials added during later conservation treatments. The physical restoration of the colors in such paintings is not possible. This article describes one part of work done to digitally restore the colors of Van Gogh's painting Field with Irises near Arles, dating from May 1888. We have used multispectral reflectance data to estimate absorption K and backscattering S parameters of Kubelka‐Munk 2‐constant theory. This was done for all 13 pigments known to have been used by Van Gogh in this painting, and based on this the concentration maps for each of these pigments were calculated. We validated the calculated concentration maps in several ways. For some pigments, we were able to predict spots on the painting where the pigment is expected to occur in unmixed form based on visual examination. For several other pigments, the concentration maps could be shown to agree with XRF data. Finally, for some other pigments the concentration maps were supported by additional evidence from microscopic examinations, remarks in Van Gogh's letters and from early color reproductions. For the 1.7 million pixels for which multispectral data is available, the average color difference between the calculated and measured spectral reflectance curves is CIEDE2000 = 1.05. This further confirms that the Kubelka‐Munk calculations are well suited to describe the variety of spectral reflectance on the painting.     

Prediction of simultaneous contrast between map colors with Hunt's model of color appearance

The objective of this research was development of a quantitative model of simultaneous contrast (induction) to aid selection of sets of easily identified map colors. The model is an extension of R. W. G. Hunt's model of color appearance. Contrasts between central and proximal colors were used to adjust Hunt's lightness, relative redness-greenness, and relative yellowness-blueness measures. Human subject responses to CRT displays in an experiment were analyzed to produce a set of rules for selecting map colors. Rather than predict average perceptions for central/proximal color combinations, acknowledgment was made of the inherent variability in map readers' perceptions of color by developing generalized perception buffers that accounted for at least 90% of test subject responses. The task of selecting colors that will not be confused once they appear with numerous proximal colors on a map thus becomes a task of selecting colors that do not have buffers that overlap in color space. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Color vision defectives' experience: When white is green

Despite having difficulties in discriminating colors, individuals with a congenital color vision defect (CVD) sometimes identify colors correctly. One explanation for their correct use of the color name could be the context in which the color is used. In North America, how context influences the use of color names can be illustrated using the pedestrian signal light, where the color of the light indicating that it is safe to cross is white. Sixty color vision normals (CVNs) and 68 CVD subjects were asked to identify the color of the man figure icon from memory. All of the CVNs identified the figure correctly as white, whereas 56% of the CVDs identified the color of the man-figure incorrectly, with 92% of the errors identifying the color as green and the remaining 8% as yellow. No one identified the figure as red. The data show one example of how context plays a role in how CVDs identify colors.     

Computational tongue color simulation in tongue diagnosis

Tongue color is one of the important indices for tongue diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine. This study aims to analyze tongue colors of computational tongue diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine using scientific quantification and computational simulation. The tongue color data are established according to the experiment in which the doctors who use Chinese traditional medicine assessed standard Munsell color charts under the standard lighting environment. Tongue color is classified into six color names, which are pale red, light red, red, crimson, dark red, and purple. The doctors assessed Munsell color charts to find the corresponding color charts' distributions of each color name in tongue color. The hue-lightness-chroma data of the chosen Munsell color charts were transformed to CIE xyY using the look-up table computation, then further were converted to CIELAB values and sRGB data. Based on the 95% confidence ellipses formed on CIELAB (a^*, b^*) plane and CIELAB (C^*, L^*) plane, the comparisons between tongue colors and general colors were analyzed. The computational tongue image simulation combining the elements of color, texture, and moisture was successfully established. This computational simulation method could potentially become a useful tool for teaching and learning diagnoses in the education of Chinese medicine.     

Determining key colors from a design perspective using dE-means color clustering

Designing a mood board is a creative tool designers often employ at the start of a new (interior) design project. The colors of a mood board represent important information about the envisioned interior designs. In this article, we focus on digital mood boards and we propose a novel method to determine the mood boards' key colors from a design perspective using dE-means color clustering. This proposed algorithm includes a fixed initialization to overcome the non-deterministic nature of traditional k-means, and a merging step to ensure all colors in the calculated palette are at least a dE-threshold apart. Quantitative and qualitative results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms existing methods in determining the key colors from a design perspective. Additionally, we introduce a novel method to visualize the calculated color palettes that takes into account the contribution of individual pixels to the construction of the calculated color palettes. Finally, we demonstrate how the proposed algorithm can be used to characterize color palettes for various design styles like modern, industrial and art deco.     

An adaptive approach to create on‐demand color schemes for mapping quantitative geographic data

Creating a satisfying quantitative color scheme is challenging for both novices and experts. Geovisualization often suffers from the misuse and misunderstanding of quantitative color schemes. This article presents an adaptive method to create ready‐to‐use quantitative schemes. A probability‐based method for color selection is presented to quantify the selection of quantitative colors from learning samples of varying popularity. To shape the color transitions, a regression analysis is performed to fit the mathematical curves for the transitions of hue, saturation, and brightness. Finally, the problem of creating satisfying quantitative schemes is translated into a multiconstraint optimization problem. A discretize‐and‐filter method is also presented to solve the optimization problem of globally identifying a suitable scheme in a continuous color space. The proposed method is evaluated with a case study, and the results indicate that the proposed method can derive satisfying schemes. In addition, the proposed method is adaptive to mapping feature, target reader and target device.     

Color names,stimulus color,and their subjective links

The aim of the research reported by this study was on the one hand to identify what colors were associated with particular words in relation to a specific language (Italian), by portraying them in color stimuli on the screen of a monitor; and on the other hand to verify whether some words of that language denoted colors that were either particularly well defined or confused with others. In an experiment using special software, the subjects were asked to produce colors directly, instead of choosing among a number of colors presented on the screen. The results showed that (i) it is possible to identify the color‐stimuli to which the terms of a language refer; that (ii) the “best” colors Giallo (Yellow), Rosso (Red), Blu (Blue), and Verde (Green) which the subjects were requested to produce were very similar to the corresponding unique hues; that (iii) among the mixed hues there were perceptually intermediate colors, that is, ones exactly midway between two consecutive unique colors: Arancione (Orange) and Viola (bluish Purple); that (iv) Turquoise and Lime were clearly positioned in the mental space of color of the participants; and that (v) for Italian speakers some hues coincide: Azzurro (Azure) and Celeste (Cerulean); Arancione (Orange), RossoGiallo (RedYellow) and Carota (Carrot); Lime and GialloVerde (YellowGreen), so that their color terms can be considered synonyms. Our most interesting finding, however, is that for Italian speakers these four mixed colors with their specific names (Lime, Turchese (Turquoise), Viola (bluish Purple) and Arancione (Orange) fall perceptually in the middle of each of the four quadrants formed in the hue circle by the four unique hues. The resulting circle is therefore characterized by eight colors of which four are unique and four are intermediate mixed. It would be advisable to repeat the study cross‐culturally to test for possible similarities and differences in color meanings with speakers of different languages. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 42, 89–101, 2017     

The color consultant: A new professional serving architecture today in France

In the twentieth century, interest in color in architecture in Europe has been expressed in several ways. Two periods can be distinguished, characterized by different perceptions of the issue. First, between the 1920s and the outbreak of the Second World War, architects themselves tackled the question of color, either by adopting some sort of polychromy, or on the contrary by excluding it from the design of their buildings. In the second period, in the 1950s, a new form of coloration emerged, this time at the initiative of certain artist-painters. This was the most significant step in terms of social, even utilitarian, character (but it should not be confused with another phenomenon linked to the manifestation of color, the mural). the new step was taken above all in France, where some artists preferred to apply their sensibility and experience to constructed space—on a different scale from the traditional scale of the painting. Patient experimental attempts and meticulous research by these few forerunners gave rise to a new profession serving architecture, that of the color consultant. It was with the development of industrial architecture and thanks to the way society was evolving that attention turned to the ambiance of the workplace, and the color consultant could come onto the scene. Previously, other professionals had been active for (or against) color in architecture, and prepared the ground for this specialization. A historical overview, marked by certain events in the 20th century architectural movement, illuminates in this discussion the origins and the need for the new profession. In a more detailed way, the working methods and some realizations of the principal French color consultants are addressed—a presentation that is intended to interest researchers or professionals by providing specific information that, despite its importance, seems to be lacking in specialized publications. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A novel method for fabric color transfer

Fabric color design is a complex process in textiles and clothing industry. A new method for fabric color selection and transferring is proposed in this study. An automatic way to select the colors from the natural images is developed for fabric color design. Based on these colors, a fabric image is then used for color transferring. The fabric image is processed by a bias field estimation operation, and the membership function of the color deviations of the image has been obtained. According to the selected colors and the color membership function, the fabric image colors can be changed and transferred to a new image that preserves the similar texture appearance but with significantly different color effects. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 40, 304–310, 2015     

Computational color analysis of paintings for different artists of the XVI and XVII centuries

We have performed a computational color analysis of images of paintings for six master painters: Titian, Rubens, El Greco, Velázquez, Rembrandt, and Vermeer. These painters show the evolution from the renaissance to the baroque style. Different first and second‐order statistical parameters have been obtained and analyzed in order to fix which of them can be common for the different artists and which of them can be representative of a certain period of time or the evolution of the art. The firsts include the orientation and semi‐axes ratio of the ellipses that define the gamut in the chromaticity diagram and the dependencies with the frequency of the power of the Fourier transforms. Most differences among artists can be found in the volume and area of the gamut, the number of discernible colors which is greater for Titian, El Greco and Rubens, compared to Velázquez, Rembrandt and Vermeer, the average value of L* and the number of dark pixels.     

Correlations between color attributes and children's color preferences

This study examined the role of color attributes (lightness and saturation) on children's color preferences for interior room colors. It also investigated children's most preferred colors among each of the five major hue families in the Munsell color system using scale‐models. Previous color preference studies have typically been done with small color chips or papers, which are very different from seeing a color applied on wall surfaces. A simulation method allowed for investigating the value of color in real contexts and controlling confounding variables. Forty‐five color samples were displayed on scale‐models to 63 children ages 7–11 years old. This study identified children's most preferred colors among each of the five major hue families in Munsell color system. It also demonstrated that saturation was positively correlated with children's preferences in the red, green, blue, and purple hue families. In the yellow hue family, interestingly, lightness has a positive correlation with preferences. Children's gender differences were found in that girls prefer red and purple more than boys. These findings lead to color application guidelines for designers to understand better color and eventually to create improved environments for children and their families. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 39, 452–462, 2014     

Influence of basic color categories on color memory discrimination

Two color-memory experiments were performed to investigate whether observers tended to confuse colors with a smaller color difference in memory or colors in a same color-category region. We made color stimuli on a color CRT. Color difference was determined by a simultaneous color discrimination experiment. Color-category regions were obtained by a categorical color-naming experiment using the 11 basic color names: white, black, red, green, yellow, blue, brown, orange, purple, pink, and gray. The results show that two colors with a certain color difference can be confused more easily when they are in a same color category than in different color categories, and that colors identified with memory tend to distribute within their own color-category regions or their neighbor color-category regions, depending on their positions in a color space. These findings indicate that color memory is characterized by the color categories, suggesting a color-category mechanism in a higher level of color vision. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A systematic approach of predicting color preference on the basis of gray relational grade

During the color design process, it is critical to create diversified color schemes for various consumer groups. It is also important to allow members in a design team to brainstorm for creative ideas. A theory of inspecting natural color elements was proposed in this study based on the CIE 1976 (L*,a*,b*) (CIE 1976) color space and the fuzzy c‐means clustering method. A calculation model was built to determine people's preference for colors based on a serialized system. To determine which factors affect the prediction of consumers' preference for a series of products, a gray relational color preference system was used in combination with gray relational grade so that a designer can obtain reasonable prediction results. The proposed system recommends not only the optimal colors for a product but also the optimal color scheme for a series of products.     

A comparative analysis of the characteristics and images of costume colors in the traditional plays of Korea,China, and Japan

The purpose of this study was to analyze quantitatively the characteristics and images of costume colors in the traditional plays of Korea, China, and Japan. The study focused on the Korean Masque, Beijing Opera, and Kabuki costume colors based on a selection of 1135 color samples. The collected source data were selected by extracting digital color data by using the Eyedropper Tool of Photoshop 7.0. The RGB color data were transformed to H V/C and the attributes of hue and tone were analyzed. Color images were analyzed with the color image scales of IRI Color Design Institute and Shigenobu Kobayashi to increase the validity of the evaluated images. As a result, the “five element colors (red, yellow, purple–blue (PB), white, and black)” from the theory of “Yin‐Yang Wu‐Xing” were used in the common stage costume colors of the Korean Masque, Beijing Opera, and Kabuki. Red, a preferred Asian color, was used most frequently in the costumes of these three traditional plays. A comparison of the traditional stage costume colors in the three northeast Asian countries revealed a difference in tones rather than in hues. First, the Korean Masque frequently used white in accordance with the tradition of white‐clad people and the cultural view of colors in which natural colors were preferred. Additionally, in the Masque, Koreans used colors based on the theory of Yin‐Yang Wu‐Xing with high‐chroma tones. On the other hand, the Beijing Opera exhibited the gorgeous and strong color images of China, by adopting high‐chroma colors in the Five Element Color: R, Y, PB, white, and black. Last, in the Kabuki costumes, a variety of white, black, dull, light, dark, strong, vivid, deep, bright, and grayish tones played an important role in showing various color images. The costume color images of the traditional plays of the three countries revealed that all shared the use of dynamic, springy/casual, and gorgeous images in the strong contrast of five element colors. Regarding the differences, the Korean Masque exhibited natural images in favor of natural colors, whereas the Kabuki displayed modern, decent/formal images by using dull, dark, and grayish colors. The study results suggested that the three countries commonly used five element colors from the theory of Yin‐Yang Wu‐Xing, but that their color images differed in terms of the tones used and the techniques for color combination. These results reflect that colors in the traditional costumes of the three countries are affected by their cultural codes, thereby representing the characteristics ofcertain peoples and cultural circles. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2011