Color Story | A Stroke of Midnight Blue

Universally beloved and as comforting as a warm blanket, this deepest of blues evokes feelings of awe and ahhh.

Midnight blue is instantly associated with great expanses of night sky. Gazing at the world’s evening cover is an exercise both inspiring and overwhelming; it’s certainly innately human, and the blue spaces between the bright stars have been the source of many a philosopher’s conundrum and epiphany. The color seems to foster introspection.

A STARRY SKY

Cafe Terrace at Night was the first of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings to feature a starry sky, distinctly painted in blue. In a letter to his sister, he expressed his excitement: “The gables of the houses on a street that leads away under the blue sky studded with stars are dark blue or violet, with a green tree. Now there’s a painting of night without black.”

He wrote that he enjoys painting en plein air at night because, “it’s the only way of getting away from the conventional black night with a poor, pallid and whitish light…”

MULTIFACETED BLUE

Sapphires are composed of the mineral corundum, but the mineral can present as other colors, too. The blue version is famous for gracing the hands of both Princess Diana, and her daughter-in-law, Kate Middleton.

GOT THE BLUES

Derwent Procolour Pencils have lots of moody blues for a dramatic finish. Procolour is formulated to layer and blend with minimal dust and bloom. With a strong pencil core, Procolour stays sharp and your drawings will too.

BLUE JEAN BABY

Natural indigo dye has traditionally been used to color denim, and 40,000 pounds of the midnight blue dye are produced each year for the cloth production.

COLOR ME HEALTHY

Such a rich blue rarely presents itself in natural, edible form, making blueberries special for more than their taste. Their midnight blue color is, thanks to anthocyanin, a powerful antioxidant.

SEEING BLUE

The color of male blue morpho butterflies is actually an illusion caused by light reflecting off microscopic, diamond-shaped scales on their wings.

COMPLETE CONFIDENCE IN COLOR

Discover two courses for complete confidence in color and color mixing. A Master Your Palette course that will have you mixing colors like you were born doing it and the Essentials of Color Mixing — both of these put every facet of color at your disposal, artists. Enjoy!

Article by McKenzie Graham.