Page from a letter to his paint dealer by Eugene Delacroix

October 28, 1827

How fun it was to see this image of a letter by Delacroix posted today by my friend Jim (fellow graduate art history student at the University of Oregon in the 1980s). He is known to have a paint dealer named Etienne-Francois Haro (1827-1897) but Delacroix wrote this letter in 1827, and Haro was born in 1827. It was most likely addressed to Jacques Francois Haro (1797-1844).
My translation is poor but I can read that he wanted 6 bladders/tubes of naples yellow and 2 bladders/tubes of cobalt blue, and 2 bladders/tubes of fishing black.

Note: Collapsible tin paint tubes were invented by American artist John Rand, in 1841, which resulted in more pre-mixed colors being available in a medium which was convenient for painting outdoors (en plein-air painting).

 Delacroix's Palette

"My freshly arranged palette, brilliant with contrasting colors, is enough to fire my enthusiasm," he noted in his Journal in 1850.

The painter René Piot, who was Andrieu’s student, collected, in a book entitled Les Palettes de Delacroix (1930) all of Delacroix’s reflections on colors, color preparation, and especially, the arrangement of his colors on his palette, which he worked on meticulously until his health faltered. 

(from: Musee Delacroix)

Christmas Colors

Traditionally the colors of Christmas are red and green. I am not sure why red and green have been used for everything relating to Christmas (wrapping paper, bows, ribbons, decorations etc.) The color green is used as a reference for the evergreen tree and the idea that green can be thought of as a symbol for life, nature, growth, rebirth AND a now a symbol of ecology as well.  Red is used as the color of Santa's suit (why red? - see below) - red is a color of extremes - love, danger, anger, adventure AND a religious color (Christ, blood, crucifixion).

The tradition of Santa's suit being red actually derives from the Coca Cola company advertising campaign in the 1930s who thought Santa should be dressed in red rather than green. See: Coca-Cola-Santa.

So, if you like the traditional color palette of red, green with perhaps silver and gold accents - keep the tradition going. However, are some new palettes to consider that 

I found on Porter House Designs that you might like to try. Here is one of my favorites from her site...although I personally might swap out the black from a soft, dark brown.

If you are thinking of using Feng Shui principles - here are some ideas. 

Keep a sense of balance in mind when you place and decorate your tree and home, and you'll find it becomes a meaningful gathering space for family and friends.

Fire - red, orange, purple, pink (to activate personal energy- use in south areas of home)

Earth - yellow, beige, sand (create stability and harmony in relationships - use in center of home)

Metal  -white, grey, metallic (to bring clarity and focus - use in west area of home)

Water - black, blue (to bring a refreshing calmness into home - use in north areas of home)

Wood -  brown, green (to bring a sense of vibrant health - use in east areas of home)

During the holidays, this might mean adding candles throughout your home. However, if you have an unbalanced Fire feng shui element during Christmas season you risk creating an energy that promotes burn-out and even emotional outbursts. The low energy people often feel after the Christmas holidays is often created by an unbalanced fire element in their homes. Be mindful about balancing the strong feng shui Fire element of the Christmas season with a cooler color scheme, such as soothing light blue (feng shui Water element color), cool silver or gray and calm white (feng shui Metal element colors). 

Color of Trout

Last week I made a post about color in NYC - while I was exploring urban culture, my husband was exploring the Adirondacks and learning to fish. Here is his color contribution to my blog...who knew that trout had such a great color palette !

Colour in Australia

The colors found in the new paint line I learned about recently are only available in Australia - too bad. Here is a sample of just the first page of their beautiful palette.  Check it out at Murobond.

My favorite color is probably Arnhem, but those who know me already know that since it is similar to the color of my office and my dining room.

Color Palettes - slides & paint

At work yesterday, I was pulling poor quality 35mm slides from the Ithaca College slide collection. I was choosing the slides to de-accession primarily based on color. Slides have three dye layers (cyan, yellow & magenta). When the cyan and yellow layers have disintegrated, only magenta is left. However, I happen to have all levels of red, magenta, cyan, yellow, and purple shades here. The palette of colors here is wonderful to view.

Last night I had dinner with some friends, one of whom is a painter (David Schaffner). He uses a piece of glass as his palette and this example is from one that he recently retired. I loved the contrast of the two different mediums, one - 35mm slides mounted in glass mounts, the other paint on glass.