Saturday, October 22, 2005
Brainstorming with Color
Many character sheets ask, "What is your character's favorite color?"
But another question a writer may benefit from asking herself is, "What color symbolizes my character?"
Colors contain special symbolic influences. It's common knowledge that red roses send messages of love, while yellow roses signify remembrance. One successful football couch courted controversy when he painted the visiting team's locker room pink--a color associated with tranquility.
Pierre Le Rouzic in The Secret Meaning of Names assigned a primary (red, yellow, blue) or secondary color (orange, green, purple) to each group of names described in his book. These colors have nothing to do with the person's color preference--the color she'd pick for a blouse or a rug or a car. The colors are symbolic of the person's nature. He further divides the color’s influence into three subcategories: the body, soul, and spirit. For example, red corresponds with qualities like anger, passion, and domination, while green corresponds with the mind, intuition, and imagination.
If a character feels thin, elusive, or not quite real enough to satisfy, consider what color best symbolizes his or her nature. For instance, is the heroine ardent, passionate, and full of feelings? Do these traits feel warm (red, orange, yellow) or cool (green, blue, purple)? Writers who collect photographs for "character dossiers" or collages may benefit from adding a fabric swatch or square of construction paper in the character's color. Keep the color in sight while writing scenes in that character's viewpoint, and try to match the tone with the temperature of the color (warm/cool). Look for colored props a character can interact with that can subconsciously reinforce the character's personality. Below are a couple links to sites that list common color associations that could be used to help brainstorm "colorful" scenes.
"Psychology of Color"
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/colors1.html
"What Colors Mean"
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0769383.html
But another question a writer may benefit from asking herself is, "What color symbolizes my character?"
Colors contain special symbolic influences. It's common knowledge that red roses send messages of love, while yellow roses signify remembrance. One successful football couch courted controversy when he painted the visiting team's locker room pink--a color associated with tranquility.
Pierre Le Rouzic in The Secret Meaning of Names assigned a primary (red, yellow, blue) or secondary color (orange, green, purple) to each group of names described in his book. These colors have nothing to do with the person's color preference--the color she'd pick for a blouse or a rug or a car. The colors are symbolic of the person's nature. He further divides the color’s influence into three subcategories: the body, soul, and spirit. For example, red corresponds with qualities like anger, passion, and domination, while green corresponds with the mind, intuition, and imagination.
If a character feels thin, elusive, or not quite real enough to satisfy, consider what color best symbolizes his or her nature. For instance, is the heroine ardent, passionate, and full of feelings? Do these traits feel warm (red, orange, yellow) or cool (green, blue, purple)? Writers who collect photographs for "character dossiers" or collages may benefit from adding a fabric swatch or square of construction paper in the character's color. Keep the color in sight while writing scenes in that character's viewpoint, and try to match the tone with the temperature of the color (warm/cool). Look for colored props a character can interact with that can subconsciously reinforce the character's personality. Below are a couple links to sites that list common color associations that could be used to help brainstorm "colorful" scenes.
"Psychology of Color"
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/colors1.html
"What Colors Mean"
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0769383.html
