b'colour words: Anya Kusslersee thelightFrom natural to arti cial, from bulb touorescent, how do different kinds of light affect the way we perceive colour?Haveyoueverwonderedwhyyourstunningnewprimary colours of light: red, green and blue. All shades chocolate brown jumper suddenly adopts an off-puttingare created from these three hues. When equal amounts muddy hue when you try it on in front of your bedroomof red, blue and green are re ected, the brain perceives mirror? Or why the red wall in your lounge looks burntthe result as white; when they are absent, we get black.orange at night?natural versus arti cial And why your Resene ColorShop staff will advise you to paint your testpot of colour onto a piece of card orrmSo, when are the colours we see real and when are they paper and move it about the room you intend to paint sonot? In an ideal scenario, true colour is the shade closest that you can see it under different lights? Also, to viewto that re ected directly by the sun, which contains the full your sample at night under arti cial light as well as duringspectrum of the rainbow. We can achieve this by using as the day?much natural light as possible in our living, working and commercial spaces. In this country, where we are blessed To understand the intricacies of colour, therst thing towith lots of natural light, we do just that: so many modern remember is that we can only see different shades if theybuildings now have glass fronts or skylights, compared to are illuminated. In order for them to be anything otherolder ones. than degrees of black and white, light has to hit the surface and be re ected back.Having said that, there are numerous arti cial light sources available to us today, with many more in the process of The brightness of that light is measured in units calledbeing developed. These are used to compensate for lack lumensthe more lumens, the brighter the light. Oneof natural light or to achieve deliberate colour effects. As lumen is equivalent to one lux, which is the brightnessWhile red, yellow and a general rule of thumb, warm light (pink, red, yellow)blue are the primary of four full moons. Humans need a quarter of a lux to beaccentuates warm colours, while cold tones (blues, greens,colours for items like able to see at all.paint, the primary white, grey) enhance colder tones. According to lightingcolours of light In the daytime, under the bright light of the sun, we seedesign engineer Robert Victoriano, of Philips Lighting, it allinclude red and blue but replace yellow the world around us re ected in combinations of the threedepends on which light is right for your purpose.with green.42 |'