Photo: “Complimentary Paint Chips Extracted from the Hardware Store”. Photographed by kawaiidaigakusei. (September 2023)
The fastest and easiest way to uplift a lackluster mood is to seek out the paint aisle at a local home improvement store; scan through and collect all the paint chips that appear “calming”, “vibrant”, or “delightful”; and finally assemble a palette of colours that make up a happy bouquet of radiance and place it somewhere, eye-level, that will be noticed daily. It might be intimidating to walk off with a huge stack of colours, but paint sample cards are on display for that very reason—entirely free of charge—no questions asked (and if anyone asks, just respond kindly that you are a design student, studying color theory).
Following that advice, the wall area where a headboard should be placed is completely collaged with paint chips of pumpkin, carrot, peach, rose, honeysuckle, squash, and honey, just in time for yesterday’s Autumn equinox. It is during this time of year in the northern hemisphere, the transition of Summer to Autumn, that the cousin colours of orange feel so much warmer and restorative. Imagine a fire in a terra cotta, clay-brick hearth, composed of an orange-gradient palette. Happiness. There is a reason coral hues have a natural magnetism.
Earlier in September, while chasing bioluminescence and the red tide, I stood on a fisherman’s pier overlooking the Pacific Ocean and caught the last sunset of the Summer season. The apricot, hibiscus, and amaryllis colour palette—reminiscent of a scoop of orange sherbet at Thrifty’s—and I am reminded of the first and last chapters of a book:
“There are those days which seem a taking in of breath which, held, suspends the whole earth in its waiting. Some summers refuse to end.”
…
“Farewell summer.
(…)
Don’t go yet. Stay. I need a friend.
His friend stayed. And they talked. At three in the morning.
‘Why do I feel so happy?’”
-Ray Bradbury, Farewell Summer (2006)
Photo: “Final Sunset Captured Before the Autumn Equinox, Farewell Summer”. Photographed by kawaiidaigakusei. (September 2023)
.::.
What's Quacking?
Do you have any original art to contribute to our stock image database, announcements, community projects, ideas, news, or milestones to report? Please leave general comments below or send a PQ to kawaiidaigakusei.
Apricots, Hibiscus, and Amaryllis
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, Sept. 25, 2023
6 likes!
©2011 WOWIO, Inc. All Rights Reserved Mastodon
kawaiidaigakusei at 1:06AM, Sept. 26, 2023
@Ozone- I did not catch the bioluminescence, unfortunately. Too many lights on the pier. @Plymayer- that is a hilarious furniture ratio issue that is culture specific. I heard that Basque furniture is the exact opposite. Also, there are definitely some DD users who claim to be nationals from Japan. One of them writes newsposts on Fridays, the other, n_y_japlander drew the comic, Raw Fish, an American perspective of life abroad in Japan. Ironscarf- the monochromatic orange palette used in Awfully Decent Fellows is the comic that comes to mind when I think of an extraordinary execution of monochromatism. @PaulEberhardt- I imagine painting a tiger hundreds, if not thousands, of times in watercolor has made you an expert in the orange spectrum.
Ozoneocean at 7:11PM, Sept. 25, 2023
Did you catch the bioluminescence? On the wall behind my old work area I used to collage it with postcards (the arty ones that were given away free at cafes in the 2010s and before). They'd be arranged in colour order so the colour of the images on the postcards would gradually flow to other colours. There were greens, blues, greys, orange, red, pink... Colour gradation is a great way to liven up an area!
plymayer at 6:49PM, Sept. 25, 2023
My wife (x) and I, used to like ti visit furniture stores we we lived in Japan. No racism meant ir implied but we felt really big and tall. As a side note it was a great experience living there. The people and the culture are fantastic. Are there any Japanese DDers? What comics do they make
Ironscarf at 9:53AM, Sept. 25, 2023
With my previous comic, whatever the scene, setting, season or time of day, I always had the reassurance of knowing it would be depicted in shades of vibrant orange. A great comfort in times of difficulty and sadness.
PaulEberhardt at 7:31AM, Sept. 25, 2023
I've heard people say that we men know only orange. Let me do away with that slander: I can personally attest it's wrong. I can see light orange and dark orange. And brown. 😁 (You can tell how serious this is by the fact that I spent hours perfecting the perfect shades for tiger fur in watercolour - yes, I use several even if it's hard to spot in the scan - and think they were well-spent.) So seriously now: this is a really cool idea. Got to try it some time. I once did a wall painting using just the little samples they've got in the same aisle btw.; when used wisely it's amazing how much you can get out of these tiny things.