Traditional media to digital: The long and winding road of color

- The compulsion to make images…that tell stories, document history…or communicate something is part of being human.…We have language, but before language we had pictures.…How we translated our thoughts into pictures…plays into our conversation about color.…Because our ability to communicate through imagery…has changed drastically through time.…And our use of color has changed right along with it.…When the first images were created,…at least the ones we know about,…the medium was limited to the blackness of charcoal…and the tone of a caved wall.…

Using what was available made sense.…As time marched on, natural pigmentation…became a part of visual language.…Using dyes and stains in a multitude of cultures…and on a variety of surfaces.…Pigments were made with colored powders…derived from such natural sources…as mango leaves, cuttlefish, metallic salts,…cochineal beetles and even ash from the bones of mummies.…The medium of communication shifted from walls…to pottery, caskets, paper and every day objects.…

Using a variety if surfaces made the application of color…