Pantone Color of the Year 2019 Announced!
What Do Artists Say to the Pantone Color of the Year 2019?
Can you believe 2019 is here, artists? With it comes a new color to reign supreme over the 365 days of the year. Yes, that’s right. Last year Ultra Violet was Pantone’s color of the year. But what is the Pantone Color of the Year 2019?
“Living Coral.”
According to the Pantone press release the decision reflects a shift in our collective way of seeing: Instagram. Smartphone cameras are the lens through which we view the world now, and that way of seeing is both documented and shared via social media. In the press release, Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, remarks: “Color is an equalizing lens through which we experience our natural and digital realities and this is particularly true for Living Coral.”
Living Coral is a color that bridges the digital and natural worlds. But how do artists use the hue?
Living Coral in Art
As we settle into a Living Coral state of mind, let’s look at how this color has been used by painters throughout history. Enjoy these highlights! Get inspired to use Living Coral hues in your next art piece! And be sure to harness the power of your own intuitive response to color, form, and figures with Betsy Dillard Stroud as your guide in the latest Intuitive Art Explorations Kit (also available for immediate access as a digital kit).
In the Landscape of Monet
Sunsets in all their colorful glory are a prominent part of Monet’s oeuvre. Where sunsets are, living color will surely be. Just look at the peaches, oranges, and pinks that guild his haystacks and almost seem to burn in the shadows of them too.
In the Ribbons of Sargent
The rich browns and umbers. The pearlescent whites. And then a streak of beautiful molten orange. Sargent loved to play in color and he does it with such simple, powerful results here. Mentally try to remove the “living coral” ribbon. The painting loses something. It is that stroke against the otherwise lovely neutrals that energize the whole work.
In the Drapery of Egon Schiele
This is one of my favorite Schiele figures, mostly for the contorted, difficult pose of the figure and her peekaboo eye. But the orange-of-many-shades drapery of her dress is definitely memorable too. It also lends a playfulness to the work that might otherwise have gone missing.
In the Flower Beds of Van Gogh
If you make a point to look, you’ll find living coral colors in many of Van Gogh’s landscapes and flower paintings. In his peach tree blooming in Arles. In the flower beds of Holland, and in the flowering gardens he depicted that are a riot of color.
In the Rosy Glow of Degas’ Pastels
See how the skin tones in Degas’ Woman Combing Her Hair have a rosy glow…or should we say a living coral glow? If you are after the same hue, look close and remember how combining colors is what will get you there.
Follow along with Desmond O’Hagan as he demonstrates how to create a copy of this painting!
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For full coverage of the debut, visit our sister site PrintMag.com for color maven Jude Stewart’s article on the Living Coral color choice for and why the Pantone top creative thinkers selected this premium color above all others.
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