The color green in art, design and painting | 2024InColors #02

To think about color is to think about light. From the perspective of physics, green occupies a unique place in the spectrum of visible light. Using the acronym ROYGBIV to memorize the order of colors by frequency and wavelength, green sits right in the middle, serving as a transitional bridge. It divides the visible spectrum into two groups: the warm colors (red, orange, yellow) and the cool ones (blue, indigo, violet). While green is not a primary color in modern theories, being a mix of blue and yellow, it held that status in ancient color theories. These older frameworks prioritized psychological and symbolic meanings over chromatic properties. Green, as the color of nature, symbolized life and renewal, making it foundational. Unlike other colors, like yellow (discussed here) that turns green when mixed with blue and orange when mixed with red, green is always green, whether darker, lighter, or browin-ish, green is green.

Green: The Color of Balance, Nature, and Renewal

Eva Heller, in the book The Psychology of Colours, the foundational source for this blog, opens the discussion of color through the many meanings people attach to it. Green is one of those colors that seems simple at first and becomes complicated the longer we look at it. It is the color of nature, growth, calm and renewal, but it can also represent envy, immaturity and stagnation. There are many greens and, as with yellow, changing the tone can completely change the feeling of the color.

Green is also a secondary color, obtained by mixing blue and yellow. This makes the color particularly interesting because it sits between two very different sensations. Blue can bring calmness and stability while yellow brings brightness and energy. Green is somewhere in between. Maybe this is one of the reasons it is so commonly associated with balance.

The imagery inspiring this exploration of green could be almost anything: a forest, a jade stone, an old painted wall or a neon-green sign. Whatever the image, the meaning of green changes according to its tone, its brightness and where we find it.

Green in Nature and Its Symbolism

Green’s strongest association is probably nature. It is the color we see in leaves, grass, forests and new plants, so it is almost impossible to separate green from the idea of life. Chlorophyll is responsible for the green color of plants, and because plants are connected to growth, food and renewal, green inherited many of these meanings.

This association with nature also explains why green became such an obvious color for ideas of environmentalism and sustainability. A green package can immediately appear more natural even before we know anything about what is inside it. Green has become a visual shortcut for organic, ecological and healthy.

But nature is not only peaceful and healthy. Green can also be the color of decay and toxicity. Mold can be green. Some poisonous animals have extraordinarily bright greens. A green that looks fresh in one context can look sickly in another.

This is one of the recurring contradictions of green. It can represent life because it is everywhere in living things, but it can also remind us that nature is not always safe or beautiful.

Green in Fashion

The popularity of green in fashion has an interesting history because some of the most fashionable greens were also some of the most dangerous.

During the Victorian period, bright synthetic greens became fashionable, including Scheele’s Green and other arsenic-based pigments. They produced colors that were much more intense than many of the greens previously available. The problem was that arsenic was part of the recipe. Green could therefore become a fashionable color while also becoming a dangerous one.

This is a recurring story in the history of color. A new pigment arrives because it is brighter, stronger or easier to produce, and only later do people discover its problems. The history of green is full of these compromises.

Today green is mostly appreciated for its versatility. Dark forest greens and emerald greens can look elegant and serious, while lime and neon greens are much more energetic. The same basic color can therefore move from conservative to extravagant simply by changing its saturation and brightness.

Green also has a special place in stories. The green dress can suggest jealousy, passion or a connection with nature. A good example is Keira Knightley’s famous green gown in Atonement, where the color became almost as memorable as the scene itself.

Green in Home Decor

Interior design is one of the places where green’s connection with nature becomes particularly useful. A room filled with green can feel as if some of the outside world has been brought indoors.

A pale sage green can create a quiet and soft atmosphere, while a dark emerald can make the same room feel much more dramatic. Green also works particularly well with natural materials. Wood, stone, plants and green together create an association with the natural world almost automatically.

Lighter greens such as mint and pistachio can make a room feel fresh and bright. Darker greens can add depth and make a space feel more enclosed. The important thing is that green does not have one fixed effect. The result depends on the particular green and on everything surrounding it.

This makes green an easy color to adapt to different styles. It can appear in a minimalist interior, a traditional room or a much more extravagant decoration without losing its connection to nature.

Green in Graphic Design

Green in graphic design has one of its strongest advantages in its associations.

It is often used by brands connected with health, wellness, food and sustainability because people already associate the color with nature and growth. Financial companies also use green, taking advantage of another association: money, prosperity and economic growth.

But green is not always a safe choice. A bright green can demand attention, while a muted green can almost disappear into the background. The combination matters too. Green and red can easily produce Christmas associations, while green and gold can create a much more luxurious impression.

Neon greens are particularly difficult because their brightness can quickly dominate a composition. They work well when the intention is to look energetic or youthful, but less well when the goal is calmness.

As always with color, context is doing most of the work.

Green in Painting

Artists have long wrestled with the challenges of green pigments, from their instability to their toxicity.

• Verdigris: A bright green pigment used during the Middle Ages, derived from copper acetate, was both stunning and corrosive.
• Emerald Green: A 19th-century favorite for its vibrant hue, emerald green was notorious for its high arsenic content, leading to its eventual decline in use.
• Modern Greens: Safer synthetic pigments like phthalo(coloring “modern green”) green and chromium oxide green now dominate the artist’s palette, offering a range of tones without the health risks of their predecessors.

Green and the Masters

Green is particularly important when looking at landscape painting. Claude Monet used enormous variations of green when painting gardens, vegetation and water. His Impressionist approach made it possible to think of a landscape not as a collection of objects with fixed colors but as something constantly changing according to light.

Edvard Munch used green in a very different way. In works such as The Scream, darker and unusual colors contribute to the uncomfortable atmosphere of the painting.

This is perhaps the most interesting thing about green in painting. A green tree does not have to be painted with one green. It can be blue-green, yellow-green, almost brown or nearly black. The color changes with the light, the surrounding colors and the mood the artist wants to create.

Green’s Legacy in the Modern World

Green remains one of the most adaptable colors we have. It can represent nature on an environmental campaign, money on a financial website, permission at a traffic light and freshness on a package.

It can be the quiet green of a forest or the aggressive green of a neon sign. It can suggest health or poison, renewal or stagnation, peace or jealousy.

Maybe this is what makes green different from simply being the color of nature. Green is the color of change in nature. Leaves appear, grow, become darker, dry and disappear. New plants replace them and the cycle starts again.

There are probably as many ways of seeing green as there are greens themselves. And perhaps that is enough reason to keep looking at it.