Forum: Author Hangout

Emerald green.

My muse says thank you, but it's too pale :(

AJ

Now I'm really confused. Wikipedia's (spit) idea of Emerald is a medium green, but I googled for images of Emerald Green dresses and they're generally about the right shade - one or two are even a little too dark.

Would anybody hate me if I marked down Emerald green because it's such a cliche?

AJ

Now I'm really confused. Wikipedia's (spit) idea of Emerald is a medium green, but I googled for images of Emerald Green dresses and they're generally about the right shade - one or two are even a little too dark.

You can't base your choice of colors on their names, you need to consult a reliable color chart, and Wikipedia doesn't include any. The color list of choice is Pantera's. Again, that's what designers and photographers use to calibrate their displays and images to ensure the colors are accurate. Unfortunately, I couldn't find an online website listing the Pantera colors. Your best bet, if you have access, is to examine Photoshops list of Pantera colors (a smaller subset, as their colors list is HUGE!)

1) Maybe this will help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_green

Thanks. In my original searching I found a different Wikipedia (spit) page devoted to green but this one seems more useful. Both Shamrock Green and Sea Green strike me as possibles. Would you consider either of those shades to be an attractive-sounding dress colour?

AJ

PS - that's just made me think of 'Pea Green', as in The Owl and the Pussycat. Some brilliant parallels with my story characters there, but there's no definition of 'Pea Green' and google images are all over the place, although mostly too pale. Drat!

After I eat lots of offal and my system flushes out the excess B vitamins, I get pee green. Is that close?

AJ

Red pee - I had been eating beetroot

A well known side-effect. Still, it's better than the alternative - being a werewolf (allegedly).

AJ

You think you have problems? One evening my pee was a deep solid red. Now, I have to watch my pee and more seriously phlegm in case they go green in which case it means the old steroids come out. Red pee - I had been eating beetroot

That's nice, but we need to know the precise Pantone color numeric for your red pee (what a great Sword & Sorcery name: Red Pee!). Though still a child, he's much scarier than his cousin, Sweet Pee.

Not as scary as the ruler of the universe - entro pee.

AJ

What a dramatic story climax: The entrance of Entro Pee!

However it raises a question, does Entro Pee ever actually change (i.e. move)?

attractive-sounding dress colour

For that, Sea Green sounds the most attractive, although I don't see the sea as dark green.

Emerald Green also sounds attractive.

I have no idea what the color Shamrock Green represents other than green. I thought a shamrock could be any shade of green as long as it's green.

Forest Green sounds good to me.

Army Green is a dark green, but not attractive.

Thanks.

My choice is currently between Sea Green and Forest Green.

AJ

My choice is currently between Sea Green and Forest Green.

I don't think Sea Green is a dark green.

Definition of sea green

1 :a moderate green or bluish green
2 :a moderate yellow green

Not really dark, but Wikipedia (spit) rates it as darker than Emerald Green (unless I'm going colourblind) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_green#Sea_green
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_green#Emerald

AJ

For that, Sea Green sounds the most attractive, although I don't see the sea as dark green.

Emerald Green also sounds attractive.

I have no idea what the color Shamrock Green represents other than green. I thought a shamrock could be any shade of green as long as it's green.

Forest Green sounds good to me.

Army Green is a dark green, but not attractive.

Sea Green is a dark blue/green combination.

Emerald Green is a dark green.

Shamrock Green is a light green (the color of four-leaf clovers). It's actually more of a neon-green in most uses. Unless your character is Irish, I'd avoid it, as the name leads readers to make unwanted associations.

Forest Green is a semi-darker woodland green, darker and not as washed out as army green.

Army Green, the color on those god awful army splotchy computerized uniforms, is a paler, washed out green. Unfortunately, it too has many associations, so unless your character is in ROTC, I'd avoid it like the plague, otherwise everyone will wonder whether she's butch.

Not to be confused with seafoam green

Which, from someone who lives on the beach and sees sea-foam froth with most major hurricanes, isn't terribly green. It's more a slightly greenish (from the cast of the water underneath) white, though you'll often see it as a light green (which looks nothing like foam at all).

Not to be confused with seafoam green

Nor seasick green, which isn't even green :(

AJ

So I dedicate my comment to all the colorblind like me: "Who the fuck cares? It's green!"

You mean white?

Point of explanation for those in other areas of the world - in the U.S., traffic lights are typically red on top (meaning stop), yellow in the middle (meaning slow down, but really meaning floor it, I can make it), and green on the bottom (meaning go). If the signal is laying horizontally, then green is to the right.

Except that the green light is white to me, not green. And I have serious issues with flashing yellow or flashing red lights, such that I can't tell the difference. (So I'm glad they've gone to blue for police.)

What makes it interesting for me is it's actual wavelengths of generated lights that I have trouble with, such as putting a light source behind and shining it through a glass filter - NOT reflected wavelengths from a color swatch on a piece of paper. So in the drivers manual I can see red and green - but on the traffic light it's brown and white.

Oh, and on the second point, most standard OCR software actually needs relatively clean print, anyway. I can use something like Dahling script, which is very ornate, and while we humans can pretty much read it, OCR software can pick out only about half of the characters when I scan it back in. If it was an actual handwritten caption, you could have your character say, "Well, that's close to a Dahling ssi script, but with the variations, I can see why the computer missed it."

I can use something like Dahling script, which is very ornate,

That's pretty much how I imagined it would look. Now all I need is a name that won't eject readers from the story!

Thank you,

AJ

Army green

I think that lacks the positive vibe for an attractive prom dress, but thanks for the suggestion.

AJ

She floated onto the dance floor in a beautiful Hooker's green dress.

I wish you'd use smileys :(

AJ

Hooker

And in one of those serendipitous coincidences, mere inches away from me is my seed-grown Calibanus hookeri, also named after William Hooker.

AJ

There's an 'official' color list used by photographers, but I can't recall the name offhand (it's how photographers and designers color calibrate their images). However, while that's precise, the names are not as commonly recognized. I recommend the following: The Color Thesaurus for Writers and Designers. It's a Pinterest page, but it shows up in most browsers without any trouble.

I also echo the calls for "Forest Green", as it's a generally recognizable color (what color do you see when you walk into a forest?), and it's in the correct color range.

Thank you.

prom queen

No comment ;)

AJ

Another source for finding color names: https://www.pantone.com/color-finder

Pantone also sells 'calibrators', which also (supposedly) identify specific colors. However, they're prohibitively expensive for any non-professional. Their color names, though, are hardly the stuff of literary value!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7-mBJjP3-E

AJ