Why Rainbows are Dumb

Reinventing the classic rainbow

That’s right, I think rainbows are dumb. I am not talking about what they may stand for or that cute rainbow painting your kindergartener did or how silly it was to add indigo to the six color rainbow just so we could spell out “Roy G. Biv”. I am talking about the way that colors, when used in art, look weak when they are all lined up in chromatic order.

Sorry… it’s true. You are adorable, but I am here to challenge your cuteness.

So, if I am willing to call out a timeless arrangement of colors, what else would I propose instead? And what’s so wrong with chromatic progression through primary and secondary colors, anyway? And while we are at it, what’s my problem? Why do I hate rainbows??

Great questions! First off, I don’t hate rainbows. However, I do feel like there are times, in art, that the lining up colors in a painting or illustration feels less impactful than it could. Colors lining up next to their neighbor in the rainbow works because they are similar, but it can take away from the impact that a color can have. When two colors are close together in hue, we call them complimentary and they “go together”. I get why people use them like that and that’s all well and good… but I aim to shake things up!

When we take colors that are opposites on the color wheel and put THEM next to each other, we call them contrasting colors and they stand out against each other. when you use contracting colors each color looks brighter and stronger!

For this reason, I have been playing around with a “standard” way to present the six primary and secondary colors… BEHOLD! The contrast rainbow!

Same six colors! Bold new look!

The idea for the contrast rainbow came in an effort to add bright colors to a painting without just lining them up. I wanted to come up with a guide that would allow me to grab a handful of colors and have them look good and pop when next to each other. using this set up I can grab any three colors and be assured that they will stand out against each other.

The basic idea is pretty simple. Take the first three colors in the old, boring rainbow and space them out. Then take the next three colors and slot them between the first three. This assures that each color is up against a color that will help it to really stand out. Nothing here is going to softly blend into the next.

A quick color shuffle and we got contrast for days!

I DO have one issue which lies at the ends of the rainbow. As with nature’s weak-sauce rainbow, the ends do not really wrap around (go on google and search “magenta does not exist” and you will be treated with an explanation that is far better than what I can type up here). In the new, improved contract rainbow, I do not know what to put between red and purple. Honestly, they go together ok, but really don’t compliment or contrast… they kind of do a little but of both.

I am thinking that, if I end up with purple and red together, maybe I will throw some neutral grey between the two and see how that works.

Well, that’s my invention and current obsession in my studio. I realize that most people do NOT think about this sort of thing, but if this is a topic you have ever thought about or are enjoying reading about now, please let me know!