Vibrant versus pale. Bright versus dull. Beautiful versus ugly. We often think of these descriptors as absolute, but I like to think of them as fluid. Spectrums. And what we are describing with them are just as fluid.
Color changes with light. What looks like true red in one space can be wine in another. Color doesn't exist without light. In fact, color IS light. My 4th grade science fair project was about color; showing how light produces it and how our rods and cones process it. For my demonstration, my dad fixed a color wheel to the end of his power drill. When I'd turn it on, the color wheel would spin so fast that the colors would blend in the viewer's eye, turning them into black and white circles around the wheel. Because color doesn't actually exist on its own. It's a process of light reflection.
I love color and have found myself with a fluid favorite, shifting from year to year. Although my true favorite color has always been red, I am currently surrounding myself with tones of blue, aqua and teal. They are my new "favorite" and I wonder what that means, if anything. Your favorite color is supposed to say something about you, but what if your favorite changes every few years? What if "favorite" is fluid?
This most recent painting of a peacock was done specifically for a reason to use my new "favorite" tube of paint; a vibrant teal that I can't seem to get enough of; and the faux gold leaf paper I've grown so fond of lately.