147.8 The Dye Color Wheel

My mom taught me all about the dye color wheel while she taught me to walk and talk and eat with utensils. Reds, browns and yellows are warm earthy colors.* Blues, pinks and purples are cool colors. I have mixed feelings on if green is warm or cool. This might be because green is a primary color on the light color wheel.**

Artists and clothing designers have worked out a whole philosophy of colors which has made its way into the traditions of Western Civilization. I was familiar with most of this philosophy through my mother, who studied these traditions in her home economics major in high school. I already knew I could wear any color shirt with black pants or white pants. I knew that most browns were also neutral colors that went with almost anything. I was therefore surprised at the detail with which this book I am reviewing describes this philosophy. Get it if you honestly didn't know about the dye color wheel. It will open up a whole new world for you:

Frumpy to Fabulous: Flaunting It: Your Ultimate Guide to Effortless Style, by Natalie Jobity

In the picture above I am wearing a cool monochromatic blue outfit. It consists of pre-faded multi-tone denim blue Levi's 505 jeans I bought second hand a few weeks ago -- and an indigo blue Woolrich Woman shirt that Mom and I bought new before I went off to college in Berkeley in 1987.

I walked more than three miles yesterday, but we were invited to a surprise dinner party after I had already eaten, so I gained .6 pounds. Here is what I ate all day:

Small bowl of Special K, blueberries and vanilla soy milk
1 microwaved frozen beef burrito with 3 tablespoons chunky tomato salsa
About a cup of raw carrot sticks
Half a Qdoba naked BBQ steak burrito
Half a cup of spaghetti with meat sauce and a piece of garlic bread the size of my index finger

*Red is only warmer than blue in art and the human psyche. Humans associate red, orange and yellow with warm fire. We associate blue with cool water. An engineer friend once told me he constantly turned the water faucet marked with blue when he wanted hot water -- because in science, blue is hotter than red. The hottest fires burn blue. Scientists might also notice that the artists' color wheel is the rainbow bent into a circle.

**Blending light to get colors works differently. If you combine all your dye colors together you get black. The absence of paint is a white canvas. The opposite is true in the light spectrum. The absence of light is blackness. All the light colors combined make white light. In light, the primary colors are green blue and red.