I agree, nature does so many amazing things with color. I think it’s fun to take inspiration from color combinations I see in nature when I design. Sometimes it comes up with combos that I would never have thought of otherwise.

Madeline,

Harlequin is an interesting choice. It is a great example of how the combination of hue, saturation and value can create a variation of how a color typically affects us. Many believe that green is restful to the eye, but if you were surrounded with harlequin I doubt that would give your eye a break. Like you said, it’s so bright that it is obnoxious. It makes me wonder what version of green was used in studies.

It is also interesting to me that you don’t like yellow rooms. I purposely painted my living room yellow because many studies have shown that yellow can create mental clarity and help you concentrate. Since I turned my living room into a dance studio, it seemed appropriate to me. Teaching, learning and choreographing in a room that helps me concentrate seemed like a good choice.

As for the smiley face, I agree, yellow seems like the only choice that will work. Mainly because it is a cheerful color, but also because other colors would create different effects. Green would make me think the smiley is sick. Blue might make me think the smiley is somber or cold. Red may come across as angry or maybe lovesick.

As a child I liked forest green. That seems boring to me now. Now I like Harlequin. I liked Chartreuse before I found out that Harlequin, being 75% green and 25% yellow rather than 50/50, is superior to Chartreuse.

I like bright green because it’s obnoxious like me. I don’t know. It’s very outrageous, which I feel I can be. Actually, Even when I don’t think i’m being crazy, a handful of other people think I’m a nut. I just don’t know. I think everyone else is just boring. HAHA.

I noticed that I don’t like when rooms are painted red or yellow. Yellow is a gross color unless on a smiley face. What other color would work for a smiley. None. It can only be yellow.

I usually tell people my favorite color is nature. And every color I know of can be found in nature (even neons). Nature does some pretty amazing things with color. Just try manually recreating a sunset. It’s not the same…