The Colour Pink
Is it bubblegum, rose pink, baby pink, cerise, hot pink, flamingo, bright pink, pale pink, or cherry pink? The Oxford Dictionary description of pink is “the color that is produced when you mix red and white together”. Pantone describes it as “slightly aloof, it won’t be pinned down” color.
The evolution of pink as a color is well described by Pantone as a color that is both feminine and masculine. It further says that pink in the past was “more feminine / girly, today we think of it as more modern”. Winsor Newton describes pink as “A color journey from the Peaceful to the Political”.
It is said that there are more than 150 shades of pink, with vanilla ice being one of the rarest shades of pink. We typically think of pink as just a mixture of red and white, but it is more complex than that. Some pinks will have green and blue in it, others a little yellow.
Pink, as a color in flowers, is a symbol of love, happiness, gentleness, and femininity, and often will form the center of a Mothers Day bouquet.
But why a blog about the color pink? All because of the movie Barbie! The movie made many of us buy a piece of clothing in the color pink. And not just any pink color, but Barbie pink. Pantone even created a pink - PANTONE 218 (#e0218a), a shade of magenta-pink with 87.84% red, 12.94% green and 54.12% blue, described as a “middle washed rose” color.
Barbie and pink has a history dating back to 1959 when Barbie was released for the first time, but it became more prominent in the 1970’s when the packaging became predominantly pink. Ruth Handler, the woman who created the Barbie doll, wanted a doll that “could give little girls the chance to embody their future dreams—whether that was becoming an astronaut, a doctor or a fashion model”. The color became so successful that Matel trademarked it in more than 100 categories. Other colors that are trademarked include Tiffany Blue, John Deere Green and Yellow, Cadbury Purple and T-Mobile Magenta.
The question then was - which watercolors would be the best to use to paint cards with a pink theme? The Oxford dictionary description of a mix of red and white wasn't that successful, it became more salmon than pink. I liked Winsor Newton Permanent Rose best, but quite diluted, as well as Opera Rose and Opera Pink.
And the finished cards… (the second group of cards in the Classic Collection)
I guess we all will find a colour pink that we like. It may not necessarily be Barbie pink!
