Lapis lazuli first appeared as a pigment in 6th to 7th century AD paintings in Afghanistani Zoroastrian and Buddhist temples. Furthermore, in German, Swedish and Norwegian languages, a naive person is said to look upon the world with a blue eye. Hindu tradition associates blue with Krishna, a deity that embodies love, virtue and divinity. In countries like Turkey, Greece and Albania, blue is said to repel evil. In China, blue manifests itself as a color of healing, relaxation and immortality. Additionally, many medications are dispensed in blue pill form.īlue is believed to symbolize the male gender in the Western cultures – though this hasn’t always been the case.

This has practical applications hospitals are often painted in shades of blue to help ease patient anxiety. Blue also lowers stress levels, stimulating calm.

The blue tint of daylight helps regulate our circadian rhythms. Clear blue skies have become synonymous with happiness, relaxation and tranquility. The cool light of winter and the blue tint of ice draws connections between blue and the cold. Consequently, a person experiencing sadness is said to be feeling blue. Blue’s associations with water tie it to cleanliness and refreshment but also tears. For example, the ancient duality of the sea and the sky generates a visual relationship between blue and impressions of consistency and trust. Rayleigh scattering, an optical phenomenon that causes the sea and sky to appear blue, forges a psychological association between the color blue and the perceived qualities of blue in nature. In this article, we’ll have a detailed look at the history of blue in visual arts and what it means for your photography.Ĭolor has a profound effect on our psychology. Painter Vincent van Gogh once said “I never get tired of the blue sky”, his fascination proving integral to many of his most famous paintings. As one of the three primary colors in traditional colour theory and the RGB colour model, blue’s greatest impact is in its capacity to convey strong emotion.

Cobalt blue color psychology