Comments on: One of these days… http://www.patchofpuddles.co.uk/archives/1771/one-of-these-days Home Educating our Girls. Living without our Baby Boy. A family blog about life and death and trying to find the balance between them. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:40:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: site admin http://www.patchofpuddles.co.uk/archives/1771/one-of-these-days/comment-page-1#comment-248780 site admin Tue, 09 Jan 2007 14:48:13 +0000 http://patchofpuddles.co.uk/?p=1771#comment-248780 Give that girl a gold star! Give that girl a gold star!

]]> By: June http://www.patchofpuddles.co.uk/archives/1771/one-of-these-days/comment-page-1#comment-248778 June Tue, 09 Jan 2007 13:50:25 +0000 http://patchofpuddles.co.uk/?p=1771#comment-248778 At art school we were taught that white paint is when all the colour is taken out, and that black paint is when all the colours are added together. They even had us all try to make black (which isn't very successful btw). I think for most children this is an answer they can relate to. When they are a bit older, you can try giving them some watercolours where there isn't any white or black. (The artist sets come like this but you can get a cheaper set and take them out). White is the paper, lighter colours are made by letting the paper show through, and the darker colours have to be mixed in other ways than by just adding black. Then paint something they can see, like a simple still life of natural objects. The scientific answer goes something lie this... for white paint to work it has to contain no colour - so that it reflects all the colours of the spectrum back at our eyes - and we see "white". Black paint has to have all the colours included so that all the colours in light are absorbed, none are reflected back - and we see black. At art school we were taught that white paint is when all the colour is taken out, and that black paint is when all the colours are added together. They even had us all try to make black (which isn’t very successful btw).

I think for most children this is an answer they can relate to.

When they are a bit older, you can try giving them some watercolours where there isn’t any white or black. (The artist sets come like this but you can get a cheaper set and take them out). White is the paper, lighter colours are made by letting the paper show through, and the darker colours have to be mixed in other ways than by just adding black. Then paint something they can see, like a simple still life of natural objects.

The scientific answer goes something lie this… for white paint to work it has to contain no colour – so that it reflects all the colours of the spectrum back at our eyes – and we see “white”. Black paint has to have all the colours included so that all the colours in light are absorbed, none are reflected back – and we see black.

]]> By: Bob http://www.patchofpuddles.co.uk/archives/1771/one-of-these-days/comment-page-1#comment-248771 Bob Tue, 09 Jan 2007 13:00:24 +0000 http://patchofpuddles.co.uk/?p=1771#comment-248771 White is a colour; it's the only colour with none of the bits (wavelengths) missing. Red is a colour too, with all the non-red wavelengths missing and so on. Of course there being 3 primary colours of light and a different 3 primary colours of pigment doesn't help. (If you mix red, yellow and blue paints you don't get white :( .) I think I prefer Alison's response in number 11 - philosophy and rudeness. White is a colour; it’s the only colour with none of the bits (wavelengths) missing. Red is a colour too, with all the non-red wavelengths missing and so on.

Of course there being 3 primary colours of light and a different 3 primary colours of pigment doesn’t help. (If you mix red, yellow and blue paints you don’t get white :( .)

I think I prefer Alison’s response in number 11 – philosophy and rudeness.

]]> By: merry http://www.patchofpuddles.co.uk/archives/1771/one-of-these-days/comment-page-1#comment-248750 merry Tue, 09 Jan 2007 00:17:41 +0000 http://patchofpuddles.co.uk/?p=1771#comment-248750 Doesn't matter what anyone says; you can get white and black poster paint and therefore they are and my normally malleable children won't budge from that point! Doesn’t matter what anyone says; you can get white and black poster paint and therefore they are and my normally malleable children won’t budge from that point!

]]> By: Alison http://www.patchofpuddles.co.uk/archives/1771/one-of-these-days/comment-page-1#comment-248749 Alison Tue, 09 Jan 2007 00:08:27 +0000 http://patchofpuddles.co.uk/?p=1771#comment-248749 Yeah, tell them it's a Platonic ideal. And then tell them to %^&* off ;-) Yeah, tell them it’s a Platonic ideal. And then tell them to %^&* off ;-)

]]> By: Chris F http://www.patchofpuddles.co.uk/archives/1771/one-of-these-days/comment-page-1#comment-248747 Chris F Mon, 08 Jan 2007 23:28:50 +0000 http://patchofpuddles.co.uk/?p=1771#comment-248747 I'm not even sure 'white' as a single defined 'thing' exists - . Unlike black, which is a total absence of colour. Yes, the essence of white is that it an 'equal' - in whatever terms equal is measured - mixture of all the wavelengths of visible light. But what what we see as white is very much bound up with visual perception - hence the whole issue of white balance with photos. Get ten white objects - put them together, they will likley all look a different colour together - and of course a 'white' object will only look 'white' in 'white ' light. So maybe the answer is that white doesn't exist any way? :-) Hope that helped ;-) I’m not even sure ‘white’ as a single defined ‘thing’ exists – . Unlike black, which is a total absence of colour. Yes, the essence of white is that it an ‘equal’ – in whatever terms equal is measured – mixture of all the wavelengths of visible light. But what what we see as white is very much bound up with visual perception – hence the whole issue of white balance with photos. Get ten white objects – put them together, they will likley all look a different colour together – and of course a ‘white’ object will only look ‘white’ in ‘white ‘ light.

So maybe the answer is that white doesn’t exist any way? :-)

Hope that helped ;-)

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