The Creative Background of “Colour”
The novel "Colour" employs diverse creative techniques - originally developed for artistic projects - to shape its narrative. This page provides a brief summary, focusing on the output of a few extensively used methods.
Technique: Lenses
Viewing Human Action and Interaction through the lens of colour.
The theory, themes and language of colour are used to examine each character perception, beliefs, behaviour and interactions.
- Personality is often characterised by colour - the volatile and distinctive nature of red - the receding and reconciling nature of blue. Short wavelength colours such as red and yellow are ”extroverted colours” that will stand out from a picture, whilst the longer wavelength greens and blues are 'introverted colours' essential to composition and the perception of depth and distance.
- With decorative art, as with human group action, the varying natures of all colours are needed in the picture, and considering the mix and balance of different natures provides the greatest outcomes of any group of people.
- The characteristics of colour extend to other human interactions. Short wavelength colours not only overshadow longer wavelengths, but influence how other colours appear. The nature of a blue or green will change if it is in close contact with a bright red or yellow. Strong personalities colour those who come into contact with them.
- We interpret colour in the same way we interpret events. Colour can be warm, or cold, welcoming or exciting, frightening or relaxing. This interpretation changes with time and geography. Different cultures make different connections to colour at different times. Death can either black or white. The narrative of 'Colour' highlights the importance of realising these differences and responding appropriately to them.
- The change of stasis at the heart of the narrative of 'Colour' takes advantage of the contrasting properties of incident (i.e pure) light and reflected light altered by pigments (e.g. light transported and reflected by dyes). This creative lens is used to highlight how people's experience defines and/or transforms the models they use in perception - the way they see the world and the way they interpret and react to different ideas or stimuli. We are deeply coloured by our experiences.
- Icebergs are white - and white is the outcome of the reflection of all colour. Colour is the ultimate iceberg; the colours we can see are also small in comparison to the range of the wavelengths of light. This is a strong metaphor for the nature of humanity, where what is seen on the surface is the smallest view of what goes on inside us. The full range of colour of each person’s personality merges into indecipherably white as it reaches the surface.
Technique: Character Sketching
Character sketching is a technique that can be used to identify the factual constraints influencing each character's potential actions in any given scenario.
This technique was instrumental in developing the psychological themes revealed through the characters' actions in "Colour".
- Fear of change and resistance to change that grows as we move through life and have more to lose.
- The Balance between the needs of the organisations we serve and the individual psychological needs that we are constrained to service by our personality traits.
- The degree to which different people have different levels of dedication to the organisation or group they serve - and different tendencies to promote their own objectives.
- The way that the rules governing the culture, objectives and processes of most organisations change continually as the internal and external pressures on the organisation change, as does the combined outcome of the attitudes and objectives of those in charge.
- Our own competing objectives and attitudes that change according to whether we see an actor as supporting or undermining our aims and desires.
- Our tendency to reach our own psychological compromises. For example we would often accompany even our worst enemies across the Last mountain, if we are both going in the same direction for some of the way.