Note: for the month of August, Mark is off gathering new color insights in far away parts of the world. These are some of his favorite posts from last summer.
Brands to try: Fine Paints of Europe, Ralph Lauren
Someone once asked if I could write about the golden colors of the Tuscan landscape. Being somewhat partial to everything Italian, I decided to take up the challenge. Let's explore...
For starters, Italy is one of those places where light enters the world at a magical angle. I'll never forget the first time I arrived in Rome: a cab whisked me into the city at about 9am on a September morning, and the Colosseum was bathed in a golden misty sunshine like I'd never seen before. The whole country is like that, and that quality of light affects our perception of color on landscape and architecture.
I have a few photos I've taken over the years that contain this golden hue, which I think are evocative of how light bounces off of Italian buildings. The first is from Turin, and I actually shot this in late autumn. The wall on the right is the most delicious harvest gold; the one on the upper left is like warm baked bread. My sense is that the colors Europeans use are more saturated, or colorful, than Americans are willing to use on their exteriors, more muted or less garish than we like on our interiors. Also, that's probably 200 years worth of soot on the wall, which is certainly adding to its character.
The second photo is of another hilltop in Turin; the third was taken in Florence and suggests a stately champagne beige. Since we're talking about a European sensibility, let's start with Fine Paints of Europe for possible color matches, because the colors they produce are so rich and complex. The following look like things I'd love to try: E5-30, E5-28, E6-45, E6-49, P08760.
I'll throw in a few Ralph Lauren colors for good measure. I've used Mango Gold VM34 more than once, always to good effect, though it feels mid-century American to me and doesn't quite fit my thesis here. I'm curious about this new color Cypress VM27--if anyone has tried it let me know. Also, for the person who wanted me to write a column on beige, this is the best I can do.
- Mark Chamberlain, interior and decorative painter
(ReEdited from 2007-01-30 - MC)
(ReEdited from 2007-09-04 - MGR)
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Comments (7)
these are beautiful photos, but there is nothing that annoys me more than watching another home-improvement show where people want a 'tuscan feel' - which usually means orangey-yellow faux finishing and stencilled vines.
oh, maybe faux finishing annoys me more than 'tuscan feel'.
it's all those people who are a-holes about "tuscan feel" that drive you (and me) up the wall. You can't copy the old world, because it just isn't truly old! The best anyone can do is hire a good plasterer and choose good colours, and wait. Eventually you will get a nice patina.
Those people think they know what Tuscan is. They just watched a movie about it once...
I hate to be nitpicky, but do you mean Tuscan or "Tuscan?" Turin is 400 km from Florence, and Tuscany. (Any Italian would be completely offended by describing Turin as looking Tuscan , though it might look similar to us.)
The light IS different in Italy though. I don't know why or how, but it just seems yellower.
LOOOL at all the pretension. Lovely photos. I've been looking for a yellow that would have a mexican/tuscan feel.
Ah, "Tuscan feel", the death knell on many a design show. Good point though, once you've moved Turin to Tuscany, why not go all out with Mexican/Tuscan. The likely result can be admired in any of the countless plastic-flowered "Pizzeria Amalfi" joints in Northern Europe.
I bit of background. I work in a rug store. I have to atleast have a general idea about design. You would think that the owner/manager would atleast do the same. I asked her to describe "tuscan" to me one day. She then showed me pictures of her home. It was certainly Spanish. Tuscan however, it was not. A couple of days later I showed her a picture of a tuscan farmhouse. Her reply.......Gross all those lines are too straight and everything looks like it is falling apart. Seriously? Falling apart? WOW....I have now given notice.
I live by the old saying, "when in Rome do as the Romans do, when in Pennsylvania do as the New Jersey people do!"