Periwinkle purple: the duality of colour
happy new year!
To begin this new year, Pantone has given us ‘periwinkle purple’.
Pantones Veri Peri - colour of the year - 2022
The duality of this lovely tone of colour also adds to its' intrigue. It can be a poisonous herb yet it is beautiful! It can appear as a blue tone but also a purple one too.
Within the purple conversation, the colour periwinkle can be considered a pastel-like purple. I personally prefer this usage for its definition - a pastel caricature seems to fit its personality. It can also be referred to as Myrtle in the United States. Myrtle, pastel-purple, blue, purple ….? Maybe there is more than simply a duality?
I came upon this article this morning - check out, The Paris Review- Periwinkle, The Color of Poison, Modernism and Dusk - by Katy Kelleher - Aug. 19/2020. It reminded me of a famous use of this poisonous yet beautiful colour - by Claude Monet.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC., Claude Monet’s Water Lillies
Within the purple conversation, the colour periwinkle can be considered a pastel-like purple. I personally prefer this usage for its definition - a pastel caricature seems to fit its personality. It can also be referred to as Myrtle in the United States. Myrtle, pastel-purple, blue, purple ….? Maybe there is more than simply a duality?
If you’re wondering what colour combinations could you have with Very Peri (as Pantone calls it), then take a look at a few Canva came up with … just a few!
Canva colour combination options with periwinkle
Looking at Pantone’s site each year at this time, I eagerly await what they say will be the colour of the year. Am I always curious by what they say, but specifically as to what they inspire!
For example, today when I was out and about (that’s the Canadian in me), I stopped into an eclectic stationary shop and ended up in the writing area, as is always the case for me.
There I was drawn to the multitudes of options and their colors. After trying almost all of them, I settled on this purple marker which also had an erasable end, love it.
As I walked to the cashier to pay I recollected that this was the Pantone colour of the year, and it must have subconsciously encouraged me to purchase it. I was definitely influenced by the colour.
Colours are always seen in context, next to something else. Since periwinkle is on the edge between purple and blue, it will depend on what is next to it, to actually define it’s real colour (in that moment). It is within that context, we as visual beings decide what is real.
As Degas put it, “Painting is the art of surrounding a spot of Venetian Red so that it looks like vermillion.”
Here we see a beautiful flower set against green leaves - so what colour do you see, purple or blue?
Lesson of the day, use your choice of periwinkle wisely.