When i first had a house, and need to patch a wall-- i amazed my husband by being able to "re-mix" a batch of paint to match the paint on the wall-- which is hard, since paint usually dries to a different color. That is quite a skill, and usually takes quite a bit of work to train the eye... often never to be reached.
I completely agree that the few names for colors oversimplifies. Though I also have to say that at least saying "green" gets people thinking in the right direction, when "chartreuse" could mean diddly to them. Sometimes any kind of communication is better than none at all.
Yes, avacado and mist green are different colors. I know.
It was to illustrate that the business of selling has made understanding color that much more difficult. They don't care if it's right, so long as it's different than the last name they picked, and sounds interesting.
Which is why I really resented the name changing in my art supplies. I don't consider "indian red" and "terra cotta" to be the same color, but they have decided it will be, for their product. I imagine "indian red" was changed for matters of sensitivity, but it should have been to a name that didn't already have a place elsewhere. And it means I can't change brands and expect to get the same color for the same name. Frustrating. (Even "pure" colors are on shaky ground, now that they are switching to synthetics to produce the color rather than the sometimes dangerous minerals that are traditional. You can't just buy supplies by their names any more...)
But anyway, I too love the diversity of colors. On decorating, I used to get comments from family (and some cheeky paint department employees) that they didn't think the colour I chose would work... but they do. My family now waits till after to make any comment.
Btw, my mother is a seamstress too.
Ali
