Love Letters in Crayon: Carnation Pink
Innocuous at first glance, but with deeper implications.
Every Friday afternoon, “64 to Infinity: Love Letters in Crayon” will illustrate the long, strange story of humankind in one of the 64 colors that make up this world-famous primary palette. In last week’s installment, we made it our duty to don the deadly serious shade known around our world as Cadet Blue. In this week’s Love Letter, we pay homage to the first of many roseate renderings in The 64: Carnation Pink!
This crayon is a rendering of the most familiar shade borne by a Carnation, known in some cultures as the traditional first anniversary flower.
The delicate bloom with its striking color variations is seen in many circles to embody fascination, distinction, and the concept of romantic love itself.
From a more practical perspective, the Carnation was used by healers throughout history to treat minor afflictions such as skin rashes and nausea. It has also enjoyed favor as an aromatherapy element, promoting a tranquil state of mind with a therapeutic calming scent.
A common tone for decorative flora, Carnation Pink can give cause for cerebration as well as celebration.
It is the approximate shade of the oleander, the first flower to bloom in Hiroshima after the populous Japanese city was obliterated by US forces during the Second World War in part of the sole offensive deployment of nuclear weapons to date.
Still, Carnation Pink exhibits an indelibly lighthearted spirit, best shown in the timeless popularity of bubblegum.
Invented by accident in the 1920s by Walter Diemer of a national chewing gum company, the sticky, sugary substance was dyed Pink purely for profit motives, as children would chew more if they could blow brightly colored bubbles and Pink was the most inexpensive dye available.
Carnation Pink therefore evokes calculated capitalist cunning as much as childlike exuberance and the simpler pleasures in life, and now you see why I am obsessed with this color.
Sweet, seductive or sardoinc, Carnation Pink is a particularly hot color this summer for all its shades of meaning. Still, next week’s crayon is a shade for all seasons…join us back at the art table next Friday as we explore the indelible impact made by a common first favorite crayon for young creators with a particular affinity for æsthetics..next week our trip through this world of color makes a long-anticipated stop in Cerulean City!
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