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The B-Side

Illustration of a color wheel, with some music notes, books, a film camera, video game controllers, and paintbrushes around the wheel with the text "The Colors B-Side"
Abby Schreck

We often overlook colors. We take notice of them, of course, but we sometimes forget that there’s more to them than the practical purpose they serve in a given moment. The sky is blue, yes, but what more is there beyond that? I’ve always been fascinated by color, not just in the everyday world and in my everyday life, but in the art that I consume. I’m drawn to bright colors on movie posters, to pastel shades on the books that fill shelves at Barnes & Noble, to the dichotomies of glaring whites and beckoning shadows that exist in grayscale. For this B-Side, I asked Daily Arts Writers to consider the role color plays in their relationships with art. From blue music to pink books, these writers heard my question and passed this test with, well, flying colors.

Daily Arts Writer Sabriya Imami
digital illustration of blue objects including a recreation of Starry Night, a mermaid tail, books with blue covers, the two shades of blue heart emojis and the wave emoji.

Fifty shades of blue: Finding a link between art and my favorite color

Hannah Carapellotti
drawing of a girl dressed in pink tripping while holding a stack of pink books

Judging a book by its pink cover

Lillian Pearce
Illustration of a girl reaching out of her computer screen holding a can of blue paint and reaching for another

They don't make color like they used to

Erin Evans
side profile of a girl and her brain, highlighted in various different colors in between thought bubbles.

A heartfelt guide to color-coding emotional memories

Graciela Batlle Cestero
Illustration of a film camera done in dark greyish tones. The lens has an orange hue and an outline of India.

The foreign country filter

Saarthak Johri
digital illustration of the corner of a Tumblr post’s “share, comment, reblog" and 2 "like” buttons, featuring a red and a blue heart

Red and blue gays, a colorful retrospective

Cecilia Ledezma
The image features Sharpay, Troy, and Gabriella from High School Musical Two. Sharpay is sitting in a pink chair to the left of Troy, Troy is holding a pool tube, and Gabriella is to the right of Troy. It is done in a cartoonish style.

‘High School Musical 2’ and accientally rediscovering childhood fun

Zach Loveall