Watercolor Washes

Why color them at all?  The maps could remain black-and-white and they are starkly dramatic at that stage.  But for reasons of clarity, pop and broad general appeal, color has been part of map making since earliest times.  Colors provide an opportunity for subtlety, feature enhancement and contrast that are difficult to achieve with the textures of B&W alone.  And  it is a proven fact that people are more readily drawn to colored things than to the more austere B&W.  Years ago while traveling in Rome, I was in a small print shop looking at beautiful B&W engravings of neoclassic scenes.  The proprietor had a large selection encased in plastic sleeves which I was riffling through.  Suddenly, a large tour bus pulled up and he hurried over to me, took the folders I had and  flipped them over.  On the back side of each plastic sleeve was the identical engraved scene but each one was hand-colored in slightly lurid tones.  He somewhat sheepishly explained that the “tourists” all like the colored ones much better.  Nothing too judgmental, he just knew what sold better.  Despite this early piece of retail wisdom, I know that the colors afford  a lot more possibilities for artistic expression.  As each map always has at least land and water to delineate, the shades and intensities of these areas provide an immediate “flavor” for each map.  Should the Jersey Shore look like the Caribbean?  Are there indigenous colors that speak to a given area?  Are some colors more off-putting than others?  Definitely!  Color theories are many and varied and this just begins to scratch the surface, but even pop psychologists know that people have very strong reactions, positive and negative, to colors and this certainly is a factor when choosing a map.  If they are going to proudly display it in their home, they surely better take pleasure in seeing it over and over.  It is pretty rare for someone to say that they really had a bad reaction to viewing something but they bought it anyway.  Color is a two-edged sword and I try and negotiate that delicate balance in creating each map.