{"id":1613,"date":"2025-02-19T21:03:22","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T21:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/?p=1613"},"modified":"2025-02-20T18:19:53","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T18:19:53","slug":"puzzling-colors-red-between-the-lines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/puzzling-colors-red-between-the-lines\/","title":{"rendered":"Puzzling Colors: Red Between the Lines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Colors are not as fixed as they seem. The red you see might not be the same red someone else perceives. Your brain constantly interprets colors based on their surroundings, which can lead to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archimedes-lab.org\/color_optical_illusions.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">surprising illusions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take this experiment inspired by the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/White%27s_illusion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Munker-White effect<\/a><\/strong>: all the gray bars in the striped patterns are actually the same shade. Yet, next to blue lines, they appear bluish; beside mixed colors, they seem to shift tones. This is known as <strong>color assimilation<\/strong>\u2014where a color takes on the influence of its neighbors.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"534\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Munker_white_color_variants-534x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1614\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Munker_white_color_variants-534x1024.jpg 534w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Munker_white_color_variants-156x300.jpg 156w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Munker_white_color_variants-768x1473.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Munker_white_color_variants-801x1536.jpg 801w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Munker_white_color_variants.jpg 924w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 534px) 100vw, 534px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The same illusion explains <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Contrast_effect\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">simultaneous brightness contrast<\/a><\/strong>. In the wine-pouring examples below, the liquid seems to change color in the glass. But actually, <strong>the red remains unchanged<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.redbubble.com\/shop\/ap\/166097393\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1615\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker-50x50.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.redbubble.com\/shop\/ap\/166097393\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker_B-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1616\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker_B-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker_B-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker_B-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker_B-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker_B-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker_B-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker_B-50x50.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s a simple animated variant of my project: Hard to believe, but the flow of wine stays the same shade of red all the way\u2014from the bottle\u2019s neck, through the pour, and even inside the glass. It\u2019s only your perception that changes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_wine_Anim_S-1.gif\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1626\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1;object-fit:cover\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Even more striking\u2014when cyan lines replace black ones, the liquid pouring from the bottle is actually gray from start to finish, yet it appears to turn into red wine in the glass. In reality, <strong>the red is just an illusion<\/strong>\u2014your brain fills in the missing color where none exists.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker_Color-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1617\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker_Color-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker_Color-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker_Color-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker_Color-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker_Color-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker_Color-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Red_Wine_Munker_Color-50x50.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udd34 <strong>See it for yourself!<\/strong> Fine art prints of my color experiments are available here:<br>\ud83d\udc49 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.redbubble.com\/shop\/ap\/166097393\">https:\/\/www.redbubble.com\/shop\/ap\/166097393<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u26a0 <strong>Copyright Notice:<\/strong> My artworks are protected. Any use must include proper credit and a link to the original source. Commercial use is strictly prohibited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colors are not as fixed as they seem. The red you see might not be the same red someone else perceives. Your brain constantly interprets colors based on their surroundings, which can lead to surprising illusions. Take this experiment inspired&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/puzzling-colors-red-between-the-lines\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[483,149,28,25,57,38,357],"tags":[346,519,313,411],"class_list":["post-1613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-nature","category-op-art","category-optical-illusions","category-paradox","category-perception","category-psychology","tag-bezold-effect","tag-color-illusion","tag-effect","tag-munker-white"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1613"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1663,"href":"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1613\/revisions\/1663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.giannisarcone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}