Whether up high on the vertical value scale or deep across the horizontal chroma scale, yellow is always seen first. It's a fact. In color therapy, it's nicknamed the solar plexus chakra relating to the area of the body below the ribs. People with yellow energy are famously intellectual, broad minded, humorous and confident. In China, this hue is an icon for the masculine Yang principle, but in Egypt representational of the feminine principle. Even further, in the English language yellow has been "traditionally" associated with cowardice and in Italy, tied to crime stories. The most obvious quality of yellow is of caution, either at a stop light or a yield sign, but this is only because yellow is, again, the first color we see. In physical properties, yellow is glorified because it is the color of the sun and gold which in the ancient world represented imperishability, indestructibility and eternal life. In effect, ancient Egyptian paintings represent this ideal in their art where the skin and bones of God's were painted yellow. In terms of specific wavelengths, yellow is the combination of both long and short wavelengths.

As the oldest recorded shade of yellow, I chose Ochre as the representational hue. It's intriguing that this hue is visibly closer to orange, but during ancient times this was specifically associated with golden yellow. Physically, all shades of yellow have been born from ochre. Even from modern chemistry which were able to materialize lemon, cobalt and chrome yellow.

This Is Color Theory: YELLOW