Featured Art: Diaphanous Wall Art by Magda Indigo available from Great Big Canvas

Art for Colorblind People

Surround yourself with colors you can actually see.

Did you know the lead color designer at Crayola Crayons announced he was colorblind after 35 years on the job? Yep*. Fake it till you make it, we guess. But luckily, we have our own expert art curators at Great Big Canvas who don’t have to fake anything. They used their incredible interior design skills and researched all types of color blindness from deuteranopia to achromatopsia to put together collections of art full of colors you can actually see. To double check, we even had a Red-Green Colorblind member of our staff wear Enchroma color corrective glasses** to verify the colors presented were the actual colors visibly seen (they are!).

Red-Green Protanopia or Deuteranopia is the most common types of color blindness. The difference between the two is a person with a protanomaly can’t see red as well, while a person with a deuteranomaly can’t see green as well. Because of this, reds, greens and oranges all sort of blur together depending on what colors are in close proximity around them. Blues and yellows always stand out. This helped inform the art we chose for our Red-Green Colorblind collection. Here you’ll find an ocean of different blues from deep, dark midnights to early, airy dawn skies. We pair these with earth tone golds, yellows, and blacks. Large chunky shapes with sharp, bold lines help the colorblind eye better differentiate between objects without blurring, while playing up contrasts, which Red-Green colorblind people can actually see better than a person with normal eyesight. Shop the collection here.

Featured Art: Stratus I Wall Art by Tony Wire available from Great Big Canvas

Blue-Yellow Tritanopia is less common. A person with this type of color blindness has trouble seeing anything with blue or yellow tones in it, which also makes greens and purples difficult to make out. For this collection, we really wanted to focus on pieces that could all exist in the same space, pieces that worked well together and at the same time had a freshness to them. Here reds and blacks rule the day, but are broken up by just the right amount of teals to bring in some green. Shapes here are able to be more messy, inspired by urban graffiti art, but then quickly reeled in and kept grounded with industrial metals. Rigidity is immediately complemented with broad, swooshing brush strokes for a harmonious balance that’d be at home in a highrise downtown, or a rustic reclaimed barn wood getaway. Shop the collection here.

Featured Art: Cinnamon Breath Wall Art by Joshua Schicker available from Great Big Canvas

Achromatopsia is total color blindness and is extremely rare, affecting about 1 out of every 33,000 people. Still, a person with this type of color blindness can still love art and there is plenty of art to enjoy. Art in black and white can be beautiful. Some of our all time favorite pieces are black and white, especially when it comes to photography. Powerful brush strokes paired with sharp contrasts and fine detail make this collection sing. Black and white is also timeless, and goes with literally anything for an air of austerity. Shop our collection of black and white abstracts and photography here.

Featured Art: Follow Me II Wall Art by Sharon Chandler available from Great Big Canvas

No matter how you see color, Great Big Canvas has art available for anything you’re into, in any style or size you need it to enhance your space. When it comes to black and white art, here’s what we recommend printing on:

Canvas Prints: Let’s face it, photos on a USB-drive or in a photo album go in a drawer or closet somewhere. A canvas gets to be seen! Every guest your client has will stop and take notice of your amazing photo printed on an artist-grade canvas wrap, turning your black-and-white photo into black-and-white art.
Framed Prints: Give your photos a complete, professional finish that’s ready to easily hang on the wall. Framed fine art prints are available in timeless styles including Modern Black, Modern White, Espresso, and Classic Black. Each photo print comes with a pure white double-mat with a protective acrylic face. For black-and-white shots, we’d recommend Fujicolor Crystal Archive Super Type II PDN Satin Lustre paper finish to reproduce the deepest blacks and ideal textures for black-and-white art and photography.

*https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1990/12/06/crayon-maker-shows-his-true-colors/e76e2c27-c3d7-49d8-b5ca-72309f6911ee/

**https://enchroma.com