Posts Tagged: structural color

Peacocks and Interference Paints

A strikingly beautiful animal, everyone is familiar with the peacock. Peacocks, or more correctly peafowl, since “peacock” refers specifically to the male, are in the pheasant family and there are several species, which are native to Asia, India, and Africa. I’ve often seen them in zoos, roaming free around the grounds and they always seem to be popular with the visitors.

Peacock Fan by Tamara Jaeger

Their striking, iridescent feather colors are, like many birds, not due to pigments but to structural color. Structural color is a fascinating phenomenon where the regular, periodic nanostructure of the feathers cause optical interference in the light reflected off the feather structure.  The spacing of the nanostructures determines the color that is seen. These interference effects and the resulting color depend on the angle of the light.

Structural color is also responsible for the unique effects of interference paints. Interference colors are created when light waves interact and cancel out some, but not all, of the colors that make up white light. In an interference paint, an effect called ‘color flop’ can be seen, where the color changes with the viewing angle.

If you haven’t had a chance to try these, I’d highly recommend it—they’re a lot of fun. Golden makes some nice acrylic interference colors, and typically a few of the colors can be found in the mainstream arts and crafts stores, though more can be found online. I used both interference gold and interference blue in this piece, though it’s difficult to see the full effect in a photo.

Sound of Silence by Tamara Jaeger
“Sound of Silence–Disturbed” acrylic on canvas by Tamara Jaeger

Have you tried interference colors? I bet they’d be perfect for creating the iridescent effect of peacock feathers! I don’t know why I’ve never tried that before. Comment below and let me know your experiences with interference colors.

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