How to Cite
Abstract
The moon is the biggest object in the night sky. Its light has always fascinated. That special quality of light invites all kinds of superstition, from the healing power of the waning moon to good luck during full moon, from disabled children to pots of gold. Sometimes the moon appears blue, white, yellow or red. In the middle of the night, its light turns everything silver. How can we make an analogue print on paper and capture this ever- changing companion of our lives? How can we show the fickle quality of moonlight? In this paper we explain why the moon has so many colours but is mostly seen as silver to the human eye and we chart the progress of our attempts to translate this special optical feature into print by exploring different ink formulations, and their influence on the optical appearance of a wood engraving of the moon.
References
Baechtold-Staeubli, Hanns, and Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer. 2000
Handwoerterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens. 10 vols. Vol. 6. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH.
Ciocca, Marco, and Jing Wang. 2013. “By the light of the silvery Moon: fact and fiction.” Physics Education 48 (3): 360-367. https://doi. org/10.1088/0031-9120/48/3/360. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0031- 9120/48/3/360.
De la Mare, Walter, and Edward Ardizzone. 1946. Peacock pie : a book of rhymes. London: Faber & Faber. Encyclopedia Britannica. 1878.
Goodman, Ben. 2018. “’Moon’ Wood Engraving”.
Khan, Saad M., and Sumanta N. Pattanaik. 2004. “Modelling blue shift in moonlit scenes using rod cone interaction.” Journal of Vision 4 (8): 316- 316. https://doi.org/10.1167/4.8.316. https://doi.org/10.1167/4.8.316.
Kishida, Yasumitso. 1989. “Changes in Light Intensity at Twilight and Estimation of the Biological Photoperiod.” Japan Agricultural Research Quaterly 22 (4): 5.
“Lunar Therapy or Moonlight Madness?”. 2009. ABC News. Accessed 8th of May 2022. https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=3983212.
Malkoc, G., P. Kay, and M. A. Webster. 2005. “Variations in normal color vision. IV. Binary hues and hue scaling.” J Opt Soc Am A Opt Image Sci Vis 22 (10): 2154-68. https://doi.org/10.1364/josaa.22.002154.
Merck. “RGB printing.” Accessed 31/10/2021. https://www.merckgroup. com/en/expertise/effect-pigments/solutions/printing/rgb.html.
MetOffice. “Why is the sunset red?”. MetOffice. Accessed 1st of December. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/ weather/optical-effects/why-is-the-sunset-red.
Newton, Isaac. 1704. Opticks or, a treatise of the reflexions, refractions, inflexions and colours of light. London: Royal Society.
ní Mheallaigh, Karen. 2020. Cambridge University Press.
Verne, Jules, Eleanor E. King, and Louis Mercier. 1881. From the earth to the moon : direct in 97 hours 20 minutes. By Jules Verne. Translated from the French by Louis Mercier ... and Eleanor E. King. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, Crown Buildings, 188, Fleet Street.
von Helmholtz, H. 1867. Handbuch der physiologischen Optik. L. Voss. Williams, Graham. 2021. Understanding Paper. Assessment and Permanence for Artists and Fine Printers. Gomer Press Ltd.
Zele, Andrew J., and Dingcai Cao. 2015. “Vision under mesopic and scotopic illumination.” Frontiers in Psychology 5 (1594). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01594. https://www.frontiersin.org/ article/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01594.
Krantz, John H. and Schwartz, Bennett L. (2015) ‘Interactive Sensation Laboratory Exercises (ISLE)’ available at: https://isle.hanover.edu/ Ch06Color/Ch06ColorMixer.html#:~:text=So%20the%20easy%20 way%20to,paints%20or%20other%20colored%20material. Accessed on 18 April 2022
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2023 Susanne Klein, Ben Goodman