The dynamics of colour: orientation to sunlight and colour constancy
A further dynamic affecting our colour experience refers to the orientation of a building to the direction of sunlight.
There is also a compensating aspect of our colour perception in the brain known as colour constancy.
The orientation of a building further influences the appearance of its colour. At midday on a cloudless summer’s day, a south-facing Goosewing Grey wall will look very much like the true colour. The north wall, however, lit only by the intense blue light from the clear sky will appear blue. Admittedly, the brain does, to some extent, attempt to compensate for this by using a perceptual adjustment known as colour constancy, but, try as it might, it cannot make the wall look like Goosewing Grey.
