Maybe with the sense of touch and their imagination...for instance...you could describe red as hot. Blue as cool, pink as warm, yellow as bright, brown as dark, etc. We still wouldn't know what they are imagining, but it might help them to visualize an idea in their mind. I think the best teacher for something like that would be someone who has experienced sight and became blind later in life. That person would probably have a really good idea of how to describe things to a blind person.
Blue is a mellow color, relaxing, and beautiful red is a fire color, full of warmth and brightness. Green is glowing color, that gives you the feeling of being outside on a fresh spring day.
Color is a very relative subject. The answers of both Panther and april are great. However, color is an experience only for those who are gifted with sight. The blind cannot experience it. Yes, color must be experienced. There are also individuals who see color but in a distorted manner and these are "color blind" people who are unfortunately dominant in the male specie, seeing green when it's actually blue and seeing yellow when it's really red ... Quite unfortunate ones. In addition, green is a good color when eyes are strained, but is also associated with jealousy. Red is the color of life. If you like to perk up your room, use orange. Yellow is associated with freedom and individuality. Purple is the color of nobility...and so on and so forth. These are the common associations and explanations of color.
Colors are emissions of energy with specific frequencies. Non-primary colors are combinations of frequencies. Perhaps you can explain color like a tone of a sound. Then describe the fact that different objects have different colors because they have different frequencies coming from the surfaces of those objects. Someone with acute sensations of hearing will probably 'see' the analogy.
I remember watching a movie called MASK which starred Cher and Sam Elliott. In the movie, a character was trying to describe colors to a blind girl. He lead her in to the kitchen, and grabbed a potato and warmed it so that it was hot...he put it in her hand and said RED. I believe he took an ice cube or something cold, and put it in her hand for blue. I can't recall Green... But I would think it would be something like silk fabric, to me.
You can't explain colors because saying its the color of freedom who knows what they will imagine? They do not know how colors look like. You can tell them in frequencies but they still don't know how it really looks like. Its the same question as do people see the same colors. I mean you can say this is red but when you are young you might learn red that is actually green for someone else.
White light is made up of a combination of 7 colours. But all other colours are made up of the Primary Colours - Red, Blue and Green. A combination of them will give us Secondary Colours - Magenta, Yellow and Cyan. Secondary colours are made by mixing only 2 primary colours. Rest all colours are a varying combination of them. The colour we see with our eyes is the colour that the object reflects into our eyes, the rest of the colour spectrum (rainbow) it absorbs in itself. If you want more info (en.wikipedia.org
It is very hard to explain something visual to someone who is blind, particularly if they were born blind. It is easy to get sidetracked into the physics of colour. Knowing all there is to know about the physics of HOW colour is produced does not even begin to explain the appearance of the different hues as we look at them. The reality of physics is a different concept entirely from our subjective experience of the world and the two are not anywhere near as closely related as we would often like to think they are.
Generally speaking, it is easiest to try to explain colour in terms of something the blind person actually experiences:-
For example, sound. Red might be like a very lively piece of music such as the Can Can from Orpheus in the Underworld. Blue might be represented by a plaintive song in a minor key. Pink might be something light and dainty, such as Tchaikowsky's Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Black could be represented by the Death March from Aida.
Touch or feel can perhaps be even more helpful. Even sighted people associate heat with the colour red. So the warmth of a hot fire would represent red. Leaves are green, so the feel of fresh leaves of any kind could represent green. The sea looks blue, so the feel of water could represent blue.
Even taste can be useful. All blind people know what fresh salad or cooked "greens" taste like. A radish is red and has a hot, peppery taste, so red can be represented by a radish flavour. Syrup is golden yellow, and so can represent yellow. Licquorice is black, so that could represent the colour black. Pure water is tasteless, so would probably best represent the colour white to a blind person. Blue is the colour which would be difficult if you are going to use taste. Hope these thoughts are of some help.
Blue, Red, and Green. Hmmmm. Have to think of my history. I agree that what you see is actually NOT the actual but reflected color. Anotherwords an Orange is NOT actually orange in color. Another note: In T.V. The combining (or addition of colors) can achieve white....try using a 10x magnifier against an old TV screen and you will see the primary colors RED-GREEN+BLUE in trio like formations across the entire screen. In paints the addition of colors (I think) go darker by comparison....just the opposite. If memory serves....The eye perceives more shades of green than any other color. Look at the trees sometime. Blue or Purple on the other hand has limited distinctions as far as the eye is concerned. Another note: Colors can be defined by temperature. Red Hot actually is a specified temperature. I can't remember but I think it's 500degrees Celsius. Also: Colors can tell you speed and direction. Check into astronomy. Red and Blue say a lot in this area. Oh well: One more thought. Whereas a blind person may not be able to distinguish a particular color, I would guess a blind person could tell a darker one from a lighter one by it's temperature on a given day. Yup, one more thing. There are some people who only see in black + white. I may not be 100% on these things but I know I'm close. Check wikipedia for verification so I don't get you in trouble.
You need to expirence colours you can't just see thBlue, Red, and Green. Hmmmm. Have to think of my history. I agree that what you see is actually NOT the actual but reflected color. Anotherwords an Orange is NOT actually orange in color. Another note: In T.V. The combining (or addition of colors) can achieve white....try using a 10x magnifier against an old TV screen and you will see the primary colors RED-GREEN+BLUE in trio like formations across the entire screen. In paints the addition of colors (I think) go darker by comparison....just the opposite. If memory serves....The eye perceives more shades of green than any other color. Look at the trees sometime. Blue or Purple on the other hand has limited distinctions as far as the eye is concerned. Another note: Colors can be defined by temperature. Red Hot actually is a specified temperature. I can't remember but I think it's 500degrees Celsius. Also: Colors can tell you speed and direction. Check into astronomy. Red and Blue say a lot in this area. Oh well: One more thought. Whereas a blind person may not be able to distinguish a particular color, I would guess a blind person could tell a darker one from a lighter one by it's temperature on a given day. Yup, one more thing. There are some people who only see in black + white. I may not be 100% on these things but I know I'm close. Check wikipedia for verification so I don't get you in trouble. White light is made up of a combination of 7 colours. But all other colours are made up of the Primary Colours - Red, Blue and Green. A combination of them will give us Secondary Colours - Magenta, Yellow and Cyan. Secondary colours are made by mixing only 2 primary colours. Rest all colours are a varying combination of them. The colour we see with our eyes is the colour that the object reflects into our eyes, the rest of the colour spectrum (rainbow) it absorbs in itself
