Hello all!
I've been really busy lately so I haven't been able to paint any more songs, but I wanted to share this neat and informative video about Synesthesia I found today:
This channel has some other pretty cool informative science videos so be sure to check them out!
Monday, August 6, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Synesthesia in the Media- Pixar's RATATOUILLE
While browsing tumblr today my favorite Synesthesia blog had a post about a scene from Pixar's "Ratatouille" in which the star, Remy the Rat, experiences taste through colors, shapes, and sound.
When I first saw the movie I caught most of it on TV (missing some of the beginning) but when I saw this scene I jumped up exclaiming "THAT IS SYNESTHESIA RIGHT THERE!" Apart from the BBC documentary back in England I had never seen a representation of Synesthesia on television before; and it excited me. It felt like the animators were talking right to me saying "hey, we know what you guys go through, this is for you." Like a nod or private shout-out. Which might seem silly but it really meant something to me, and it helped to endear this whole movie to me (which as a movie was a LOT better than I had originally expected it to be).
When I first saw the movie I caught most of it on TV (missing some of the beginning) but when I saw this scene I jumped up exclaiming "THAT IS SYNESTHESIA RIGHT THERE!" Apart from the BBC documentary back in England I had never seen a representation of Synesthesia on television before; and it excited me. It felt like the animators were talking right to me saying "hey, we know what you guys go through, this is for you." Like a nod or private shout-out. Which might seem silly but it really meant something to me, and it helped to endear this whole movie to me (which as a movie was a LOT better than I had originally expected it to be).
Saturday, June 23, 2012
From the Ears of Another
Hi everyone! I've been really busy with work and getting things ready for a con coming up on a few months so I haven't had much time to paint. However I have been visiting a really cool Synesthesia tumblr blog called A Synesthetic World. The blog owner has been recently taking submissions for people's names and drawing up what he sees when he hears them. I tossed my own name in the hat and here's what he saw:
He posts lots of interesting questions, topics, conversations and artwork relating to Synesthesia so be sure to check it out!
He posts lots of interesting questions, topics, conversations and artwork relating to Synesthesia so be sure to check it out!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The Essence of Ashes
Hello all! Here is another painting I did yesterday and the accompanying song.
This one was really difficult to paint. It took a few listens to figure out what colors went with what sounds but I was able to get the hang of it. The blue pillar is the more 'skreik-y' high pitched voice, and the white is the female vocals and the other male vocals. The bagpipe sounds are the green in the back, and the brown are the guitars. The colored dabs throughout the painting are higher pitched pipes. This one took me a while to nail down. I think I'm going to try some more instrumental heavy songs after this one.
This one was really difficult to paint. It took a few listens to figure out what colors went with what sounds but I was able to get the hang of it. The blue pillar is the more 'skreik-y' high pitched voice, and the white is the female vocals and the other male vocals. The bagpipe sounds are the green in the back, and the brown are the guitars. The colored dabs throughout the painting are higher pitched pipes. This one took me a while to nail down. I think I'm going to try some more instrumental heavy songs after this one.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Dragonborn
Here's one of the paintings I did today. It's the song 'Dragonborn' by composer Jeremy Soule from the Skyrim OST. I find the way the song is layered with its blend of vocals, brass, strings, and percussion makes it very easy to visualize in a way that makes it easier to paint. So I can clearly see what each part of the song looks like, and then paint it together. If I were to paint these how I truly see them in my mind, I would have to animate it. So colors and shapes would appear as parts of the music do. But the painting shows an 'overall picture' of the song. For this one the male choir voices were the sea foam green and white parts on the sides. The female vocals are the white pillars in the middle, one is purposefully taller than the other. The yellow streaks on the bottom half are the string instruments while the ones on top and on the side are from brass instruments. The chimes are the scattered yellow and white dabs on the top. I really love this song and I've listened to it dozens of times. It's just so epic and strong. I highly suggest purchasing the sound track. I got mine at Directsong who produced the OST and it even comes signed by the composer! It's also much cheaper there at $30 than Amazon.com where it starts at $50.
I hope you enjoyed this look into my mind. I'll be back soon with more songs and paintings of them!
Monday, April 30, 2012
My Numbers and Letters
Here is that chart of my letters and numbers that I mentioned earlier. I figured it would be a good visual for understanding what I see. There are similar charts floating around the internet but this is specifically my own.
You can see patterns in the numbers especially. Numbers with zeros in them tend to be lighter since zero is white. The 'teen' numbers tend to look neon to me. I think this has to do with the 1's in them but I'm not really sure. I used to play a game growing up where I would see a color and try to find a corresponding number with it. I would typically use this for simple street signs while on long road trips as a child but it became boring when all the numbers were the same. The numbers get more complex when you understand color mixing and warm/cool tones.
I will be posting paintings of what I see when listening to music soon. I have a few older paintings but I'll be making some newer ones soon so stay tuned for those!
You can see patterns in the numbers especially. Numbers with zeros in them tend to be lighter since zero is white. The 'teen' numbers tend to look neon to me. I think this has to do with the 1's in them but I'm not really sure. I used to play a game growing up where I would see a color and try to find a corresponding number with it. I would typically use this for simple street signs while on long road trips as a child but it became boring when all the numbers were the same. The numbers get more complex when you understand color mixing and warm/cool tones.
I will be posting paintings of what I see when listening to music soon. I have a few older paintings but I'll be making some newer ones soon so stay tuned for those!
A Welcoming Start
Hello all! My name is Fran Rowan and I have Synesthesia.
Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon where some of your senses will cross together. For example, in my case I can hear colors. When I listen to music, sounds, or talking I see abstract colors and shapes. This form is called 'sound to color synesthesia'. I have always had this ability but I have only known what it was called for the past few years. While living in England during high school I saw a documentary on the BBC all about Synesthesia and the different variations of it, and I was amazed to see that what I had known as my 'color game' growing up was 'Grapheme' or 'color synesthesia.'
With Grapheme/color synesthesia each number and letter of the alphabet has a corresponding color assigned to it. This number/letter and color NEVER change. The assigned colors will differ between Synesthesiacs. For example, to me the number '1' is yellow and the letter 'A' is red. In a later post I will crate a chart showing all my number/letter colors. I can also see colors when experiencing pain and other physical sensations. Apart from letters, numbers, sounds, and sensations, words also have their own colors. This is typically, at least for me, due to certain letters being 'dominant' in the word. For instance, to me 'F' is brown, so my name- Francesca, is primarily brown. The C's are yellow and show up quite strongly too. My name overall is made up of mostly warm colors. Brown, yellow, red for the A's, and orange for the N. R and E are both a dark blue and don't show up when I see or hear my name. Learning more about it and seeing that other people had it opened my eyes to what a gift it is to me. So I have decided to share my gift.
My plan is to start working on small scale paintings of songs that I listen to that activate my Synesthesia. I will also use this blog to show examples of what I see and experience with my Synesthesia.
Here are a few links to learn more about Synesthesia in general:
Wiki Page
The Synesthesia Battery
Information on the BBC documentary
Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon where some of your senses will cross together. For example, in my case I can hear colors. When I listen to music, sounds, or talking I see abstract colors and shapes. This form is called 'sound to color synesthesia'. I have always had this ability but I have only known what it was called for the past few years. While living in England during high school I saw a documentary on the BBC all about Synesthesia and the different variations of it, and I was amazed to see that what I had known as my 'color game' growing up was 'Grapheme' or 'color synesthesia.'
With Grapheme/color synesthesia each number and letter of the alphabet has a corresponding color assigned to it. This number/letter and color NEVER change. The assigned colors will differ between Synesthesiacs. For example, to me the number '1' is yellow and the letter 'A' is red. In a later post I will crate a chart showing all my number/letter colors. I can also see colors when experiencing pain and other physical sensations. Apart from letters, numbers, sounds, and sensations, words also have their own colors. This is typically, at least for me, due to certain letters being 'dominant' in the word. For instance, to me 'F' is brown, so my name- Francesca, is primarily brown. The C's are yellow and show up quite strongly too. My name overall is made up of mostly warm colors. Brown, yellow, red for the A's, and orange for the N. R and E are both a dark blue and don't show up when I see or hear my name. Learning more about it and seeing that other people had it opened my eyes to what a gift it is to me. So I have decided to share my gift.
My plan is to start working on small scale paintings of songs that I listen to that activate my Synesthesia. I will also use this blog to show examples of what I see and experience with my Synesthesia.
Here are a few links to learn more about Synesthesia in general:
Wiki Page
The Synesthesia Battery
Information on the BBC documentary
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