No… not the band, Cream, with Eric Clapton….
When you try to describe different shades of “off white”, it can be very difficult. Even more confusing is all of the words used to describe the off whites: oyster, egg shell, cream, beige, ivory, antique white, and ecru, to name a few.
Today I am focused on creams. Creams are whites with yellow undertones. We call our CeCe Caldwell’s Paints cream, Johnston Daffodil. Cream is not exactly the color you think of when you hear the word ‘daffodil’. It was named for my favorite, tiny daff in my yard in South Carolina that was a very soft, creamy yellow. I fear I should have named the color Johnston Daffodil Cream. Maybe one day I will add the “cream” to the color’s name.
This is how Wikipedia describes the color cream: “Cream is the colour of the cream produced by cattle grazing on natural pasture with plants rich in yellow carotenoid pigments, some of which are incorporated into the light, to give a yellow tone to white. Cream is the pastel colour of yellow, much like as pink is to red.”
Since we already have a true cream, I decided to make on just a little lighter. It is a very easy mix of 1 parts each Vintage White and Johnston Daffodil. Wisconsin Cream is a light cream. Our Vintage White is a very light cream. I rarely paint in a single color. If I were to paint a dresser in a cream color, I would use Vintage White, Wisconsin Cream and Johnston Daffodil. I would load my brush with all three colors some of the time and other times with only two of the colors. The tone-on-tone effect would be a very soft color that doesn’t fade into boredom. It would have subtle dimension and become a pastel with complexity.
Did you know there is a community called Cream, Wisconsin? It is a tiny hamlet that never incorporated and was eventually rolled into the town of Lincoln, Wisconsin. Lincoln itself is a small town in Buffalo County. The 2010 census put the population of 162. If you are out taking lovely drive through central, western part of Wisconsin, you can find Cream on Wisconsin Highway 88, just 7 miles north of Cochrane.
Also, slightly related, Wisconsin is the home of the ice cream sundae!
Do you like soft hues or do you believe it in “go bold or go home?” Evidently this week, I have a need for quiet, restful colors.
Wisconsin Cream: 1 part Vintage White : 1 part Johnston Daffodil
Peace,
CeCe