The book The Case of the Colorblind Painter, by Oliver Sacks, tells the story of Jonathan I, a colorblind painter. Mr. I at the age of 65 got into a car accident, his car was hit on the passenger side by a small truck. At first, they told him he only had a concussion until he got his eye exam. After getting his eyes checked, he realized that he was not able to differentiate between colors or letters. He saw colors as black and white and he saw letters in a type of Greek. Within time, he realized his ability to tell apart letters was even better than before his accident, his vision also became more clear. However, his vision was still monochrome, resulting in total color blindness, also known as achromatopsia. This was one element that made an impression on me. The fact that his vision ended up getting better after his accident. 

Another element is when his world became monochrome like a black and white television after 65 years of being able to see colors. Mr. I was in an unknown world after his accident, due to losing his vision in a snap. When things happen that fast, it becomes hard to adapt to, leading to a lot of psychological impacts. He was a painter so it also had a change in the way he made art. For instance, looking at the images below, on the left shows a painting that was done by Mr.I before his accident. You can see in the painting that the colors go well and nicely blend. However, looking at the other painting on the right, there becomes a difference. The painting was done by Mr. I four weeks after his accident. The painting has shaped to it, but when looking at the colors he used, it becomes random.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, the element that also made an impression on me was his ability to become comfortable with his colorblindness. It took some time after his accident, but it became his self-identity, it did not completely change the way he saw things or did things. Instead, it made him more considerate in the way he created artwork. Looking at the images below, the one on the left side is a black and white painting two months after Mr.I’s accident. In the painting, you can see how he started using bolder lines compared to before where he would not use those lines. Also, the painting on the right which was done two years after his accident became more geometric. He also added color and became more detail-oriented. Mr. I developed a change in his sense, a sense he was able to work with. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References:

https://www.csh.rit.edu/~oguns/school/psychology/Articles/colorblindpainter.pdf 

https://boccignone.di.unimi.it/PMP_2018_files/Oliver%20Sacks_Il%20Pittore_Cieco_ai_colori.pdf