Straightforward Prowl Turquoise

English compound straight + forward — sharing root with German geradeaus. As a color modifier, straightforward implies a clear-and-direct-and-unencumbered quality where the hue carries the visual register of clear-aim-and-uncomplicated character. Sits at the crisp-and-honest end of the grid, parallel to candid and direct in usage.

Middle English prollen, to-roam-and-search. As a color modifier, prowl implies a stalking-and-hunting-and-watchful quality, the visual register of panther-and-tiger-prowl hand-stalking-and-hunting-and-watchful panther-and-tiger-and-leopard prowled-and-stalking-and-hunting-and-watchful surfaces under panther-and-tiger-and-leopard jungle-and-savanna-and-night-forest big-cat-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to stalk and lurk in usage.

The hydrated copper-aluminum phosphate mined in Persia and the American Southwest for thousands of years — the firuze of Iran, the chalchihuitl of Mesoamerica, the heart of Pueblo and Navajo silverwork. The color refers to a fine Sleeping Beauty turquoise from Arizona: a saturated, slightly green-shifted blue with the slight matrix of host-rock veining. Brighter than persian, lighter than cerulean.