Glistening Hull Sky

Old English glisnian, to glisten — present-participle of glisten, sharing root with German glitzern. As a color modifier, glistening implies a saturated-and-wet-or-polished-reflective quality, the bright color of fresh-rain-and-polished-silver surface-reflection. Sits at the bright-and-reflective end of the grid, parallel to shimmering and gleaming in usage.

Old English hulu, husk / shell. As a color modifier, hull implies a ship's-body-and-skin quality, the visual register of Royal-Navy-and-merchant-marine-hull hand-laid clinker-and-carvel-built timber-and-iron-and-steel ship's-hull-and-skin maritime-architecture surfaces under ship-hull-and-waterline maritime-and-dry-dock light. Sits at the modifier-and-nautical end of the grid, parallel to keel and prow in usage.

The blue of a clear sky at noon — produced by Rayleigh scattering, the preferential dispersion of shorter wavelengths through atmospheric molecules. Air itself is colorless; the color we see is sunlight scattered toward our eyes by every cubic kilometer above. The reference shade is mid-latitude noon under a high pressure system: a clean, slightly green-shifted blue with the luminous depth of light scattered across an entire hemisphere of air.