Thank you for giving Painted Desert a try. It was originally produced for the Kaleidoscope 1.5.1 control panel, created by Gregory D. Landweber and Frederick J. Bass. The latest version is 1.7.2; it can be downloaded from Greg's Kaleidoscope page at www.kaleidoscope.net, any Info-Mac mirror site, or any of a number of sites dedicated to Kaleidoscope Color Schemes. You can find virtually every color scheme ever made, including all of mine, at The Kaleidoscope Schemes Archive (Eric Reid, Webmaster, www.k-files.net/ksa.
The Painted Desert package includes the color scheme, including a "Light" version, without system icons, and a folder of desktop patterns. After installing Kaleidoscope in your Control Panels folder, simply drop Painted Desert in the Kaleidoscope Color Schemes folder which goes in your Extensions folder. Then open the Kaleidoscope control panel and select Painted Desert . To install the desktop patterns, open your Desktop Patterns control panel and drop the patterns on the open Desktop Patterns window and select the one you want. I am grateful to Patricia Erigero for her generosity in allowing me to distribute with Painted Desert a desktop patern which she created for her striking scheme The Love For Three Oranges. The new icons will magically appear when you restart your Mac.
Please note that Painted Desert looks best on computers capable of 1000s of colors. I find that it is not possible to achieve the results I aim for in the more limited 256-color palette.
Painted Desert is opinionware; if you have strong feelings about it, send them along via E-mail. As a dedicated Mac-type, I am committed to the pursuit of quality in all things, so let me know what you think -- I can't improve if I don't know what I'm doing wrong!
Too many words about aesthetics: Many of the color schemes you have probably seen provide a cool, understated, elegant visual environment, an environment which, if not altogether neutral, at least retires quietly to the background. It is easy to understand the appeal of this type of color scheme. Sometimes I pop Scot Lewis'Ephemerol on the turntable and float gently down the stream myself. But much of the time, as I perform the mundane tasks of everyday life at the computer, I enjoy a more robust give and take, a play of rich hues and color contrasts and an eye-pleasing detail or two.
All of my color schemes were conceived as evocations of emotional states, usually triggered by memories of places I have been, certain times of day, or climatic conditions. Painted Desert was inspired by memories of a month-long camping trip to the Southwestern U.S. with my sixth grade science teacher -- one of those seminal, formative experiences that has become more and more important to me as time goes on. Take a look at Painted Desert , if you like it use it, enjoy it. If not, as always, you know where the Trash Can is.
The Small Print: All artwork in this color scheme is copyrighted. Please do not use it for any purpose, without my prior approval. It may be freely distributed as long as it is not altered and this docu mentation accompanies it.
