http://www.flickr.com/photos/smthngtwenty/

I never really like a ton of realism when it comes to my drawings. Colors are more like accents, and there's usually only one or two colors used. When it comes to painting I'm usually pretty realistic when it comes to color palette.
I don't really think about it, either. I'm not picking pink because it's girly, or because blue is sad, it's just whatever feels most natural.
Sometimes I feel that the art world over analyzes things. Yes, the painting has meaning, sometimes more obviously then not. Frida Kahlo wanted you to think about the symbolism, but not everything has to mean something. Sometimes the painting's red because you like the color. Not saying that my work is meaningless. I just get tired of the analyzing.
Yesterday in Doug Lang's writing class we were talking about how going to an art school really effects you in a day to day way, how instead of just seeing a neon yellow traffic sign we think "ooh, colors!" and how we observe the color palette used on the mannequins in clothing stores. We critique everything, and we have a harder time appreciating things as they are.