Literary authors often use the color “chalk” to evoke a sense of stark, almost unearthly whiteness that mirrors both human expression and natural landscapes. For instance, a character’s pallor might be described as “white as chalk,” suggesting fragility or even ghostliness, as seen when an engineer or a character’s face is compared in this manner ([1], [2], [3]). Similarly, the term colors the environment, with vast, white chalk hills or walls imbuing a setting with a crystalline, luminous quality that contrasts sharply with surrounding hues ([4], [5]). In some portrayals, even flesh is likened to chalk, reinforcing an image of pallid, almost otherworldly appearance ([6]).
- The engineer stood over the machinery, white as chalk, and his lips mumbled incoherently.
— from Mr. Hawkins' Humorous Adventures by Edgar Franklin
- Mrs. Fleming was white as chalk; the others were staring open-mouthed, with a queer strained look in their eyes.
— from A harum-scarum schoolgirl by Angela Brazil
- Susan stared at me, first, with a face as white as chalk.
— from Susan by Ernest Oldmeadow
- From the bridge they looked up at the white chalk hills, the tops a blur of intense green under the low, lead-coloured sky.
— from One of Ours by Willa Cather
- Biblical pictures in mahogany frames, crowned with wreaths of immortelles, hung on the snow-white chalk of the walls.
— from The Undying Past by Hermann Sudermann
- Chalk-white was her face and her lips crimson; amazing eyes, cat's eyes, pupils red-flecked and glittering, stared out at him.
— from The Copper-Clad World by Harl Vincent