Color curious

Color curious Find color inspiration all around you for art, design, and life

Ana Bianchi, 1973-

Book - 2025

This book offers an intuitive, visual approach to understanding and using color in art, design, and everyday life. Through explorations of color schemes, real-world observations, and hands-on projects, the book encourages creative confidence and color curiosity. Aimed at artists, designers, and creatives of all levels, it emphasizes playful experimentation over technical theory, using vivid imagery and practical inspiration drawn from daily surroundings.

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Subjects
Colors.
Color (Philosophy)
Color in art.
Color in design.
color (perceived attribute)
colors (hues or tints)
works of art.
Instructional and educational works.
Art.
Genres
works of art
Instructional and educational works
Art
Published
San Francisco : Chronicle Books [2025]
Language
English
Main Author
Ana Bianchi, 1973- (author)
Other Authors
Danielle Krysa (contributor)
Physical Description
286 pages : color illustrations ; 26 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN
9781797236155
  • An Eye for Color by Danielle Krysa, the Jealous Curator
  • Becoming Color Curious: How to Start Thinking About Color as Part of a Personal Creative Journey
  • How Do You Trap the Rainbow?
  • The Color-Harvesting Lifestyle: Creating the Habit of Observing, Analyzing, and Creating with Color
  • 1. Not the Basic Four-Crayon Box: How to Make the Most out of Monochromes
  • 2. Color as a Leitmotif: Using a Favorite Color to Explore Color Interactions
  • 3. Sideways and Across, Neighborly Colors: Ways to Create Color Systems and Expand the Potential of Color Pairs and Triads
  • 4. The Joy of Multicolor Eye Candy: Loading Up the Palette for Maximum Expressiveness
  • 5. There Is No White: Discovering the Color ofLight and Going from White Paint to Chromatic Whites to Pastels
  • 6. The Color in Enriched Blacks: Working with Chromatic Blacks and Deep Colors
  • 7. Sorry for the Interruption: Using a Contrasting "Pop" with Intention to Make a Point
  • 8. The Passing of Time: How Desaturating Color Can Convey a Sense of Time, Vintage Nostalgia, and History
  • 9. The Color of a Place: How to Be Inspired by a World Full of Color
  • Intentional Color Palettes: How to Create Color Palettes with Purpose and Intention
  • Onward: Inspiration for Using This Book to Continue Growing a Color Habit
  • Colophon: What Months of Constant Color Harvesting Did to Me
  • Notes
  • Recommendations
  • Acknowledgments
  • About the Author
Review by Library Journal Review

Artist and graphic designer Bianchi's (The Swimmers) love of color informs this lengthy tome, which does justice to its title. Saturated images of color palettes that she has created from flowers, plants, and household materials provide plenty to inspire readers. Mixed in with these photos are essays on colors and interviews with artists, with art projects at the end of each chapter. Readers who are involved with art in any form will find this book a solid resource. At times the chapters can get a little text-heavy, focusing on the academic side of color theory, but it's counterbalanced by the tone and imagery in the rest of the book. A colorful book on color that can be thought of as a reference work that readers can dip into again and again for visual inspiration, theory, and practical "assignments." VERDICT With pages of photos of color palettes, accompanied by chatty essays and interviews, this book is sure to find a permanent place on many shelves. Bianchi's practical experience as a working artist and her passion for color shine through.--Melanie Kindrachuk

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