Searing Color

Saturation is the color characteristic that defines how pure a color is, how far it is from its base hue, with full saturation being a pure hue. Most colors in nature have contrasting colors or black and white mixed in, toning them down. But when the color hasn’t been toned down at all, it can be really striking, or really garish, depending on how the colors are combined.

Here, Natasa Hozjan Kutin has managed to create a palette with full saturation and using very bright colors without any garishness. In fact, it looks quite sophisticated as well as just stunningly beautiful. It’s like a sunny day and the best colors of a sunset, all rolled into one piece.

The Skinner blends help with the harmonious feel because we aren’t cutting quickly from one color to the other but rather we get all the other colors in between in a gradual transition. This is how light works in nature as well so it feels soft and organic instead of jarring.

Graduated color dominates much of Natasa’s work. You can see more of her softly sophisticated pieces on her Flickr photostream and in her Etsy shop.