Margie's Muse

Saturation

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Brew the components of value, hue, and saturation together and you’ve got color. Of these three, saturation is the seasoning, enabling you to concoct a dynamic range of palettes.

Saturation, also referred to as intensity, is the amount of hue that is in a color. From the subtlety of neutral colors to lively, tangy super-saturated palettes, the overall flavor of what you create derives much of its impact from the saturation level of your palette.

Neutral colors are characterized by a lack of saturation: black, white, and grays. Grays vary in their compositional makeup, and can be chromatic or achromatic.

Black and white photos exemplify a neutral palette. Lacking hue, they must rely on value - the degree of lightness and darkness - to convey form and spatial relationships. Black and white photos and most neutral images are not the way we normally view the world, so they are often associated with cerebral functions like dreams, imagination, or memories. Many films, including The DaVinci Code, present flashbacks in neutral or less saturated colors. Neutral palettes suggest a conservative elegance that is restrained and gentle.

Semi-neutral palettes wield a low level of saturation. Photographer Matias Bilbao describes them this way: “Semi-neutrals affect us in subtler ways than fully saturated colors. The ways they move us are often delicate, nuanced and at times highly complex... we all seem to enjoy sepia and warm-toned images, describing them as classic and timeless.”

Fully saturated palettes are the most representational; they depict they way most of us view the world. Straightforward color photography uses the fully saturated palette. Fully saturated palettes express more energy than neutral and semi-neutral palettes, because of their vibrancy.

Advertising graphics, fabrics, plastics, and contemporary paintings use super-saturated palettes of over-the-top colors to arrest attention and delight (or shock) viewers. Think of Matisse's paper cut outs or Gauguin's tropical paintings. These bold sometimes surreal palettes have contemporary connotations.

There are many degrees of saturation for a color and for a palette in general. Step closer to color mastery by choosing your levels purposefully.

(There is no podcast available for this month's Muse column.)

To learn more about color saturation read the April 2006 edition of Margie’s Muse, “Color and Space.”