Saturation
by Scott J. Warren
 |
Saturation, commonly used as a synonym for chroma or intensity, is the chromatic purity of a color or hue. A color or hue of a high saturation is a pure, high intensity color free from dilution with black or white. The yellow text stating “FAT FREE” has a higher level of yellow saturation than the green in the background that also includes mildly saturated yellow mixed with blue to create the green pigment. |
A
highly saturated color might be called bright or vivid while a desaturated
color would be referred to as dull. Also pale refers to a light value
at low saturation, while deep refers to a darker value at high saturation.
(Pile, 1997, p. 43) Use of terms such as pale and deep are not particularly
precise, but they give a color tone without having to provide constant
physical examples. For instance, if a person says their car is a deep
blue color, we know that there car is most likely a dark blue color made
from mixing black into the paint to provide its shade. The varied saturation
of the objects in the preceding picture are likely the result of a mixture
of white or black into the pigment in order to change the tone.
A
pure hue, without the addition of another color, has the highest saturation.
In addition, the amount of saturation gives us our shades and tints. By
adding varying amounts of black, shades are produced which are what we
most commonly use when coloring objects in art, fabric and paint. Adding
varying amounts of white lightens a hue creating colors we refer to as
pastels. The lightest hues are often referred to as tints. The bucket
in the above picture shows orange at a very high saturation, although
it could have originally been red mixed with yellow to achieve the color
rather than the use of pure pigment.
Saturation
is often used to attract attention to objects or areas within an artwork.
A fully saturated color such as red draws much attention to whatever it
is used on from an advertisement to a stop sign. Desaturation is often
used in order to soften a color that may be showing something less important
to the viewer or is intended to be background or provide a calm contrast
to any saturated colors that might be presented. The picture centered
on the candle shows objects highly saturated in red, which draws the viewers’
eye, making them stand out, while the white and grays in the background
are less noticeable and unobtrusive. The gray lines are desaturated and
help to show a contrast among the reds, blacks and whites.
Desaturated
colors constitute the grayscale; running from white to black with all
of the intermediate grays in between. Scientifically defined, saturation
is the ratio of the dominant color wavelength to other wavelengths in
the color. White light is white because it contains an even balance of
all wavelengths. In other words, a saturated blue is blue because that
is the color most present in that color wavelength.
The picture at left shows a gray guitar that shows a larger presence of black than white, though there are most likely no other colored pigments present. The contrast of the blue shows the heavy existence of the blue color wavelength evident in the guitar strap and neck holder. The curved back of the stand itself, being black, is absent of color wavelengths.
 |
A color of low saturation, or color intensity as it is sometimes called, placed on a surface color of even lower saturation, tends to look more saturated than it is. The same color placed on a surface of higher saturation in color will appear to be less saturated than it is. The best way to determine the saturation of a color is to use a color wheel with which to compare the color provided, to the varying hues found on a color wheel. If a color wheel is unavailable, using a color of a known saturation placed on top of, or under the provided color, can give a general idea of whether one is paler or deeper. In the picture to the left, the color in the background on the wine label is clearly less saturated than the rabbit or text printed across it. |
 |
In terms of painting, paint squeezed from a tube may be deemed to be at full chroma, or saturation prior to it being mixed with other colors on a palette. Pure pigment may also be found to be at full saturation and is often desired in art, as it is the basis for all other colors to be drawn from for the purposes of painting. The picture at left has both a pure purple pigment as well as a mixed pigment used to frame the image designed on the surface. In this instance, the darker, more saturated pigment shows the image of part of a cat’s head. |
Non-examples of saturation would be paintings done in black and white as these are used only for changing the level of saturation. The cat below, as well as the background, would be non-examples of saturation as they are simply black and white. The gray line may be construed as color, though it could be argued that gray is simply a mixture of black and white, neither of which are colors.
 |
 |
 |
The picture of the cat contrasts well with the picture of the map, which shows several colors in varying levels of saturation or intensity and the two disks, which show differing levels of saturation within the yellow spectrum. There are examples of high levels of yellow saturation in both of the pictures in which color is present, as well as those in which other colors are mixed in to change the tone and intensity.
The
Jones soda bottles below give examples of both desaturation, using only
black and white on the actual label, and saturated color using the text.
Some of the text appears more intense because of the black and white despite
some of it having been desaturated. This technique is commonly used in
advertising to draw the viewers’ eye to what the advertiser feels is the
most important part for the observer to remember or be attracted to in
the future.
Examples of topic in online museum:
1. Name of piece of art: Black Lines, 1913
Artist: Wassily Kandinsky
Museum: Guggenheim Collection
URL: http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_work_lg_713.html
Brief description of why you chose this work as a representative of your topic:
I chose this work because it shows varying levels of saturation from the highly saturated blues, reds and greens through their more pale, less saturated intensities and hues.
2. Name of piece of art: Composition, 1916
Artist: Piet Mondrian
Museum: Guggenheim Collection
URL: http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_work_lg_1126.html
Brief description of why you chose this work as a representative of your topic:
This Mondrian piece shows varying levels of saturation of only three primary colors: yellow, blue and red. It provides clear example of high intensity, deeply saturated color as well as faded, mixed chroma that show the hues as they are mixed with white for the purpose of desaturation and to de-emphasize the object.
Bibliography:
1. Gair, Angela (Ed.). (1995) Artist’s Manual: A Complete Guide to Painting and Drawing Materials and Techniques. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.
2. Pile, John F. (1997) Color in Interior Design. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
3. Interview with Angela Stevenson, high school art teacher
4. Color Principles - Hue, Saturation, and Value http://www2.ncsu.edu/scivis/lessons/colormodels/color_models2.html#saturation.
5. ART STUDIO CHALKBOARD - Color Saturation and Intensity