The Color Series | 20 Artworks That Cloak Their Compositions in Blue

You can’t under­state the impor­tance of color—especially in art. It wields its pow­er in all sorts of ways, from set­ting the mood to giv­ing us impor­tant visu­al clues. Over the next sev­er­al weeks, I’ll share a selec­tion of illus­tra­tion, paper craft, and embroi­dery that over­whelm­ing­ly uses one hue in its com­po­si­tion. Called The Col­or Series, first up are blue illustrations.

Blue is one of the most pop­u­lar col­ors to use in an artwork—and it’s no sur­prise. Con­cep­tu­al­ly, it has a lot to offer; envi­ron­ments are cre­at­ed using the hue and make it ripe with sto­ry-telling pos­si­bil­i­ties. Water, sky, and the dark­ness of shad­ows are all the prod­uct of this cool col­or. And, you’ll see that in a lot of the work fea­tured here. Some of it speaks to blue’s melan­choly side, while oth­er pieces focus on the tran­quil­i­ty and calm of which it’s also associated.

The color blue can be tranquil… or sad.. or even go bump in the night. Check out how 20 blue illustrations use the cool hue to create compelling visual works.

Ana Frois

Kirsten Sims (on Brown Paper Bag)

Nastia Sleptsova

Gala Pont

Sonia Alins (On Brown Paper Bag)

Maggie Chiang (on Brown Paper Bag)

Slow Stitch Sophie (on Brown Paper Bag)

Elizabeth Pawle (on Brown Paper Bag)

Anne Laval

Marc Martin (on Brown Paper Bag)

Celan Bouillet (on Brown Paper Bag)

Lily Padula

Irene Rinaldi (on Brown Paper Bag)

Mouni Feddag

Julia Iredale

Cheryl Teo (on Brown Paper Bag)

Lara Hawthrone

Raya Sader Bujana

José Antonio Roda (on Brown Paper Bag)