I, admittedly, have never had an eye for color. Try as I might, I’ve never been great at choosing color palettes. I’ve made more of an effort to learn in recent months, but have been overwhelmed when I try to gather information myself.

Color Curious has been a perfect solution for me. Not only is it gorgeous (hello perfect coffee table book!), but it is filled with information, ideas, and projects. I especially love the key takeaways in each section for anyone who likes to skim through a book. While you could use this as almost a textbook on color, it is also great for inspiration or simply something beautiful to look at. I look forward to testing out my new skills and trying out some of the color palettes on my own!

I did not want this book to end. And it is a big book of color! As an artist, color is a special part of my life. This collection of photographs, ideas, and instruction surrounding color is sublime. In my first pass through of the book, I immediately had the inspiration light switch turn on. I’m excited to read through again, and take more time in really immersing myself in its ideas.

Color Curious by Ana Bianchi is a playful and inspiring guide to using color with confidence across any creative practice. Instead of rigid theory, Bianchi encourages an intuitive approach—observing the world around you, making palettes from your daily life, and applying color in everything from painting to decorating. Full of hands-on projects, vibrant images, and insightful prompts, it’s equal parts creativity boost and visual joy. This book is perfect for artists, crafters, designers, and anyone looking to bring more color into their world. It's a fresh and energizing take on seeing—and using—color.

Color Curious: Find Color Inspiration All Around You for Art, Design, and Life
Ana Bianchi
I enjoy quilting one of the most difficult challenges is to choose coordinating colors. Artist Arthor, artist Ana Bianchi informs readers about the different qualities of color. There are hands-on-projects that allow readers to put into practice the principles taught by Ana Bianchi. Color allows us to establish who we are through our color perspective. I enjoyed the color pallets.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

What a fun - and thorough - approach to color theory. Vibrant photos throughout of color inspiration. I'm going to request that my public library purchase this for their collection!

This is a beautiful book, just not what I was expecting. I thought there would be more instruction on the use of color in painting, but instead, it's a beautiful exposition on the use of color in different settings. I did find the color palettes useful and it would be great as a way to give photographers ideas for different color groupings. I would have preferred to see more photos and less text, but overall it was quite unique, and eye-catching!

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle books for a NetGalley shelf advanced reader's copy.

As an artist obsessed with color, I knew I wanted to check out this book immediately! The cover grabbed my attention. This book is well thought out and obviously very thoroughly researched. My favorite parts were the color palettes pulled from the images.

Color Curious is an inspiring look at color from a talented artist. The author takes us through an in-depth look at her color harvesting process inspired by the Bauhuas school: Observe, Analyze, and Create. Beautiful images, including photographs and other art pieces are interspersed with exercises designed to inspire exploration of different types of art and color. I especially enjoyed her essays, which combine art history with memoir. I am excited to begin more color harvesting projects of my own! I am thankful to have received an ebook advanced reader copy from Chronicle Books via NetGalley of this book for voluntary review, and I look forward to purchasing a print copy when available. This will be an excellent addition to my collection of inspirational art books!

A stunning book for your eyes. As a new painter, my brain is starting to look at the world through a new lens - as someone who needs to bring color to a white page. This book put some methodologies to what I have already been trying to do in my own line of sight. A wonderful book for any artist or a beautiful coffee table book for your guests. I can't wait to buy a hard copy.

Color Curious by Ana Bianchi is a delightful and inspiring guide to seeing the world through a more vibrant lens. With a mix of creativity, insight, and accessible tips, Bianchi encourages readers to find color inspiration in everyday life. Whether you're an artist, designer, or just someone who loves color, this book sparks curiosity and offers fresh ways to play with palettes and patterns. (I received an advance reader copy and all opinions are my own.) A joyful read that leaves you looking at the world a little differently.

“I have led a colorful life, and I intend to continue.”

Call me color curious - this isn’t my usual read, but the cover& description caught my eye, and I’m glad I grabbed it to peruse!

While this is a beautiful—and of course, colorful—book, there’s quite a bit to gain in the black & white. From understanding taxonomies of color to practices to find and “harvest” color in your day to day, I definitely found myself thinking about color differently by the end. I appreciate the idea of observing and harvesting color as a mindful practice - a way to engage and absorb the world around me differently, or as the author lays out, observe, analyze and create.

The photographic compositions and illustrations here were nicely done as well (the pages devoted to Bonnie and her colors were a highlight). I also felt that the narrative here had a nice arc — from understanding color, and how to observe it, to venturing into combinations. Color combinations in general have always been interesting to me — and now that I’m curating a more aesthetic Instagram account for my reading, took more away from this read that I’ll use than I expected going in.

I think the one critique I have here is that the detail could have used just a notch of tightening. For visual people, there is a lot of text, and a lot of detail. Something as simple as tightening the summary sections and upping the font size there as a guide for use would make this a bit easier to absorb and take away as a working guide.

In general, though, there’s an audience here that will adore this book—and certainly, with several artists in the family, I’ll be looking to this one on shelves for future gifts once it releases!

Thank you Chronicle for making another fantastic read available for download. I’ll definitely be coming back to this one!

Absolutely fabulous and a must-have for anyone who studies or works with color. The ebook was fine on my iPad, but difficult to read on my phone. I plan to buy the hardcover when it is released. No matter what medium you work in, this book should be helpful. I received a complimentary copy of this book and chose to write a voluntary, unbiased review.

Very interesting concept. I think it will change the way I view everything in life now. Everything I see will be a pallet that can later will pulled up in my memory for an art work.

Clear writing and beautiful photos helped me understand the concepts taught by the author.

A sincere thank you Chronicle Books and NetGalley for allowing me to view the advance reader copy, with no obligation to write a review. My review is written freely as a hobby, and is totally my own opinion, not influenced by receiving the ARC.

Thank you to netGalley and Chronicle Books for the eARC.

I guess I've just been drawn to learning about color lately, since this is my third nonfiction book of the year, and the second one dealing specifically with color.
This book was a fantastic breakdown of the use of color, with delightful photos showing various examples that felt akin to the iSPY books I had as child, but with a mix of nostalgia items and floral arrangements. I really enjoyed the descriptions and walkthroughs, and the little practice color lessons mixed in.
I would definitely pick up a physical copy of this book to keep for reference when it comes to color.

4.5/5

Thank you, Chronicle Books, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.


This is a great book to help you explore your relationship with colors and learn a few fun facts along the way.
Ana Bianchi offers a perspective of cultivating color mindfulness, and to achieve this end the author has helpful tips of where to look for color, how to process it, and where to go from there.
I think there are a few sections of the work that become less snappy on the page. I found myself skimming from time to time. The illustrations and pictures (as well as the color sections) are good and are the core part of the book. Because of that, some of these less exciting sections shouldn't matter as much if that's why you are interested in the book. I would say read the sections that appeal to you, maybe based on the project or color schemes you need inspiration with. It's better to look at the book as something you can come back to from time to time rather than something to read all in one sitting.
Overall, this is a solid book if you want to learn more about color. It's great for developing a framework for expanding your understanding for color as a whole and for use in your own creative endeavors.

This was such a fun, interesting read. I loved getting to nerd out about art and color design. I really enjoyed how there were mini-interviews with other artists sprinkled throughout the book. I also loved that there were so many examples of the various color theories. Every time I saw a color palette that really spoke to me I immediately wanted to start designing something with those colors. I can see this being a book I return to again and again in the future.

A must for any color lover!

This book is gorgeous and inspiring. I love the photographs of color palettes, and especially the floral and plant combinations to showcase different types of color combos.

The book is divided into different chapters focusing on different ways of approaching color (e.g. monochromatic, using a “pop” of color, etc.).

Occasionally a bit more text heavy than is necessary. The “projects” in each chapter and the photos are more than worthwhile.

A significant misstep is (intentionally) setting the words of other artists in their favorite colors. While a cute idea, it’s surprising that a book about the functions of color would get this so wrong. Red or orange or olive green text is hard to read!

This book will teach you about color that you never knew you needed to know. There is a lot to learn here. I liked the look into color and how we can be curious when using color in art, but also in the world around us. This book was a little long, but it's full of fun illustrations that you will want to flip back and forth through.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

This book is informative, important and gorgeously fun. Readers are encouraged to keep their eyes open to both the natural and man made world around them to observe the visual richness served up around us every day. This read comes complete with an unbelievable selection of images, practices, and examples throughout. Great for any artist or curious soul.

Thank you Netgalley, Chronicle Books, and Ana Bianchi for sending me this advanced review copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was an amazing book for anyone that wants to learn more about color theory! I loved how this book was set up, and it wasn't boring like the books I've read in teh past. It's fast paced, and you will find yourself happily zipping through the pages.

I think my favorite thing is all the swatch sets of colors pulled out of the gorgeous photos! That really helped me understand how colors go together better than any other book has been able to teach me.

This is the perfect book for artists, decorators, and anyone that uses color in their daily lives.