Oct 22, 2025
5 minute read
So, Ethan, what role does color play in your work?
"We are so lucky to see the world in color and I feel like it is something I never overlook. Within my art practice color helps me articulate expression - it is an essential aspect of the process that helps deliver the feeling that I strive to give voice to."
At what stage in the design process does color enter?
"I think very three dimensionally when it comes to an idea - I tend to look at a project, or an idea from a birds eye view considering everything - from color to shape, sound, feelings - it's all very interconnected and color, much like the feeling, is always there helping to guide emotion and sensibility - not just with painting; I think looking at color within every category of creating / thinking helps shape my overall perspective."
3D color analysis by Hoppn. Each color is plotted within a perceptually uniform color space to visualize relationships between colors.
You've designed for brands like Bodega and Art Community. Has observing how other brands work inspired any of your own color choices?
"Working with Bodega was a full circle moment because I had worked there years prior to doing the project with the team. The artwork I designed came to be because I was studying a lot of wooden figurines from Dutch, Spanish and Japanese cultures. It was especially cool to see the shape and worn colors of antique toys from as far back as the late 19th century. I wanted to honor these multi-cultural inspirations by including certain palettes into my designs.
I’m a huge fan of Dick Bruna, who created the Miffy series - if you check out his work you’ll see pieces of art with beautiful pops of colors that work well together, contained in bold black lines. Artists like him, characters from Sanrio, Nintendo and Bathing Ape’s Baby Milo were really big inspirations for this project."
"Similarly, with other collaborations such as Art Community along with others, moodboarding is always the starting point where ideas as well as palette, texture and literal mood come together to create a final product with the most intention possible."
Photo: Darren Vargas
How do you approach color choices for fashion versus fine art?
"This is a great question. What matters the most to me for fashion is silhouette / cut and material - color comes last. I don’t think clothing needs to be loud with color. I think what makes a piece of clothing is how it fits on the body and the actual design of the garment. If you have a great piece with an amazing shape, you can always swap the material's color based on the vision, but I don’t personally think it works the other way around. Sometimes I’ve been purposefully resistant to paint on clothing because it feels too kitsch. To me, just because you can doesn’t mean you should."
Photo: Tommy Nowels
What unexpected thing influenced your color preferences early on?
"The first thing that comes to mind are nostalgic memories of super early childhood - we’d have all our windows open on a Saturday afternoon, there was a lot of mid day natural light radiating through thin curtains, there was a breeze and I’d sit in the living room barefoot listening to my dad play guitar. There was such a softness, whites and cream, defused yellow and orange, dark wood, deep reds, light blues and the many shades found in tall grass.
I think memories like this are the root of my artwork - I wish I could go back in time to re-experience moments like these - the closest thing to that is keeping childhood nostalgia in the ethos of my artwork. The emotions that I am trying to convey are all inside the pigments of paint, colored pencil, photo and video, music when I DJ - color is everything, everywhere, all the time."
Tune in to YNOT radio for Ethan's music curation
What single word
best represents your color palette style?
What inspired you to find your personal color style?
"At the very beginning of learning about art I was very inspired by the classics - Warhol, Keith Haring, Basquiat, Baldessari, Barry McGee, Murakami - - pop / street / superflat art.
I think that boldness and childlike sensibility somewhat gave me the confidence to create my own style, without feeling like art needed to be super detailed. I was able to make big gestural strokes to take up a space rather than hyperfocusing on detail which helped make art feel less intimidating and more child-like."
Do you know what colors you'll use next?
"It depends on the body of work - I think each body of work has a tone.
I love the versatility of my art practice and how each project feels like a new chapter to a book. I feel like I have so many different styles all under the umbrella of my sensibility. Mediums feel limit-less and colors come based on feeling and what makes sense for the project / idea at hand."
What specific colors best represent your work
Pantone 1C
I love my grays
Pantone 16-1358 TCX
A good orange
Pantone 121C
Soft yellows
Pantone 121C
Nice earthly greens
Panton 16-4032
A chalky blue
000C
Pure white
How has the Ethan Cardenas color style evolved?
"I feel like a big part of the evolution of my work has been the reduction of color. Spatial awareness, negative space, and looking at things from a design / almost architectural perspective has given my work more maturity. I have never stopped liking color, but there is something to be said about knowing when to create that balance. Color doesn’t always need to BE the statement - It needs to help the bigger picture and final result."
Who would you like to collaborate with on a future project?
Have a connection to these brands? Hit up Ethan!
What can we learn from Ethan's authentic approach to color?
The world of color is complex, with infinite possibilities. If you'd like more from INFINITE COLOR SERIES, let us know by sharing and tagging @hoppn.
At Hoppn, we're leading the industry in color-based search for ecommerce. If you're curious, poke around our website! For more on all things color, visit our fun page for free creative tools and educational blog articles.
