Using Color Books

Color by Betty Edwards: A Course in Mastering the Art of Mixing Colors

Betty Edwards

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Millions of people have learned to draw using the methods of Dr. Betty Edwards's bestseller The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Now, much as artists progress from drawing to painting, Edwards moves from black-and-white into color. This new guide distills the enormous existing knowledge about color theory into a practical method of working with color to produce harmonious combinations.

Using techniques tested and honed in her five-day intensive color workshops, Edwards provides a basic understanding of how to see color, how to use it, and-for those involved in art, painting, or design-how to mix and combine hues. Including more than 125 color images and exercises that move from simple to challenging, this volume explains how to:

- see what is really there rather than what you "know" in your mind about colored objects
- perceive how light affects color, and how colors affect one another
- manipulate hue, value, and intensity of color and transform colors into their opposites
- balance color in still-life, landscape, figure, and portrait painting
- understand the psychology of color
- harmonize color in your surroundings

While we recognize and treasure the beautiful use of color, reproducing what we see can be a challenge. Accessibly unweaving color's complexity, this must-have primer is destined to be an instant classic.

Images

Roger Burrows

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Fabulous coloring book! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I am an adult that loves to color and these Roger Burrows books are great. I find they work best with colored pencils in that the designs are very intricate, but fine tip markers work fine as well if you don't mind bleed through (the paper is fairly thin). Very good, cheap, relaxing therapy! Can't miss--these would be fine for older children as well that are very attentive to detail.

Definately keeps you busy!!! lol 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I recieved this book, along with books 2-5 also, for christmas. My mom ordered them out of a magazine together though. but they are the same books. Anyway, I love these things!! I am 14, and they still Keep me busy. Also, I had several teachers who had us do these at school.....not exactly sure why, but they did. Anyway, I think older kids, maybe 3rd or 4th grade and up will like these better than any old coloring book. I even got my sister whos 24, doing one of these last night! lol so overall, its perfect! =)

Editorial Review:

Each unique volume in our Images series of ready-to-color pattern books stimulates the visual imagination with an infinite number of forms nested within complex geometric shapes. There is no age limit to the creativity and fun to be found on the pages of these totally unique coloring books!

Interaction of Color: Revised and Expanded Edition

Josef Albers

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Josef Albers’s Interaction of Color is a masterwork in twentieth-century art education. Conceived as a handbook and teaching aid for artists, instructors, and students, this timeless book presents Albers’s unique ideas of color experimentation in a way that is valuable to specialists as well as to a larger audience.
Originally published by Yale University Press in 1963 as a limited silkscreen edition with 150 color plates, Interaction of Color first appeared in paperback in 1971, featuring ten representative color studies chosen by Albers. The paperback has remained in print ever since and is one of the most influential resources on color for countless readers.
This new paperback edition presents a significantly expanded selection of more than thirty color studies alongside Albers’s original unabridged text, demonstrating such principles as color relativity, intensity, and temperature; vibrating and vanishing boundaries; and the illusions of transparency and reversed grounds. Now available in a larger format and with enhanced production values, this expanded edition celebrates the unique authority of Albers’s contribution to color theory and brings the artist’s iconic study to an eager new generation of readers.

Confident Color: An Artist's Guide To Harmony, Contrast And Unity

Nita Leland

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Help for the color impaired! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I've always had problems with color in my paintings. I don't seem to have a color sense so my work BCC (Before Confident Color) didn't always have the most harmonious color. However, after reading Confident Color I have a much better understanding of how color can create an effective painting. Using examples from a wide variety of artists, the book breaks down the colors used and explains why these color combinations are so effective. It also presents different types of color wheels to give the artist a wide range of harmonious color ideas to work with. By using the color information in this book, you can express mood and pull more viewer interest. What's really nice is that the author uses work by both well-known artists and those who aren't well-known -- but all are excellent at what they do. The book would be good for quilters and fabric artists as well, or indeed anyone who wants a better understanding of color theory.

Editorial Review:

The approach to color theory in Confident Color makes selecting colors easy and efficient. Readers will learn the importance of color schemes and color contrasts and how to use them effectively when painting. They will learn how to create a color scheme or palette for their paintings, as well as how to use similar colors, contrasting colors, neutrals and complements to take their compositions to new heights. A lively illustrated color glossary provides a refresher on color basics so that the reader can focus on more complex theories.

Alleviates the struggle artists have when determining color combinations by providing 7 step-by-step demonstrations that show how to select and make color schemes, color contrasts, compatible colors and more.

Includes an assortment of work from 52 contributing artists using a variety of mediums.

Color: A Natural History of the Palette

Victoria Finlay

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 40 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Voyage to the source of colors 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Part travelogue, part history and part study of the origins and source of pigments, "Color" is always informative and engaging. There is no book quite like this. For the painter, amateur or professional, the book will provide inspiration and a new way to look at and think about color. For the non-artist, it is an eye-opening essay into this exciting world. You'll want to rush out and buy a paint set afterwards.

Awesome and useful 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I use some of the fun facts from this book in the oil painting class I teach. A very entertaining and educational travelogue. I really enjoyed how the author tied different narrative threads together.

Editorial Review:

Discover the tantalizing true stories behind your favorite colors.
For example: Cleopatra used saffron—a source of the color yellow—for seduction. Extracted from an Afghan mine, the blue “ultramarine” paint used by Michelangelo was so expensive he couldn’t afford to buy it himself. Since ancient times, carmine red—still found in lipsticks and Cherry Coke today—has come from the blood of insects.

Color Mixing Recipes for Portraits: More than 500 Color Combinations for skin, eyes, lips & hair (Color Mixing Recipes)

William F. Powell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

great technical advice 5 out of 5 stars.
23 of 23 people found this review helpful.

If you are looking for a technical guide on how to mix skin colours for all the different races of people (well most anyway) then this is the book for you. It gives you all the information you need (which paint and how much)to mix just about every shade of flesh, covering both cool and warm versions, it covers the full tonal range for each mix and shadow effects. In summery it is the most comprehensive flesh colour mixing book I have come across yet and I have got most of the more popular books on this subject. At this price it is a bargin

Mixing Colour 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

This is great value for a novice that needs help to mix skin colours. The text is kept to a minimum and the charts clear to understand.

Editorial Review:

From Caucasian to Latino and East Indian hues, this convenient book features master mixes for an arry of skin colors, plus recipes for hair, eye, and lip colors. The concealed wire-o bound book also includes a plastic color-mixing grid for measuring out paints, as well as a handy conversion chart for finding acrylic equivalents of oil paints and vice versa.

Color Index 2: Over 1500 New Color Combinations. For Print and Web Media. CMYK and RGB Formulas.

Jim Krause

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great color book for ideas! 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This book is really helpful when you're stuck using the same color palettes over and over. His first book was good too, but this one is grouped by colors instead of being so random. It's a small book and great to have near computer for when you need a creative boost.

Editorial Review:

A new take on color combinations!

Color Index 2 contains hundreds of different color combinations, each with an accurate formula for both print and web use. You'll easily find the best colors for your piece with chapters organized by dominant hue, and with unique expansion palettes--sets of four related hues arranged from dark to light--that allow you to explore even more color combinations for limitless possibilities.

Designers, illustrators, photographers and fine artists alike will find this book an indispensible tool when it comes to finding color-related ideas and solutions. A companion to its best-selling predecessor, Color Index 2 offers even more colors and fresh new combinations of colors, making it easier than ever to create harmonious palettes for whatever project you're working on!

Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color

Leatrice Eisemann

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 55 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Designers Necessity 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

Let's start by saying that I've been a Graphic and Multimedia Designer for over 10 years now. Like all beginners I used to think that design was all about what ever you liked best.
Well thats worth a good chuckle these days. As an experienced designer will tell you there's a lot more to good design than personal preference.
Matter of fact it's more like a science than anything else. Once you start diving into color theory and color association you begin to realize that there's quite a lot of information to retain and that there's a right and a wrong color for everything.

Well here's your reference guide!

This book has sat on my desk for the 4+ years that I've owned it and has definitely seen better days. The pages are falling out, the cover is beat ta heck and page 63 in particular has been scanned so that I could fold it up and put it in my pocket more times then I can count.

Leatrice keeps her explanations simple and direct and reinforces them with stellar designs of well known products from top notch agencies.
She adds a large section of color palettes in the middle but they've become a bit dated since the release of this book. Some of them are still nice and will at least inspire you to play with some similar colors.

As an added bonus the back of the book has the CMYK values for all of the pantones if you're one of the cave dwellers that dont have a Pantone booklet (shame on you!).

This is not the definitive color theory hand book!
You wont become a master after reading this and there are quite a few design fundamentals that are not included.
But it is a terrific and beautiful reference that you'll find yourself digging through constantly for information and inspiration.

It belongs on your bookshelf.

Nuff said.

Color - Messages & Meanings: A PANTONE Color Resource

Leatrice Eiseman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Duped? 3 out of 5 stars.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This book is a nice little book, but it is too much like it's predecessor, Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color by the same author. I would not have bought it had I known, I assumed (like a dummy) that it was an addition to the other book, not basically a copy with a few very minor extras and a bold new cover. I have since discovered the Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color is being discontinued and no longer being printed at this time. My feeling is that the author and publishers duped the public by not simply saying this is a (slightly) updated version. If you already own the older book, don't bother purchasing this one. If you do not already have the older book, then by all means purchase this book as it is a good one for any artist and designer working with color. Shame on Leatrice Eiseman and shame on the publisher.

Editorial Review:

There is no one in the business world that doubts the impact of colour. Those involved in marketing, design, advertising, and retail need to be as informed as possible about the usage of colour as a means of instant communication in order to make appropriate colour decisions. This guide explains the emotional response to colour and covers the latest guidelines for effective colour combinations including the integration of colour trends. With up-to-date visuals and printing formulas to eliminate guesswork, this guide empowers and equips its users to make smart informed decisions.

Making Color Sing

Jeanne Dobie

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 46 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great information in this book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Making Color Sing

I am new to the medium of watercolors and have found this book to be very helpful. The author keeps the selection of colors to a minimum in order to keep your costs down but also helping you to learn the aspects of what each color can do. This is a book that I feel I can really learn and become a better artist.

singing along with paint 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

i learned of the book making color sing in an art workshop. It is not a new publication, however 'still in print' and it gives many processes for use of color that i feel any artist would profit by having a copy for reference..and achieving special effects. great guide book. one for the 'watercolorist's personal library'

Editorial Review:

Through easy-to-follow exercises, this manual seeks to stimulate new ways to think about colour, generating responses that unlock personal creativity and allowing artists to express themselves with paint as never before. Readers are shown how the interplay of complementary hues can trigger vibrations; how the push and pull of warm and cool colours can create a feeling of space; how to disguise one colour in a scene to accent another; and many more tips.