Color Right from the Start

Book excerpt: "Here is a new book jam-packed with information on color and pigments and painting by the author of Watercolor Right from the Start. Designed to overlap her earlier book as well as to advance into territory of great interest to artists - the subject of color - Color Right from the Start adopts the design, the how-to format, and the progression of lessons that have already proven popular with Page's readers. Thus it provides a familiar foundation for lessons on the color spectrum, why colors produce certain optical effects, what paints are made of, why they behave as they do when they're wet, when they're dry - and much more, all lavishly illustrated." "If you want to construct your own color charts - color wheels for light and for pigments, and color-mixing "maps" - Hilary Page shows you how. If you want to test your pigments for their special properties - how the pigment particles settle on paper, how well the paint serves as a glaze or in wet-on-wet application - she tells you exactly how to proceed." "In subsequent lessons, she focuses on each major hue, from gray to yellow and on through red and blue to green - primary colors, secondary colors, and neutrals. These lessons reinforce all the concepts the author has explained earlier, as she demonstrates the uses of color in specific paintings. Most of these demonstrations develop in a step-by-step, easy-to-follow manner. You will not only understand the evolution of a picture's color scheme, but also follow the mixing and application of the paints themselves. Watercolor techniques are demonstrated to show off the pigments and to achieve desired color effects. It's one thing to read what simultaneous contrast is, it's another to make it work for you in a watercolor that you paint with the pigments you actually own." "Color Right from the Start carefully explains some sophisticated concepts and is written to give artists just the depth of knowledge they need to be well-informed. Beginners will want this book so that they can attain a basic, hands-on knowledge of color. This makes the book useful also as a reference tool for the more advanced artist. Providing all the practice that a beginner needs to fully grasp the magic of color in his or her own work, Color Right from the Start also serves as a lively refresher-course as well."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved