Color : a course in mastering the art of mixing colors / Betty Edwards.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Edwards, Betty, 1926-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Color in art.

Physical Description:

xvii, 176 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Course in mastering the art of mixing colors

Place of Publication:

New York : Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, [2004]

Summary:

Millions have learned to draw by following the methods of Dr. Betty Edwards's bestselling book The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Now, in the same way that artists progress from drawing to painting, Edwards moves from the black-and-white of drawing into color. This much-awaited guide, Color: A Course in Mastering the Art of Mixing Colors, provides a practical method of harmonizing combinations of colors through the use of techniques tested and honed in Dr. Edwards's intensive five-day color workshops. By means of exercises ranging from simple to challenging, illustrated with more than 125 step-by-step images, this book offers a deep understanding of the basic structure of color, including how to see what is really out there rather than what you think you know about colored objects. Intended for the novice in color as well as for more experienced artists and designers, the exercises focus on how to successfully mix and combine hues. While we may appreciate the beauty and versatility of color, working with colors can be a challenge. This book, a must-have for explaining the complexities of color, gives you confidence in your use of color and deepens your artistic perception.

Contents:

Introduction: The Importance of Color xiii

Drawing, Color, Painting, and Brain Processes 2

Seeing Colors as Values 3

Why Values Are Important 4

The Role of Language in Color and Painting 6

The Constancies: Seeing and Believing 8

Seeing How Light Changes Colors 10

Seeing How Colors Affect Each Other 12

Understanding and Applying Color Theory 14

Theories about Color 15

Applying Color Theory in Art 17

Learning the Vocabulary of Color 20

The Three Primary Colors 21

The Three Secondary Colors 23

The Six Tertiary Colors 23

Analogous Colors 23

Complementary Colors 25

Naming Colors: The L-Mode Role in Mixing Colors 26

The Three Attributes of Color: Hue, Value, and Intensity 28

From Naming to Mixing 31

Moving from Theory to Practice 33

Buying and Using Paints and Brushes 36

Buying Supplies 37

Beginning to Paint 41

Mixing a Color 44

Exercise 1 Subjective Color 45

Cleaning Up 47

Using the Color Wheel to Understand Hue 48

Exercise 2 Making a Color Wheel Template 49

Exercise 3 Painting the Color Wheel 51

Exercise 4 Practice in Identifying Hues 56

Mixing Colors 57

Creating Colors: How Four Pigments Can Become Hundreds of Colors 57

Using the Color Wheel to Understand Value 60

Value 61

Exercise 5 Shades of Gray-Constructing a Value Wheel/Hue Scanner 61

How to Use Your Value Wheel/Hue Scanner 63

How to Lighten and Darken Colors 64

Exercise 6 Two Color Value Wheels-From White to a Pure Hue, From a Pure Hue to Black 65

Other Ways of Lightening and Darkening Colors 68

Another Way to Darken a Color 70

Using the Color Wheel to Understand Intensity 72

Exercise 7 The Power of the Primaries to Cancel Color 73

Exercise 8 Creating an Intensity Wheel-From a Pure Hue to No Color and Back Again 77

Exercise 9 Practice in Naming Hue, Value, and Intensity 79

Other Ways to Dull Colors 80

What Constitutes Harmony in Color? 84

The Aesthetic Response to Harmonious Color 85

The Phenomenon of After-images 86

After-images and the Attributes of Color 90

Albert Munsell's Theory of Harmony Based on Balancing Color 92

A Definition of Balanced Color 93

Creating Harmony in Color 96

Exercise 10 Transforming Color Using Complements and the Three Attributes: Hue, Value, and Intensity 96

Seeing the Effects of Light, Color Constancy, and Simultaneous Contrast 112

The Next Step: Seeing How Light Affects the Colors of Three-Dimensional Shapes 113

Why It Is Difficult to See the Effects of Light 115

How to Accurately Perceive Colors Affected by Light 116

Three Different Methods of Scanning a Hue 116

The Next Step: Estimating the Intensity Level 118

The Three-Part Process of Painting 119

Exercise 11 Painting a Still Life 121

Seeing the Beauty of Color in Nature 134

Color Harmony in Flowers 135

Floral Painting in Art 136

Colors in Nature Differ from Colors of Human-Made Objects 139

Exercise 12 Painting a Floral Still Life 140

Nature as a Teacher of Color 155

The Meaning and Symbolism of Colors 156

Attaching Names to Colors 157

Using Colors to Express Meaning 158

Exercise 13 The Color of Human Emotions 161

Your Preferred Colors and What They Mean 168

Knowing Your Color Preferences and Your Color Expressions 171

The Symbolic Meanings of Colors 172

Practicing Your Understanding of the Meaning of Color 188

Using Your Color Knowledge 190.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-198) and index.

ISBN:

1585421995

1585422193

OCLC:

53462201