Color by Betty Edwards: A Course in Mastering the Art of Mixing Colors
Very good book for a beginner and quite useful to the more serious.
Arrived within 8 days of placing my order and i used standard delivery. Superb.
This book is a natural progression from Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain by the same author.
It's a shame that it's only available in the USA.
Lived up to my expectations.

this is a disappointing book, for three reasons. first, edwards simply recycles the mummified "color theory" dogma inherited from the 19th century (primary colors, complementary color contrast, and the "mud" definition of subdued tones); worse, she merely parrots it secondhand, in dribs and drabs and without no insight into what she is saying. second, the "scientific" statements about color are dilettantish, superficial and in many specifics factually wrong. finally, the practical guidance is devoid of any artistic spirit: the introductory color lesson asks the student to make little wheels of color and then, when the little wheels are completed, to copy wallpaper. no, that's not a metaphor: you choose a piece of wallpaper, paste it to a sheet of watercolor paper, then copy the design while inverting or shifting the color scheme.

the acme of edwards's color advice is her scheme for "color harmony" -- each painting must contain a balanced selection of the primary colors that are balanced within themselves on lightness and chroma (which edwards calls "value" and "intensity"). this is another empty cliche from 19th century color theory -- victorian art theorists speculated that a harmonious painting, spun on a turntable, would blur into a gray disc -- and the irony is that edwards introduces as a principle of harmony what she disparages as "mud" in color mixing. the worst point, however, is that she does what "color theorists" always do -- lay down simple rules as dogma -- in this case the assertion that painting harmony is simply the manipulation of color patterns.

of course, since we are in the realm of mummified "color theory", those patterns are the 18th century complementary color contrasts (yellow+purple, orange+blue, red+green) that have turned amateur painting into an anthill of identical cliches. this simplistic rule has been repeated for generations, not because it is accurate or useful (colors that are "off complementary" are actually more harmonious together), but simply because it is dogma -- something you can teach that has been taught before. significantly, these teachers (edwards included) are never fine artists themselves.

indeed, the whole book has a discouraging, reductive approach that resembles teaching the blind to paint. paint something simple, like a vase with flowers. hold up you metric wheels to judge colors. adjust colors using your wallpaper painting methods. make paintings by blocking in colors, then adjusting colors. stand back, squint, and "change whatever color doesn't look right." add colors that are missing and vary colors that are too similar. avoid mud. use complementary colors. get a new sheet of paper, rinse and repeat.

the only thing soaring about this book is the flight it takes as you fling it out your window; the only inspiring moment is when it flops into your trash can. yes! three points!

Hi,
This book explains everything about colour. Most important thing is it teaches you to identify and match colour with value.
Entire colour wheel is simplified so one can easily remember it.
This is best book of Colour I have ever read.

I had started to paint before seeing this book and was really frustrated of the results. Then I found this book and went through the exercises and eventually I understood where I went wrong. The explanations are clear and every exercise gets you one stage ahead in the way of "seeing" colors. I was so encouraged by this book that I ordered the one about drawing.

A wonderful book,,makes color mixing for the non-professional arist very understandable.. A treasured addition to my book collection.