Customer Reviews

The Artist's Guide to Selecting Colors

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is the latest in a fine series of reference books on color and paint selection written by Mr. Wilcox. This book delivers lots of useful information in clear language. I would particularly recommend it to students who are new to the sometimes bewildering world of color media. Readers who have the author's other books on color may not need this one, as there is a lot of overlap.

michael wilcox deserves credit as one of the pioneers of modern standards in art materials. but he has overstayed his usefulness, and it badly shows in this book. wilcox does not discuss *pigments*, which are the actual chemicals that create paint color (and lose color if poorly made), because pigments have been updated since he wrote his first book, and he has not bothered to test the new pigments available. but what he calls "colors" are not paints either, so he does not review any specific paints made by specific manufacturers. he's left in the pitiable position of reviewing "colors" such as burnt sienna that vary widely from one manufacturer to another, or "colors" such as "chrome yellow" that no one makes anymore; advising us that each color is "usually" well made or poorly made, and implying whenever convenient that artists who use poor "colors" are stupid and paint manufacturers who make them are unscrupulous. at present hilary page's book is the only reliable, up to date and thoroughly researched paint guide available.

A very informative book for any artist. We all buy paint, but the market is full of many brands and many qualities of paint. How do we make a selection? How do we avoid colors that fade or darken? How do we read the label of the tube of paint? What should be on that label? The name of the color is not important.All painters know that there are many different colors with the same name.

Michael Wilcox, both an artist and a chemist, is on a holy mission to save the world from bad paint and is the perfect person to disabuse the public of the myths that keep it at the mercy of unscrupulous paint manufacturers.

Artists need to know that many popular colors (such as traditionally-made alizirin crimson) are appallingly fragile in ANY medium and will always deteriorate in short periods of time. And yet there are wonderfully lightfast substitutes available, if only the artist knows what to look for.

This informative, nicely illustrated book is a must for any painter who cares about the durability of his or her work. Furthermore, it can never go out of date because it offers information on the properties of PIGMENTS, and not reviews of paint products. If you know which pigments are stable, it won't matter which brands you come across at your local art supply store. Just read the ingredients to find out whether a paint will stand the test of time.

This is an essential book for any serious artist concerned about the integrity of their art. Who cares if there are typos? (I noticed none, myself -refer to a previous review). If you are knocking a book like this for whatever spelling/grammatical errors the subject matter is over your head. The author thoroughly explains everything to look for when selecting the best color pallet. Watch out for misleading labels, redundant and unnecessary products, fugitive colors and hidden ingredients that threaten the longevity of your work.

Important information for choosing the best colors in your palette. I now am confident in the archival integrity of the palette I use and I arrange the colors according to those that form the purest color mixtures. An earlier review speaks of typos -1. Apparently this person is ignorant of the Queen's English (Michael Wilcox is British) -2. Who cares to throw out the baby with the bath water anyway? This is the clearest reference I have found on pigments.

The following refers to a copy published by the "School of Colour Publishing" not the North Light one here. Hence I have no idea as to how NL may have messed around with it (I'm not a big fan of North Light - found their books, for the most part, to be woefully focused on the "twee" end of the picture creating spectrum).

The Australian (hence the presumed typo's) Michael Wilcox does an admirable job of outlining which pigments to use (and avoid), in what media i.e oil, acrylic, watercolour and gouache, and why. Much of the information can be found elsewhere (Mayer's "The Artist's Handbook") but I favour Wilcox owing to the book being in colour, with an excellent reproduction of the hues compared with actual colour swatches I've made.

Given that the various paint manufacturer's are continually on the look out for "new" colours I found a couple of pigments in my oil paints that weren't mentioned in the book.

With reference to another review posted here, I didn't find any instance of Wilcox promoting his range of materials.

A very useful book, particularly for someone using paints from a variety of manufacturer's as well someone working in a range of media.

I have the book in front of me and there are no references here to any particular brand of paint. This is an excellent reference work, if for no other reason than to stir one's motivation to mix more colors with fewr pigments and to know what one is using... The advise is sound, timeless and helpful.

I was fortunate enough to run across a copy of Michael Wilcox's book years ago, when art supply manufacturers were in the process of eliminating fugitive pigments and replacing them with more permanent ones. Often a color is a blend of two or more pigments, so things get complicated, yet Michael Wilcox doesn't go into that rat's nest, but sticks to permanency data on the single pigments that we find in artisits' colors.

Unfortunately, by now the book is somewhat outdated. That is, as one other reviewer has indicated, there are newer pigments out that just aren't listed in the book. As an artist who would like his paintings to last, at least a reasonable length of time, careful color selection is important. I would like to see Michael Wilcox turn out a new edition of this volume.

I would never again purchase a tube of paint that did not conform to the ASTM Standards that Michael Wilcox describes in easy to understand terms. I have owned this book for several years and still refer to it often. If a pigment has been proven through research to crack or change colors with time, better color mixtures using proven pigments are given in each instance. A most valuable tool for any artist's library.