Customer Reviews

Color and Light: Luminous Atmospheres for Painted Rooms

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

 

 

I have had this book on loan from the public library for over six weeks and can't bare to part with it. The library wants their copy back, so I'm going to have to buy my own. I was attracted to the book, not because I wanted guidance in painting the interior of my house, but because as an amateur artist and photographer, I am interested in color theory. The palettes of these interior and exterior settings as they relate to natural light is inspirational and beautiful. This is not a "how-to" book, but offers scope for the imagination. I tend to paint all my interior rooms off-white because I think that brings more light into the room. This book challenges that thinking by demonstrating through photographs of rooms in the natural light of various geographic areas how nature works with the color palette to illuminate interiors. The text supplements the photographs by explaining how this works. I like this book very much.

This and the two related books (Natural Palettes and the Suzanne Butterfield book on palettes based on D. Kaufman colors)should be read attentively by anyone faced with painting a room. As beautiful as some of the illustrations are, these are NOT coffee table books to browse through. They are full of practical information for painting rooms, including rooms like mine with dark woodwork, hardwood floors, uneven walls, odd-shaped and leaded glass windows, etc. For example -- balancing cool and warm, contrasting or matching color values, using hue to stand up to strong trim, using flat paint to create a soft, smooth wall surface, what to do with dark rooms (Don't paint them white -- the resulting shadows emphasize that they are dark.), the importance of mixing paint colors without using black pigment and the importance of having the full spectrum of pigments in any paint hue, the effect that the color of light in the room will have on the wall color, and much more. The room descriptions are not prescriptions for what one must do but rather examples of the many different effects that can result using fully-pigmented paint of different value, hue, contrasts, etc. under different light conditions. The Butterfield book is a fairly simple presentation. "Natural Palettes" and "Color and Light," particularly the latter book, are sophisticated illustrated explanations of the basic "rules" of light and color through some of the myriad possible results. Read these three books with attention and be rewarded with an appreciation of color and light everywhere(in every house, apartment, store, restaurant, office, etc., on the street, the highway, in the sky, city, country -- you won't be able to help it!) Read these books and you will see, know and care about color and light forever. You'll also have no problem painting your rooms.

Beautiful book with great practical advice about how to choose colors for your home. I've gone gaga over Donald Kaufman's paints, and, although they are expensive, they are only a fraction of the price of Martha Stewart's line for Schreuder.

Two reasons to write this review. One is to counteract, or attempt to balance, the negativity of some of the other reader's reviews. The other is to bring to notice this exceptional book. The ideas that atmosphere, air and geographic location can influence color are not novel thoughts - Dutch master painters and the Provence of Van Gogh come to mind. But to apply such theories to the architectural and interior use of color has not been explored by enough people. Donald Kaufman was first an artist - this obviously influences his perception and methods of working with paint. The book is fascinating for the way it balances ethereal ideas with practical suggestions. The power and influence of localized light is described with excellent prose as well as lovingly selected photographs. Alongside such beauty are supremely helpful suggestions for using color and light in your own environment or in the spaces you are creating for others to enjoy. I have all three of Donald Kaufman and Taffy Dahl's books. Now I await a fourth!

Have you ever been about to choose something in a store -- be it a paint chip or a sofa -- and you have the need to take the thing away from the artificially bright and white store lighting and hold it up to a window to get a sense of the true aspects of the color? If so, this book is for you.

This admirable book looks at color, as you might expect, in the context of light. This is a sensitive and not too artsy approach that views interior colors as a part of the greater world outdoors. I was particularly taken by the short section at the end of the book titled "A Patina Notebook" that looks at the values of age and decay within these contexts. Could have actually done with more of this, actually.

At any rate, this is an inspiring and eye-opening piece of work that is all about suggestion rather than dictation. The fact that this large format hardback features beautiful photography doesn't hurt either!

Donald Kaufman has been making custom color house paints for decades with extra-ordinary results. This and his previous book(s) give examples of his exquisite eye and ability to create unique palettes for a wide range of environments,

So, I have to change my wall colors to reflect the natural light, right? That means thinking of one palette during a long and snowy-white winter, then changing the wall color to reflect the cool, green summertime light in our dense woods? Yeah, right........

I love color. I love light. So, I thought I would love this book. Wrong, wrong, wrong. This book is a borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring read. It's like a bad term paper. I dare you to find one idea to take away and use in your own life. The author talks AT you, pontificates, lectures, never asks you a question or makes room for you to react. Talk about over-intellectualizing a topic and taking the fun out of design! Bleah!

THIS IS REALLY UNAPPEALING. THEY SHOULD HAVE CALLED THE BOOK "ATMOSPHERE FOR BEIGE ROOMS." IF YOU WANT A HOUSE WITH ALL THE CHARM OF "BUILDER BEIGE," THEN GO FOR IT. OTHERWISE, KEEP LOOKING FOR A REAL BOOK ON COLOR. (I HAVEN'T FOUND ONE I LIKE YET.)