Customer Reviews

Hilary Page's Guide to Watercolor Paints

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
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this book represents a stupefying amount of research on nearly all commercially available watercolor pigments. the text begins with an overview of the color wheel (reduced to a color "triangle" anchored on the subtractive color primaries RYB), then marches through the colors in sectional sequence. each section opens with a survey of pigment development and a separate discussion of specific pigments. every pigment from each manufacturer is represented by an identical color swatch footprint, showing a graded wash and a wet-on-wet blossom, keyed to lightfastness tests and the actual pigment ingredients of the paint. the swatch commentaries reveal some clear biases (the same pigment is described as "toxic" or "not lightfast" under one manufacturer but as "a beautiful color" under another), but for a work of this scope the level of accuracy is stunning. it's revealing to finally comprehend how variable a "type of paint" such as hooker's green actually is, the diversity of names for the same pigment (such as phthalo blue), and the sheer abundance of unique pigments available in the blues, yellows and reds. overall a work of tremendous craftsmanship, perseverence and care. essential for any serious watercolor painter.

Having borrowed this reference book from the library three times, I now am happy to make it a permanent part of my own collection. This book is a comparative analysis of various manufacturers' paints, listed by color. Not only does Ms. Page provide an independent evaluation of color, texture, and lightfastness, but also highlights that, "You don't always get what you paid for," by noting that in some cases the student quality paints are as good if not better than the professional quality line. This is an exceptional reference book which would enhance any watercolorist's library.

It will save you mucho money. A complete, comprehensive test of colors from a wide range of major manufacturers of watercolor, this book lists the lightfastness and handling characteristics of each color. But that's not all. You get reflectance curves, mixing potential, transparency, lifting, staining, granularity and other properties of pigments. (But it is fun to read, as the information is presented in a very accessible form)

Never buy a horrid tube of chalky, weak, miscolored, fugitive paint again. Plenty more in this book, including history and even chemistry. Hilary Page is a fantastic author, teacher and painter. Get this book!

This book was the best money I have ever spent on art related books and supplies combined. It pays for itself many many times over in the savings you will reap from learning the good paints from the trash paints. I wouldn't think of buying a tube of paint without first referencing this book. I think of it as an artists' "bible" because of all the frustration, dissapointment, and heartache it has saved me as well! It's a must for the beginner and professional alike.

This book is great! It explains everything you want to know about the nature and behavior of pigments. Hilary does a superb job of rating the quality of each paint manufacturer's products. Her information is accurate and very useful. I now understand a great deal more about the paints I'm using. After buying this book I changed my pallet to single pigment paints and no longer mix mud. I no longer waste money on dissapointing tubes of color.
Of all the books on watercolor I've read and own, this one has become my bible!

Helpful, providing definitive information on the behavior of the paint, accurate color photos, and information in disagreement with Wilcox's book--i.e. the color Opera by Holbien as a "permanent" color. (Color rec. by E. John Robinson). Useful when picking between different manufacturers, especially with online shopping.

I just used this book to make my first choices of watercolors. (I am an experienced artist, just not in this media). I am very concerned with lightfastness and many brands do not list this sort of information on their tubes at all. I was able to buy my paint for the first time with full knowledge and trust that my paintings will still be around even when I'm gone.

This was the first, and is still the definitive book on the chemistry of watercolor paints. Hilary Page is a fine watercolorist, but her main contribution to the industry has been her copious analysis of the characteristics of various manufacturers, brands, and qualities of watercolor paints. I became interested in the stability of paint in the early 80's while trying to find the most fade-proof pigments available for my own watercolor paintings. I did many of the same tests Hilary did, but no where near as complete. When her book came out much later, I purchased a copy and still use it today. My copy is marked up with notes that I refer to constantly. I feel this book should be on the shelf of any serious student of watermedia.

"Hilary Page's Guide to Water Color Paints" is a necessary book for anyone doing watercolor. Her coverage is very through and she also has a web page for updating the information. She compares every well-known brand of artists' watercolors from Holbein to Winsor and Newton and her observations will save the artist, whether professional or rank amateur, both frustration and money. What's more, she tested every one herself! I liked the index, which first lists the company and under each company the colors sold. It makes it very easy to check up on the paints that interest you. Her short introduction on pigments and paints is also quite informative. If you work with watercolor you simply cannot afford to be without this book!

By the way my copy was given to me by my daughter for my birthday and was autographed by the author. The author had also neatly written a correction inside the book. This is a dedicated person and her work is much appreciated!

As I am interested in the scientific end of things when studying color, I bought this book with a view to study what the author had to say about it. Being the medium is watercolor, a paste ready for painting with a brush mixed with water, the colors are indeed going to be different from that of other mediums. The author has done a tremendous job by detailing the different brands and rating them in terms of their lightfastness, whether they "stain" (have staying power for color in a painting) or not. I would term this book the "Consumer's Report of Watercolor Colors". So often, most books on color theory concentrate on one aspect of color, such as graphics on film or web graphics, and forget that different mediums mix color differently. For instance, someone involved with oil painting would need a different book on mixing color, as that is a different medium altogether. Also, there is no standardization of color among the various manufacturers of paints, and it makes it very difficult for the artist to know just what to buy. "Amber green" from one manufacturer could be very different from an "amber green" from another manufacturer, and vice versa, the same color could have different names from different manufacturers. The reason I am not giving it five stars, is that this point about color standardization is driven home better by an John Wilcox, another author on color and watercolor. Otherwise, this is a very good book for the discerning watercolorist.