Customer Reviews

Making Color Sing

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The talented Jeanne Dobie does a lot of her work in the sun-drenched Florida Keys. While there are many good books on color and pigment, Dobie explains how light in a painting scene shifts moment by moment and how you have to be ready to capture that brilliant moment with the right palette.

The book gives advice on which colors to put in a limited palette for brilliance. (As anyone who has done watercolor even for a short time knows, there are hundreds of colors available, but when you MIX them, sometimes you get a flat, dull result that looks like mud on the paper.) Choosing a limited and CORRECT palette for the painting you are going to do is one of the most critical steps after creating the composition. Dobie includes important facts about which paints stain the paper (and cannot be lifted up again), which are transparent and can be used as a wash or glaze, and which paints are opaque. And if you follow the "purist" rule of no white paint, you learn how to leave the whites (use the paper for brilliant whites) and no black paint (which causes a visual hole in the paper.) Instead, Dobie shows the student painter how dark colors like brown or a visual black can be mixed that still look luminous and interesting on the paper. This is a very difficult technique to master--shadow detail can make or break a painting.

I disagree with one of her points, however, on mixing greens. While it is true that green pigments direct from the tube are far more brilliant and transparent than any you can mix, I find certain mixed greens from yellows and blues to be subtle for shadowed foliage, and sometimes the pure paint greens are jarring and unnatural to me. I tried to follow this "use unmixed" greens rule, and I end up mixing mine anyway, though I own many shades of green paints.

Of course, the best part of the book are the paintings. These are inspiring to the reader, but this author can also write and explain herself well. This book should be a standard on any watercolorist's shelf.

I have a library full of books on watercolor. Dobie's book is the one I read over and over and carry with me where ever I go. If I get stuck in a painting, a key to the answer is always in this book. This is a book to read several times. Each time I read it, I take my painting to a higher level. My copy is so dog-eared, I will soon need another one. If you know a watercolorist, this book would make a great gift. I call it "The Bible" of watercolor books.

Jeanne Dobie's book was recommended in the watercolor class I took and at first when I looked at the pictures I was not interested as I do not care for Dobie's style as illustrated in the book and would never buy the book based on her work. However, after borrowing the teacher's copy I began reading the text and found the information valuable and useful after trying the suggested exercises. Dobie's book along with Tom Hill's The Watercolorist's Complete Guide to Color combine as excellent references for learing to use color pigments and making colors "sing" instead of making mud.

I am giving Dobie's book 1 instead of 5 stars as it seriously needs updating considering some of the pigments Dobie uses are not lightfast and the inclusion of more modern pigments that replace these non-lightfast pigments would be useful all considering the book was first published in 1986, which is 18 years ago. The lightfast references I am going by are Hilary Page and Michael Wilcox's books analyizing watercolor pigments.

Aside from Dobie's use of some outdated pigments (see handprint.com) the book is an excellent reference and her advice as to color mixing valuable.

What are all these 5 star reviewers thinking??? Aureolin and rose madder--Dobie's recommended yellow and red primaries, are extremely fugitive--they fade in a short time.
Because of this alone, the book should be vigorously rejected as coming from dubious authority. Her plan for making colors "sing," by the way, involves placing an occassional bright color in a field of grays or browns, mixed not from earth pigments, but from (fugitive) primaries. It would be irresponsible of me to perpetrate such a book on an unsuspecting public by giving it any stars at all. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't have a "zero" stars option. If you want a superior book that will show you much better ways to make colors "sing," get "Perfect Color Choices for the Artist," by Michael Wilcox.

The most helpful book I have read. Advice on which colors to use to set up a palette that does make your watercolors vibrant and alive. Jeanne gives you specific directions about transparent, staining and opaque watercolors in a way that makes one remember it. The book is full of wonderful color charts and examples of paintings. She is a rare find in that she is able to turn out gorgeous paintings and teach how to do it as well. Jeanne, when are you going to put out some videos? I want to SEE you paint!

I have been painting for many years and keep on referring back to this book over and over, because the principles therein are so helpful. Clearly presented, basic "truths" about color and design that will lift the caliber of what you produce--why? Because you will paint with knowledge and the confidence that accompanies knowledge. I've read most of the books out there on watercolor, but this one is Queen of them all! Happy painting!

Jeanne Dobie truly makes color sing. She also makes color theory understandable. Her paintings are beautiful. I have had this book for several years and have gone through it over and over. A real color bible. If I could only have one book in my art instruction library this would be the one.

After buying a large library of watercolor books, I've found that there are a precious few that are clearly above the others. This is in the top three I recommend to my students, because of Jeanne Dobie's great way of logically teaching a medium with lots of room for mistakes as well as glory. A great learning tool for beginners or advanced painters, not just a "slosharound" book.

Jeanne Dobie is an absolute master of compisition, light and texture, and even though this book focuses ostensibly on color, anyone at any level can benefit from her other chapters as well. I have thrown out so many of my "excess" colors and find that I can accomplish so much with Jeanne's more limited palette.

This has become one of the most valuable watercolor reference books I've ever used. Beautifully illustrated and clearly explained by an artist with timeless technique and an elegantly sensitive style. No wasted text here! I've worn it out and am buying my second copy!