Customer Reviews

Painter's Guide to Color

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this is stephen quiller's sequel to "color choices" with the addition of new information about neutral mixtures (Jean Dobie's "mouse power"), color value and intensity (saturation), color families, "mother color", and the latest version of quiller's color mixing wheel, one of the best available. but i was disappointed. the book suffers from a mechanical approach to color mixing or color families -- in some cases, the text of captions or whole sections is identical, with color keywords repeatedly changed. this edition deletes some of the best chapters in "color choices," such as the chapter on "finding your own vision," adding in its place a bizarre section on "color personalities" (each mixed color is associated with adjectives such as "noble" or "playful"). and quiller recommends a 28-paint (!) palette, which will create more confusion for a painter (especially a beginning painter) than all the mixing instructions can clear away. i suggest you browse this book before you buy it: "color choices" is better overall, and you can order quiller's revised color wheel from him directly, on a plastic card that is more durable than the tear-out version that comes with this book.

Stephen Quiller is one of my favourite painters, and I have found his book on color to be indispensible. His supreme understanding of colour he passes on effortlessly to the reader in an easy to understood manner. His colour wheel, with its many layered variations and how they fit into the whole, is a revelation. Also his own palette and the reasons behind his choices is a must see.

The bonus is the illustrations of his theories, as manifest in his own paintings. Most of which are brilliant.

(The only thing is, I lent my copy to a fellow artist and I don't think it's going to come back..)

This book does go beyond "Color Choices" in that it is a more extensive review of the importance of value and intensity...great stuff.

Quiller outdoes himself in this book. While "Color Choices" is a clear, concise basic color theory book, "Painter's Guide to Color" assumes the reader knows and understands those basics inside-out. So, you beginners and intermediate painters, this may not be the book for you...YET. Don't worry; you'll get there. Just be aware that "Painter's Guide..." is color theory as seen/understood/lived from a master painter's point of view. Painting isn't just a set of techniques, media, and tools; it's a way of being. That's a point of view most serious painters hope to reach eventually, and thank you, Mr. Quiller, for doing your best to put it into words. The art world has lots of books for the beginner and not enough books for more advanced painters.
"Painter's Guide..." goes more deeply into the creative use of color, explaining clearly concepts such as mother color; color value and intensity and why they are important; how to create and use grays well; and why he uses this color instead of that to achieve particular textures, effects, and emotional impact. The illustrations and explanations are clear enough that I often use this book as a teaching aid for beginning students. I just tell them that "Color Choices" will probably be a better buy for them at this point in their artistic development. Many of them have bought "Painter's Guide..." anyway, bringing questions, observations, and additional excitement to class. So browse through the book first, if you have the chance, and decide from there.

Great book about color mixing and color choices in a painting. I think some of Quiller's more recent paintings show a little TOO MUCH use of his color theories (I thought the paintings from his earlier color book more to my taste) but that doesn't mean you can't learn a lot from this book. I can now get very close to most colors I want in a short time using just 12 colors of paint. I have even done whole paintings with just 3 colors of paint mixed.

The Quiller Wheel is a very useful tool - a lot of thought went into its design. The BOOK, however, is weak and provides little help to an artist trying to learn how to mix colors for landscape painting.

Visually Stimulating. Extremely informative in regard to mixing colors! I was so excited to find a book that had so much visual information about the color wheel. There are many examples to refer to and learn from. A must for any painter!

Not a beginner's book, this book was way over my head....but I am sure that once I improved it will make more sense to me and I will enjoy it....I know of a couple of advanced artist that swear by him, but I am truly just a beginner