This is a good book for beginning artists. Although I have many years of experience as an artist, I found this guide useful for putting my intuition and experience into words as I now work as an instructor. I wish I had disovered a book like this sooner in my career, it would have saved me some hard-learned lessons!
It explains a lot about how color balance and contrast in artwork can affect the overall quality of one's art, (skill nonwithstanding: you can apply these principles as a very low-level beginner or as an advanced artist.) As with anything else, becoming a good artist requires a lot of practice as well as practical knowledge. This book does a good job of spelling out the things one might normally have to try for oneself and discover through trial and error. Rather than stumbling upon success, an artist should learn the basics of color theory and strategically apply those ideas while composing a piece.
I have also suggested to my students to purchase this book because it's super-affordable and even if they don't plan to do art professionally, the book is simple enough and clear enough that they can apply their newfound knowledge right away. Although becoming truly good at art requires a big time commitment, even the casual artist will see a big improvement in their work with a minimal time investment: the time required to read and understand this book.
It's especially helpful to have color illustrations for more "obscure" concepts that would puzzle a newbie (such as the idea of "red" blues and "cool" reds). It's also helpful for advanced artists to keep such things in mind while mixing new colors and developing palettes. Rather than purchasing supplies as-needed, one can use this guide to plan out which of the many pigments available will be most useful for the specific effects one is going for.
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Frequently bought together
This item: Color Theory: An essential guide to color-from basic principles to practical applications (Artist's Library)
$6.99
Get it as soon as Sunday, Jun 1
In Stock
+
$18.55
Temporarily out of stock.
Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information. Your account will only be charged when we ship the item.
+
$14.29
Get it as soon as Sunday, Jun 1
In Stock
Total price: $00
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2016
- Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2016
- Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2022
- Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2019
