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Faber Birren

Creative Color Paperback – January 7, 1997

by Faber Birren (Author)

13 ratings

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The author demonstrates in Creative Color his exciting thesis: A knowledge of perception is the springboard to a far more inventive use of color in art today. By following Creative Color and performing the interesting experiments at the end of every chapter, you learn how to produce--consistently--effects that artists have rarely achieved, and then only by intuition, accident or painful trial-and-error. The illustrations are not meant to be art. They are experiments in producing color effects according to known principles of perception. If such striking effects can be achieved without the slightest attempt of art, think how much more the artist can do with the same knowledge! The author has usefully included a list of Numsell-coded palettes by which his extraordinary color effects may be precisely duplicated.

Print length

128 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Schiffer
Publication date

January 7, 1997
Dimensions

8.5 x 0.5 x 10.5 inches
ISBN-10

0887400965
ISBN-13

978-0887400964
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Faber Birren has become the best known and most widely read color authority of our time. He has written over one dozen books and several hundred articles for general, professional, and scientific publications. He now lives in Stamford, Connecticut.

Product details

Publisher : Schiffer; 1st edition (January 7, 1997)
Language : English
Paperback : 128 pages
ISBN-10 : 0887400965
ISBN-13 : 978-0887400964
Item Weight : 1.3 pounds
Dimensions : 8.5 x 0.5 x 10.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #690,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,546 in Graphic Design Color Use
- #9,289 in Art History & Criticism (Books)

Customer Reviews:
13 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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Claire B

Great book!

Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2014

Verified Purchase

The book arrived early, in better condition than I expected. Thanks! I found this book in a friend's library and quickly glanced through it. Over the next few days, I found myself talking to my artist friends about it. I hoped I'd find it and I did. This is one of the best color theory books I've seen. I wish I'd had this text in college instead of the one I was given. I can't wait try the experiments. What fun! What great 1960s illustrations! More important, what I never learned about color is shocking!

One person found this helpful

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The Wizard

Long on content - short on fluff.

Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2016

Verified Purchase

I am a beginning, self-taught, want-to-be, painter. I've purchased many, many, books on mixing and using color; some good, some not so good, and
some that were terrible and useless. This one is EXCEPTIONAL!!! Lots of information and color plates on color scales, mixing, harmony, a variety of color wheels, special effects such as lustrous, iridescent, luminous, chromatic light, transparency, 3-D color, etc. Anyone and everyone, can learn something from this book. Highly recommended.

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Carol

technical color theory

Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2014

Verified Purchase

for serious student

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janet hassinger

good for lesson plans

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2014

Verified Purchase

an excellent understanding of color and its relationships.

I am able to verbalize many more basic ideas through these ideas

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D. Vranicar

A More Positive Opinion

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2005

Kim Vlaun has written a good review, and I don't disagree with anything she has said. I have not seen the current edition she's talking about, so I can't judge how bad the reproduction quality is. I just want to add a more emphatically positive opinion about the value of the book.

It makes a unique contribution. In addition to covering the conventional fare of color theory and color harmony (which you can find in many other sources), Creative Color also addresses topics I have not seen treated anywhere else. In particular, chapters 14 through 24 address a topic Birren calls Perceptionism, or the study of how humans perceive color under various environmental conditions. In these chapters he provides truly valuable insights into the perception of luster; iridescence; luminosity; chromatic light; chromatic mist; luminosity in mist; transparency, texture and solidity; and highlights and shadows. Although the topics sound a little academic and sometimes are, the chapters are loaded with practical advice on how a painter can represent such effects in pigment. Each chapter is followed by a series of recommended experiments.

Birren states no personal preference for representational or nonrepresentational art. Serious painters or designers of either should be able to benefit from understanding these ideas.

As a painter interested in representation of natural effects, I find Birren's discussions to be of indispensable practical value. I think they are likely to be of equal value to anyone who works in oils, acrylics, pastel, gouache or other opaque media.

I have two complaints:

1. The diagrams are sometimes hard to follow. Diagrams and the references to them in text sometimes do not match. This causes confusion, but with patience you can extract the value of the message.

2. The color plates Birren uses to demonstrate the application of his concepts are pretty barfy, even in the 1961 edition I own. It's not a question of quality of reproduction. It's a matter of some bad-looking illustrations Birren himself appears to have designed. I think his aim may have been to prevent the quality of his illustrations from distracting the reader from the content of the point he's trying to make. But for me he sometimes fails in the oppposite direction. The poor artistic quality of his illustrations can make it hard to get past thinking that the effect he's trying to demonstrate just looks bad esthetically. Maybe some painters will be spurred to show how much more tastefully they can apply the concepts Birren illustrates.

In summary, for serious students of color theory--especially ones interested in understanding and applying color in unusual or challenging lighting conditions--I know of no better or more practical source.

18 people found this helpful

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K. Platt

creative, practical and different

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2010

This work has become a standard classic for any student of colour, and has relevance beyond that for the art student alone, being useful for other artistic and creative disciplines. Birren looks at colour theory and argues that in most cases, little consideration has been given to personal preferences and how they affect the use of colour. This 128 page book clarifies the theories and use of colour like no other book I know. Apart from reading it, the reader is encouraged to practice, in this way, you learn about colour and your preferences. I found this book very interesting, if at times I had to read things twice. What lets it down are the illustrations - they are simply not very professionally conceived and executed.

4 people found this helpful

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Zedrovision

Review of a 1980s (I think) edition

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2005

There is an overall sort of 1961 beatnik look about this book that reminds me of a style that has been showing up in animated cartoons for the past 15 years. The text is very densely packed with information, and there is more text than illustration.

Some of the presented effects are ordinary, and there are others that are like nothing I've ever seen.

Concerning the exercises: If you actually do what he tells you to do (a daunting task), your art will probably be drastically affected for the better. If nothing else, you will be a whiz at mixing color, for you will be doing a LOT of that. It's like a color boot camp. This is not a book to be skimmed through for pretty pictures. It's about work.

One other unusual and appealing thing: The book is sprinkled with humble disclaimers in which the author says that he realizes how academic the ideas are, and emphasizes that art is about much more than color charts. If you look hard you might see some dry humor in these disclaimers.

I can't comment on the color reproduction in current editions. My copy is from the 1980s, I think.

I love it.

10 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Published in 1961. Is there more updated info?

Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2018

The book I have was actually published in 1961 by Reihold publishers. Love it!

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