Color Theory: Books & Other Resources

Chromaphilia: The Story of Colour in Art by Stella Paul

Color: A Course in the Art of Mixing Colors by Betty Edwards This guide distills the enormous existing knowledge about color theory into a practical method of working with color to produce harmonious combinations. Using techniques tested and honed in her five-day intensive color workshops, Edwards provides a basic understanding of how to see color, how to use it, and - for those involved in art, painting, or design - how to mix and combine hues.

Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay Discover the tantalizing true stories behind your favorite colors. For example: Cleopatra used saffron—a source of the color yellow—for seduction. Extracted from an Afghan mine, the blue “ultramarine” paint used by Michelangelo was so expensive he couldn’t afford to buy it himself. Since ancient times, carmine red—still found in lipsticks and Cherry Coke today—has come from the blood of insects.

Color: A Visual History from Newton to Modern Color Matching Guides by Alexandra Loske

Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter by James Gurney

Color Chart: Reinventing Color, 1950 to Today by Ann Temkin Color Chart celebrates a paradox: the lush beauty that results when contemporary artists assign colour decisions to chance, readymade source or arbitrary system. Midway through the 20th century, long-held convictions regarding the spiritual truth or scientific validity of particular colours gave way to an excitement about colour as a mass-produced and standardized commercial product.

Color Scheme: An Irreverent History of Art and Pop Culture in Color Palettes by Edith Young; Zachary Fine (Foreword by)

Contemporary Color: Theory and Use by Steven Bleicher Combining a solid grounding in traditional color theory and a thorough exploration of effective color use in digital applications and 3D design work, this introduction to contemporary color text is a must have for all art students.

Foundations of Color by Jeff Davis (Illustrator, Designed by)

Interaction of Color, 2 vols. by Josef Albers; Nicholas Fox Weber (Foreword by) One of the most influential books on color ever published, Josef Albers’s Interaction of Color is a masterwork. Originally issued in 1963 as a limited-edition set of commentary and 150 silkscreened color plates, the book introduced generations of students, artists, designers, and collectors to Albers’s unique approach to complex principles.

Pantone +Plus Series Color Bridge by Pantone

The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St Clair In this book, Kassia St. Clair has turned her lifelong obsession with colors and where they come from (whether Van Gogh's chrome yellow sunflowers or punk's fluorescent pink) into a unique study of human civilization. Across fashion and politics, art and war, the secret lives of color tell the vivid story of our culture.

Best Practices for Graphic Designers, Color Works by Eddie Opara; John Cantwell This is the go-to guide for designers as it outlines and details the essential color design skills needed to create successful, meaningful, and aesthetically compelling designs. Along with hands-on projects, it offers unique insights into strategy and business when working in the real world with real clients.

Color Design by Terry Lee Stone; Sean Adams; Noreen Morioka Designers know that color is an extremely vital part of any design project and not a subject to be taken lightly. For better or for worse, it affects moods and elicits reactions. Color Design Workbook invites readers to explore color through the language of professionals. jargon and showcases the work of top designers and the brilliant and inspiring use of color in their design work.

The Color Revolution by Regina Lee Blaszczyk When the fashion industry declares that lime green is the new black, or instructs us to "think pink!," it is not the result of a backroom deal forged by a secretive cabal of fashion journalists, designers, manufacturers, and the editor of Vogue. It is the latest development of a color revolution that has been unfolding for more than a century.

Pantone: The 20th Century in Color by Leatrice Eiseman; Keith Recker Pantone, the worldwide color authority, invites you on a rich visual tour of 100 transformative years. From the Pale Gold (15-0927 TPX) and Almost Mauve (12-2103 TPX) of the 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris to the Rust (18-1248 TPX) and Midnight Navy (19-4110 TPX) of the countdown to the Millennium, the 20th century brimmed with color.

Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color by Leatrice Eiseman This authoritative guide presents hundreds of color combinations and color principles needed to create effective designs. Every lesson is demonstrated by example, enabling designers of all specialties and levels of experience to make the best color choices for every type of design.

The V&A Book of Color by Design by Tim Travis; Here Design (Contribution by)

Bright Earth: Art and the Invention of Color by Philip Ball In Bright Earth, Philip Ball brings together the themes of art and science to show that chemical technology and the use of color in art have always existed in a symbiotic relationship that has shaped both their courses throughout history. By tracing their co-evolution, Ball reveals how art is more of a science, and science more of an art, than is commonly appreciated on either side of the fence.

Chromophobia by David Batchelor The central argument of Chromophobia is that a chromophobic impulse - a fear of corruption or contamination through color - lurks within much Western cultural and intellectual thought.

Color and Meaning: Art, Science, and Symbolism by John Gage Is color just a physiological reaction, a sensation resulting from different wave lengths of light on receptors in our eyes? Does color have an effect on our feelings? The phenomenon of color is examined in extraordinary new ways in John Gage's latest book.

Color Science and the Visual Arts by Roy S. Berns “A curator, a paintings conservator, a photographer, and a conservation scientist walk into a bar.” What happens next? In lively and accessible prose, color science expert Roy S. Berns helps the reader understand complex color-technology concepts and offers solutions to problems that occur when art is displayed, conserved, imaged, or reproduced."

An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A "thrilling" (The New York Times), "dazzling" (The Wall Street Journal) tour of the radically different ways that animals perceive the world that will fill you with wonder and forever alter your perspective, by Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Ed Yong "One of this year's finest works of narrative nonfiction."--Oprah Daily ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Time, People, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Slate, Reader's Digest, Chicago Public Library, Outside, Publishers Weekly, BookPage ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Oprah Daily, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Economist, Smithsonian Magazine, Prospect (UK), Globe & Mail, Esquire, Mental Floss, Marginalian, She Reads, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE CENTURY The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world. In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us. We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires, turtles that can track the Earth's magnetic fields, fish that fill rivers with electrical messages, and even humans who wield sonar like bats. We discover that a crocodile's scaly face is as sensitive as a lover's fingertips, that the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, that plants thrum with the inaudible songs of courting bugs, and that even simple scallops have complex vision. We learn what bees see in flowers, what songbirds hear in their tunes, and what dogs smell on the street. We listen to stories of pivotal discoveries in the field, while looking ahead at the many mysteries that remain unsolved. Funny, rigorous, and suffused with the joy of discovery, An Immense World takes us on what Marcel Proust called "the only true voyage . . . not to visit strange lands, but to possess other eyes." WINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL * FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE * FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD * LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/E.O. WILSON AWARD

Light and Color by Clarence Rainwater. Illustrated by Raymond Perlman

The New Munsell Student Color Set by Jim Long Albert Munsell's system of colour notation has been taught for nearly a century, but the applications and uses of the system are constantly changing. This text teaches the importance of a standardized language to communicate colour and the factors affecting how we perceive it. The three dimensions of colour - hue, value, and chroma - are also described.

Secret Language of Color: science, nature, history, culture, beauty of red, orange, yellow, green, blue & violet by Joann Eckstut; Arielle Eckstut

Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing by Margaret S. Livingstone; David Hubel (Foreword by) In 'Vision and Art', Harvard neurobiologist Margaret Livingstone demonstrates that how we see art depends ultimately on the cells in our eyes and our brains. She begins by offering a comprehensive account of the biology of vision, drawing on the history of science and her own cutting-edge discoveries. She explains cogently how the eye and brain translate different wavelengths of light into the colors and forms of the world around us.

Werner's Nomenclature of Colours by Patrick Syme; Abraham Gottlob Werner (Illustrator) "The book Charles Darwin used to identify colors in nature during his HMS Beagle voyage."

Farnsworth-Munsell 100 Hue Test