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Have an idea for Subject of the Month?
January's Subject of the Month
Color Theory
Selector: Shannon McDermitt
If one says ‘Red’ – the name of color – and there are fifty people listening, it can be expected that there will be fifty reds in their minds. And one can be sure that all these reds will be very different.
Josef Albers
Science & Theory of Color: Books & eBooks
The Science of Color
eBook The Science of Color focuses on the principles and observations that are foundations of modern color science.
Artist's Guide to Selecting Colors
Book Select your paint with confidence and protect your valuable work. This book is about artist's paints, a guide to the selection of a suitable palette in watercolors, oil paints, acrylics, gouache or alkyds.
Color Workbook
Book Explores color theory through hands-on student activities.
Universal Principles of Color
eBook Universal Principles of Color is an in-depth introduction to color and its myriad applications, presenting 100 elements, theories, innovative ideas, and effective uses and solutions.
Color in and Out of the Garden
eBook Capture all the hues of the garden with a few simple brushstrokes and Lorene Edwards Forkner's inspirational advice on observing color in nature, painting with watercolor, and gardening with joy and intention.
Additional Color Indexes & Reference
Color by ISBN: 1585421995Publication Date: 2004-09-23"By means of exercises ranging from simple to challenging, illustrated with more than 125 step-by-step images, this book offers a deep understanding of the basic structure of color, including how to see what is really out there rather than what you think you know about colored objects. Intended for the novice in color as well as for more experienced artists and designers, the exercises focus on how to successfully mix and combine hues." --BOOK JACKET.
Color Index by ISBN: 9781440302626Publication Date: 2010-03-26Book Now with digital color swatches! Let Color Index, Revised Edition turbo-charge your creativity all over again for any print or web project. With more than 1100 color combinations, updated RGB formulas, and downloadable digital swatches, this new edition is guaranteed to help you pick the perfect color palette more efficiently than ever before.
Color Theory by ISBN: 9781350027305Publication Date: 2021-09-09Book Giving an overview of the history of color theory from ancient and classical cultures to contemporary contexts, this book explores important critical principles and provides practical guidance on the use of color in art and design.
Color Theory for Dummies by ISBN: 9781119892274Publication Date: 2022-09-07Book Color Theory For Dummies explains, in simple terms, how colors relate to one another and how they can be combined to work together in an aesthetically pleasing way.
Designer's Color Manual by ISBN: 9780811842105Publication Date: 2004-07-08The eye, the camera's lens, and the computer screen all treat color differently. This important addition to the designer's reference library helps resolve the differences among the numerous media that contemporary designers work with every day.
Full Spectrum by ISBN: 9780358449010Publication Date: 2021-05-18A lively account of our age-old quest for brighter colors, which changed the way we see the world, from the best-selling author of Proof: The Science of Booze. From kelly green to millennial pink, our world is graced with a richness of colors. But our human-made colors haven't always matched nature's kaleidoscopic array. To reach those brightest heights required millennia of remarkable innovation and a fascinating exchange of ideas between science and craft that's allowed for the most luminous manifestations of our built and adorned world.
The Secret Lives of Color by ISBN: 9780143131144Publication Date: 2017-10-24A dazzling gift, the unforgettable, unknown history of colors and the vivid stories behind them in a beautiful multi-colored volume.
Artist Toolbox: Color by ISBN: 9781633222724Publication Date: 2017-12-05eBook Discover the key concepts of colour theory for beginning artists.
History of Color Theory
Seven-color and twelve-color color circles from 1708, attributed to Claude Boutet
- A Short History of Color TheoryProgramming Design Systems
- New Life for a 1902 Manual About ColorNew York Times, October 4, 2018
- The Origins of ColorThe University of Chicago Library
Podcasts
Radiolab, Colors
May 12, 2012
Our world is saturated in color, from soft hues to violent stains. How does something so intangible pack such a visceral punch? This hour, in the name of science and poetry, Jad and Robert tear the rainbow to pieces.
Listen at Radiolab's WebsiteExhibitions
- Ancient Color - Kelsey Museum of ArchaeologyUniversity of Michigan
- Color in a New LightSmithsonian Libraries
Brief online exhibits exploring the science, making, matching, and using of color. - Color ExploreerGoogle Arts & Culture
Select a color and explore famous works of art featuring your chosen hue. - Saturated: The Allure and Science of ColorCooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum
Don't forget to check out the Saturated blog series!
Journals
RED
Red by ISBN: 9780691251370Publication Date: 2023-06-13eBook A beautifully illustrated visual and cultural history of the color red throughout the ages. The color red has represented many things, from the life force and the divine to love, lust, and anger.
YELLOW
The Culture of Yellow by ISBN: 9781441185877Publication Date: 2013-11-21This is the first book to explore the cultural significance of the color yellow, showing how its psychological and aesthetic value marked and shaped many of the intellectual, political, and artistic currents of late modernity.
GREEN
Green by ISBN: 9780691251363Publication Date: 2023-06-13eBook In this beautiful and richly illustrated book, the acclaimed author of Blue and Black presents a fascinating and revealing history of the color green in European societies from prehistoric times to today.
BLUE
Blue by ISBN: 9780691251356Publication Date: 2023-07-18eBook A beautifully illustrated visual and cultural history of the color blue throughout the ages Blue has had a long and topsy-turvy history in the Western world.
INDIGO
Is indigo more blue or more purple?
Indigo is a color that is traditionally considered to be a shade between blue and purple. It is often described as a deep blue-violet or a dark purplish-blue. The perception of indigo can vary, and different people might interpret it slightly differently. In terms of the visible light spectrum, indigo falls between blue and violet, and its placement and recognition can be influenced by cultural and historical factors. Overall, indigo is a color that carries elements of both blue and purple, and its precise appearance may be subjective.
- Indigo: The Indelible Color That Ruled The WorldNPR, November 7, 2011
Indigo by ISBN: 9781608195053Publication Date: 2011-06-01Book For almost five millennia, in every culture and in every major religion, indigo-a blue pigment obtained from the small green leaf of a parasitic shrub through a complex process that even scientists still regard as mysterious-has been at the center of turbulent human encounters. Indigo is the story of this precious dye and its ancient heritage: its relationship to slavery as the "hidden half" of the transatlantic slave trade, its profound influence on fashion, and its spiritual significance, which is little recognized but no less alive today.
PURPLE
Mauve by ISBN: 0393323137Publication Date: 2002-05-17In 1856 eighteen-year-old English chemist William Perkin accidentally discovered a way to mass-produce color. In a "witty, erudite, and entertaining" (Esquire) style, Simon Garfield explains how the experimental mishap that produced an odd shade of purple revolutionized fashion, as well as industrial applications of chemistry research.
