Color Studies

This was a birthday gift for my sister that she requested along with a few others, the copy I purchased was listed as "Very Good" which I thought meant no screamingly obvious damage as described by how Thrift rates their books. She was very disappointed that the cover was badly bent and the first few inside page were creased as well. I know it was a great price to pay but I really don't like giving her something sub-par and not what she was expecting especially for her birthday. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to return it, the other book I purchased titled "Amaze" was listed as "New" and she loved it...

There are lots of books about color, but few include information directly pertinent to stitchers as well as to painters. Needlepointers will be familiar with Feisner as the author of Needlepoint and Beyond, an incredibly creative book from the late 70's. She is also the founder of the EGA Master Craftsman in Color program. The book is divided into four parts: Color Foundations, Dimensions of Color, Color in Compositions and The Influence of Color. Color Foundations cover the basics of color perception, color theorists, color mixing, and the different color wheels. Dimensions of Color covers the different aspects of color (hue, value, intensity, etc.). The section on color in composition discussed color in relation to different elements in designing a piece. Two wonderful chapters cover color interactions and the effects of illumination on color. The final section looks at the influence of color in two different ways. The first chapter covers color symbolism (religious and otherwise) and the second chapter looks at the use of color in fine and applied arts. Each chapter is lavishly illustrated with great works of art as well as color studies done by students in Feisner's classes at Montclair State University. There are also diagrams illustrating many of the principles discussed in the test. Several of the diagrams take the same composition and color them in slightly different ways, so it is immediately apparent what a particular technique (like adding a shadow) can do for a piece. There are also tables in the book which highlight particular techniques of use to artists of all kinds. One in the this section, lets you know how to make "metallic" shades without using metallic colors. Technical concepts are explained clearly and simply, but it's easy to move to other books which cover these concepts in more depth. Each chapter ends with a number of exercises covering the topics of the chapter. I really liked that the exercises don't assume that you will be mixing colors in paint, but leave the choice of media up to the student. The appendices of the book are a wealth of information. Appendix 4 is the most useful for stitchers. It matches various art media colors to Color-Aid papers, the standard color tool for most artists. Not only does she list several different types and brands of paints, she also lists the matches for seven kinds of thread (DMC and Anchor floss, Paternayan, Appleton and Medici wool, DMC Rayon floss and Au Ver a Soie silk. This listing is so useful that I ran out and bought the range of colors in Anchor floss and will be using them for all my exercises for the book. Have you ever had the problem where you really wanted something to show up against a background, but it doesn't? A final appendix, lists color legibility rankings, listing background and lettering colors. By looking for your background color, say blue, you can find that the most legible (distinct) color for lettering (or in our case the foreground) is white, the