Brilliant Color

Push Color Beyond the Ordinary Let go of what you see, and paint what you feel! Brilliant Color reveals a new way of thinking about color, empowering you to push the envelope beyond ordinary realism into bold landscapes full of life and energy. The transformation begins by learning to see color as value. Starting with short demos featuring diagrams, color wheels and side-by-side visual comparisons, award-winning artist Julie Gilbert Pollard shows you how to liberate your use of color to capture the lively essence of every landscape. It's not about complex color theory or painstaking attempts to paint exactly what you see. Rather, it's about pushing color to warmer or cooler extremes for stronger contrasts. Julie's signature style blends acrylic underpainting with water-mixable oils to produce striking luminosity in less time and fewer layers than traditional oil painting techniques. Ten complete step-by-step demonstrations show you how to paint gorgeous landscapes with an inspiring range of settings and seasons. Each in-depth demonstration features foolproof color mixing charts, reference photos, initial sketches, and numbered steps with detailed captions. Simply follow along and give it a try. In no time, you'll have what it takes to make your colors zing and your paintings glow.

The history of art is inseparable from the history of color. And what a fascinating story they tell together: one that brims with an all-star cast of characters, eye-opening details, and unexpected detours through the annals of human civilization and scientific discovery. Enter critically acclaimed writer and popular journalist Victoria Finlay, who here takes readers across the globe and over the centuries on an unforgettable tour through the brilliant history of color in art. Written for newcomers to the subject and aspiring young artists alike, Finlay’s quest to uncover the origins and science of color will beguile readers of all ages with its warm and conversational style. Her rich narrative is illustrated in full color throughout with 166 major works of art—most from the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum. Readers of this book will revel in a treasure trove of fun-filled facts and anecdotes. Were it not for Cleopatra, for instance, purple might not have become the royal color of the Western world. Without Napoleon, the black graphite pencil might never have found its way into the hands of Cézanne. Without mango-eating cows, the sunsets of Turner might have lost their shimmering glow. And were it not for the pigment cobalt blue, the halls of museums worldwide might still be filled with forged Vermeers. Red ocher, green earth, Indian yellow, lead white—no pigment from the artist’s broad and diverse palette escapes Finlay’s shrewd eye in this breathtaking exploration.

Brilliant Inks offers beginners and beyond exciting techniques, lessons, and projects for painting, drawing, and lettering with vibrant colored inks. Apply these skills to eye-catching projects that include jewelry, accessories, dimensional artwork, and more.

From home decor and gardening to fashion and health, color expert and bestselling author Eiseman answers more than 150 commonly asked questions in this beautiful guide to the influence of color.