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Patti Mollica
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Color Theory: An essential guide to color-from basic principles to practical applications (Artist's Library) Paperback – January 1, 2013

by Patti Mollica (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 1,317 ratings
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In this essential guide, accomplished artist Patti Mollica walks you through the most important aspects of color theory as they relate to oil and acrylic painting. From pigment characteristics and color mixing to color psychology, you'll find all the information you need to make dynamic, harmonious, and meaningful color choices in your own works of art.

Regardless of your medium, a solid understanding of color and its applications is essential. With a fresh, contemporary take on the subject of color, this essential guide features step-by-step projects and practical tips and techniques to put color knowledge to effective use.

You'll find within:

  • Discussions and illustrations of the complexities of color and how to use it as a tool for communication
  • Tips for creating vibrant mixes, lively blacks, realistic greens, and flesh tones
  • An inspiring collection of fresh and contemporary artwork
Color Theory begins with an overview of color in the history of art and the science behind color, followed by a presentation of color basics: the color wheel; hue, saturation, and value; color and value; color temperature; color relativity; and color schemes. Everything you need to know about pigments and paints is detailed next. With these essentials covered, move on to integrate color with your compositions and painting style as a means of expression.

Harness the power of color in your painting with Color Theory!
Previous page
  1. Part of series
    Artist's Library
  2. Print length
    64 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Walter Foster Publishing
  5. Publication date
    January 1, 2013
  6. Dimensions
    6.5 x 0.25 x 9.5 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1600583024
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1600583025
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Patti Mollica has been a fine artist and professional illustrator for more than 30 years. Her artwork is known for its fearless use of color and uninhibited brushwork. She delights in painting the world around her in a bold, decisive style, with hues that are intense, brilliant, and contemporary.

From the Back Cover

In this essential guide, accomplished artist Patti Mollica walks you through the most important aspects of color theory as they relate to oil and acrylic painting. From pigment characteristics and color mixing to color psychology, you ll find all the information you need to make dynamic, harmonious, and meaningful color choices in your own works of art.

- Discusses and illustrates the complexities of color and how to use it as a tool for communication;
- Offers tips for creating vibrant mixes, lively blacks, realistic greens, and flesh tones;
- Features an inspiring collection of fresh and contemporary artwork.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Walter Foster Publishing; 1st edition (January 1, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 64 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1600583024
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1600583025
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 0.25 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 1,317 ratings

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Patti Mollica

Patti Mollica

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
1,317 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

MoonPye
5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book arrived quickly and in great condition.

As for the book itself, I found it to be very comprehensive. I really could easily understand color theory now with the way it's presented in this book. I'm really happy I got this one because I've struggled with color theory before and always just went on instinct. Now I feel like I have extra skills I didn't have before so my creations should come out looking even better. I'm sure I'll be referencing this book for some time to come too. Really glad I got it.

This book isn't for advanced art students but is perfect for serious beginners.
4 people found this helpful
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Whitney Kurlan
5.0 out of 5 stars THIS IS A BOOK EVERY ARTIST SHOULD OWN REGARDLESS OF YOUR MEDIUM.
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2016
Verified Purchase
regardless of your medium... This book explains color principles and values and color schemes beautifully. Easy to follow ( and I'm a show me let me try that myself type of person...I can't read texts and understand concepts very well) however, that being said....I couldn't put the book down, and I carry it around the house with me everywhere since my studio is at home. It's just long enough to read without getting boring (i almost wish it was a little longer and/or came with a companion CD showing you exactly what to do in the visual sense) but three are plenty of beautiful illustrations of photos. It's up to date current information that is timeless. Being self taught, I naturally do most of the things Patti talks about but I didn't understand why. I also didn't understand the color wheel and how the colors worked to achieve certain aspects, naturally I did those things but I was shooting from the hip. Now I can actually I can plan a painting knowing how to achieve my goals from the beginning!!!
12 people found this helpful
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Wellman
5.0 out of 5 stars Clear and concise
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2021
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This book is ideal for summarising all the important art rules. It has great examples and illustrations that helped me to feel ready to get going again. This author is excellent. She knows her craft and how to teach.
I wish that the author would also do a book on watercolor techniques and color charts. But the paints and brands are practically infinite. They so varied I can see why it would be hard to do.
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Millybird
4.0 out of 5 stars Good for the beginner, but not all you need to know
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2020
Verified Purchase
It is a good book for beginners. I have been an artist all my life and am now teaching. It does not go into huge detail but covers the basics and vocabulary like hues, saturation, value, tint, tone and shade. It also lists examples of painting styles but only touches on a little history and only mentions a few eras. Nothing too in depth. It has a ton of examples and the print as far as quality seems like basic textbook print on thicker paper to me. I feel a better print method would have made a difference in color appearances. Its a good quick reference book but shouldn't be used as the only source for understanding color theory. I read it on our 4 hour trip one way with quite a bit of time to spare so it can easily be read in one sitting. Very easy to comprehend and begin grasping color theory.
25 people found this helpful
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RachoftheJungle
5.0 out of 5 stars Good for beginners, good refresher for advanced artists.
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2016
Verified Purchase
This is a good book for beginning artists. Although I have many years of experience as an artist, I found this guide useful for putting my intuition and experience into words as I now work as an instructor. I wish I had disovered a book like this sooner in my career, it would have saved me some hard-learned lessons!

It explains a lot about how color balance and contrast in artwork can affect the overall quality of one's art, (skill nonwithstanding: you can apply these principles as a very low-level beginner or as an advanced artist.) As with anything else, becoming a good artist requires a lot of practice as well as practical knowledge. This book does a good job of spelling out the things one might normally have to try for oneself and discover through trial and error. Rather than stumbling upon success, an artist should learn the basics of color theory and strategically apply those ideas while composing a piece.

I have also suggested to my students to purchase this book because it's super-affordable and even if they don't plan to do art professionally, the book is simple enough and clear enough that they can apply their newfound knowledge right away. Although becoming truly good at art requires a big time commitment, even the casual artist will see a big improvement in their work with a minimal time investment: the time required to read and understand this book.

It's especially helpful to have color illustrations for more "obscure" concepts that would puzzle a newbie (such as the idea of "red" blues and "cool" reds). It's also helpful for advanced artists to keep such things in mind while mixing new colors and developing palettes. Rather than purchasing supplies as-needed, one can use this guide to plan out which of the many pigments available will be most useful for the specific effects one is going for.
19 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Simple Introductory Guide to Colors
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2022
Verified Purchase
Easy to read, simple overview of color theories. It gives some examples of different painting styles, color mixing, and some limited palates. It can be an introduction to further reading on color mixing and theories.
One person found this helpful
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Cambu
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good.
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2019
Verified Purchase
This is a great concise guide on color theory for beginners like me. I don't want a degree in color theory I just want a better understanding of of it so I can set up color palettes for painting and photography. It's definitely a book where "you get what you give". You should really follow all of the examples in the book, play around, and experiment with different colors to create something different but just as good as what's represented in the book. Creating the books examples gave me reference that I was doing it right, then I went out and did my own experimenting which helped me a lot. It also helps that color is exactly rocket science lol.
7 people found this helpful
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Ligeia
5.0 out of 5 stars A Little Book With A Ton of Great Info
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2019
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 This is a small and short book BUT everything in it is useful. I bought it over a year ago and when I saw the size I didn’t think it’d be useful until I cracked it open a week ago. I’ve been struggling with color theory and this little book has made all the pieces click together that I’ve been trying to understand. It’s a great one for beginners like me and worth more than what you pay for and it’ll help you figure it all out.
107 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Sandra
5.0 out of 5 stars great value
Reviewed in Canada on December 28, 2023
Verified Purchase
concise and useful; excellent convenient format to use in class or for plein aire
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Denisse Ró
5.0 out of 5 stars ¡Muy bueno!
Reviewed in Mexico on January 11, 2023
Verified Purchase
Gran libro sobre la teoría del color; es práctico y fácil de comprender. Creo que es un básico para quien busca adentrarse al mundo del color. Llegó en muy buen estado.
One person found this helpful
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Arthur Cubbert
5.0 out of 5 stars well structured
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 14, 2024
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good book
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eleonora zucchelli
5.0 out of 5 stars Utilissimo
Reviewed in Italy on December 27, 2023
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Un libro molto semplice da leggere con tantissime informazioni utili per chi vuole apprendere le prime nozioni della teoria sul colore ho trovato la lettura molto facile interessante pratica per chi è alle prime arti con la pittura e lo ritengo un ottimo strumento per tutti gli artisti che vogliono imparare a capire meglio il colore
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mystery book fan
5.0 out of 5 stars Very basic but interesting
Reviewed in Germany on April 27, 2023
Verified Purchase
It’s probably suited best for beginners. Good overview of the basics of colour theory with practical exercises.
The book is rather small, looks more like a booklet.
One person found this helpful
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