Color

[Havi]

Has anybody read this recently published book

The Color revolution

by
Regina Lee Blaszczyk
Can anybody comment on it?

And vice versa,
What book would you recommend if I want to read more about color and emotions, or similar,

May thanks,
Havi

[Don Burt]

'Color Environment, & Human Response' by Frank H Mahnke covers the subject. There has been decades of significant research into color impact on emotions and even on physiology. The book by Mahnke goes all over the place and attempts to provide rules of thumb for usage of color. Mahke is considered an expert. Faber Birren is another guy who has written a lot on the subject. I've been collecting books on color, and have a few favorites, but I'm really skeptical about the value and applicability of some of these research revelations. Art can't be construed from axioms about what is pleasant, what contrasts are handsome, what is invigorating to the senses, what certain cultures think about white vs. blue. What colors you choose as a glass artist can start from any of a thousand points of view. One thing that surprised me about Mahke's book was how he didn't mention natural landscape reference as an influence. He cites cultural influence plenty, but there are natural color schemes that affect us from unconcious, subconcious and concious levels that don't have anything to do with all the supposed archetypical emotional triggers of color choices. Tuscany looks like Tuscany. People who visit there remember it and want it. A bazillion freekin Olive Garden and Panera restaurants figured it out, and I'm sure you can find enough information in Mahnke's book to reveal why dark lemon and spring green work to create an atmosphere conducive to eating pasta. But he doesn't discuss it from a 'reminds me of a place' standpoint. I wish he would have. Simon Shama's 'Landscape and Memory' does, sort of. Its an amazing book itself, although not particulary about color.

My favorite book on color was written in 1945. It is more about fundamentals of color, and is more thorough than I want on measurement of color: its 'An Introduction To Color' by Ralph M. Evans.
A second favorite is more about how color is accomplished in industry: 'Primciples Of Color Technology - 2ND Edition' By Billmeyer and Saltzman
But the book I really want, that I don't have yet, is 'Colour and The Optical Properties of Materials: An Exploration of the Relationship Between Light, the Optical Properties of Materials and Colour' By Tilley. I saw the abstract on the Wiley website catalog. I want it bad. I need to just buy it an apologize to my wife later.

[Don Burt]

I should answer your question. No I haven't read or heard of 'The Color Revolution', by Blaszczyk. I'll look into it.

[Havi]

Dear Don,

You are aware that your response is much more than I asked, and I am so very grateful for it, even though it does not respond dierctly to my question.

Many many thanks.

It will of course influence my shopping list, I shall order more than 1 book............

I love color / colors, COLOR is my middle name, as I always say, to the extent that I sometimes get confused by too many colors I add and mix.

I hope others will join you, just for the fun of it.
many thanks, really,

Havi
ps
I think Heicke Brachlaw made a study of color and glass and light - it might be interesting to read it. She works a lot with colors/coloration.

[Mike Griffin]

The Color Revolution. I always look up Amazon.com when I'm thinking about purchasing a book, not necessarily as a supplier but to read customer reviews. It has generally been been a great help. If the book seems good then I'll borrow it from the library. If it is so good I couldn't live without it, then I'll buy it.
Mike

[Mike Griffin]

'Colour and The Optical Properties of Materials: An Exploration of the Relationship Between Light, the Optical Properties of Materials and Colour' does indeed sound like an interesting book. I have read something like it, perhaps more scientific, perhaps not. Often you can find yourself in the deep end floundering around without your water wings in a sea of semiconductors with only band gap theory to grasp to keep yourself afloat. Unfortunately that is what gives most minerals at least their colour and my native knowledge of the subject is extremely limited. Of course things like feathers and dichroic coatings rely on interference. Just fascinating. I see that it is surprisingly readily available on Amazon but no reviews

[Don Burt]

Somebody recommended to me 'The Color of Cities' by Swirnoff via email. It sounds interesting and the reviews make it sound like it would be eye candy.

I did go ahead and buy the 'The Colour and T O P O M'. We'll see.

In a thread here a few weeks ago somebody linked to a website from a Hawaiian watercolorist Dick Nelson who attempts in some youtube videos to illustrate some of the principles of compelling color, as per the theories of Joseph Albers. I saw what Nelson meant in his lab demos of gradients, but I don't think he successfully demonstrate the real life usage of the phenomena. He showed a couple impressionist paintings but I didn't get it. The concepts that Nelson cites of 'halation' and 'vanishing boundaries' are apparently well known by stained glass artists....at least they use the terminology, but I still don't have a handle on using the concepts in my own work to enhance interest, at least knowingly. I've become a little obsessed with figuring out why this one La Farge window I saw last summer struck me as having such wonderful color, and I think if I stay after it I can relate the concepts mentioned to that success.

[Havi]

Too bad I have to speak in English at this late hour... Please excuse my mistakes...
Don,
Have you already received the new book you said you ordered? I just went over its contents pages at Amazon. It seems too scientific for my tiny brains... That's a real essay. If I buy it, I assume I shall read chapters from it, but I am almost sure I shall never read it completely...

Evans' book you can buy used only....

and the new one...
in short i do not know what to buy.

And yes I read Karuna's posts about color here, and followed all the links she quoted. It was very interesting! I bookmarked, so I must be able to re-read it...

Could you please Don, comment on the "colour and the optical properties of materials...." if you have it? Shall I just buy it???

Many thanks,
Havi

[Don Burt]

Could you please Don, comment on the "colour and the optical properties of materials...." if you have it? Shall I just buy it???

Many thanks,
Havi

I don't have the Color and Optical Properties book yet. Don't just buy it. I expect it will focus mostly on physics and chemistry, not perception, physiology and psychology. I don't expect it to improve my use of color in artwork. I don't expect to recommend it. I just kind of want to understand some of the particular aspects of light behavior and pigments and colloidal systems. Like what Mike said above: semiconductors and band gap theory....that stuff.

I bought my 'Introduction to color, by Evans' used on Amazon. It was a library book from Miami Dade Community College marked 'discard'. It has highlighting on the pages, but its only on the first two pages (stuffy book for a community college student, I'd wager) I think this is a good prerequisite book for other study because it teaches some fundamentals that are foundational to the more specific work by, say, Faber Birren and Mahnke. But as I hoped I said earlier understanding the theory (and the physics and chemistry) doesn't make you any good at using color in artwork unless you use the knowledge to break down and learn what it is you see, that you like and dislike. If you look at a landcape, or a article of clothing, or a scene in a movie and love the color, you want to steal it for your own artwork. It helps your visual memory if you have knowledge about what is going on color-wise that appeals so much to you.

So are you going to read 'The Color Revolution' and provide us with a book review Havi?

[Havi]

I'd love to Don!
But I am not good at summarizing............. Worry about my language.............
And I'll first buy the book, tonight, and then - see.
BTW
there is a summary of the book in Hebrew in one of the better newspapers here - I might translate some of it for your benefeit.

If I remeber correctly,
This book is described as dealing basically with the history of use of colors, it goes chronologically, and also deals with the differences of the continents. England first then the passage to USA.

One of the anecdotes mentioned is, that Queen Victoria , the legenday, wore a pink dress [or maybe mauve..] to the wedding party of one of her daughters, and by this 'stole the show' from her daughter.. ..[ can you say like this???]

2 points I'd like to say -
Heicke Brachlow - a glassie, made a thorough study of color and light, during her studies. She told me to read her blog if I want to learn more about it... At least you can see her work, maybe view with a different perspective.
ALSO,
to my big astonishment, [!!!]
There is an international commitee - who's task is to decide what colors will be in fashion at each given year... I heard a lecture by a member of this committee, in Lybster/Scotland - at a conference in Northlands Creative Glass, some years ago.
I was shocked that his is how colors are chosen for fashion, cars, anything, also I rebel against the idea that this is dictated to the whole world - but honestly this is what she said, and explained how it works...

Havi

[Morganica]

She may have been talking about Pantone, which has been publishing color guidelines for years. It's quite interesting to watch how they do it, and their work is useful for commercial/industrial stuff. I'm not sure if it extends all that far into art, but it certainly becomes something to watch in fashion and visual design. It's not so much that they're dictating what colors you'll wear/live in/buy as it is they're watching color trends and trying to predict where they'll crest. If you're in the business of visual/industrial design, you probably subscribe.

http://www.pantone.com/pages/fcr.aspx?p ... 4&from=hp1

They were showing really clear, crisp colors a couple of seasons ago; now it looks like they're heading back into the earthies a bit.

[Havi]

Thanks for the link, Cynthia.
It seems that this is not what I ment - the speaker whom I was referring to is British , herself fabric designer, in a very prestigious academic position. But she presented herself as a member of an international group who meets regularly and discusses coloration not only in women's fashion but in ANYTHING which deals with colors even interior design, cars etc. She also said, that there are local subcommittees, from which they take the info. etc.
The conference as I said before was in Lybster / Scotland I think in 2009, and dealt with color from many other points of view.

- - - -
As for the book 'The color revolution', published by MIT - here is a translation from Hebrew, of an introductory paragraph,
The book studies the events and changes , which happenned in color industry beginning in the middle of 19th century up to the 60's of past century. It centers around the economical and cultural reasons which led to this colorful explosion in fashion and textile products, as well as other consumer products, such as military, car production and interior decoration. From the will to design the popular taste thru the the rise of the consumer society, and upto the growing opportunities of women to act in the color field. - the book draws a very colorfull picture....

I understand that the author deals also with the development of more survivable colors , the invention of synthetic colors which changed the whole ball game, as they lasted..

I wonder if I should start another post, parallel to this one, and ask you guys, about where and how you pick your color inspiration -
I find that tropical - flowers, fish, birds inspire me a lot, as single colors and as color combinations. Also folk art with its vibrant colors excites me a lot.

how about you?

thanks,
Havi

[Tom Fuhrman]

check out these books on color:, Interaction of Color by Josef Albers ISBN 0-300-01846-0
The Elements of Color by Johannes Itten ISBN 0-442-24038-4.
These guys were from the Bauhaus and did some of this work in the early 20th century.

[Havi]

Thanks Tom,
I know of Joseph Albers and Itten.
Another color theoretician was the German poet Goethe, who had a bit different color theory


Thanks for mentioning those too


Havi