Some of the best books on color theory

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Now that summer is coming and many of you will have more free time, it is a good time to pick up a book and read either on the beach, at the pool or in the subway. We have collected some of the lists of the best books on color theory, some more theoretical, others more for you to choose from.

Let’s start with some of the ones we have read that you may find very practical. The first one is Chromaphilia by Stella Paul. In it she reviews the history of color in art. It starts with something as basic as the colors of the earth with those browns and ochers that were already used in the Pleistocene and were quite popular in paintings between 1640 and the nineteen hundreds.

Each color is introduced to us with such curious phrases as “this color is really poisonous … be careful not to dirty your mouth with it, so as not to suffer personal injury” by Cennino d’Andrea Cennini. be careful not to dirty your mouth with it, lest you suffer personal injury” by Cennino d’Andrea Cennini to introduce us to yellow. Through the different facets of art, he shows us the presence of each color throughout history.

The next book is more theoretical and talks about color perception, visual structure, psychology and meaning of color up to color composition in digital formats. It is the book by David Hornung: Colour, A workshop for artists and designers. This book was born as a result of a study conducted by the author and that was perfected over the years. A very solid basis for designers and artists who work directly with color.

The third book is very special because it is neither theoretical nor analytical, it is the book Portraits and self-portraits of Francis Bacon. For those of you who know this artist, you will know that he was a unique and special character. Bacon did not base his work on the representation of reality, Bacon manipulates the representation of reality from paintings, photographs or posters of others. The colorists have a point of union with the artist because in color grading a shot we do not start from reality, but from a representation of reality that the director of photography wanted to capture. The book is not at all intense, on the contrary, it is very visual and shows the portraits that Bacon made following a logical order such as the color palette.

Other essential books are those of Johannes Itten. As the list is endless, we leave you a link with a good list of some of the best books for you to choose the ones you are most interested in.

 

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