Local Color: Seeing Place Through Watercolor

by Mimi Robinson

Whenever we first encounter a new place, whether landscape or cityscape, one of the most immediate and powerful sensations comes from its colors, or the palette of colors, which profoundly influence our reaction to and sense of a space. In Local Color , designer and educator Mimi Robinson teaches us not only how to see the colors around us but also how to capture and record them in watercolor. Regardless of your level of expertise, Robinson will quickly have you creating personal memories of time, travel, and place through a series of self-guided exercises and illustrated examples.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Drawing

128 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2015

Reviews

[Ann]

This is an interesting approach to color that I found relaxing to look at. There are complaints by other readers that they author doesn't mention specific colors, but I think they are missing the point. The author relates to colors by how they make her feel, or what they represent, like "moss" or "mist". However, I do have to admit that I did not find the extensive travel section useful. The author presents an endless section on color palettes representing places she has traveled, which just made me feel sad not to be able to also travel there. And since I will never travel there, those palettes are useless to me. A few would have been sufficient to demonstrate her approach and not brag about all the places she has been. Another shortcoming is that the author says nothing about how she organizers her palettes. Clearly these patches of related colors are attractive because complements are arranges next to one another, but most artists understand how to arrange colors of matching hue together. It would have been helpful for the author to have explained how she came to arranging the palettes that way.

[Margaret]

I mean this didnt NEED to be a whole damn book but it was fun and certainly pretty to look at, and I like the core concept. I do wish the author had gone into more depth about her process though, including color mixing and some progress photos. Seeing only the complete pieces certainly makes for an aesthetically pleasing book but it does feel light on the practicality.

[Elizabeth]

This is a lovely book. The author’s ideas are intriguing and her palettes are beautiful. I really wish she had noted which colors and combinations she used on her example pages. That information would have been both interesting and helpful.

[Gwen]

2019 goals

[Trish Remley]

Thank you Beth! Great exercises to learn your local color pallet.

[Katarina P]

A lovely book with many proposed exercises that one can do. I would like to see more photos of the places next to derived palettes.

[Andy]

Great book about capturing the colors we see when out in wild doing art.

[Cristina]

A wonderful way to travel ...I started doing color palettes from trips and photos of trips. This book taught me to 'see' where I was traveling in terms of the local colors...St. Petersburg in December is pastels of pink and blue and purple, Beijing in summer is red and grey and green etc....

[Kristin]

This is a beautiful little book. Practices and inspiring images for seeing a place through color and then using that color for potential new projects. As someone who loves to keep travel journals, and enjoys making color palettes in them, I found this full of ideas to take that practice a step further.

[Elayne]

Looking at the world through watercolor...

Sometimes it's daunting to paint a landscape...it's a bit overwhelming to even begin...but in this book, you will see each piece of the puzzle by color, value and tone...the very subtle blues of a sky, the various shades available through mixing your own of greens, the earth tones of a desert or the blues, greens and grays of lakes and oceans....I own this as a book and on my KIndle, so I have reference and inspiration with me...a must for watercolor artists of all levels.

[Beatriz Andrea Fernandez]

I picked this book up when I started experimenting with watercolours. Robinson gives a great many suggestions about how to use watercolour in new ways, not necessarily to create finished pieces, but to experiment and learn the medium. Her tone is quiet and meditative, giving you a sense of how she approaches her colour practice. Anyone that dabbles in art as a hobby would enjoy the recommendations set down in this book.

[Selby Gunter]

This is an interesting book about how to create color palettes for watercolor. Check out my entire review of this book, complete with a sample project, at Wavoki Crafts where you can read reviews for other crafting books.

[Wanda]

I liked her method of capturing color in landscapes. Unique.

[Ashley Boggs]

read this in the bookstore, love the ideas she gives you about how to incorporate watercolor studies in your day/travels.