All artists, whatever their chosen medium, need to understand colors - how to achieve shades and tones and how colors relate to each other. The more you practice and experiment, the more ways you will discover of manipulating color to create the effects you desire.
Color is a concise guide which provides a whole range of suggestions and ideas as to how you can develop your color technique. Beginning with basic information on the primary colors, the mixes you can make with them, and how the addition of black and white affects them, author Jeremy Galton gives expert advice on the range of colors you will need for a started palette and demonstrates a simple color wheel. Other topics covered include warm and cool colors, complementary colors, tone, how light affects colors, and how adjacent colors affect each other.
The emphasis throughout is on practical ways fo extending your knowledge of color. There are charts and swatches which you can use as a basis for your own experiments, plenty of suggested exercises, and the final section includes a complete step-by-step demonstration.
For the most basic of introduction to the theory and utilization of color through paint, this is a pretty good book. It is handy, pocket-sized, and of length and content that are not intimidating.