COLOR IS EVERYTHING: Master the Use of Color in Oils, Acrylics or Watercolors

by Dan Bartges

For beginners to advanced artists who have been struggling with color, this remarkable new book explains and illustrates how to understand color theory and master the use of color. Written in cooperation with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Color Wheel Company, Color Is Everything is a must-read for any painter, art teacher or craft enthusiast who wants to capture color harmony in every painting, regardless of style or medium. It is written in a concise yet conversational manner and very easy to follow. Author/artist Dan Bartges sums it up This book is designed with one purpose in to show painters exactly how to master color. As a result, you will gain greater confidence, you will paint better pictures, and you will have a lot more fun painting. The unusually high-quality book features more than 100 full-color illustrations, photographs and paintings by the author. Further, it clearly explains what great artists know about color that most painters don t and demonstrates with master works by famous artists such as Degas, Picasso, de Kooning, Sisley, Goya, Sargent and others.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Crafts

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2008

Reviews

[Elizabeth]

This little book, printed in Richmond, is the most helpful guide to color in art that I have ever used!! I am always stuck on what colors to choose in a painting, and this book has all the answers. It sets some foolproof rules, but invites invention.
The quizzes were a bit discouraging, as I guessed the color schemes wrong most of the time, which only shows why I need the lessons in this book. The demonstrations were very helpful. I tried different color combinations for my renditions of his examples.

I am going to order a copy to keep for reference, and read it over and over again until I finally get it!

[Sandra Stiles]

Color is Everything by Dan Bartges is the best color theory book I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I have been dabbling in painting for several years now and still have a problem with color. After reading the book I took my very first painting and was able to figure out what I need to do to fix it so that I will like it again. The fix is very simple. I have had a color wheel for years, due to quilting but never really had someone explain and give examples of how to use it. Believe it or not it came with a color theory book for quilters. The most beneficial part of the book was where he put up pictures and had the reader figure out the color scheme used. The ability to do hands-on work with the book was also very helpful. I pulled out some of my fabric I had put together for quilts and found some very common mistakes I had made. These would have been not too pleasing. I usually have my daughter help pick out my color schemes based around one central color because she has that “natural ability” that so many of us don’t have. I will share this book with her as she has been experimenting with painting. This is definitely a book for the beginner and advanced artist or artist in training. I will give this book 5 out of 5 and recommend it to my quilting and arts and crafts friends.

[Eclectic Review]

This books claims that you can ​"master the use of color in oils, acrylics or watercolors".

As an occasional watercolor painter myself with an informal background in art, I found Mr. Bartges' suggested use of a color wheel to be an indispensable tool to choose colors whether you are painting or even decorating your home. Mr. Bartges' information on the six color schemes and how to accurately reproduce colors within a specific scheme is very helpful. The many color photos and painting exercises within the book are useful and his Glossary of Colorful Terms and bibliography of even more works on color and art will be essential to those interested in painting and other forms of artwork.

I've always wanted to paint with oils and with the help of this guide, I feel confident that I can begin painting with a better knowledge of how to mix my colors, and with work, how to analyze and improve a good painting.

Thank you to Mr. Bartges and Bostick Communications for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

[Sarah Sammis]

Color is Everything by Dan Bartges is a short and focused color-theory book. It emphasizes the importance of the color wheel and insists that readers make their own color wheel and buy one that has the standard pigments laid out for help with planning colors schemes.

On the color wheel there are primary, secondary and tertiary colors. There are six "best" color schemes: monochromatic, analogous, complementary, split complementary, triadic, and tetrad. The book includes examples for each from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The book also quizzes readers on key concepts throughout.

For a very practical and useful color theory book, the book suffers from some odd color design choices. Important lesson plans are highlighted with green, orange and sometimes purple. Against the white glossy pages these colors in block texts are hard on the eyes!

That being said, I plan to hold onto the book for my son who is interested in art. I think he'll like learning about color theory.

[Tandava Graham]

Pretty good introduction to color schemes, and I liked that it just included a lot of examples for you to analyze yourself, with answers and discussion on the next page (so it was easier not to peek). Though some of the examples were a bit confusing, and I think perhaps it may have just been due to color reproduction issues in the printing. E.g. in some cases, a tiny patch of color I hardly noticed was counted as a very specific shade to create a specific color scheme, while in others, some color I thought was very obvious was ignored. And in one painting, what seemed to be an overwhelmingly green blue was counted simply as "blue," even though the author was usually much more picky about shades than me. Oh well.

[Elizabeth Matthews]

This is a small book about color relationships for painters (oil, acrylic and watercolor).