Colour: For Designers and Artists

by Paul J. Zelanski, Mary Pat Fisher

This basic textbook for artists and designers explores the aesthetics and use of colour in all media. It summarizes the various colour theories of Newton, Munsell, Ostward, Chevreul and others, reproducing their colour wheels and systems. It differentiates between colour and light, dyes and pigments and discusses psychological and compositional effects. It includes sections on mixing paints, ceramic glazes, printing and photography, fibre, dyes, video, computer graphics, laser art, holography and recent developments in fine art and applied design.

Genres: Art, Interior Design, Nonfiction, Reference, Design, Textbooks

144 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1988

About the author

Paul Zelanski was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1931. When he was 10, his sister saved up and gave him an oil paint set — the most memorable and important present of his life to that point, as his childhood was during the Great Depression and holidays were for getting socks and underwear. He attended Hartford High, and was the first resident of Connecticut’s capitol city to be accepted to Cooper Union. College was interrupted by two years spent in the Army during the Korean War, but Paul returned and earned his certificate (all that was offered at Cooper in those days) in 1955.

After Cooper Union, Paul went on to study under Josef Albers at Yale University. It was here that Paul began his life-long passion for color theory. When Paul finished his BFA at Yale in 1957, on recommendation from Albers, he attended Bowling Green State University for his master’s degree in painting. Always knowing that he wanted to be an educator, after finishing school he taught at North Texas State University from 1958–62, and then moved north to teach at the University of Connecticut, where he would remain until his retirement in 1995. Paul continued to make collages every day in his studio in Connecticut until his death in July of 2015.

Paul married artist Annette Zelanski in 1965 and they had three children together, one son and two daughters.

Reviews

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

An overview of color, covering various color theories, classifications, uses through the ages, mixing, and many other topics. It is full of full color images and helpful diagrams. As far as textbooks go, this one is well written and decently engaging. There were some chapters, like Physiological Effects of Color, where I found myself reading because of how interesting the material was, not just to get the answers for my class assignment. I learned a lot from this book; color is fascinating.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

solid textbook for learning some color theory basics, which i read for a class. i read 5th edition which is a little outdated (20 years old), especially the section on computers. some chapters were more interesting than others, which is probably to be expected from a college textbook. i enjoyed the sections on color combinations and applications in fine art and design.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to read this for a Color Theory college class, but because I am an Art nut, I rather liked it. And I learned a lot of cool new stuff.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is intended for art students and the like interested in learning and understanding more about color. There is lots of good information with ample illustrations but this is an introduction only. It's rather dry reading and some things I got, some I did not, and some I even disagreed with (although there wasn't much of that fortunately and it had to do with the perception of color when eyes are shut or one is blind). For those interesting in this topic, it's a good introduction. A wide variety of color uses is covered in art, architecture, interior design, computer graphics and prints, fabrics, textiles, advertising, and commercial design.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second edition of this book was required reading for a color course I enrolled in, and it is an excellent book on color theory as it applies to art and design.

[Cecely · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really rather boring, wordy and, for my purposes, overly technical/scientific. Hope the next book I read on color is more interesting and useful.