Colors of Art: The Story of Art in 80 Palettes

While this book has many good aspects, like many authors who write about individual paintings, she adds meanings to the paintings that are often bizarre and show too much of her own attitudes and opinions. Because of this, you won't really learn the history of art or really the history of color (there are better books for both).The book's format is good; it divides the 80 paintings into periods, talking about it, its use of color ad some of the painters involved. It also has blocks of some of the typical colors used by these artists with larger blocks for the more important colors. Each work of art has a two-page spread. On the right is a picture of the painting, along with a list of related works. I liked that many of the works are not well-known; it added to the depth of the book.On the left page, the outside edge has swatches of the important color in the painting, bigger or smaller according to its use. Above each swatch in small print are the CYMK and RGB values for the colors, making them easy to reproduce. Also on this page is her essay. While most of the essay talks about the painting, its colors, and its composition, she often falls into the trap of telling us what the painting means; these are the weakest parts of the book. Unhappily this seems to be a common fault in art historians, and it can leave a bad taste in the reader's mouth.In many of the book's chapters, there are two-page essays about color ad technical advances that affected art. These are quite good.Overall, it's an interesting book but not a good art history.

Interesting

This Hardcover Edition of Colors of Art: The Story of Art in 80 Palettes by Chloe Ashby is a 256-page work of design inspiration. The concept behind this book is simple, take a scene, deconstruct the colors into a palette, apply them to your own designs, and then rinse and repeat.Ashby's approach is refreshingly simple, but it's highly effective for several reasons. First, this Hardcover Edition of Colors of Art looks clean and inviting on a desktop or coffee table so it's easy to pick up for quick inspiration. Second, the images and colors extracted from them are perfect for those who create works that will be submitted for print. There's a nuance between creating for print and creating for screen and this book is very helpful for the former. Finally, the typography and layout of this book are perfect. The text is easy to read and the length of the book is not so voluminous it would be intimidating. As a design student, I sometimes need pointers with alpha or transparency settings so including those might have been helpful.What I liked most about this Hardcover Edition of Colors of Art: The Story of Art in 80 Palettes by Chloe Ashby was: - Design and layout- Typography- Helped me visualize concepts in a recent color theory class- Precise codes are given to replicate these colors in your own workWhat I liked least about this Hardcover Edition of Colors of Art: The Story of Art in 80 Palettes by Chloe Ashby was:- I wish this text included alpha/transparency guidance- Leans a bit more towards printed output than screen output but that could be a matter of opinionOverall, this Hardcover Edition of Colors of Art: The Story of Art in 80 Palettes by Chloe Ashby is an excellent text to use for inspiration for your own designs. I keep this book near the computer where Adobe Creative Cloud is installed so I can get through assignments for my various design classes. I found myself quickly becoming a fan of the author's "voice" and wanted her to explore transparency and the distinction between creating for print and preparing for screens in her color palettes. However, that was only because I learned more about color from this work than I did from the boring textbook that was assigned for my color theory course. 4.5 out of 5.0

This is an interesting and unique art book that is fun to keep around on your coffee table.The book is hardcover, about 7.8x10" in size. Each double page features a painting or work of art (some famous, some not so famous), as well as some background information about the artist and painting itself, and the general color palette. The colors depicted in the color palette cleverly feature the CMYK and RGB codes, and specific information includes the sizing of the original artwork, medium used, year of creation, and a list of complementary works.The chosen artworks are chronologically organized, beginning with pre-historic works, and culminating with contemporary works. This book is not ideal for reading front to back, but is more for leafing through and reading as something catches the eye. My main complaint is that showcasing only 80 works is almost too limited, and is lacking several art styles (Art Nouveau being one of them, which was disappointing).However, the book is beautifully laid out, and a nice addition to any art enthusiast's library.

This is a very interesting, comprehensive book from an author and journalist who knows art and loves to share information in well-organized and clear, succinct pages. She's written for publications such as Frieze, and Guardian, and her breadth of knowledge is a gift.This beautifully printed book illustrates a wide range of art in chronological order, with examples from B.C. but more notably, from the 14th century through modern day. Each spread presents a work and discusses the artist, a bit of history about the process, a color palette defined in both RGB and CMYK values, and a short list of complementary works from other artists.Women artists are well-represented here, as well as paintings by male artists where women are the dominant subjects. This inclusion makes the book unique and of great interest -- I learned about women artists from other centuries that I never knew before. This book was an incredible find and would also make a great gift.