Feb 07This is such a good idea that it’s been copied and adapted many times since this book first appeared in 1991. Even then, it wasn’t necessarily the first time this had been done, but the simplicity with which it’s presented makes this by far the best manifestation of the genre.Quarto, the book packaging company, have always been at the forefront of illustrated instructional book design in a number of fields, and it’s a tribute to their skills that this can be reprinted untouched and remain as fresh today as it was when it first appeared 15 years ago.Divided by colour type, what you get is a series of colour swatches made from two-part mixes with, in most cases, gradations of hue and tint. To keep things interesting, each chapter also includes an example painting with a short explanation of how various details, such as shadows, were achieved by the use of colour.The secret of the book is its simplicity and the fact that it doesn’t attempt to be overly comprehensive (for that, you want The Watercolour Artist’s Colour Mixing Bible) or more instructional than it needs to be. Even so, you get a guide to over 800 colour mixes that you can find quickly and replicate at will. The book is only 64 pages long, will fit in a pocket and is also a spiral bound hardback that will lay flat in use, so even the format is well thought-out. The only possible drawback is that the colours are pre-printed and therefore subject to the limitations of the printing process, but that won’t detain you long as the reproduction is excellent. If you want something really faithful, then you need the Michael Wilcox books, but you need to complete those yourself and they require a considerable investment in time.Anyway, 10 out of 10 to Search Press for keeping this available and also for resisting the temptation to put it in paperback and save a few pennies but ruin the usability.
