Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green: How to Mix the Color You Really Want- Every Time Paperback – March 10, 2002

What an interesting book. When I first glanced through it I thought it wouldn't work for me. It appeared to be just a color theory book more suitable for painters, and I dye fiber. But I fairly quickly realized that Michael Wilcox has come up with a quite different way of looking at color, of understanding it, and of anticipating just how to mix colors in order to come up with the exact shade you need, which is very exciting for a dyer or anyone who works with color. In a nutshell, he notes that no primary color is truly "pure". A blue is either a little greenish or a little on the purple side, and if you want a particular green it matters a lot which of them you use and whether you mix it with a greenish yellow or an orangey one, since of course the yellow won't be pure either. And so on. Of course the book does contain a lot of color theory in order to explain this new way to think about mixing colors, but it's theory that is interesting, presented well, and fascinating to put into practice. Great for dyers but I'm sure for painters too.

This book offers the general reader a relatively detailed account of how light interacts with colored surfaces and why paint (and other media) behaves the way it does when mixed. It's an account of how subtractive mixing works, featuring many illustrations, examples and demonstrations, as well as a series of colorwheels artists can reproduce for themselves in their quest to better understand their colors.Unfortunately, the general American reader (especially those who lean towards the arts) is not very conversant with science and may find some of the concepts in this book rather opaque upon a first reading. This seems to be what has happened in in the cases of those who've given this book poor reviews. Without exception, they seem to have *completely* missed the basic premise of this book.But if a reader makes the effort to read through again or work through it with a more left-brained friend, they will find a treasure trove of liberating information here.It's true Wilcox takes a different view of the best way to gray and darken colors than some more traditional painters. Each system has its advantages and disadvantages. But the science behind his six-primary system is unassailable, as those who've taken the trouble to reproduce his color charts can attest.The six-primary system (which Wilcox calls "color bias" and Ledand calls "split primary") works, plain and simple.

I am a lifelong artist but did not have much experience with painting until 2 years ago. I decided to learn how to paint landscapes plein air and attended a couple of workshops for that purpose. I quickly became very frustrated because I was unable to mix the colors I needed from the paints I brought with me. The workshop leaders acted like I had some individual problem with seeing colors and managing paints on the palette, which make me think that landscape painting is something I am not good at. I persisted with studio painting, and eventually learned what was causing the paint mixing problems: the contents of the individual paint colors included more hues than I was seeing, and the combinations of these additional colors were not what I was seeking. I felt very relieved, affirmed and hopeful when I read Michael Wilcox's color theory! Finally, I had found someone who saw the problem as I had come to see it, and who offered some solutions to it! I have improved my mixing skill considerably just by reading and understanding Wilcox's main ideas about complementary colors canceling each other, but I have not yet learned how to reproduce the exact colors I am working towards. I plan to do all the exercises Wilcox recommends, at which time I will be better able to offer an opinion about whether his book is sufficient to teach that level of mastery of paint mixing. I would highly recommend this book to people who are learning how to paint.

I never knew how little I knew about color until reading this book. It's both technical, historical and accessible at the same time. Learning a LOT from this book.

This opened my eyes to why I never can mix the color I want and why everything just looks like mud. Very easy to read and understand (although you have to think about how color works). It takes some practice to get it to work, and I don't think I'll ever memorize how all of the color blending works, but I don't need to because I can refer to the book. I was going to buy some other books about color, but found that this explains everything I need to know.

When mixing dyes, I had been getting a large variety of browns when not desired.This book opened my eyes to why mixing colors can get an unreliable result.Like most, I was taught color theory in grade school, and using wax crayons, this simple theory worked to uncritical grade school eyes. I am an amateur hand dyer, and I found that the colors I was mixing were very unpredictable. Now, after reading this book and it's companion sample book, I find that I get much closer to the desired colors when working from pure dyes.In cotton dyes, there four yellows, one orange, two reds, five blues, and two purples that are homogeneous or "pure" colors. This book went very far to explain how to pick the particular "pure" colors to mix to get the desired color, or close. Experimenting is still required to get proportions correct.The theory and practice recommended in this text is NOT directly applicable to dyes, as paints are applied to the surface and dyes go into the material. Also the colors recommended are for paints, and some of the colors do not exist as pure colors in dyes. But the underlying theory is very useful and applicable to dyeing. I am very pleased that I found this book, it has helped me tremendously.

The book I order was in Very Good condition, it was shipped in recycled packaging as indicated ( better for the environment), and I received it very fast ( I ordered on May 24 and received it May 26) USPS - Thank you!

Estou muito satisfeito com a compra

This book has changed everything I was taught in grade school and beyond about mixing colours. It's expensive but worth the money.

This book was 'the most recommended' book by a mature artist, to me: he was a customer at the time I was. I bought it for a Christmas present for an experienced modern artist, and she loved it; ... sorry I can't say much more than that. I did notice that the colour used in the book was attractive [it may in fact have been representative of what the author was saying...], and the rationale and logic within it (I fancy) would very definitely make me read the book if I were an artist. Best wishes, Richard

This book is the BEST book on colour theory and explains why colour mixing works and how to get the shade you want every time. The seller was good, and although it took awhile to receive the book, it was well worth the wait!

I have purchased this book for my daughter who, inspired by my watercolour paintings, decided to learn to paint. In my opinion, it is the best book of it's kind and helped me immensely how to learn how to mix precise hues. Many painters remain all their lives frustrated at their inability to obtain the correct colour. This book is a revelation and will save you hours and hours of wasted effort and paint. If you are a budding artist, buy it.