Color for Painters: A Guide to Traditions and Practice

Mastering Color: A Practical Approach
 
Adding color to any canvas is both art and science. In fact, it’s a discipline that can be explored and learned through the practical application of techniques that Al Gury has developed during his nearly 30 years of teaching at America’s first fine arts institution, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Richly illustrated with more than 270 full color images, including masterpieces from the past 500 years of Western painting, this book offers the instruction every painter needs to confidently construct a painting with color. Color for Painters:
 
-Traces the use of color in Western art from the classical world to the present. 
-Explores the use and properties of various pigments and materials. 
-Reviews the evolving approaches to color (from tonal to pointillism to the modern use of color as psychological expression). 
-Presents exercises for mixing and using paints. 
-Offers step-by-step demonstrations of all the basic color genres and techniques.
 
Students, experienced painters, teachers, and anyone who appreciates fine art will treasure this exploration of painting’s “wild beast.”

AL GURY is the chair of the painting department at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and the author of Alla Prima: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Direct Painting. He has exhibited his own work at numerous galleries across the country.