The Artist's Guide to Selecting Colors

Rating:
Summary: A worthwhile reference book
Review: A very informative book for any artist. We all buy paint, but the market is full of many brands and many qualities of paint. How do we make a selection? How do we avoid colors that fade or darken? How do we read the label of the tube of paint? What should be on that label? The name of the color is not important.All painters know that there are many different colors with the same name.

Rating:
Summary: not trustworthy
Review: From another website (by an artist who is NOT trying to sell a line of paints as Wilcox is) I found out that Wilcox did not actually test all of these paints himself, and does not disclose his relationship with one brand of paints he recommends.

His "Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green" IS however a book every painter should have as it is the best on color bias and mixing and has helped me a great deal.

Rating:
Summary: The Artist's Guide to Selecting Colors by Michael Wilcox
Review: I purchased the 2001-2002 version of this book and quickly regretted it. Although he preaches quality for what he buys, his own material was so full of typos and errors that I can't trust the more technical data. Upon contacting the publisher I was told to send them a list of errors I found and don't return their poor quality book. Unfortunately, I am unable to proof read their book at my own expense and can only hope that they will someday practice what they preach. Buy only with extreme caution.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Vital Reference Book
Review: Important information for choosing the best colors in your palette. I now am confident in the archival integrity of the palette I use and I arrange the colors according to those that form the purest color mixtures. An earlier review speaks of typos -1. Apparently this person is ignorant of the Queen's English (Michael Wilcox is British) -2. Who cares to throw out the baby with the bath water anyway? This is the clearest reference I have found on pigments.

Rating:
Summary: recycled summary of stale views
Review: michael wilcox deserves credit as one of the pioneers of modern standards in art materials. but he has overstayed his usefulness, and it badly shows in this book. wilcox does not discuss *pigments*, which are the actual chemicals that create paint color (and lose color if poorly made), because pigments have been updated since he wrote his first book, and he has not bothered to test the new pigments available. but what he calls "colors" are not paints either, so he does not review any specific paints made by specific manufacturers. he's left in the pitiable position of reviewing "colors" such as burnt sienna that vary widely from one manufacturer to another, or "colors" such as "chrome yellow" that no one makes anymore; advising us that each color is "usually" well made or poorly made, and implying whenever convenient that artists who use poor "colors" are stupid and paint manufacturers who make them are unscrupulous. at present hilary page's book is the only reliable, up to date and thoroughly researched paint guide available.

Rating:
Summary: Definately recommended
Review: Michael Wilcox, both an artist and a chemist, is on a holy mission to save the world from bad paint and is the perfect person to disabuse the public of the myths that keep it at the mercy of unscrupulous paint manufacturers.

Artists need to know that many popular colors (such as alizirin crimson) are appallingly fragile in ANY medium and will always deteriorate in short periods of time. And yet there are wonderfully lightfast substitutes available, if only the artist knows what to look for.

This informative, nicely illustrated book is a must for any painter who cares about the durability of his or her work.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Resource
Review: This is an essential book for any serious artist concerned about the integrity of their art. Who cares if there are typos? (I noticed none, myself -refer to a previous review). If you are knocking a book like this for whatever spelling/grammatical errors the subject matter is over your head. The author thoroughly explains everything to look for when selecting the best color pallet. Watch out for misleading labels, redundant and unnecessary products, fugitive colors and hidden ingredients that threaten the longevity of your work.