Color Studies by Edith Anderson Feisner - NEW 3rd Edition

A NEW 3rd Edition of Color Studies by Edith Anderson Feisner and Ron Reed has just been published in the USA (21 August 2013).

It should be available in the UK in either September or November depending on which reference source you read.

It's even worth buying just as an investment! Without even having seen it, the value at which the 2nd edition (which I own) now trades for on the Internet suggests that this 3rd edition should be snapped up immediately by all artists who like owning very good books about colour.

This is the book I always used to recommend to people wanting a complete overview of Colour as a topic for artists prior to the publication of Colour and Light by James Gurney.

I can't think of a reason why I wouldn't continue to recommend it very highly since it will be the old contents - with new chapters.  Feisner takes a different approach to Gurney and also has content not found in Colour and Light

Here's the Table of Contents of the NEW 3rd Edition

Table Of Contents

Part I: Color Foundations

Chapter 1: What is Color?
Chapter 2: Color Systems and Color Wheels
Chapter 3: Color Theorists
Chapter 4: Coloring Agents
Chapter 5: Digital Color Media and Technology

Part II Dimensions of Color
Chapter 6: The Dimension of Hue
Chapter 7: The Dimension of Value
Chapter 8: The Dimension of Intensity
Chapter 9: The Dimension of Temperature

Part III: Color in Compositions
Chapter 10: Color and the Principles of Design
Chapter 11: Color and Elements of Design
Chapter 12: Color Interactions
Chapter 13: Color and the Effects of Illumination

Part IV: The Influence of Color
Chapter 14: Color Symbolism
Chapter 15: Putting Color to Use— Past, Present, and Future

Appendices | Glossary | Bibliography

Bloomsbury Books in the UK indicate that the new content is as follows

Feisner and Reed provide an up-to-date discussion of sustainable color applications and green materials as the underlying component of colorants, dyes, and inks in textiles, printmaking and paints. A new chapter on color and digital technology discusses illuminating with color (LED), color tools and management (Pantone), as well as color consulting and marketing.

This is what I had to say about the second edition back in 2008 (on Making A Mark - in Learning about Colour - Art Book Reviews for Artists #1)

This is the most comprehensive book about colour that I've come across to date. It's accessible but I think it likely that it would be of most interest to colour nerds (like me)! Preview this book and the full contents guide on Google Books. This is what it provides:

• explanation of the five main colour wheels and their application
• a historical account of colour theory plus a chronological list of colour theorists (unique?)
• a historical account of pigments and their use in fine and applied art plus a list of historical colour palettes linked to current colour code.
• analysis of the four dimensions of colour - hue, value intensity and temperature
• colour in composition - in relation to the principles and elements of design
• colour symbolism - including colour symbols in religion
• a thorough glossary of colour terms

Intervaled scale: A color scale that forms a smooth equal visual transition from one component of the scale to the next
Glossary - Colour by Edith Anderson Feisner

• over 75 colour charts
• over 100 works by students and well known artists
• coloring agents:
• dry binders
• liquid binders
• pigment origins and characteristics of common colours
• hue - various art media (eg Liquitex Acrylic Paints) matched to colour-aid paper pure hues
• color legibility rankings (background colors and lettering/line colors) Did you know that the most legible background colour is yellow?
• a very comprehensive bibliography

Details of the 3rd edition (UK)

Details are provided by Bloomsbury Books in the UK. It's being published as a Design Book.

 

Published:	21-11-2013
Format:	Paperback
Edition:	3rd
Extent	256
ISBN:	9781609015312
Imprint:	Fairchild Books
Illustrations:	355 illustrations
Dimensions:	280 x 215 mm
RRP:	£54.99
Online price:	£49.49

Authors

The book seems to have acquired a new author for the 3rd edition.  It may be Ron reed who has provided the new material in this 3rd edition. The two authors are

• Edith Anderson Feisner - a Visiting Specialist / Assistant Chair (Retired) in the School of Fine Arts at Montclair State University, USA. She has taught courses in color, design, and introduction to visual arts. She has held many positions in the Embroiderers' Guild of America including certified teacher, teacher certification board, as well as the author of the master craftsman programs in color and design. Her fine art works are in both public and private collections. 
• Ron Reed - an Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator for Interior Design in the School of Family and Consumer Sciences at Texas State University-San Marcos, USA. Reed served as the IDEC Southwest Regional Chair between 2011-2012.

Luminance 6901 Coloured Pencils - comparative prices for open stock

I've had a bit of a splurge on Luminance 6901 Coloured Pencils by Caran d'Ache!  Here's my haul from Monday's Private View of the Pastel Society Exhibition at the Mall Galleries 

Caran d'Ache Luminance Coloured Pencils
£2.49 each from open stock at the Pastel Society Annual Exhibition!

I've been building up my stock of Luminance Coloured Pencils slowly - because they are expensive.

I love their intense pigmentation, the way they go down and the degree of coverage I can get without effort.  However most of all I love the fact they are the only accredited lightfast coloured pencil range on the market - as in "meets the International 6901 Standard".

For me, if you're producing coloured pencil artwork for sale you must use lightfast pencils which will not fade - guaranteed!

If I have to choose, I prefer a pencil which meets an accredited technical quality standard on lightfastness rather than one where I have to rely on the quality assurance of the manufacturer. I see my preference reflected in the way other media has changed in recent years - and so it will come to pass it will happen to coloured pencils too - in time.

Caran d'Ache Display Stand
at Pastel Society Annual Exhibition
at the Mall Galleries

However there's no getting away from the fact that Luminance 6001 pencils are expensive.  I don't mind that so much - quality costs etc.  However it does mean I'm building a collection from open stock rather than laying out a huge sum to buy the whole range.  [ Note: I've listed the comparative prices from different suppliers at the end ]

So when I see pencils for sale at a much reduced cost (£2.49 per pencil ) I stand in front of the display stand and work out how many I can buy without making my eyes water.

Turns out on Monday night it was rather a lot - see the pic at the top.

These are very much "me" colours - i.e. the colour palette I like to work with so my new collection both provides back-up pencils and some new colours I've not worked with before.

This is the complete colour chart for Luminance Pencils

I may just have to go back and get some more - that's if you don't beat me and get there first!

For more about the different brands of Coloured Pencils see my website Coloured Pencils - Resources for Artists.

Note: Caran d'Ache are sponsoring the Pastel Society Annual Exhibition - hence the display stand of coloured pencils and pastel pencils etc in the Mall Galleries.  It also has other Caran d'Ache products and Luminance 6901 pencils in tins.

Comparative prices for Luminance 6901 Pencils in the UK

Comparative prices for Luminance pencils bought as individual pencils from open stock are listed below together with indications as to postage costs for pencils bought online.

Product	Luminance 6901 coloured pencils | OPEN STOCK
Recommended retail price:  £2.99 or £3.10 Depends on who is quoting it!
Name of Retailer	Face to face £ price	Online £ price	£ postage
Amazon		£2.70	Various options
Jackson Art	£2.70	£2.70	Free over £39
Artifolk		£2.69	Free over £10
Pencils4Artists		£2.55	£1.95
Mall Galleries	£2.49		n/a

Note:  The Mall Galleries price only applies for the duration of the Pastel Society Annual Exhibition which ends on 22 June.  Caran d'Ache are the 2013 Sponsors of the Pastel Society Exhibition.

IKEA Hemnes Bookcases do not sag!

This is an update on my previous posts about the introduction of IKEA Hemnes Bookcases into my home last May.

• Hemnes Bookcase x 4 for "The Art Library" #1 - shows you what I bought - the Hemnes 90cm wide bookcase by IKEA. ie the naked version as per IKEA catalogue
• Hemnes Bookcase x 4 for "The Art Library" #2 - RESULT! - this shows you the top two thirds of the first one we made up - loaded with books
• Reviews: Hemnes Bookcases - after the carpentry! - This shows you what three look like together and screwed to the wall to avoid them toppling.  

One year on I continue to highly recommend these bookcases.  They are the most satisfactory purchase I've ever made in terms of quality and cost and housing books.

The bookcases are made of robust wood and have shown absolutely no signs of sagging due to the very heavy weight of my art books during the last 12 months since I got them.

Here's a picture of the top five shelves of a couple of them.  We are talking seriously heavy weight art books.  I stagger just shifting a small pile of them!  As you can see there is absolutely no sagging after a year doing a good job.

Hemnes bookcases do not sag when used for heavyweight art books

It is worth noting that since many of books are oversized I've had to resort to lying them down on their sides so that I am can then make most effective use of the shelves and space available.  It just takes a little longer to get at the one at the bottom of the pile.

I'd rather do it this way than have yet another bookcase so it can look "smarter".  I'm a fan of shelves stuffed full of books and in case would continue to stuff books in them even if I tried being neater/smarter.

All I ask is that I can have a rigorous library categorisation system (I'm nearly there)

Almost a full size view of Bookcase 2
Shelf 1 (top) Botanical Art - Art history on left and instruction on right
Shelf 2: Design and Composition on left and Colour on right
Shelf 3: Coloured Pencils on left and Pastels on right
Shelf 4: Van Gogh and David Hockney - plus misc. small art history books
Shelf 5: Warercolour painting
Shelf 6: Drawing pads, large and small Moleskine and Daler Rowney sketchbooks plus some very big books

You can click the images to see larger images if you'd like to try and read the titles of my books!

2013 POLL: Which is your favourite make of artist grade soft pastels?

I'm monitoring your favoured brands of pastel and I'd appreciate it if all pastel artists click this link 2013 POLL: Which is your favourite make of artist grade soft pastels? to visit my website Pastels - Resources for Artists and vote on the BRAND NEW POLL for your current favourite make of soft pastel.

Is it the same as in previous years or have you switched allegiance recently?

Kremer Soft Pastels

I've edited the choice of soft pastels this year to those which are currently available in open stock and rated as artist grade soft pastels. That means:

PASTELS ADDED

• Blue Earth (available from Dakota Pastels) and 
• Kremer Pastels (available from Kremer Pigmente - and Jackson Art in UK)

PASTELS DROPPED

• Blick (student grade), and 
• Winsor & Newton (no longer listed as an available product as per 2013 website)

PASTELS AMALGAMATED

• I've amalgamated all the different Diane Townsend Pastels into one category

You can see the trends in terms of the popularity of different makes of soft pastels in yesterday's post Unison is still favourite artist grade soft pastel.

Unison certainly take some beating - they've been top in each one of the four polls I've run to date - however the ranking of the top five pastels changes on a regular basis.

Unison is still favourite artist grade soft pastel

Unison Colour's Soft Pastels are still pastel artists' favourite brand of soft pastels.  The image below is of the poll results after 445 people voted between January 2011 and May 2013.

The chart comes from the opinion poll which asked this question in a poll held on my Pastels - Resources for Artists website.  Only soft pastels available at the beginning of January 2011 were listed (alphabetically) in the poll.

The top three brands of soft pastels are all made in Europe.  They were:

• Unison (18%)
• Sennelier (13%)
• Schminke (9%)

Others which did well included Talens Rembrandt (8%); Terry Ludwig (6%); Winsor & Newton (6%) and Girault (5%).

As in previous polls a lot of smaller brands have carved out a niche and have some support - generally around 2-3%

Soft Pastels Popularity - Trend analysis

Here's what the trends in terms of poll results have looked like over the last 4 times I've reported on which are the favourite brands of soft pastel.

• As you can see Unison has averaged c.20% +/- 2% and has consistently topped the poll for the last 6 years.  
• Sennelier has continues to maintain its lead over Schminke
• Talens Rembrandt continues to challenge for third place - but isn't achieving at the moment
• Terry Ludwig continues to lead the USA 'pack' of artisan pastel makers

BRAND OF PASTEL	2011-2013	2011	2010	2006-2009
Unison	18%	22.1%	21.9%	19.6%
Sennelier	13%	14.7%	13.3%	15.9%
Schminke	9%	6.6%	15.2%	11.7%
Talens Rembrandt	8%	11.2%	9.4%	9.4%
Terry Ludwig	6%	6.6%	6.1%	11.7%
Winsor & Newton	6%		4.7%	6%
Girault	5%		5%	3.1%

Notes:

1. the 2006-09 poll was run continuously for three years and had 
2. the 2010 Poll ran for a year and had 361 responses
3. the 2011 Poll was checked in February 2012 and had 252 responses - so the poll was left to run until the end of 2012.  
4. The 2011-12 Poll was not various reasons led to the final tot-up to this poll not happening until now (mid-May 2013)
5. The 2013 Poll will not be a full year and may run until the end of 2014.

Previous Polls

• Soft Pastels: What's your favourite make? (2011 results)
• Which is your favourite make of soft pastels? (2010 Poll Results)
• Opinion Poll: Which is your favourite make of soft pastels? (200609 results)

Unison Pastels

Unison Pastels - Resources for Pastel Artists is the website I created after Unison came top of the first three polls.  It provides more links to information about the pastels and the products available.  You can see pictures of the shades available - and what I've produced while using them.

Unison Pastels - Colour Charts

I came across an offer of three handmade laminated colour charts for Unison Pastels made by Unison Colour this morning.  It struck me I'd never done a post about Unison Pastels colour charts - so here it is!

Colour charts - and colour charts for pastels

Colour charts are available in a number of different ways.

• printed - needs to be matched to CMYK colours to get the colours right
• digital file - to be viewed on screen hence needs to be matched to the RGB colours (but then it will be wrong if printed out as it won't be set up for a CMYK colour scheme!)
• handmade - "as is"

See my Colour Theory for Artists site for the RGB (light) and CMYK (print) processes referenced above.

Inevitably, a printed colour chart is easy to produce but does not always match up with real colour.  This is one of the reasons why Old Holland Oil Colours have a hand painted colour strip on each tube of paint - so that the purchaser of an expensive paint can see the real colour when laid down.  It's why some manufacturers produce hand-coloured paint charts.

However when it comes to pastels there's a problem.  A hand-coloured chart cannot be stored either by the retailer or the consumer as the pastel will be rubbed off.  One pinned up in a studio will come to no harm - but these are probably best produced by the artist for the colour range they use.

Unison Pastel Colour Charts

Normally I access colour charts for Unison Pastels by looking at their website.  Unison have colour charts available as a printed chart (which you can obtain by emailing them) and on-screen colour indexed charts.  Both sets of charts are for their:

Unison Pastels - Colour Charts

Colour Sets

• Orange 1-18
• Red 1-18
• Red Earth 1-18
• Yellow 1-18
• Brown Earth 1-18
• Green 1-36
• YGE 1-18
• BGE 1-18
• Blue Green 1-18
• Blue Violet 1-18
• Grey 1-36
• Additional 1 - 18
• Additional 19-54
• Dark 1-18
• Light 1-18
• Special Collection
• Portrait 1-12
• Turquoise 1-6
• Natural Earth 1-18
• Heavenly Shadows

AND for their

Selection Sets

• Starter 8
• Portrait 8
• Landscape 8
• Bright 8
• Light 8
• Dark 8
• Starter 18
• Portrait 18
• Landscape 18
• Starter 36
• Portrait 36
• Landscape 36
• Starter 72
• Landscape 72
• Portrait 72 (UK & EUROPE)

AND for their

Half Stick Sets

• Half Stick 16 Set
• Half Stick 30 Set
• Half Stick 63 Set

Retailers' sets

I never buy retailer's sets unless I can see the index number itemised for every colour in the set - on the basis I've probably already got them!

JACKSON ARTS

A couple of special selection sets are available via Jackson Art where they provide good images of the colours - but no listing as to the index numbers of the colours chosen.

John's Set is apparently a set of the last colours that John Hersey made prior to his death.

The Ann Oram Set of 30 Half Sticks is new and you can read about it here on the Jackson Arts Blog - New Ann Oram Unison Soft Pastels Set.  Ann Oram taught a still life worksop at Unison's in Northumberland in 2012.

Colour Chart by photograph: 
Unison Pastels - Southwest Colors 

DICK BLICK

Dick Blick in the USA are excellent at listing the sets and associated index numbers of all pastels in each set that they stock.  They also list a number of sets which are available in the USA but not in the UK (see below)

Colour charts are available via photographs of the different sets in which the colour index number can be clearly seen. I'm not sure they have photographs for all the sets they retail.

Here, for example is the Southwest Colors set which is one I nearly bought in 2006 when making a trip out to the South Western States of the USA (see USA Sketchbook - Southwestern States (2006))

The sets they list include:

Portrait Colors: African American | Asian | Caucasian | Latino | Mediterranean | Native American | Portrait Eye Colors

Landscape Colors: Desert Sunset | Northern Sunrise | Polar Ocean | Tropical Ocean | Southwest Colors (includes the Turquoise set of 6)

Artists Colors: Brenda Mattson Portrait

JACK RICHESON

Jack Richeson has a printed color chart of all 402 colours (pdf file) that he stocks.  He uses it to relate the Unison names for Colour Sets to the sets he stocks.  On screen it looks like a pretty good match with the colours in the Unison sets.

Glyn Rand Colour Charts

This morning I discovered the existence of the handmade laminated colour charts for Unison Pastels made by Glyn Rand. He emphasises that his  product is neither affiliated to Unison Colour, nor is it endorsed by them.

A handmade chart gets round the difficulties associated with the RGB/CMYK processes which have to translate colour in reality into another medium of vision or print.

By completing the charts using the pastels and then laminating the charts, these should in theory be the best match with various Unison Pastels.

However there is a BUT....

Actually there are two BUTs....

Unison Pastels - Glyn Rand Colour Charts (Size A3 x 3)

The "But" is because my conclusion about this product is essentially "Nice idea, shame about the execution - and the price".

Why?

BUT.... #1

Well, the charts are NOT set up diagrammatically to provide a clear index of each 18 colour set.  Instead of 18 colours in a vertical column Glyn has chosen to go with just 16.  This means that:

• the colour sets are spread across different columns.  
• all the values are mixed up.  If looking for a light tone and colour you can't scan the bottom of the chart and the light set - as the lights are all over the place.

This would personally drive me absolutely potty and I couldn't look at them - I like my colours rigidly organised according to colour and tone because that allows me to work in an effective way.

In fact every pastel artist I've ever known had all their pastels organised on two dimensions - by colour and tone.  I can't think of any reason why any of them would want a colour chart which wasn't organised in the same way.

BUT.... #2

Personally I think the price of £30 for the three charts is a bit steep when one considers that a laminating machine for A3 paper only costs around about £30 on Amazon!  I don't think a product should ever prompt one to think about buying the kit required to produce the end product rather than the product itself!

If you've already got a lot of Unison Pastels - as I have - I'm drawn to conclude that :

• if you're not bothered by tonal values being all mixed up and don't think you'd have any use for a laminating machine - have a think about the charts
• produce your own if:
• you don't like your tonal values mixed up.....
• and/or think you could find a laminating machine useful

More about Pastels

You can read more about Pastels on my websites

• Pastels - Resources for Artists
• Pastel Paper and Pastel Boards
• Unison Pastels - Resources for Artists
• Pastel Societies - Resources for Artists