The Watercolorist's Complete Guide to Color

Because I live in a rural area without access to art classes, my watercolor education has come from books and videos. I am a retired educator and know great teaching skills when I see them. I wish I had found this book 5 years ago when I first started; It would have saved me both money and frustration. First of all Mr. Hill is comprehensive in his information. For example, when talking about mixing greens, he doesn't just give the reader 5 or 6 examples as is common in most other books. He has a page of 25 of them! This allows the reader to see the subtleties as mixes are changed, not just the obvious. In addition, he doesn't just say, "Paint cool shadows here (under a porch roof)." He explains that it is cool because of the influence of the blue from the sky. Secondly, his explanations are clear and concise without limiting the information he wants to share. And it doesn't matter whether you like the style of the paintings in the book because he uses them to directly demonstrate color usage and light so they can be applied anywhere. So much of what I have learned in bits and pieces from other books has all fallen together with this one. He has somehow answered questions I didn't even know I had until I read the book and ended up saying time after time, "Oh, THAT'S why that happens!", and the explanations were thorough without going into the deep, encyclopedia history of the topic. This is truly a timeless classic In the art of watercolor painting education.

I was thrilled to find this book on color at just the right time. My watercolor teacher was covering this material when decided to take a chance and order this book. Mr. Hill explains color theory well. He has included pages with samples of the colors which he mixed. I highly recommend this book to beginning watercolor artists who need to learn color mixing theory.

Tom Hill's best book (although all are good). No serious transparent watercolor painter should be without this book. I'm just a few years younger than Tom, have met him on several occasions (workshops with Tucson Watercolor Guild - now The Arizona Watercolor Guild, and at showings in Priscilla Peirce's "The Print Room"). I have never seen anyone who could produce a gorgeous painting so quickly as Tom. I was fortunate to become a friend of Priscilla Peirce (wife of the famous watercolorist and teacher - Gerry Peirce), and she told me Tom Hill's earlier watercolors had very little color, almost monochrome! Clearly Tom overcame that problem. If you like transparent watercolor, and want to know more about color, then buy this book.EVERT FURREY

I saw this book at one of my watercolor art classes and had to have it for reference. Great instructions on color mixing for various palettes- pages of them. Beautiful examples of buildings from various countries and how to capture the color and shadows. I am so glad I made this purchase. It's much better than the class I took.

This book is the go to reference whenever I paint. Color theory is easier to grasp and my painting is getting better. The author presents many examples and charts to assist with color mixing. Now I start my painting planning my palette and the feeling I want to present.

This is a classic on color. I found an old copy at the library and knew I just had to have my own copy. Thanks Amazon for finding it. You will learn so much about colors and their properties. And it is a fine reference book that I often go back to.

I've had this book before, and I gave my copy to a friend. I had no idea how hard it would be to get another copy! Get it! Keep it! This book is an awesome guide to using color choices in watercolors. It should be in your library or on your work table! I won't let go of this one!

This is one of the best books on color that I have come across. I am new to watercolor and knew nothing about the nature of the pigments, nor the mixing of colors. The exercises that the author includes helped me gain a better understanding and greatly improved my painting.

very informative book