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Colors: What They Mean and How to Make Them
Color, as a means of expression, has been part of human history since handprints were first painted on cave walls. But in order to make the shades they had imagined, people had to unearth pigments and dyes often hidden deep within plants, minerals, mollusks, insects, and other natural elements. They developed complicated, dangerous, and sometimes even revolting techniques in order to achieve deep reds, luminous yellows, and the most beautiful blues.
Archaeologist and ethnologist Anne Varichon takes the reader on a fascinating journey that examines not only the variety and use of natural colorants—and how to reproduce them today—but also their symbolism and mythology. From Confucian China to medieval Europe, from the Papuans to the Inuit, she travels across the centuries and around the world in this absorbing, and often surprising, cultural history of the sources and meanings of color.
Archaeologist and ethnologist Anne Varichon takes the reader on a fascinating journey that examines not only the variety and use of natural colorants—and how to reproduce them today—but also their symbolism and mythology. From Confucian China to medieval Europe, from the Papuans to the Inuit, she travels across the centuries and around the world in this absorbing, and often surprising, cultural history of the sources and meanings of color.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 1, 2012
This book is full of facts, but just that. Absent is the engaging narrative that weaves them together and when you get to the last recipe of the last color (mud), it simply ends. I would classify this as more encyclopedic in tone; the facts are interesting, but it's completely devoid of character and spirit. The recipes are interesting as well, and I appreciate their inclusion.
To it's credit, this book is beautifully put together and has lots of vibrant photos.
It would have benefited as well from a more careful proofreading to avoid ambiguity: for example: "But nutgall dyes were expensive to produce, and were often fraudulently replaced with moulee, a fugitive colorant created from the metallic dust filings found under grindstones. It also had to be mordanted with vinegar"
Recommended reading:
Color: A Natural History of the Palette
Colors: The Story of Dyes and Pigments
To it's credit, this book is beautifully put together and has lots of vibrant photos.
It would have benefited as well from a more careful proofreading to avoid ambiguity: for example: "But nutgall dyes were expensive to produce, and were often fraudulently replaced with moulee, a fugitive colorant created from the metallic dust filings found under grindstones. It also had to be mordanted with vinegar"
Recommended reading:
Color: A Natural History of the Palette
Colors: The Story of Dyes and Pigments
August 1, 2018
Los usamos todos los días, son claves en el mundo del diseño y la arquitectura per ¿Conocemos el origen de sus significados y la historia de su fabricación?
Usar color es algo de todos los días, se ha vuelto fácil y asequible. El color rodea la vida de un creativo, sobre su escritorio hay siempre lápices y plumines de colores y a la menor provocación se convierten en ingredientes indispensables de su obra. Pero ¿Cuáles son las historias detrás de estos colores?
Anne Varichon a recopilado las historias detrás de los colores más significativos para el hombre, aquellos que han marcado periodos y épocas, tonos invariablemente unidos a la historia de la humanidad. Dividido en 7 capítulos la autora nos narra el origen del uso del blanco, el amarillo, el rojo, el morado, el azul, el verde y el marrón y negro. Fascinantes y cautivantes narraciones nos llevan a tiempos remotos y nos explican cómo cada tonalidad fue dominada y usada por las civilizaciones dándoles una connotación que aún hoy en día es clave para entender la psicología del color.
Los colores, disponibles de manera infinita en la naturaleza han sido todo una conquista para las civilizaciones hasta llegar al uso cotidiano y desentendido de nuestros tiempos. Este libro nos da claves para su interpretación y revela secretos que hacen del uso del color toda una nueva experiencia.
Usar color es algo de todos los días, se ha vuelto fácil y asequible. El color rodea la vida de un creativo, sobre su escritorio hay siempre lápices y plumines de colores y a la menor provocación se convierten en ingredientes indispensables de su obra. Pero ¿Cuáles son las historias detrás de estos colores?
Anne Varichon a recopilado las historias detrás de los colores más significativos para el hombre, aquellos que han marcado periodos y épocas, tonos invariablemente unidos a la historia de la humanidad. Dividido en 7 capítulos la autora nos narra el origen del uso del blanco, el amarillo, el rojo, el morado, el azul, el verde y el marrón y negro. Fascinantes y cautivantes narraciones nos llevan a tiempos remotos y nos explican cómo cada tonalidad fue dominada y usada por las civilizaciones dándoles una connotación que aún hoy en día es clave para entender la psicología del color.
Los colores, disponibles de manera infinita en la naturaleza han sido todo una conquista para las civilizaciones hasta llegar al uso cotidiano y desentendido de nuestros tiempos. Este libro nos da claves para su interpretación y revela secretos que hacen del uso del color toda una nueva experiencia.
November 2, 2018
Possibly a 3.5. This book has great illustrations and quite a bit of information, but for some reason it doesn’t feel completely coherent. Is it an anthropology book? History? Art? Crafts? It kind of throws everything into the mix, and while there are a lot of interesting things to be learned, it feels like too many snippets with not enough depth. Also, why no chapter on Orange? Nice, but not great.
November 18, 2018
Dense with information and illustrations.
August 4, 2008
Without a doubt the most beautifully designed book I've seen in a long time. The color saturation, the images, the sewn binding, the paper stock--all unbelievable. I must get to Singapore and learn how they do these things. And the typeface! The typeface is exquisite.
As for the text itself, it really is quite a spectacular journey through the history of dyes and color in the natural world and their use throughout history, and how to make them today. I feel like I've gained a whole new vocabulary and understanding of language from this book (who knew Brazil comes from a wood for logwood, used to make dyes; or that vitriol is a caustic sulfate used to bind color, not just a word I use to describe angry authors)? I feel like I could write Diane Ackerman-esque poems with the new knowledge.
Less fascinating is the author's compiliation of the symbolism of each color family, which often reads as a laundry list of information gleaned piecemeal from her copious reference list. And she claims that Mayans in Teotihuacán used chalk and vegetable blacks in their murals. Sigh. Teotihuacán, a Nahua word, and its early inhabitants have been speculated to be part of nearly every indigenous group in Mexico, except the Maya.
As for the text itself, it really is quite a spectacular journey through the history of dyes and color in the natural world and their use throughout history, and how to make them today. I feel like I've gained a whole new vocabulary and understanding of language from this book (who knew Brazil comes from a wood for logwood, used to make dyes; or that vitriol is a caustic sulfate used to bind color, not just a word I use to describe angry authors)? I feel like I could write Diane Ackerman-esque poems with the new knowledge.
Less fascinating is the author's compiliation of the symbolism of each color family, which often reads as a laundry list of information gleaned piecemeal from her copious reference list. And she claims that Mayans in Teotihuacán used chalk and vegetable blacks in their murals. Sigh. Teotihuacán, a Nahua word, and its early inhabitants have been speculated to be part of nearly every indigenous group in Mexico, except the Maya.
February 19, 2009
This is a very beautiful book. I often found my young children flipping through the pages in awe. There is a lot of trivial information about colours, some very surprising. I wish I didn't have to read it in one sitting; I think I would have enjoyed it more had I just flipped through at my leisure.
August 9, 2011
When I picked this book up, I didn't expect a guide to MAKING color, but the histories and makeup of colors was absolutely fascinating. It was quite an inspiration. I have some problem with its treatment of fair-skinned individuals (regal bearing inherent, I suppose?) but all in all the photography is striking.
March 19, 2013
"'The white canvas- it's like a layer of dust that covers up the real painting. It's just a matter of cleaning it. I have a little brush to clear away the blue, another for the red, and another brush for the green. And when I've finished cleaning, the picture is all there.' - Georges Braque (1882-1963)."
July 19, 2008
A beautiful journey to the magnificent world of colors
February 26, 2009
Not as complete as Victoria Finlay's "Colors", but very very good. They actually work really well together, if one is interested enough in the topic to read more than one book about it.
May 8, 2015
I want to read more books like this. I've been fascinated by color all my life.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews