Colour Demystified will banish the all-too-common confusion over the watercolour palette and give painters the confidence to experiment with colour mixing.
This book demystifies colour, and helps artists understand how colour works in a highly visual way through the use of colour charts accompanied by examples, practical exercises, and analyses of watercolour paintings.
Numerous artworks by a variety of contemporary artists are featured in the book, covering a broad range of subjects and palettes. Topics such as granulation, iridescence, staining strength, and transparent and opaque colours are explained clearly and simply, and there is practical guidance on colour relationships, using colour to create space, and how to be more creative with colour.
Armed with a clearer understanding of colour and how it looks and behaves on paper, artists will be encouraged to be more bold and creative in their use of colour in their art.
Table of Contents
Introduction 6
Materials 8
The language of colour 14
Pigments Demystified 38
Tone & Value 58
Step-by-step project: Leaf 66
Palettes 72
Step-by-step project: Carte Postale Birds 86
The interaction of colour 98
Step-by-step project: Christmas Cactus 104
Modifying your Colours 112
Step-by-step project: Daina’s Teapot 120
Glazing 126
Step-by-step project: Still Life with Tulips 132
Mineral pigments & Luminescent watercolours 136
Step-by-step project: Inside, Outside 144
Experimentation & inspiration 148
Step-by-step project: Trees and Birds 154
Glossary 158
Index 160
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Extra Information
Click Here to view the Errata slip for this title.
About Julie Collins
Julie Collins studied Fine Art at the University of Reading and has been an artist, writer and teacher since then. She has written a number of colour mixing guides and artists’ problemsolving books and has now sold over 80k books. Julie also writes for Leisure Painter & The Artist magazine. She works from her studio in Hampshire, UK, where she explores her passion for painting, drawing and crafts.
Julie has received numerous prestigious awards for her painting, including from the Royal Watercolour Society, the Royal West of England Academy and ING Discerning Eye. She was elected a Member of the Society of Women Artists and on to the SWA Council in 2022.
In 2025 Julie was made a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers and a member of the Painter-Stainer’s Art Society.
