--- product_id: 4967717 title: "Walter Foster Artist's Library Series Color Theory Book" brand: "walter foster publishing" price: "R645" currency: ZAR in_stock: true reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/4967717-walter-foster-artists-library-series-color-theory-book store_origin: ZA region: South Africa --- # 68 pages of expert color theory Softcover, portable artist’s guide Oil & acrylic painting focus Walter Foster Artist's Library Series Color Theory Book **Brand:** walter foster publishing **Price:** R645 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Summary > 🎨 Transform your palette, transform your art — don’t just paint, communicate with color! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Walter Foster Artist's Library Series Color Theory Book by walter foster publishing - **How much does it cost?** R645 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.za](https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/4967717-walter-foster-artists-library-series-color-theory-book) ## Best For - walter foster publishing enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted walter foster publishing brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - • **Portable Inspiration:** Compact 68-page softcover perfect for on-the-go creative sessions. - • **Contemporary Insights:** Fresh, modern approach to color psychology and pigment characteristics. - • **Master Color Dynamics:** Unlock the secrets of harmonious and vibrant color choices to elevate your artwork. - • **Practical & Accessible:** Step-by-step projects and tips designed for both beginners and seasoned artists. - • **Scientifically Backed Color Wheel:** Leverage the classic 12-hue color wheel for precise color mixing and scheme planning. ## Overview Walter Foster's Artist's Library Series Color Theory Book is a 68-page softcover guide that demystifies color theory for oil and acrylic painters. Authored by acclaimed artist Patti Mollica, it covers pigment properties, color psychology, mixing techniques, and the essential 12-hue color wheel. Ideal for both beginners and advanced artists, this contemporary manual offers practical projects and expert tips to help you create dynamic, harmonious, and meaningful artwork with confidence. ## Description About the Author Patti Mollica is an impressionistic and contemporary painter who believes that a painter’s job is to show the viewer the inherent beauty of all subjects and scenes. She is the author of several books on painting, including Artist Toolbox: Color; Getting Started: Master the basic theories and techniques of painting in acrylic; Modern Acrylics; Special Subjects: Basic Color Theory; and Color Theory. She was selected by Golden Paints to conduct lectures and facilitate workshops demonstrating “Creative Techniques Using Golden Paints and Mediums.” She lives and works in New York City and Nyack. Product Description Color Theory features everything an artist might need to know about color, including color psychology, pigment characteristics and terms, color schemes, color mixing, shadows, highlights, and much more. Regardless of your medium, a solid understanding of color and its applications is essential. With a fresh, contemporary take on the subject of color, this essential guide features step-by-step projects and practical tips and techniques to put color knowledge to effective use. From the Inside Flap Patti Mollica has been a fine artist and professional illustrator for more than 30 years. Her artwork is known for its fearless use of color and uninhibited brushwork. She delights in painting the world around her in a bold, decisive style, with hues that are intense, brilliant, and contemporary. From the Back Cover In this essential guide, accomplished artist Patti Mollica walks you through the most important aspects of color theory as they relate to oil and acrylic painting. From pigment characteristics and color mixing to color psychology, you'll find all the information you need to make dynamic, harmonious, and meaningful color choices in your own works of art. - Discusses and illustrates the complexities of color and how to use it as a tool for communication;- Offers tips for creating vibrant mixes, lively blacks, realistic greens, and flesh tones;- Features an inspiring collection of fresh and contemporary artwork. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Now that we know a little about the science behind color, how do we use our knowledge of light and color to organize a visual system that we can use to achieve our artistic goals? Fortunately, much of this organization has been done for us. The easiest way to view color relationships is through a circular diagram called the “color wheel”—a visual organization of color hues that follow a logical order around a circle. Seeing the colors organized in this fashion is helpful for color mixing and choosing color schemes. Many accomplished colorists throughout history, such as Wilhelm Ostwald, Dr. Herbert Ives, Sir Isaac Newton, and Albert H. Munsell, developed their own variations of color charting, but the 12-hue wheel pictured here is the most common model used by artists today. Review: Good for beginners, good refresher for advanced artists. - This is a good book for beginning artists. Although I have many years of experience as an artist, I found this guide useful for putting my intuition and experience into words as I now work as an instructor. I wish I had disovered a book like this sooner in my career, it would have saved me some hard-learned lessons! It explains a lot about how color balance and contrast in artwork can affect the overall quality of one's art, (skill nonwithstanding: you can apply these principles as a very low-level beginner or as an advanced artist.) As with anything else, becoming a good artist requires a lot of practice as well as practical knowledge. This book does a good job of spelling out the things one might normally have to try for oneself and discover through trial and error. Rather than stumbling upon success, an artist should learn the basics of color theory and strategically apply those ideas while composing a piece. I have also suggested to my students to purchase this book because it's super-affordable and even if they don't plan to do art professionally, the book is simple enough and clear enough that they can apply their newfound knowledge right away. Although becoming truly good at art requires a big time commitment, even the casual artist will see a big improvement in their work with a minimal time investment: the time required to read and understand this book. It's especially helpful to have color illustrations for more "obscure" concepts that would puzzle a newbie (such as the idea of "red" blues and "cool" reds). It's also helpful for advanced artists to keep such things in mind while mixing new colors and developing palettes. Rather than purchasing supplies as-needed, one can use this guide to plan out which of the many pigments available will be most useful for the specific effects one is going for. Review: THIS IS A BOOK EVERY ARTIST SHOULD OWN REGARDLESS OF YOUR MEDIUM. - regardless of your medium... This book explains color principles and values and color schemes beautifully. Easy to follow ( and I'm a show me let me try that myself type of person...I can't read texts and understand concepts very well) however, that being said....I couldn't put the book down, and I carry it around the house with me everywhere since my studio is at home. It's just long enough to read without getting boring (i almost wish it was a little longer and/or came with a companion CD showing you exactly what to do in the visual sense) but three are plenty of beautiful illustrations of photos. It's up to date current information that is timeless. Being self taught, I naturally do most of the things Patti talks about but I didn't understand why. I also didn't understand the color wheel and how the colors worked to achieve certain aspects, naturally I did those things but I was shooting from the hip. Now I can actually I can plan a painting knowing how to achieve my goals from the beginning!!! ## Features - Color Theory - From Walter Foster's Artist's Library Series - This essential guide walks you through the most important aspects of color theory as they relate to oil and acrylic painting - Find all the information you need to make dynamic, harmonious, and meaningful color choices in your own works of art - 68 pages in a softcover ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #109,419 in Arts, Crafts & Sewing ( See Top 100 in Arts, Crafts & Sewing ) #1,018 in Sketchbooks & Notebooks #7,803 in Paper Craft Supplies | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 758 Reviews | ## Images ![Walter Foster Artist's Library Series Color Theory Book - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/8120hX5HegL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good for beginners, good refresher for advanced artists. *by R***E on August 24, 2016* This is a good book for beginning artists. Although I have many years of experience as an artist, I found this guide useful for putting my intuition and experience into words as I now work as an instructor. I wish I had disovered a book like this sooner in my career, it would have saved me some hard-learned lessons! It explains a lot about how color balance and contrast in artwork can affect the overall quality of one's art, (skill nonwithstanding: you can apply these principles as a very low-level beginner or as an advanced artist.) As with anything else, becoming a good artist requires a lot of practice as well as practical knowledge. This book does a good job of spelling out the things one might normally have to try for oneself and discover through trial and error. Rather than stumbling upon success, an artist should learn the basics of color theory and strategically apply those ideas while composing a piece. I have also suggested to my students to purchase this book because it's super-affordable and even if they don't plan to do art professionally, the book is simple enough and clear enough that they can apply their newfound knowledge right away. Although becoming truly good at art requires a big time commitment, even the casual artist will see a big improvement in their work with a minimal time investment: the time required to read and understand this book. It's especially helpful to have color illustrations for more "obscure" concepts that would puzzle a newbie (such as the idea of "red" blues and "cool" reds). It's also helpful for advanced artists to keep such things in mind while mixing new colors and developing palettes. Rather than purchasing supplies as-needed, one can use this guide to plan out which of the many pigments available will be most useful for the specific effects one is going for. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ THIS IS A BOOK EVERY ARTIST SHOULD OWN REGARDLESS OF YOUR MEDIUM. *by W***N on May 4, 2016* regardless of your medium... This book explains color principles and values and color schemes beautifully. Easy to follow ( and I'm a show me let me try that myself type of person...I can't read texts and understand concepts very well) however, that being said....I couldn't put the book down, and I carry it around the house with me everywhere since my studio is at home. It's just long enough to read without getting boring (i almost wish it was a little longer and/or came with a companion CD showing you exactly what to do in the visual sense) but three are plenty of beautiful illustrations of photos. It's up to date current information that is timeless. Being self taught, I naturally do most of the things Patti talks about but I didn't understand why. I also didn't understand the color wheel and how the colors worked to achieve certain aspects, naturally I did those things but I was shooting from the hip. Now I can actually I can plan a painting knowing how to achieve my goals from the beginning!!! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Comprehensive *by M***E on January 30, 2023* This book arrived quickly and in great condition. As for the book itself, I found it to be very comprehensive. I really could easily understand color theory now with the way it's presented in this book. I'm really happy I got this one because I've struggled with color theory before and always just went on instinct. Now I feel like I have extra skills I didn't have before so my creations should come out looking even better. I'm sure I'll be referencing this book for some time to come too. Really glad I got it. This book isn't for advanced art students but is perfect for serious beginners. ## Frequently Bought Together - Color Theory: An essential guide to color-from basic principles to practical applications (Artist's Library) - Interaction of Color: 50th Anniversary Edition - Color by Betty Edwards: A Course in Mastering the Art of Mixing Colors --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/4967717-walter-foster-artists-library-series-color-theory-book](https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/4967717-walter-foster-artists-library-series-color-theory-book) --- *Product available on Desertcart South Africa* *Store origin: ZA* *Last updated: 2026-09-27*