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The New Color Mixing Companion: Explore and Create Fresh and Vibrant Color Palettes with Paint, Collage, and Mixed Media--With Templates for Painting Your Own Color Patterns Paperback – Illustrated, December 4, 2018
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Uncover new ideas and easy methods of working with color from artist and popular Instagrammer Josie Lewis (@josielewisart), who offers fun lessons that will help you understand color in new ways, opening fresh avenues for your own artwork.
This comprehensive guide begins with an introduction to color that includes the color wheel, basic color terminology, and essential supplies. Starter projects help you get comfortable with color while learning how to work with watercolor, acrylic paint, and collage. Next-level projects take your skills even further, with more innovative techniques.
The book also includes easy-to-use templates with modern geometric layouts that you can use to create your own stunning color patterns. You’ll also discover how to:
- Make gorgeous rainbow effects using a variety of materials and methods.
- Work and play with scraps, shapes and swatches in an array of hues that will help build your color confidence.
- Create beautiful texture in watercolor and acrylic paint using simple supplies and techniques.
- Mix colors to produce shades ranging from calming neutrals to blazing brights.
- Use color effectively to take your imagination to new heights.
- Print length160 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherQuarry Books
- Publication dateDecember 4, 2018
- Dimensions8.6 x 0.65 x 10 inches
- ISBN-101631595490
- ISBN-13978-1631595493
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Frequently bought together
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Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Quarry Books; Illustrated edition (December 4, 2018)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 160 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1631595490
- ISBN-13 : 978-1631595493
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 8.6 x 0.65 x 10 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #972,140 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #203 in Acrylic Painting
- #965 in Watercolor Painting
- #1,108 in Graphic Design Color Use
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
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Artist Josie Lewis, whose Instagram account @josielewisart has more than 245,000 followers, has taught college-level painting, drawing, art appreciation, and two-dimensional design, and also regularly teaches workshops, leads creative retreats, and hosts exhibitions in her Minneapolis studio. She has been featured by DesignSponge, Insider, George Takei, and by many other social media influencers. Josie’s work has also been exhibited widely throughout the US and can be found in the collections of many private and public institutions, including Target Corporation, UC Berkeley, General Mills, University of Arizona at Phoenix and Flagstaff, and University of Minnesota. Her current work, which explores the interaction of material, pattern, repetition, and color, spans many mediums, including sculpture, painting, mixed media, and film. A two-time grant recipient of the Minnesota State Arts Board, Josie has an MFA from the University of Minnesota. Originally from the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota, she lives in the Twin Cities. See more of her work at josielewis.com.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book inspiring and helpful for learning color theory. They find the instructions clear and easy to follow, with step-by-step explanations. The book is described as fun and engaging for artists and art lovers alike. Readers appreciate the author's genuine personality and can-do attitude. The quality paper and printing are praised.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book inspiring and helpful. They appreciate the thoughtful content and beautiful design. The book is a great reference, with useful information, projects, and prose that inspires creativity.
"...This book really is inspiring and makes these projects seem achievable and if it doesn’t work out perfectly that’s quite alright as it’s really..." Read more
"...she gives the reader a great deal of free-play leeway and encourages artistic exploration instead of advocating a Do It My Way approach...." Read more
"...I was pleasantly surprised. Flipping through the book is inspiring and it makes me want to try doing some of the other mediums...." Read more
"...and tapping into one's flow (transient hypofrontality) makes this book unique!..." Read more
Customers find the book informative and enjoyable. They appreciate the author's style in her videos and the creative ideas for color palettes. The watercolor exercises are a favorite, and the instructions are clear and well-photographed. Overall, readers find the book a wonderful testament to love for colors.
"...photography and the vibrancy of the artist’s colors makes for a beautiful book...." Read more
"...Same for the dozen next-level projects. The book is copiously adorned with lovely photographs, and intermingled with Josie's authentic heart and can-..." Read more
"...The book is colorful, inspiring and easy to follow. A fun book once you have all of the supplies." Read more
"...Project instructions are clear and well-photographed. The project templates downloaded easily. The book itself is sturdy...." Read more
Customers find the book easy to follow and find information. They appreciate the clear explanations of techniques and projects. The author keeps things simple, keeping things accessible. Readers enjoy reading through the many projects.
"...Her writing style is witty and engaging with very person ancedotes that give you a more in-depth view of who she is and why she creates what creates..." Read more
"...listing skill level, skills learned, materials, mess level, and time to complete. Same for the dozen next-level projects...." Read more
"...The book is colorful, inspiring and easy to follow. A fun book once you have all of the supplies." Read more
"...The project templates downloaded easily. The book itself is sturdy. It has heft (1.5 lbs.) and is bound using stitched signatures...." Read more
Customers find the book engaging and fun to read. They appreciate the step-by-step instructions, fun projects that aren't too hard to try, and beautiful examples. The book offers activities for all ages and abilities that help you tap into your own creativity. Readers also mention that the author gives the reader a great deal of free-play leeway and encourages artistic exploration.
"...Her writing style is witty and engaging with very person ancedotes that give you a more in-depth view of who she is and why she creates what creates..." Read more
"...I am delighted that she gives the reader a great deal of free-play leeway and encourages artistic exploration instead of advocating a Do It My Way..." Read more
"...The book is colorful, inspiring and easy to follow. A fun book once you have all of the supplies." Read more
"...This book is funny I usually don't laugh aloud when using my art books, but I chuckled and guffawed all through the book...." Read more
Customers appreciate the author's genuine personality and can-do attitude. They find the book witty and engaging, with personal anecdotes that provide a deeper understanding. Readers describe the author as inspiring, expressing herself well, and describing it as a funny and poignant memoir.
"...Her writing style is witty and engaging with very person ancedotes that give you a more in-depth view of who she is and why she creates what creates..." Read more
"...Her truth-speaking voice and beautiful heart shine from every page. Get it for a friend, or, heck, get it for yourself. Or both...." Read more
"...Your commentary displays so much information as well as your sparkling personality...." Read more
"...The book speaks to me, keeps things simple and Josie expresses herself well so I can “get” what she’s teaching...." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's sturdiness. They find it well-made with quality paper and printing, with beautiful images and color that pop. The book is put together nicely and breaks in nicely.
"...However, for $35 you not only get her professional grade pallet but also 4 round golden taklon brushes in there own case...." Read more
"...The project templates downloaded easily. The book itself is sturdy. It has heft (1.5 lbs.) and is bound using stitched signatures...." Read more
"...I LOVE IT! It's a gorgeous, gorgeous book. Quality paper and printing, the images and color pops so beautifully...." Read more
"...I like to see a video instead but this one is an exception and very well-made for people who are visual learners...." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's art talent. They say it's a great book for mixed media artists with an amazing grasp of color theory.
"Josie Lewis is an amazing talented artist who has a supurb grasp of color theory and an amazing way of controlling her paintbrush that brings out..." Read more
"Josie Lewis is an art voice to listen to..." Read more
"Great Book For Mixed Media Artists..." Read more
"great ideas for both new and seasoned artists...." Read more
Reviews with images
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TOP BOOK ON MY ART SHELF! Guaranteed happiness, enjoyment and learning about colors and painting!
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2018I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it if you or your friends are looking to be inspired, want to brush up on some techniques or just want a conversation inducing coffee table book. The quality of the photography and the vibrancy of the artist’s colors makes for a beautiful book. Her writing style is witty and engaging with very person ancedotes that give you a more in-depth view of who she is and why she creates what creates. I’ve enjoyed following her on Instagram and find her videos to be therapeutic, but have always felt I couldn’t necessarily do it nearly as well, so why even try to make my own pieces. This book really is inspiring and makes these projects seem achievable and if it doesn’t work out perfectly that’s quite alright as it’s really about the process of making art. I think I need to get some acrylics, a canvas, and a palate knife and go to town.
5.0 out of 5 starsI really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it if you or your friends are looking to be inspired, want to brush up on some techniques or just want a conversation inducing coffee table book. The quality of the photography and the vibrancy of the artist’s colors makes for a beautiful book. Her writing style is witty and engaging with very person ancedotes that give you a more in-depth view of who she is and why she creates what creates. I’ve enjoyed following her on Instagram and find her videos to be therapeutic, but have always felt I couldn’t necessarily do it nearly as well, so why even try to make my own pieces. This book really is inspiring and makes these projects seem achievable and if it doesn’t work out perfectly that’s quite alright as it’s really about the process of making art. I think I need to get some acrylics, a canvas, and a palate knife and go to town.Colorful, enjoyable, and inspiring
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2018
Images in this review
- Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2019I am in awe of creatives. This book is full of thoughtful bits that could turn me, a non-artistic type, into a maybe-I-can-try-one type. For each of her dozen beginner projects she walks you through it, and helps you choose where to begin by listing skill level, skills learned, materials, mess level, and time to complete. Same for the dozen next-level projects. The book is copiously adorned with lovely photographs, and intermingled with Josie's authentic heart and can-do attitude. I am delighted that she gives the reader a great deal of free-play leeway and encourages artistic exploration instead of advocating a Do It My Way approach. Her truth-speaking voice and beautiful heart shine from every page. Get it for a friend, or, heck, get it for yourself. Or both. Oh, one more thing: go to her website and watch just one video if you need a lift.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2020If you're a mixed media painter you'll love this book.
I'm a beginner watercolor painter so I was looking for a book on watercolor. I'm glad that amongst the projects for other mediums there are watercolor exercises.
What I didn't anticipate is that Josie Lewis created a watercolor pallet designed specifically for this book which you have to order separately.
This was slightly frustrating because I couldn't start working with the book until the paints came in the mail from her website. However, for $35 you not only get her professional grade pallet but also 4 round golden taklon brushes in there own case. I was pleasantly surprised.
Flipping through the book is inspiring and it makes me want to try doing some of the other mediums.
The book is colorful, inspiring and easy to follow. A fun book once you have all of the supplies.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2022
5.0 out of 5 stars Instructions and Insights Are Communicated with Wit and in a Conversational Style
Josie's integration of insights about triggering and tapping into one's flow (transient hypofrontality) makes this book unique! They are presented conversationally in lay language throughout the book.
This book's content is exceptionally well-organized and usefully organized! The projects are labeled by challenge level: Beginner, Moderate, and/or Advanced. They are also clustered and indexed by medium: Watercolor, Acrylic, Collage. Each project has the same layout which makes it easy to follow and find information, including its Mess Level. Project instructions are clear and well-photographed. The project templates downloaded easily.
The book itself is sturdy. It has heft (1.5 lbs.) and is bound using stitched signatures. The page papers are not annoyingly glossy are heavy enough to prevent highlighting and other markups from bleeding through. It broke in nicely! (The attention to quality you can expect from publisher Quarry/Quarto.)
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to experience the capacity of art to stimulate personal and artistic growth, relaxation and/or healing.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2018I got my copy this week, after a small delay from internal mail delivery at my work (safer than delivery to my apartment). I LOVE IT! It's a gorgeous, gorgeous book. Quality paper and printing, the images and color pops so beautifully. Your commentary displays so much information as well as your sparkling personality. I love your style in your videos, and I can just hear you in my head as I read the text in the book... hehehe... makes me smile. I'm not really a painter at all, but I love color and I love knowing about various mediums. Even not being a painter, this is a treasure trove and I am so happy you are sharing it with us all. I will be trying out some of the tutorials with templates for sure, as I feel they are very easy to follow even for a non-painter. (I have used various mediums in the past: some wood, ceramic/clay, metal (jewelry/chainmaille), with my favorite and supreme medium being glass via lampworking - but only ever dabbled with art type painting.) Thank you for sharing your process and knowledge!
- Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2019Reading this author is like listening to a friend. The book flows easily and is full of interesting ideas to explore color wheels. I’m primarily into acrylic painting and found useful information to create complimentary colors using the mother method. I enjoyed the author relating how meaningful painting has been to help overcome personal tragedy.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2019The New Color Mixing Companion is the perfect book for those of us who want to learn how to mix and use colors in ways that are fresh, exciting and challenging. This may mean throwing away some of your preconceived notions about how to mix colors, or how to look at color or learn a new technique or skill. As a beginner I was able to lose most of my hesitancy after a few exercises and found it liberating and enjoyable.
This book is funny I usually don't laugh aloud when using my art books, but I chuckled and guffawed all through the book. The book itself is beautiful, just gorgeous to look at. This is my favorite art book I own.
Thank you Josie Lewis for this fabulous, gorgeous and generous book. I know that I will using it a lot.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me a copy of this ARC for an honest opinion.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2019Expected something more creative, but basic color blending with templates for geometric designs to fill in as collage, acrylic or watercolor paint.
Top reviews from other countries
- AKReviewed in India on August 12, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, Love the project based approach
The book is so well written and organised, author feels very approachable and keeps the text so engaging while share it stories and anecdotes around her experiences with colours and different activities to better understand the usage of colour. If you are into geometrical patterns, this book and the projects will prove to be a sheer delight! Loved the exercise/ projects easy to follow and would definitely recommend!
- VJMReviewed in Canada on September 20, 2019
5.0 out of 5 stars A good purchase.
I like this book a lot. It is clearly written with lots of good ideas and illustrations. I use it for both my own education and gathering art ideas to use with my 11 year old granddaughter
- Jeanne T.Reviewed in France on January 6, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely awesome
I loved this book so much. I'm in a real creativity struggle these days as I suffer from PTSD and so I'm not in such great shape mentally. Yet this book inspired me a lot. I was a always drawing in black and white with my pencil as a kid and then I stopped drawing altogether and recently wanted to pick it up again, and this book inspired me and reminded me how beautiful color is. It's such a relaxing, kind read where the author also shares her struggles and a lot of creative ideas that I'm in love with. Honestly, even if I didn't try any of the projects ( and i did, and it was fun) I'd already consider myself changed positively simply by the read. Now i just want to try new things and blend colors together. I'd definitely recommend it and I wish the best for the author (who's a really good writer by the way)·
- J. FisherReviewed in Australia on February 14, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Book
Love this book. So bright and inspiring. :)
- Amazon Customer kathryn rhodenizerReviewed in Canada on October 6, 2019
3.0 out of 5 stars It’s ok
Not as good as I hope it would be. It focused more on water colour, and construction paper art.