Color Harmony for Artists: How to Transform Inspiration into Beautiful Watercolor Palettes and Paintings

by Ana Victoria Calderón

Explore and create expressive palettes and paintings with  Color Harmony for Artists .

Watercolor author, artist, and teacher Ana Victoria Calderon guides you through choosing, mixing, and using color with watercolor and mixed media to  create the most expressive and appealing combinations and effects for a wide range of moods and subjects. You'll explore a variety of subjects and themes, including flowers, foliage, landscapes, skies, cities, figures, art movements, and historical eras. With Color Harmony for Artists, every artist, from beginner to advanced, will be inspired to embrace the creative possibilities of color and paint !

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Reference, Crafts, How To, Design

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2019

About the author

Ana Victoria Calderon is a Mexican/American watercolor artist and teacher with a bachelors degree in Information Design and continued studies in Fine Arts. Her licensed artwork can be seen in retail outlets throughout the United States and Europe on a wide variety of products, and she also sells prints of her artwork on Etsy. Ana teaches in-person workshops and hosts creative retreats in Tulum, Mexico, European summer destinations with Travellur, as well as more than 40,000 students on Skillshare, where she is a Top Teacher. See more of Ana's work on Instagram (@anavictoriana), YouTube (Ana Victoria Calderon), and Facebook (Ana Victoria Calderon Illustration). She lives in Mexico City, Mexico.

Fun facts:

Ana grew up in tropical Cancun, surrounded by nature and wildlife.

The artist lives with her fiancé and 3 cats in the trendy neighborhood "Roma" in Mexico City.

Considers herself to be a Beatles super fan.

Passion for cooking delicious organic food.

Reviews

[Ola G · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this didn't work for me at all.
Maybe the swaths can be helpful for others - to me they just didn't have any value, and seemed like a rather boring exercise in color theory.

[Cathy Geha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Color Harmony for Artists
How to Transform Inspiration into Beautiful Watercolor Palettes and Paintings
by Ana Victoria Calderon
Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry

This book took me back to creating color swatches using the many watercolor paints I had. I would take the blues and put them down one side and mix them with yellows of all colors and paint them into grids with information beside them to keep and use in future painting projects. I learned a great deal creating color swatches like the ones mentioned in this book.

The interesting idea that I came away from while reading this book had more to do with looking at what surrounds me and then trying to recreate the colors I see. Each example included a photo example then a color swatch created from the photo and a design or painting that used the colors created in the swatch. Colors used by the artist with further information was also provided. I had never considered looking around my house, outside, in cities, at tiles, in historical sites and other places for palettes to create color swatches for paintings.

I believe this would be a great book to add to my library just for the ideas related to color. I am sitting here thinking of colors I would like to dabble with and what I would like to paint next and not having picked up and wet my watercolor brushes for a couple of years...that is rather contemplating to contemplate.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

[Barb Middleton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the intro on color basics. The focus is watercolor and I use oils and acrylics so while I found her practice of looking at nature and creating color swaths, it isn’t a medium I work in. That said, I picked up a few tips.

[Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is beautiful. I love how the author/artist took one photo, showed the palette she created and then a painting inspired by the photo. The colors are vivid and lovely, and the paintings are each unique and true to the palette of the photo. I do wish there was slightly more information about which exact colors she used to create her palettes as well as information about ht brushes and other tools used. But I would (will) buy this book and refer to it often.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Majo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gusta mucho el estilo de Ana Victoria!
Este libro tiene paletas de colores espectaculares aplicadas en ejemplos simples pero impactantes y muy creativos.

Es un libro para tener en la estantería e ir consultándolo o echándole un ojo como inspiración.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great inspiration for beautiful color pallettes.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for those who want to learn more on colour theory and colour combinations. Take part of an painting or photograph and repaints it in the combinations (shows swatch above image). Really nice if you want to know what colours can be used well together.

[E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

★★★☆☆ | Play with colours and let them inspire you

🎨 basics of colour theory
🎨 the process of getting inspired by colours
🎨 ideas and inspirations with colour palettes to explore

Honestly, this review has been in my drafts for some time now. 

I don't really have that much to say about this book?

It had all the basics of watercolours covered so you can start off with it with no prior knowledge and as a beginner, it's always good to go through it once again.

But!

It's just not very close to my art style.

I had a lot of paintings to chose from when I was writing the review of my last art book and while I like the idea of getting inspired by colours and the quick tour of the colour used in various art styles -- my art process is just not there yet.

I think this book would gain a lot if the author said a word or two on the techniques she was using as well because if this is aimed at beginners (I assume since it started with the basics) -- then it's important to know where to start from.

As an inspiration, it's certainly interesting and would be helpful to many struggling with art block or just trying to get better with colour composition. 

(Provided they 'click' with the art style or are okay with and have the time for exploring)

I'll update if I try out this process.

blog | insta | twitter | booksirens | duolingo | pinterest

[AcademicEditor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book focuses mainly on color techniques with watercolor painting. You can certainly apply the color harmony principles to other art or design projects, but watercolor painters will benefit most here. The author shows you how to make vibrant and deep colors with watercolors, and even create watercolor takes on famous works of art (Monet, Mondrian) made in other media.

This book is accessible enough for older children, while still having plenty to keep an adult occupied as well. Order a set of watercolors and add this to your quarantine queue!

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colour theory is pretty simple, but this book shows how to apply colour theory to paintings created from vibrantly coloured photographs. Each example shown comes with a large palette of colour combinations. It's a wonderful invitation to create your own colourful paintings.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Color Harmony for Artists is a color and palette sourcebook by Ana Victoria Calderón. Due out 19th Nov 2019 from Quarto on their Quarry imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in paperback format.

The introduction and basic color theory (color wheel, harmony, tone, temperature, some paints and supplies) take up about 18% of the page content. The writing is accessible and clear.There's a digestible amount of information for new watercolor artists, but probably little new info for intermediate and advanced artists.

The bulk of the page content is given over to specific palettes shown with an inspiration picture (See the book's cover). The book closes with an outline template with recommendations for utilization, resources and links for further exploration, an artist's statement, and a cross referenced index.

This is a graphically appealing book and there's a fair amount of usable info for the beginning to intermediate artist. It would also work for artists and crafters in other disciplines who need some help with picking out fibres and fabrics for embroidery, knitting, quilting, or other color heavy crafts.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Ana Victoria Calderon! I had pre-ordered mine and it was here the day it was released and was worth the wait! This book is different than her first book in that it concentrates solely on color theory and color palettes. I’m an artist myself and was so inspired by this book, I’ve never encountered anything like it. Most books on color can be extremely technical and void of any creativity, however Ana manages to put a creative spin on this subject that only she could.

The beginning of the book dives into color theory and different types of watercolor paint in order to give the reader a foundation to work from. From there the book takes a fun turn into the world of color palettes. Each of the palettes created are based on inspiration from landscapes, animals, master artists’ work and much more. Each is beautiful in its own right. Ana also includes a photo of her inspiration, the color palette created from the inspiration and then a painting created from the palette, the entire process from inspiration to inception. The color notes” and “technique notes” throughout the book will give you more insight into each palette she has created and there are over 50! She has a nice template in the back for painting your own warm/cool color exercise and plenty of resources too. I really loved this idea of exploring color through the world around me and I’ve dedicated a mixed media sketchbook for creating my own palettes. After seeing the beautiful work in this book you’ll be inspired to do the same!

[Mechthild · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get your watercolors out
Ana Victoria Calderón presents her book "Color Harmony for Artists. How to Transform inspiration into Beautiful Watercolor Palettes and Paintings", published by Quarto Publishing Group - Quarry. She divides her book into two parts: 1) Hands-On color Theory, and 2) Inspirational Palettes. Calderón includes notes (e.g., color notes for techniques). She shows how a photo, or a part of it, or objects, or designs from an object can be adapted into a painting or used as an inspiration and which color palettes wold be needed to accomplish this task. Calderón has also included information about the resources that can be used to work such watercolor projects and an index for quick reference. Lastly she explains also how the template at the end of the book can be reproduced for exercises. I highly recommend this book. It not only makes a great present, but can be also very inspirational for artists, not only those who use watercolors, but also those who use other mediums such as acrylics or oils. It is very simple so it is also a good resource for beginners.
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#ColorHarmonyForArtists #NetGalley

[Ashley (Red-Haired Ash Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good book for understanding how to look at objects and paint what you feel. It doesn’t have to be an exact copy of what you see, it can be just one small portion of the whole picture. I love how she gave examples at beautiful scenery or animals but painted what spoke to her. I really need to remember this because it's hard to push myself to paint or draw when I get inspired because I feel required to portray everything I see. I don’t need to do that. I can just capture the color, texture, or one item and use it to inspire me.

This book also discusses the breakdown of color schemes and color temperatures. This is important for understanding how to really make paintings pop and look natural. I also love that she discussed the different styles of art throughout the centuries and how it can teach you different things.

Overall, I enjoyed this perspective on painting and will be referring back to this book in the future.

*ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.*

[D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visually stimulated and always curious about the language of color and how it moves within its own community, I find this book to be gloriously satisfying.

The pages offer: a photo, a visual explanation, or chart, if you will, of the colors (obvious, and not so prominent) in that photo, and a third translation of the colors from the photo into a piece of the author's watercolor work as example. While this is not a true how-to book, it offers a deep examination of what the eye sees and how to see color on a granular level. How to see and use color better, perhaps more creatively.

I use the color large charts as inspiration on days when I need a nudge or seek to create with colors out of my comfort zone. If you want to learn more about how to really see color, you might enjoy this lovely and interesting process of color analysis. While the author uses mostly watercolor, one could translate the palettes to other media easily.

[Theredcentipede · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am an amateur artist (emphasis on amateur) who is in a color rut. It feels so good to have pages and pages of color inspiration at my finger tips.

This is not a resource for advanced color theory or a how-to book on watercolors.

This is a book for inspiration. I think it is useful for those who want to flip through and find a color mood to inspire a piece of art. Or, in reverse, to know the piece of art and mood you want, then search for a color scheme that really captures the mood OR explore a new color scheme that you wouldn't normally use, but would be a good challenge to try.

Improvements--I'm not sure I love the organization. It's a cool concept "skies" "cultures" "nature" but if I'm looking for something with a lively color scheme . . . those categories don't help me narrow my search. It's a fun organization for reading through and exploring though.

[Johannah Gage · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a fan of everything Calderón! I love her laid-back style, her encouragement, and her obvious love for the art she makes and shares.

I’ve really enjoyed her other two watercolour books, but I must admit this one took me a few pages to get the concept of the book straight in my mind. Her other books are more project-focused, whereas this one is full of inspiration and a great jumping-off point for your own creative projects. The other books taught me how to paint, this book taught me how to see.

Her classes on Domestika are excellent, too. It’s sort of like Skillshare, mostly Spanish-language, with excellent subtitles in many languages.

In this book, most importantly, she teaches us to look — stop and really look at the colours that surround you, look at a beautiful photo and notice how the colour palette creates the mood.

[Mai Chau DANG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mon grand coup de cœur pour un livre d'aquarelle. De loin mon préféré parmi les livres sur l'aquarelle que j'ai lu. Ce livre m'a donné plein d'inspiration pour le style plutôt abstrait en jouant sur les couleurs et non pas les dessins. C'est top. Cela m'a donné tellement envie de prendre mes pinceaux. Et hop, les couleurs apparaissent.

Cuốn sách về màu nước mà mình ưng nhất trong tất cả các cuốn từng đọc. Cách đưa ra góc nhìn khá thú vị về sự kết hợp hài hoà của màu sắc, tập trung vào một góc của chủ thể để tái hiện được (dù chỉ một phần) vẻ đẹp của sắc màu. Mình luôn phân vân và cảm thấy bất lực khi không biết làm sao thể hiện được sự bùng nổ trong mình mỗi khi thấy những sắc màu đứng cạnh nhau một cách tình cờ đầy tuyệt vời. Giờ mình có cảm giác như đang bắt đầu chạm được một đầu ngón tay vào rồi đó.

Muốn cầm bút lên quá.

[Rachel Pollock · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what audience this book is for. There's a couple pages on color theory at the beginning, and then pages and pages of color palettes created with watercolor inspired by various source materials (hair colors/skintones, landscapes, etc).

I suppose it illustrates how one can take inspiration from a source to create the palette for one's work, but for an actual working artist (as the title implies the reader to be), this feels like a pamphlet stretched into a book. Perhaps for those who consider themselves to be "not creative" or "not good at picking colors," this would offer some guidance? The book felt like flipping through someone's workbook to me.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Lael Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I read this book, I really liked the idea of swatches/mini paintings very much but overall the book felt like it took the idea almost too far with so many pages of color swatches -- and although some of the paintings included were very inspirational, others seemed too simplistic. At the same time it did not feel there was enough detail included to try and recreate a similar set of swatches. Perhaps that was the point, to bring the reader to create on their own, but as implemented it left a feeling of missing something with no specific information on the color mixes shown.

[Leyla Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this not only very colourful but a very interesting concept of mixing watercolours. The book starts with a chapter on colour theory and then goes onto to talk about an inspired palette using visual inspirations such photos, surroundings, lighting, culture colour influence, and lots ore to become familiar with making new colours and capturing the senses.
There are some very interesting techniques and beautiful examples to wet ones appetite for colour.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provided great examples of different moods you can create just by changing the colors of the same painting. The examples she provided were different from what I have seen in other color theory books.

The book provides the same information on color theory that you find in the majority of color books. This is a good painting reference book if you do not already have one.

I received this galley from NetGalley.

[Dove · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very simple and straightforward book about color composition. It will be great for anyone looking to demystify the process of taking colors from an existing image and using it to create a new composition. It will also serve as inspiration for color swatches to jumpstart new ideas. For more complex concepts, another source will be needed, but this book with serve it's purpose well within its limited scope.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book about color harmony. There is a short refresher course about color in the beginning. It isn't overly technical and wordy, however, there is plenty of information available. Through several different types of art and pattern, Ana illustrates putting color together to create certain aesthetics and also gives specific notes about colors, palettes, and experiences while making the examples.

Received ARC from Netgalley for review.

[Alexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me gustó más el concepto del libro que el libro en sí. Las paletas de color propuestas son hermosas pero más allá de los tips que da en base a ejemplos concretos no siento que sea una guía, porque no detalla el proceso sino los resultados. Igual es un buen libro de referencia y emular la propuesta de Ana Victoria me parece una propuesta muy agradable, aunque cada lector tenga que idear su propio proceso.

[Swan Creates · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was marketed wrong. It did not teach us anything about colour harmony instead, it gave a bunch of examples of it.

This book should have been marketed as "Colour Palettes to Inspire Artists", this would have made more sense since the colour palettes in here are beautiful and can inspire artists when they're stuck on what colour combination to use.

N.B. If it was marketed as a colour palette book, it would have gotten a 4-star rating from me.

[Natasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a beautiful book to flick through, and I love Ana Victoria's atmospheric use of watercolour and the textures she creates with blooms. I won't personally get much inspiration from this book beyond that, but if you are new to colour work or wondering how to use the inspiration you collect, then I can imagine this would be a good reference book for you.

[Gebanuzo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me gustó aprender un poco más de cómo funcionan las acuarelas, las mezclas de colores y la armonía. Hay un par de paletas de color que me encantaron y que guardé, pero en algunas la información era sosa y repetitiva. Bueno, no soy un experto en artes plásticas, quizá esperaba más sobre teoría de color.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome book for helping the creative learn how to best utilize color as a medium in their creations. I found it to be very interesting and beneficial no matter what form of art you create. Definitely an awesome resource!

[Witch-at-Heart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book full of creative and valuable ways to incorporate and improve color in your true. I highly recommend this book for new artists. It would make a wonderful gift. I highly enjoyed it. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.