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Posted on 14/01/15 2:58:43 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5527 Reply  |
A MARVELLOUS BOOK ON COLOUR
VISION AND ART - THE BIOLOGY OF SEEING by MARGARET LIVINGSTONE This wonderful book is written by a neurobiologist at Harvard Medical School. “Vision and Art - The Biology of Seeing” may not sound very exciting but, believe me, it completely changed the way I look at and understand colour ……. and I am a professional who has worked with colour for photography both on set and in post production for over fifty years. Margaret Livingstone explains with simple clarity the physical mechanisms by which we see and perceive. But this is not a dry scientific work - she goes on to place each of these mechanisms within the context of art and painters. She explains how the great painters, either consciously or unconsciously, have exploited and used these mechanisms to very particular ends. It is utterly fascinating and absorbing. She explains colour space, hue planes, and oddities like equiluminance and why some colour combinations overstimulate and seem to almost move or vibrate. Light and shade and three dimensional perception. How pictures with no discernible vanishing points can still have tremendous depth, and how we are able to interpret this automatically from the tiniest of visual cues. Because it is centred around painters and on the printed page it is centred around additive colour. This doesn’t matter as the general principles she describe are independent of this and apply in most part equally to subtractive colour. It’s very clearly and simply written with tons of visual examples. Trust me ……. if you paint, work with photoshop or photography this is money well spent! The fascinating thing is she touches on lots of stuff you already knew instinctively or empirically …. but never knew why! I found it by chance in a museum bookshop but you can find it online easily from several sources. Here are enough details for your local bookshop to order it for you if you prefer. ISBN 978-0-8109-9554-3 Published by Abrams, 115 West 18th Street, New York, NY10011 www.abramsbooks.com _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 15/01/15 10:08:56 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6987 Reply  |
Re: A MARVELLOUS BOOK ON COLOUR
Looks fascinating. Will definitely check it out. |
Posted on 17/01/15 05:32:08 AM |
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vibeke
Kreative Kiwi Posts: 2166 Reply  |
Re: A MARVELLOUS BOOK ON COLOUR
Sounds heavy but my library has it so I will have a look at it. Thanks _________________ Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize. |
Posted on 17/01/15 09:38:40 AM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5527 Reply |
Re: A MARVELLOUS BOOK ON COLOUR
Not heavy ..... promise .......  _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |