Bright Earth: Art and the Invention of
Color by Philip Ball
Bright Earth
The making of a painting relies on inspiration, craft, practice, and vision.
But, observes the noted science writer Philip Ball, it also hinges on
science: For as long as painters have fashioned their visions and dreams
into images, they have relied on technical knowledge and skill to supply
their materials. In this lively study, Ball examines some of the tools and
materials that chemists have added to the palette over the centuries. He
also takes his readers on a learned tour of what science has taught us
about vision, the nature of light, and the physical and cultural factors that
condition our perceptions of color (the ancient Romans, he notes, had no
term for brown or gray, but that does not mean they didnt use earth
pigments in their work). Whether writing of matters scientific or artistic, Ball
is a technologist but not a determinist. In the end, he writes, art depends
not on science but on artists, and each artist makes his or her own contract
with the colors of the time. Readers with an interest in science, art, and
the crossroads where they meet will relish Balls erudite travels across the
spectrum of light. --Gregory McNamee

Personal Review: Bright Earth: Art and the Invention of Color by
Philip Ball
Bright Earth is about the long history of paint, not as much as art and
painting but of paint itself, and the amazing history people have with visual
art.
Focusing on the machanics of paint, where the pigments came from,
possible ways people discovered paint, and how different pigments interact
with their binders, this is a very intersting and informative book on the
technical aspects of visual art, but the book is more.
It deals also with the historic aspect of color and how cultural precepts
influence our perception of color and color theory. How our cultural
baggage influences how we see color and our reactions to it.
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