| Color Works: The Crafter's Guide to Color | 
 enlarge | Author: Deb Menz
Publisher: Interweave Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $15.46
You Save: $9.49 (38%)
Buy New/Used from $13.47
Avg. Customer Rating:   (18 reviews)
Sales Rank: 34372
Media: Spiral-bound
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 152
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 7.8 x 1.2
ISBN: 1931499470
Dewey Decimal Number: 746.46
EAN: 9781931499477
ASIN: 1931499470
Publication Date: May 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Crafters can explore colors with confidence in a variety of mediums with the advice in this book. The principles of color theory are clearly and simply explained and applied to knitting, spinning, weaving, surface design (including stenciling and rubber stamping), hand and machine embroidery, beadwork, and paper collage. Basic color concepts are presented in sections on color description, values, contrasting and complementary colors, warm and cool colors, undertones, and using color relationships. A pull-out color wheel and handy color chips in perforated format that are easy to remove and use for planning, matching, and shopping for supplies are included.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 seems dull for a color theory book May 2, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
the colors seem dull and dark. why use a black background for the samples and examples? those pictures look a little out of focus, shadowy, and dark. i really like everything else about this book, but expected much better photography. i want a visual feast when i sit down to explore color. this was uninspiring.
 The only book on color you'll ever need! April 24, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Really, this book covers all you'll need to experiment with color. I never knew that so much was involved when making color choices. It's not hard to understand, but it took me a bit to understand the chapter on value. Once I read it through twice, though, it all started to make sense.
It also contains a color wheel with punch out overlays to help you choose colors. I did find them hard to punch out, as another reviewer stated, and ended up using scissors to cut the perforations.
This book is just packed with information. If you are interested in exploring color, you'll find this book very helpful.
Color and medium combinations March 6, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Deb Menz's Color Works is about color combination. There are numerous illustrations of theory and practice. The pages of samples showing several mediums makes the book for me. The same color on yarn, fabric, seed beads, or paper has a different resonance. The text illustrates how color/medium combinations "can be dramatic or theatrical." The examples push the reader to consider alternative color choices. Goethe's color theory of relative proportions is convincingly illustrated. Deb Menz offers practical methods to add more colors (hexad harmony) while avoiding a rainbow look. There's plenty to retrain the eye and mind.
Wonderful reference you'll use again and again January 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you are a craftsperson, this is a terrific reference tool! The examples of spinning, beading, weaving, quilting, and embroidery really show you how color works in each realm. Best of all are the tear out color wheel and color harmony overlays that get you thinking about your palette.
Inroduction to color in fiber arts May 17, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Colorworks is a great introduction to color theory for people who
work in fiber arts, packed with lots of examples of color schemes
worked out in knitting, weaving, beads, quilting, paper, machine and surface embroidery. While it is not nearly as in-depth as the now out-of-print Color and Fiber, it is also more accessible. It is also not as specific as Mary Fry's Color for Needlework, but it provides a good, solid ground for a stitcher's exploration of color.
Almost half the book is made up of color tools, including palettes of each of twelve hue, ranging from fully saturated hues to extremely muted tones and shades. A Color Wheel and Value Scale are also provide. A series of templates has holes cut out to be used in conjunction with the color wheel to find color combinations.
The seven chapters of the book cover all the major topics in color
studies. There are chapters on color relationships, value,
contrasts, and harmonies. Each sub-topic within the chapters is
given s page of text. Next to it are nine samples in various media
showing the principle discussed. These examples use the same design from page to page, varying only in the color used. As much as anything, this gives graphic demonstration of the topics and will fuel stitchers' imaginations.
The last two chapters apply color to specific media. The sixth
chapter discusses the characteristics of media in relation to color. Most folks know that shiny surfaces look lighter than matte surfaces, but how does this apply to knitting yarn or beads. Knowing something of the characteristics of yarns before you shop will help you in making choices. The final chapter, shows how a color scheme is developed in each of the nine crafts used in the book. Paper scraps show the basic colors involved while the text outlines the color harmony used as well as the specific colors. A value scale on paper is included and samples of the media used are also included in the illustration.
This book provides just enough information on color to get a
craftsperson started with this exciting topic. Unlike many books on color, this book doesn't talk about mixing colors, since these
materials are all discreet. But it should be considered a starting point for color exploration, not a complete book.
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