I signed up for my core science requirement in my sophomore year of undergrad. I heard from my advisor and my classmates that the color science course was a good one for theatre majors, fun and easy. Then, on the first day of class, the professor thoroughly destroyed both of those rumors. I dropped it immediately, forgot about my science requirement entirely, and ended up fulfilling it with an 8 AM astronomy course the summer AFTER I should have graduated (I got a C on a curve).
IF ONLY I’D HAD THIS BOOK!
What is Color is a delightful summary of what color is, how we create color, and what color means to us as artists and people. The text is aimed at older tweens, but is a fun read for anyone interested in the science and history behind colors. Weinberg seeks to answer the title question, coming up with many possible answers as he deep-dives into the history of each color on the spectrum (plus pink, white, and black). Along the way he drops tidbits with the help of the VIPs of color history – many fine artists, but also scientists like Isaac Newton and art-tivists like Stuart Semple.
Certain color deep-dives go further than “what we used to make this” and into “how do we feel about these colors?” Certain types of people might claim the book is stuffing wokeness into the narrative, but normal people will appreciate the discussion of how pink became gendered and what it represents to queer people; how Kelly James Marshall used a rainbow of pigments to express the nuances of being Black; and when indigenous communities discovered pigments long before they were colonized by Europe. And if that all sounds kind of heavy for tweens, the big ideas are balanced with dog cartoons, amusing self-portraits of the author interacting with history, and lots of gross-and-shocking color facts. (Cow pee as paint?! Arsenic-dyed killer clothing?! Grinding up mummies for art?!)
The book concludes with recipes for building your own pigments at home (mummy-free), lots of recommendations for further reading (for all ages), and a thorough glossary and reference section. A++ book for young artists and artists young-at-heart.