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Prepared by Robin Hopper with additions by Roger Ralston.
Color — Perception and Use
1. Albers, Josef, Interaction of Color, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1963.
This text provides the content of Albers' famous color course at Yale with insight from a former member of the Bauhaus.
2. Itten, Johannes, trans. Ernst Van Hagen, The Elements of Color, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1970.
— The Art of Color, Ravensburg, Germany: Otto Maier Verlag, 1961.
The Itten manuals on color perception and use are probably the most widely read books on color that are in current use by students around the world. They explain, with many illustrations, the principles of color in a complete and thorough way as would be expected from the color master of the Bauhaus School.
3. Kingery, W. David, and Vandiver, Pamela B. Ceramic Masterpieces, New York, NY: The Free Press, 1986.
The appearance of a ceramic is determined by its internal structure, which in turn is determined by the technology of its manufacture. This book applies new methods connecting visual impact to internal structure for a deeper appreciation of ceramic masterpieces.
4. Koeppers, Harold, Color Atlas: A Practical Guide to Color Mixing, Woodbury, NY: Barron's Educational Series, 1982.
This presents a quantitative analysis of color mixing for three-or four-color process printing and gives a systematic catalogue of ratios under the standard of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) with each color chip printed, coded, and developed through specific ten-percent color steps.
5. — The Basic Laws of Color Theory, Woodbury: Barron's Educational Series, 1982.
This is a practical guide to teaching color theory at secondary and college levels and develops an actual theory of color.
6. Kuehni, Rolf G., Color—Essence and Logic, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983.
This small book provides a clear, comprehensive account of the current knowledge. Of little direct use to the clay worker, this book nevertheless gives a view of color perception and a scientific explanation of color phenomena and its effect on the visual sense and its ultimate effect on the brain.
7. Libby, William Charles, Color and the Structural Sense, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1974.
This is an excellent small book that makes the scientific aspects of color readily understandable through explanations of how color works and the mechanism of vision.
8. Rawson, Philip, Ceramics, London: Oxford University Press, 1971.
This wonderful little book on the aesthetics of ceramics should be part of every ceramist's library. It looks into color in ceramics in a way quite apart from the technical process of its development. The sector on color relates to its psychology and symbology in different cultural uses.
9. Rossotti, Hazel, Why the World Isn't Gray, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983.
This technical approach to color, written for the upper-level-interest layperson, covers sources of color in the environment and artificial color sources, changes from one environment to another, changes in atmosphere, color of metals, etc.
10. Sargent, Walter, The Enjoyment and Use of Color, New York: Dover Publications, 1964.
A simplified overview of color and color theory is given.
11. Varley, Helen, editor. Color, New York: Leon Amiel, 1985.
This fine large book on color gives the psychology of its use and examples of color principles as applied to the art and design fields. A wonderful extravaganza of illustrations depicts color use in a variety of fields.
Color — Development of the Ceramic Surface
1. Hopper, Robin, The Ceramic Spectrum, Radnor, PA: Chilton Book Company, 1984.
This book presents a simplified approach to glaze and color development. It removes most of the intimidating technical aspects and leads the reader through a course of increasing complexity in glaze development. Approximately one-third of the book is devoted to color, its formation and inhibition, its cross-blending, mixing and opacification.
2. Parmelee, Cullen W., Ceramic Glazes, Chicago, Industrial Publications, 1951.
Parmelee's book is one widely used in the ceramic industry. It is relatively technical and difficult to read but contains a wealth of information for the ceramist making a thorough search into specific color ranges. For it to be of value, the reader should have good technical understanding.
3. Shaw, Kenneth, Ceramic Colors and Pottery Decoration, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1969.
Shaw's moderately technical book on ceramic colors is one of the most complete and easily understood books on generalized ceramic color. It contains chapters on specialized color development. Although it was written essentially for industrial use, the studio potter will find the color concepts easily adaptable.
Other Books of General Interest
1. Fraser, Harry, Glazes For the Potter, New York: Watson-Guptil Publications, 1973.
2. Green, David, A Handbook of Pottery Glazes, London: Faber and Faber, 1978.
3. Hetherington, A.L., Chinese Ceramic Glazes, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1937.
4. Leach, Bernard, A Potter's Book, London: Faber and Faber, 1940.
5. Nelson, Glenn C. Ceramics—A Potter's Handbook. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1960.
6. Rhodes, Daniel, Clay and Glazes for the Potter, Radnor, PA: Chilton Book Company, 1957.
7. Wood, Nigel, Oriental Glazes, London: Pitman, 1978.