Saturday 25 August 2012

Colour: Travels Through the Paintbox by Victoria Finlay

When I saw this book reviewed at A Striped Armchair, I knew it was one I would have to hunt down and read immediately.  You see, I have a thing for colour.  I am not an artist but colour lights up something in my brain; when I lived with my parents and felt sad, I would go and lie in the bright yellow hallway and feel instantly better.  Colours can change my emotions and make me feel different things, calm me down, cheer me up or soothe me.  A whole book about the history of colours and how they are made sounded perfect.

Colour is part travel, part history.  Finlay has divided the book according to the rainbow and investigates how each colour was made in the time before synthetic colours.  Where possible, she visits countries of traditional production and learns how to make these colours herself and also about how colour production changed societies and cultures.  Finlay writes about why certain colours are given a high status (e.g. purple as the colour of royalty), compares how the same colours were made in different countries and why some became prized over others.

I really enjoyed Colour.  Finlay is an engaging writer who is fascinated by her subject matter and this comes across on the page.  Finding out how colours were made was truly compelling as I had no idea that humans were so inventive.  From sea snails to animal bones to bug blood to precious stones, there seems to be nothing colourful in nature that was not exploited for paint or dye at some time in history.  I was fascinated with the complicated process of making colour, of how you go from a rock of lapis lazuli to a blue oil paint and how artists used to make their own colours and tones according to what they wanted to paint.  Colour had power in history and there are plenty of accounts of countries and places become rich by making a fade-resistant paint that could be exported.  Finlay does a good job of explaining how these colours then became exulted and held up by society, part of the fabric of life.

Although I enjoyed the travel sections, where Finlay meets people living where colours were made in the past and discusses the legacy of colour with them, these sections took a backseat for me to the sections about actually making the paint or dye itself.  I would also have liked to learn more about modern paint making, about how many of the traditional colour sources are still used, and how the transition was made from natural to artificial colours.  Finlay clearly feels like something has been lost as we're forgetting the secrets of natural colours and I couldn't help but agree with her.  I'd be interested to see a modern paint-making factory to investigate how different things really are (I know you can still buy some traditional colours).

All in all, an absorbing and well written non-fiction book that I'm happy I picked up.  I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys travel or history, or anyone who has ever mixed their own colours using a watercolour set. 

Source: Library
First Published: 2002
Score: 4 out of 5

15 comments:

  1. What a fascinating subject! Color is so important in our lives, even more than we realize, I think. I know it definitely influences my moods. I have to ask - what is your favorite color? I think mine is blue.

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  2. My copy of this book disappeared - no doubt in one of my many house moves. However, I loved it. I am an artist, and something of a colourist in my work. A friend I studied with for my Master's found this book first of all our crew, and recommended it so highly that I went out and bought it on her say so. Just lately, I've been craving a re-read of it, but I've not seen it in any of the regular bookshops I haunt. Methinks a trip to the Art Gallery of NSW and their very dangerous bookshop (!) will remedy the situation...

    I hear what you say about the actual making of the colours versus the travel and people. I found there was a good balance - perhaps because I lust after the travel experience as well.

    On a side note, tekhelet - the blue made from the molluscs in Israel, is in production again. Partly through a movement of Temple-focused Jews who want to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem who are therefore, seeking to recreate everything necessary as described in Exodus. But also, as part of a revival of many natural pigment making processes.

    On my tallit - prayer shawl - I have a single tekhelet string in amongst the strings that make up the 'tzitzit' on each of the the corners - the strings tied at the corners of the priestly garments as described in the passages in Exodus about building the Tabernacle and clothing the priests. Mine were made in a small workshop in Israel and brought back for me as a gift from a friend when I made my tallit.

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    1. This must have been an even better read for a group of artists! I do enjoy travel books but thought where as her colour sections were the best I had read, I've read better travel books.

      Ah, that's interesting about tekhelet, in the book it mentioned the rediscovery of the colour but not widespread use/production. Your tallit must be something to treasure :)

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  3. Sounds interesting, a biography of William Morris I read recently had information about how obsessive Morris could be about traditonal colours and dying techniques and how oppossed he was to modern methods of creating dyes. It is amazing how powerful colour can be on moods, I love deep calm blue but recently have developed an affection for orange because it is so cheerful and vibrant so I love the cover on that book.

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    1. Funny enough in the book it mentions Morris and his quest for authenticity. But some of the colours he thought were authentic weren't as they had faded beyond recognition from the original intention. Blue is overall my favourite colour as it's so calming but I'm partial to lemony yellows too.

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  4. A story about colour. Now that's really... intriguing! It sounds beautiful and I'd love to read it :)

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  5. I dabble in watercolors so colors are of special interest to me. Definitely adding this book to my wishlist.

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    1. I think anyone who creates artistically would love this book. Hope you enjoy it :)

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  6. This does sound very interesting! I'm a color person as well...there's so much feeling within each color and the ways that color can affect our moods, attitudes, etc. is absolutely mesmerizing...I need to add this one to my WishList :)

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    1. People tend to be colour people or not - my husband thinks I'm a bit crazy when I go on about colour and mood!

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  7. This sounded so interesting to me on Eva's blog, too, and I'm glad to see that you enjoyed it as well, and brought up some different aspects of the story in your review. Great work!

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    1. Reading different reviews of the same book can be really interesting. I hope you get a chance to read this one.

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  8. Hmmm.. this sounds really fascinating. I love bright colors and lots of it! I don't know if I would pick up a title like this because nonfiction generally takes me longer to read, but your comment that it's engaging makes me believe I could do it. I love that the cover art is so bright.

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  9. I have always been fascinated by the idea of color psychology. It's so powerful, but we think about it so rarely. This book sounds like a great intersection of art, psychology, and travel.

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