COLOUR IN THE MAKING is structured around four essays, each of which provides the historical background for a series of case studies which illuminate art and science collaborations and innovations in the field of colour and the artists' projects they produced. Colour in the Making is a visual history of art and design told through the materials of color from the discovery and use of early earth pigments through lakes to organic chemistry and into contemporary dyes, inks, printing techniques and manufacture. Throughout this sumptuously colorful book artists and designers projects illustrate the often behind the scenes inventions and processes of color-making. In doing so Colour in the Making, through its international and deep exploration of the field of color, shows that art and science have always been inextricably linked.

A visual history of art and design told through the lens of an ever-evolving colour palette--from the discovery and use of early earth pigments through to organic chemistry and into contemporary dyes, inks, printing techniques and manufacture. Chronologically structured, the book features three essays providing the historical and technical background for studies that illuminate art and science collaborations and innovations in the field of colour: Mark Clarke discusses colour innovations up until the Renaissance, Philip Ball focuses on the advances in organic chemistry in the nineteenth century, and Carinna Parraman examines print reproductions, technology, and the future of inks and paint making. These essays are accompanied by case studies such as Vincent van Gogh's prediction of colour uses in his personal letters, Master Pigments's efforts to recapture of surface effects of organic paints, Yves Klein's patented shade of blue, Cory Archangel's beautiful Photoshop Gradient Demonstrations and Jessica Stockholder's immersive work Color Jam which enlivened the streets of Chicago. -- From publisher description.