As an artist, I have spent years creating commissioned artwork in pen & ink pointillism. When I saw Ms Lewis' book up for review I could not resist. 
 
The book is very well done, laid out in two parts, each with a multiple of exercises. The author takes time to address the reality of creating art in little snippets or mini essays, such as 'Flow', 'Art Scars', 'Developing your Fist' and others. I initially ignored them but as I went over some of the book material, I read them and found them to be very relevant to the practice of being an artist.
 
The exercise used different materials, such as water color, paint chips, acrylics, pictures from magazines.
 
Some of the exercises I seen when I took 2-d art, while others were new to me and quite interesting. My least favorite exercises where the collages made from magazine pictures. I love the exercises titled 'Dots', 'Bring Out Your Dead', 'Hex Addict' and my favorite 'Classic Schmear'.
 
Ms Lewis is a great writer, making humor a part of her writing craft. Her instruction is clear and for those who purchase this book and start practicing the exercises need to remember that it takes practice not 'talent' to master these exercises.  I recommend this book for others, especially those of us beginning or out of practice with color mixing.
 
My only con; I do wish Ms Lewis took time out to develop a couple more exercises in color pencil, pastels, soluble color pencils and even crayon.

Great informative book on color basics, such as how colors compliment eachother, mixed in with " how to" guides that include different techniques in acrylic, watercolor, and mixed media.. The pictures are amazing and I love the projects. Templates are also included which is a huge plus. Great book for any artists shelf.

This book is a different take on exposing yourself to and challenging yourself with color mixing. In addition, the author uses methods that may be transferred to various media for the rules of color are transferable across the spectrum of creative artwork. This makes an excellent gift for color artists in all genres from the art student to needlework designers.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that was provided by the publisher through Net Galley. However, the thoughts and opinions presented here are my own.

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I ordered this book, but I didn't expect what I got. I thought it would be about color mixing--how to combine colors to get certain shades, etc. I don't know Josie Lewis, so perhaps she does not write that kind of book. Instead this is kind of an exercise book to get you into painting and using colors, which she does in three mediums: acrylic paint, watercolors, and collages.

There are some cool exercises, especially with the watercolors, to explain color blending, but I am still not a fan of collages and those left me cold, especially in having to punch out hundreds of hexagons or triangles from different colored paper (using expensive paper punches) to create compositions with gradations of color. It just seemed tedious.

The basic idea of the book, however, is sound: besides learning how to blend color, she emphasizes having fun with art, and just playing around, not trying to achieve perfection, but to just enjoy it. In fact, she has one exercise where you do a collage project with all your watercolor discards. I enjoyed reading it, but it just wasn't what I expected.

This book is different from a lot of your regular art books. Josie Lewis takes you beyond animals and still life, and explores colors and shapes. Her projects are unique and inspire creativity. I like that there are templates included so you can work focus on the color aspects of projects. I really think this book will take my art to new creative levels.

I'm a fan of Josie Lewis's Instagram feed where she posts videos of her work. The same beautiful, mesmerizing work appears in her book, The New Color Mixing Companion. The ideas contained within are beautiful and appear to be fun to make. High art? Probably not, but that's not really the point. Lewis inspires readers to get their hands dirty and to work beyond creative blocks. I found this book to be very fun and it even inspired me to dust off my watercolors and play for a few hours. If you like her work, you'll like her book.

This book is impressive in all ways: visually appealing, full of extensive notes, tips, step-by-step projects from a very personable teacher who mixes real experiential knowledge (been there, done that and this is what happens) put forth in a down-to-earth way, with a delightful sense of humor. I know that's a long, muddled sentence, but have you ever been so excited about something that you just had to tell people about it as quickly as you could? That's how I'm feeling right now; and I don't even paint!! But I am fascinated with art, the essence, the colors, the creativity of it, and Josie Lewis makes me feel that it is something that even those such as I could do. WOW!

The author extensively describes color (color charts, primary, secondary, tertiary colors, monochromatic colors, analogous colors and complementary colors) and offers insight into how best to mix them. She then offers many projects (complete with free templates) to do.

All projects in the book (which are pretty cool by the way!) show the following, so you know at a glance if it's something you have the skills, materials, and time for:
Skill level
Skills learned
Materials needed
Mess level (dead give-away that a woman wrote this book! I love it!)
Time necessary to complete

This is a book that anyone who uses color in whatever way, in whatever media will find worthy of a place on their bookshelf. Very well done!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarry Books for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book was received as an ARC from Quarto Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Color patterns and mix's is always something that is of interest with our community of patrons that are extreme artists. We always get requests all the time of the latest Art and Color books for those that like to draw and paint. The book was wonderfully descriptive and had a lot of great ideas for projects that are easy and can look very impressive to the modern eye. I am also very impressed with the layout of the book and having the book be easy to read and most importantly easy to understand. Also the color combination presented in this book are very interesting and I am curious to try these combos the next time I have a watercolor class.

We will consider adding this title to our Non-Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

This book is an incredible addition to anyone that is learning to paint and to those that have been painting for years. Also for those that are interested in colours and color- blending.
As a watercolor newbie this is a very helpful book to learn about colours and to tray many different projects to learn how colours mix and behave together and separate.
This is a book I would recommend to all, painters, drawing artist and just creative people in general.

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry for this book.

My New Years resolution is to learn to paint, so I’m a complete newbie. This book was so informative, but not daunting. It makes creating art seem like something anyone can do. I can’t wait to try these out!

The New Color Mixing Companion by Josie Lewis is an unusual art book about color that makes the reader look at creativity and color in a whole new light. There are many pearls of wisdom in this book that go well beyond learning about color mixing. There are yje standard chapters about supplies and how to buy supplies. There are unique starter projects where one skill builds upon another. . There are many lessons about watercolor techniques like wet on wet, wet on dry and so forth .
The author talks about "art scars". These scars inhibits peoples ability to explore their own creativity, These scars are enemies of creativity. Procrastination, perfectionism, comparison, conformity, and fear are creativity killers. . This was a really interesting way to think about why some of us don't try or why we don't succeed in the crafting we try.
There are next step projects to work on too. There are special effects with watercolor, focal points, neutral colors, gradating value and intuitive color. I believe the author's intent is not only to teach the reader about color but to truly look at our skills and our mind set while crafting.
I would like to thank the publisher, the author and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review..

What a beautiful book!
Even If you never pick up a tube of paint, just looking at the colours bursting off the pages will fill you with joy.
The author brings together art theory, history, science and personal anecdotes with engaging enthusiasm. Her explanation of the colour wheel is great for reference and the projects are accessible and have visual punch.
I viewed a digital version of this book. I’m hoping the physical version has good quality paper and if so, I would love to give it to someone as a gift.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

I loved this book. I have always struggled to make make art work look bright and viberant. This book shows you how to make colours zing together and how to make them compliment each other. The geometric shapes and patterns ( templates included) make for beatuiful art works you can quickly get stuck into. They would also make great greetings cards. I have a number of die cutters collected over the years, now I have new ideas to but them to good use. Not also does this book give good colour inspiration but also ideas about adding texture to your work.
Many thanks to Quarto publications for access to this book. It is on my list to acquire.

It took a lot of trial and error for me to read this book. I had difficulties opening the format I received from Netgalley. However I knew it would be worth succeeding. Thank you Quarto Publications.
Not only are the illustrations and colors in this book brilliant, the prose that goes along and explains the process is delightful and easy to read.
I appreciate that this author knows the value of better materials, but says that learning with less expensive materials and items frees the soul to play and experiment.
That said, paper quality and brush quality are still important to your results. Do not go for the very cheapest. Save those for kids.

The book projects are divided into acrylic paints, watercolors and collage.
With tips, tricks, a little psychology and self confession, this book is like spending time with a good friend, a very patient and encouraging teacher. I enjoyed her light hearted, humorous phrasing.
I now have new definitions for experiment and failure. While we learn more about light values and complementary or antagonistic colors, this book is about so much more than just colors and overcoming your resistance to create art.

I have discovered a new wonderful artist to follow!

This was a useful book for artists, going into some interesting and practical detail about color mixing, gradation, shading and tinting. It's patently evident that the author has put in some serious work here. It covers collage, mixed media, and pure paint, and works through examples you can follow practically, exploring various aspects of color mixing as you go.

The book includes a glossary of terms and goes above and beyond color wheels and simple paint-matching and contrasting into a more advanced appreciation of just what color can do and how it can impact the eye. It offers inexpensive solutions and provides a series of printed templates for the practical experimentation and emulation of the examples the author sets. Obviously it's intended as a print book, and presumably using photocopies of these images rather than paint directly in the book(!), but it would be no problem to take a screen-shot of the images in your ebook version, bring them into a computer so they can be printed out to work with them that way.

I found this to be a comprehensive, detailed, and eminently useful contribution to painting, and I commend it as a worthy read.

This is absolutely fabulous book - not only as an introduction to colour, but also written in a very easy to read and confidence building way.
Having just read a book on using craft in the same way as mindfulness, this book shows how combines the real feeling of getting completely involved with your creative side, small steps at a time, to achieve a stress free and calm state of mind.
There are templates to use and lots of small exercise and projects with lots confidence built- in. The language is interesting and I could empathise with lots of the examples and blocks to my painting. Written with acrylic, collage and watercolour in mind, this is a great start to understanding and using colour in these mediums.
I really recommend this book for anyone.

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This book goes beyond being a great introduction to color theory. I liked that the projects moved from beginner to advanced through the chapters and that projects are not just painting, but also collage. Lessons learned through these projects could be applied to a wide range of arts and crafts.

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

The New Color Mixing Companion by Josie Lewis

Wonderful use of color and ideas for art projects that made me want to get out my paints. The templates at the end of the book allow the artist to print out then paint using the techniques in the book. One of the most intriguing and perhaps new-to-me ideas was the idea of a “mother color” that is the base for all of the colors used in a project. Supplies needed, techiniques and tips are all included in a way that makes this book easy to use and I believe it will allow the reader to find success in whatever art project in the book that they undertake while giving them new ways to use color mixing in future personal projects.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Quarry for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

This comprehensive guide starts with a crash course in essential terminology and visual vocabulary, then shows you how to go beyond the wheel and basic theory with hands-on projects that illustrate and illuminate a variety of color elements and techniques. The materials used—including watercolor and acrylic paints, and found or purchased collage papers—are accessible, inexpensive, and readily available. Plus, this art guide includes easy-to-use templates featured in many of the projects; their modern geometric layouts yield stunning color arrangements.

I am by no means an artist, but I do love learning about art and this book taught me a lot of new and different techniques about colors and paints. I loved how easy it is to follow, especially if you're like me and just want to jump right in. Not only does this hold my attention, but it has projects that you can do. They start from beginner all the way to advanced, so there's something for everyone in this book.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC of #TheNewColorMixingCompanion
Pub Date: 04 Dec 2018