Traditional color theory can be confusing to artists, especially when you try to use inaccurate color wheels as guides to mixing their colors. Now, Color theory Made Easy presents an alternative approach that cuts through the tangle of established but contradictory concepts and gives the artist a universal theory that really applies to their work.

Most artists have been taught that red, blue, and yellow are the primary colors–hues that cannot be created from any combination of other colors. However, as a result of years of study, author, art teacher, and artist Jim Ames has concluded that the true primary colors are cyan, magenta,and yellow (CMY). In Color theory Made Easy, Ames explains the importance of these three colors as the basis for all our thinking about color.

Using friendly, clear language and over 190 colorful illustrations, the author lays the foundation in Chapter 1 for applying his color theory in understanding art. He shows that all colors in nature are composed of varying percentages of cyan, magenta, and yellow. Ames introduces and explains the true color wheel based the three primaries CMY. Chapter 2 builds on this with an introduction of 15 tube paints for watercolor, acrylic, and oil. Here the author offers essential education concerning paint selection, and he lists currently available manufacturers’ colors that are accurate in terms of the true primaries. Chapter 3 explores color mixing principles based on the primaries CMY, and applies these principles through a series of watercolor demonstrations. Chapter 4 explores painting people with the new color theory. Chapter 5 has painting demos of a sheep dog, cat, Canadian goose, and a tiger cub.

In this revised book, Jim Ames has given us a workable color theory that is both simple and indispensable. His first book, published in 1996 sold over 20,000 copies with a 4.3 star rating.