The Usborne Art Book about Colour

I love the way my 4 year old tells me what they’ve been learning at nursery. I know they do some amazing topics. The other day I noticed they’d been block printing colourful houses in the style of a Brazilian artist. He’s also been telling me about mixing colours to make new colours. I love that he is learning so much about art and colour because one of my favourite past times is visiting museums and galleries.

Fortunately for us we were sent a copy of The Usborne Art Book about Colour, produced in association with The National Gallery. The book explores 15000 years of colour in art – from how colours are made and what they mean, to the dazzling effects of different colour combinations.

Colour is an essential part of painting and The Usborne Art Book about Colour is an ideal introduction to the topic for young readers. Using examples from cave paintings and the Egyptians to the present day, it explains how we see colour, as well as illustrating how artists have exploited colour and light to influence our response to their work.

I’ve been enjoying this book (!), there’s so much information to read and the illustrations are great. Alongside colours and objects there are some wonderful paintings from The National Gallery collection and elsewhere.

This vibrant book is the perfect family companion to Making Colour, this summer’s ‘National Gallery Inspires’ exhibition. I can’t wait to go and visit!