Robinson - Local Color: Seeing Place through Watercolor

Published by
Princeton Architectural Press
37 East Seventh Street
New York, New York 10003

Visit our website at www.papress.com.

2015 Mimi Robinson
All rights reserved

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher, except in the
context of reviews.

Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify owners of copyright. Errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent editions.

Editors: Jennifer Lippert and Tom Cho
Designer: Mia Johnson
Author Photo: Yvonne OHare
Cover Design: Mia Johnson

Special thanks to: Meredith Baber, Sara Bader, Nicola Bednarek Brower, Janet Behning, Megan Carey, Carina Cha, Andrea Chlad, Barbara Darko, Benjamin English, Russell Fernandez, Will Foster, Jan Cigliano Hartman, Jan Haux, Diane Levinson, Katharine Myers, Jaime Nelson, Rob Shaeffer, Sara Stemen, Marielle Suba, Kaymar Thomas, Paul Wagner, Joseph Weston, and Janet Wong of Princeton Architectural Press
Kevin C. Lippert, publisher

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Robinson, Mimi.
Local Color : Seeing Place Through Watercolor : 14 Daily
Practices / Mimi Robinson.First edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61689-297-5 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-1-61689-440-5 (epub, mobi)
1. Watercolor paintingTechnique. I. Title.
ND2130.R63 2015
751.422dc23
2014039304

Acknowledgments

A special thanks to all of the people who helped bring this book into being: To my publisher, Princeton Architectural Press, for their vision; to Diane Chonette and Ann Hudner for their work on an earlier version of this book; to Steve Costa and Kate Levinson of Point Reyes Books, and Paloma Pavel, for their support and encouragement; to Kathy McNicolas and Kate Greene, who contributed color memories; to Robin Weiss for her superb eye; to Myn Ades for her masterful editing; and to Carla Robinson and Lily Reid for their help.
Mimi Robinson

The color palettes I have created over the years have become a journal of my perceptions of place. Making them allows me to nurture a deep connection to the beauty of nature and the changing seasons as well as to local culture and history.

I have been greatly inspired by the artist Josef Alberss work in revealing the interactions and relationships of color. What we see in any given place reveals its special spirit through its collection of colors. Bringing your attention to the colors of a place, whether in your backyard or the places youve traveled to, allows you to slow down and really see whats in front of you.

I began making color palettes when I noticed that the color tests I made on scraps of paper, the process of trying to replicate the color of what I was observing, was an enjoyable and playful practice in itself. Throughout the years, I have used this visual form of journal keeping to document my interactions with color and locality. I also use this technique as a warm-up for when I go plein air painting (painting in the open air) to hone my perception of the colors before I use them to define a form.

Local Color: Seeing Place Through Watercolor invites you to train your eye to create your own color palettes using basic materials and through simple practices in watercolors. Watercolors have a beauty and magic of their own. You can achieve instant results or spend a lifetime perfecting the craft. Watercolors are well suited for capturing an impression, and theyre portable. The tactile quality of holding the brush in your hand and mixing colors becomes another dimension of the experience.

The direct, hands-on practices I offer encourage you to open your eyes to things you may not have seen before and develop your color sense. Sharing my color journals from my own backyard and my travels around the world, I show how color palettes can capture the identity of a place. By introducing you to a few materials, techniques, and practices, I invite you to begin your own color explorations and collect a visual memory of your place in time.