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Colour mixing in the twenty-first century: the craft of the digital

Colour in the Making analyses the historical evolution of colour, dyes and pigments and their application across art, science and technological processes from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. Parraman wrote the last of the four main chapters analysing their evolution in photomechanical printing, printmaking, inkjet and in alternative methods of printing that have been used by artists in the twentieth-first century. It provides a highly contemporary account of the wide variety of ways in which artists are using colour today in both digital (manipulation by computers and publishing software) and analogue environments. The chapter contextualises technological research into digital printing, colour imaging and fine art colour mixing, and incorporates and reflects on cutting-edge research that has looked at a range of techniques including gamut mapping, the appearance of ink on paper, digital hackery and upcycling by artists. It thus provides numerous insights into the varied skills that have evolved in colour mixing by artists through their use of different materials and processes, including a reflection on the importance of the craft and skills of pre-digital colour mixing and the application of colour. Its distinctive perspective is different from art historical discussions (John Gage), histories of the development and theory of colour (Phillip Ball), or technical accounts (Jan Morovic’s work on colour gamut mapping).

The chapter draws on Parraman’s presentations at: ‘The Craft of Print in a Digital Economy’, SNAP International Printmaking Conference, Bentlage Germany (September 2012); ‘Reproduction of Texture in Artworks’, All about Imaging Symposium, Royal Photographic Society, University of Westminster (May 2012); and ‘Dark Texture in Artworks’, Special Session Dark Side of Color V, IS&T/SPIE Electronic Imaging, San Francisco (January 2012).