If you've ever looked at a finished painting and felt like something was off, but you couldn't quite name what, colour is usually the culprit.
And most of the time, it's not that you're mixing the wrong colours. It's that no one ever properly showed you how colour actually behaves.
I've been there. And after years of painting and collecting more art books than I care to count, two stand out as the ones I recommend most:
Color and Light by James Gurney, and The Oil Painter's Color Handbook by Todd M. Casey.
Please note that all links shared in this blog post are affiliate links, and I may receive a small commission if you choose to purchase the book.
They're both excellent. But they take very different approaches, and that matters when you're deciding which one to buy. In this post, I'll compare them side by side, walk you through one of the exercises from Casey's book, and help you figure out which one is the right fit for where you are right now.
Prefer to watch rather than read? I cover everything in this post in my YouTube video. You can find that just below.
A Quick Overview of Each Book
Color and Light by James Gurney
If you grew up in the 90s, you might recognise James Gurney's name from the Dinotopia series. It's a richly illustrated world where dinosaurs and humans coexist, and building something like that from scratch requires a deep mastery of how light and colour actually work. Gurney is exceptional at both.
What I love about his backstory is that even art school left him with gaps. There was a disconnect between the classroom and the real world, so he spent years solving those problems through daily sketches and practice. This book is the result of that work.
He covers how light behaves in paintings, how to use colour to capture the essence of your subject, and how to apply the science behind it all, illustrated through dozens of painting examples and diagrams. It reads less like a textbook and more like a beautifully illustrated tour through different lighting scenarios. A lot of which involve dinosaurs, which makes it considerably more fun.
The Oil Painter's Color Handbook by Todd M. Casey
Don't let the title put you off if you paint in acrylic. The pigment codes Casey uses are universal, and most of what he teaches is about how colour behaves, which applies across all mediums.
Casey's traditional training really shows in this book. It's structured, methodical, and packed with exercises you're meant to work through as you go. If Gurney's book feels like a gallery tour, Casey's feels like a very good art school class. And I genuinely mean that as a compliment.
This is the kind of book that gives self-taught artists a structured, guided path through colour theory, which is something that's genuinely hard to find.
Color and Light vs The Oil Painter's Color Handbook: Which Should You Buy?
If budget isn't an issue, get both. They complement each other in a way that's hard to replicate. But if you're choosing just one, here's how I'd break it down.
Buy Color and Light if: you think about painting in terms of light, atmosphere, and how colour shifts across a scene. It's application-focused, visually rich, and works for all mediums. You can also dip in and out of it without reading it cover to cover.
Buy the Color Handbook if: you want a structured, art-school style approach to colour theory. You'll get the most out of it by going through it from start to finish, taking notes and doing the exercises as you go.
Both books are available on Amazon. I've linked them below so you can compare prices and read the reviews for yourself: Color and Light | The Oil Painter's Color Handbook.
What's Inside Each Book
Inside Color and Light
The book is split into 12 chapters covering everything from sources of light and elements of colour to atmospheric effects and visual perception. Each chapter includes a generous number of examples, showing you how concepts work in theory and then in an actual painting.
In the reflected light chapter, for instance, Gurney starts with photo references of light bouncing off objects before showing you a painted example of light bouncing off a building. It's a genuinely effective way to bridge the gap between observation and application.
If you're looking for detailed pigment breakdowns or step-by-step exercises, this isn't that book, and that's fine. It's broad by design. But if you want practical guidance on painting sunsets, nightscapes, foliage, colour gamuts, and gradations, it delivers.
Inside The Oil Painter's Color Handbook
This is where you get into the specifics. One of my favourite chapters is Chapter 3, which does a deep dive on every common pigment. Casey covers pigment codes, colour behaviour, and even dry time for oil painters (cobalt blue dries fast; ultramarine blue is much slower). Just knowing that changes how you approach layering a painting.
The book is best read in order, since each chapter builds on the last. It takes more focus than Color and Light, and some concepts take time to absorb. But Casey explains everything clearly, and if you take notes as you work through it, things click quickly.
Try This: The Colour Strings Exercise from Casey's Book
This is one of the first exercises in the Color Handbook and it's a great one to try even before you buy the book.
A colour string is a full range of values for a single colour, showing how it shifts as you lighten and darken it. Here's how to do it with cadmium red:
-
Start with cadmium red in the centre of a strip.
-
Moving left, gradually add titanium white. Because cadmium red is a warm red, it will shift into a soft coral as you lighten it.
-
Moving right, gradually add alizarin crimson permanent. Near the darkest end, add a small amount of mars black to finish.
-
Once dry, peel back any tape and note how you mixed each step.
Once you've done this for every hue on your palette, you start to understand that lightening and darkening a colour isn't just about adding white or black. Sometimes it means reaching for a colour you wouldn't have expected, and that's exactly what these exercises are designed to show you.
If that felt good, my Colour Mixing with Acrylic course is built entirely around that kind of structured practice. It's the fastest way I know to actually change how you see colour. We work through 26 pages of exercises together, covering colour theory, mixing charts, and pigment behaviour in depth.
What You Won't Find in Either Book
Neither of these books is a step-by-step painting tutorial. They won't walk you through how to paint a specific landscape or portrait from start to finish.
Gurney's book doesn't go deep on individual pigments, and Casey's isn't really about painting in context. That's actually why they work so well together.
In my own practice, I reach for Color and Light when I'm thinking about the light in a specific painting. I reach for the Color Handbook when I want to go back to fundamentals and brush up on how a particular pigment behaves. Together, they cover ground I haven't found in any other combination of books.
Where they leave off is where tutorials come in, and it's what most of my YouTube channel is built around. If you want to see these concepts applied in an actual painting, that's a good place to start.
Ready to Build a Better Colour Practice?
If you're serious about understanding colour, these are the two books I'd start with. Whether you go with one or both, you'll come away with a clearer sense of how colour works and, more importantly, how to actually use that in your paintings.
You can grab them here: Color and Light by James Gurney | The Oil Painter's Color Handbook by Todd M. Casey.
And if you're looking for more structured colour mixing support, check out my acrylic and oil painting tutorials or come find me on YouTube. I also have free eBooks on both acrylic and oil painting. Grab yours using the link below. Happy painting!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Color and Light and The Oil Painter's Color Handbook?
Color and Light by James Gurney focuses on how light affects colour in paintings, using visual examples across a wide range of lighting scenarios. The Oil Painter's Color Handbook by Todd M. Casey takes a more structured, exercise-based approach, covering individual pigments, colour theory, and step-by-step practice. They complement each other well.
Is Color and Light by James Gurney good for beginners?
Yes. Despite covering advanced concepts, it's written in an accessible, beginner-friendly way. You can also read it non-linearly, jumping to whichever chapters are most relevant to what you're currently working on.
Can acrylic painters use The Oil Painter's Color Handbook?
Yes. The pigment codes and colour theory in Casey's book apply across all mediums. Don't let the title put you off if you work in acrylic.
What are colour strings in painting?
A colour string is a gradated range of values for a single colour, showing how it shifts as you lighten and darken it. It's a foundational colour mixing exercise that helps artists understand how specific pigments behave beyond simply adding white or black.
Where can I buy Color and Light and The Oil Painter's Color Handbook?
Both are available on Amazon. You can find them here: Color and Light and The Oil Painter's Color Handbook.