Color can direct and divert the eye, communicate emotion, create moods and optical illusions, delight, or add dignity. It has enormous influence in your life; starting from the day you were first able to discern the colors in the world around you.

Nature's paint box yields wonderful possibilities. There are limitless tints or tones to excite you or calm you, elate you or depress you, warm you or cool you. Color may heighten your awareness and make you more sensitive to your surroundings.

Color can enhance your self-image as well and make you feel marvelous. I have seen some amazing changes when people find their personal palettes. One of the first messages you give to other people before you ever say a word is communicated in the colors you use. Haven't you seen someone in a magazine or on the street and thought, "I wish I could get myself together like that!" You can look just as good (or even better) when you learn to use your "personal colors." Color is the key to getting that look.

Have you ever wished that choosing colors were easier?
Is an "eye" for color like an "ear" for music? Are we born with a sense of color? I think both of these questions can be answered yes and no. Some experts feel that we may be predisposed to certain abilities through artistic ancestors, whereas others believe an "eye" for color can be learned.

The Impressionist painters transformed art history with their efforts to capture the full impression of nature and the play of light on a particular scene at a particular time. Claude Monet, renowned for his magical studies of water lilies, often painted the same subject to show how its colors varied at different times of the day. Colors do appear to vary during the course of a day because of changing light and the presence of various particles that float in the atmosphere.

Portions reproduced from "MORE ALIVE WITH COLOR" with the permission of Leatrice Eiseman.