First a caveat: by '"artist" the author means someone who is serious about paint. If you want to know about color in fiber arts, printing, photography, etc. you'll need another book.

This book goes through the history of paint pigments color-by-color, describing how they used to be made, why they aren't made that way any more (mostly because we ran out of what they used or it was poison), how the new pigments are made. It also discusses the properties of pigments and pigment blends. It mostly deals with modern acrylics, but touches on oils and waterpaints.

At the end of the book is a pigment chart showing the names and colors of various name brand pigments.

I found this book very helpful. If you actually use acrylic paint to make paintings I think you will find it invaluable. ( )