Quote from JamesF1 :

The one thing I don't get is how he knows what all those things look like if he's never seen them... I mean, how would you know not only the shape, but the principles of shadow and shading, etc.?

Exactly what i was thinking.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

One thing I don't get: How does he select and mix colours?

He has a very artistic guide dog.

Guys wandered bit wide OT and that wouldnt be exactly helpful for you. Frankly, Pantone match (or how t is called) would not be either. You re not gonna order paint.
Because its all about different monitors' calibration just get CMX viewer (or LFS) and check out the colour with different lighting in it. And different monitors to be universal (but bit dull with safe colours).