1 comments about The Hours of Mary of Burgundy: Vienna, Oesterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. Vind. 2554. (Manuscripts in Miniature).

1. This is a detailed study of an illuminated manuscript of the late 15th century. The primary value of the book is the reproductions of the complete manuscript which are of outstanding quality. They rival those of much more expensive facsimiles. The beauty and craftsmanship are evident on every page.

   Eric Inglis' commentary demonstrates a concerted effort to produce a detailed analysis of the artistic milieu which created this beautiful work of art. The commentary also provides a basic background to those who are new to such works of art. Readers interested in medieval art will find this a wonderful introduction to a facet of the medieval book arts.

No comments about Robert Youds: Beautiful Beautiful Artificial Field.

3 comments about The Charlton Standard Catalogue of Chintz.

1. Simply the best guide to chintz patterns and pricing. Very well researched, and the shapes and catalog pages at the back are especially helpful. I do wish the pattern photographs on each page were both larger and of better quality, though ~ that would seem a better match with the sterling quality of the rest of the book.



2. Year on year Susan updates and adds to the definitive chintz guide. A mine of priceless information. Well presented, beautifully illustrated and an absolute essential for anyone even remotely interested in chintz pottery. This third edition is a must!



3. This is a stunningly beautiful book packed completely with beautiful photographs. For someone interested in collecting chintz, this is the absolute best thing I've found for learning about the range of patterns. That range is far more extensive than one would expect from the sparse collections of chintz at antique shops and shows. This book will fire the imagination!

No comments about Royal Doulton Series Ware Vol. V: New Discoveries (Royal Doulton Series Ware).

No comments about Handbuilding Pottery: Practical Art Handbook.

No comments about Wedgwood - The New Illustrated Dictionary.

2 comments about Handmade Clay Crafts: Decorative Techniques & Projects.

1. As a longtime ceramic art instructor working with children of all ages, this is a fun book to refer to and I've added it to my list of books to tell the parents about with many students wanting to continue to work at home on projects. It's also a good book for adult beginning ceramic crafters. You just need an electric kiln or access to one. I really enjoyed the book!



2. I love this book and highly recommend it. It could help craft or school teachers, studio owners or adults who want to work in clay. There are great step by step photographs allowing you to make delightful projects in minutes. Handmade Clay Crafts is written for the person who likes to make crafts not the serious potter unless they want to have fun with clay. I've make most of the projects in the book and I am planning to sell them craft fairs. The author's second book is a soft cover version of the first book with almost the exact information in both so buy one or the other, not both.

2 comments about Charcoal, Sanguine Crayon, and Chalk (Barron's Art Handbooks: Purple Series).

1. The Charcoal, Sanguine Crayon and Chalk (CSC for short) is a somewhat difficult medium to find learning material on. Most books on pastel or painting mention "redchalk" or "sanguine" merely in passing as a sketching tool. Books on drawing hardly mention it at all. In this respect, this little book is almost unique in that it treats redchalk (drawing with black, sanguine and white chalks) as a subject in its own.

   The book is essentially divided in two, where the first part deals with the media and tools needed for working with chalks. The text is some 90 pages long, and the first 25 or so pages are spent on tools, chalks, papers, blending, perspective, sketching etc. Most subjects are treated on two pages with huge pictures and a few lines of text. Of course, no one will learn, say, perspective or scetching from such breaf treatises alone, so the very beginner may want to look elsewhere to get some basic concepts and skills in place.

   The last part of the book is devoted to "practical exercises". The exercises are very nice in that they suggest how the painting evolves through the various stages. My previous experince is with pencils and drawing, so I was quite happy to see that the paintings here look quite "bleak" through most of the work; only after the last few finishing touches does the portraits "spring to life". That's the kind of demostrattion that is most valuable for preserving inspiration in an would-be autodidact like myself.

   Most of the emphasis on CSC is presented from the painter's point of view. The basic techniques are based on various ways of handling the chalk bars with the objective of making surfaces of color on the paper. No matter if one uses cross hatching or side strokes, once the color is on the paper it is blended with a stump, cloth or brush. The demonstrations clearly show that such techniques can produce stunning results, but I would like to see more of the "drawing" techniques, i.e. lines and cross hatching left in place in the finished work. Painters appear to regard CSC as a fast and efficient tool for preliminary sketches, a tool for some sort of "limited painting". To me, CSC is a form of "extended drawing" that lets me do things and exploit effects the pencil alone does not provide. Unfortunately, this little book does not treat the "drawing aspects" of CSC.

   All in all, this book provides great insporation as well as quite a few hints and suggestions about techniques and tricks. Although it leaves a bit to be desired, both on emphasis and in depth of coverage, and thus could be punished quite severely in terms of stars, the important point is that this book is actually available, providing suggestions, tricks and inspiration for trying out Charcoal, Sangune Crayon and Chalk.




2. This book helps you learn the "painterly" way of drawing with the broader dry media. Even though not specifically for pastels, it will help your pastel works.

No comments about Italian Maiolica (Fitzwilliam Museum Handbooks).

No comments about Tom Patti: Illuminating The Invisible.