Materials and Methods of Sculpture

Rating:
Summary: A good very detailed technical reference book.
Review: This is a very good technical reference manual on the various types of sculpture mediums (including earth-clays, plastic, plaster of paris, casting, metal, stone, wood, and others). It goes into very specific detail on the metalurgic, chemical, and physical composition of the various mediums. I am just learning about sculpture but since I have a chemistry/engineering background I found the book very informative. This book will probably be difficult for those without a true passion to learn this much technical detail or without some solid science coursework.

Rating:
Summary: Lesssons in history?
Review: While I am not qualified to pass judgement on sculpture as far as methods of actually creating works of art,as a art foundry owner,I have reasonable background in usage of diferent materials connected with sculpture. I found this book to be of rather limited use to anyone seeking information on materials in use today. Almost all refererences are very dated and may be considered useful if a study of yesteryear's practices are intended.It appears to me,that information on various metals and their processing in particullar is more or less imprecise and in some cases wrong altogethrer-for example:to aneal common aluminium alloy to "pink" heat means going past melting point!To sum up,if you intend to learn current practices, go elsewhere.