Eyewitness: Watercolor

Rating:
Summary: Continuing your Art Appreciation course re: Watercolors
Review: As I continue my own little Art Appreciation course at the local library, I am amazed at the little fundamental points of knowledge about art that are complete surprises to me. From "Eyewitness Art: Watercolor" I learned that there are two basic types of point, as color is either mixed with oils or water. Consequently, watercolor art has a much longer and varied history than I had ever imagined. Michael Clarke covers this seminal art from from illuminated manuscripts and botanical drawings to old masters and modern masterpieces, from Chinese artists working on silk to Europeans doing miniatures on ivory as well as examples of landscape arts and impressionism. In short, the breadth and depth of watercolor art is something worked into the pages of this book.

"Eyewitness Art: Watercolor" combines artistic analysis with color photography of not only reproductions of more than 150 works of art but also artists' materials, sketches, and equipment. There is a special emphasis on the ways in which artists influenced and adapted each other's ideas. Author Michael Clarke is Keeper of the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, having also worked at the British Museum, the York City Art Gallery, and the Whitworth Art Gallery in the United Kingdom. He also authored "The Tempting Prospect: A Social History of English Watercolors," so this is evidently his area of expertise. That expertise comes through not just in the organization of the book, but also in the specific commentary that is offered on every single example of art. There is a lot of information in this volume, as there are in most books in the Eyewitness series, so it is an ideal nightstand book, where you can read a couple of chapters at bedtime; each "chapter" is a two-page spread, offering on average a half-dozen examples of art).

Rating:
Summary: Continuing your Art Appreciation course re: Watercolors
Review: As I continue my own little Art Appreciation course at the local library, I am amazed at the little fundamental points of knowledge about art that are complete surprises to me. From "Eyewitness Art: Watercolor" I learned that there are two basic types of point, as color is either mixed with oils or water. Consequently, watercolor art has a much longer and varied history than I had ever imagined. Michael Clarke covers this seminal art from from illuminated manuscripts and botanical drawings to old masters and modern masterpieces, from Chinese artists working on silk to Europeans doing miniatures on ivory as well as examples of landscape arts and impressionism. In short, the breadth and depth of watercolor art is something worked into the pages of this book.

"Eyewitness Art: Watercolor" combines artistic analysis with color photography of not only reproductions of more than 150 works of art but also artists' materials, sketches, and equipment. There is a special emphasis on the ways in which artists influenced and adapted each other's ideas. Author Michael Clarke is Keeper of the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, having also worked at the British Museum, the York City Art Gallery, and the Whitworth Art Gallery in the United Kingdom. He also authored "The Tempting Prospect: A Social History of English Watercolors," so this is evidently his area of expertise. That expertise comes through not just in the organization of the book, but also in the specific commentary that is offered on every single example of art. There is a lot of information in this volume, as there are in most books in the Eyewitness series, so it is an ideal nightstand book, where you can read a couple of chapters at bedtime; each "chapter" is a two-page spread, offering on average a half-dozen examples of art).