Encyclopedia of Mosaic Techniques (Encyclopedia of Art Techniques)

Rating:
Summary: Very good ideas and techniques
Review: Of all the books about mosaics I have reviewed this is the most complete, detailed and hands-on techniques you can find.

Rating:
Summary: Nice photos, poor organization
Review: This book documents the mosaic processes pretty well with its photos, but the fact that it's organized alphabetically is absurd. It really is a horrible way to organize this book and I wish they had skipped this "a-z of techniques" idea. The pictures are really nice though and there are some great ones in the gallery section.

Rating:
Summary: Nice photos, poor organization
Review: This book documents the mosaic processes pretty well with its photos, but the fact that it's organized alphabetically is absurd. It really is a horrible way to organize this book and I wish they had skipped this "a-z of techniques" idea. The pictures are really nice though and there are some great ones in the gallery section.

Rating:
Summary: Belongs in a mosaicist's library
Review: This book, as it's title suggests, is more of an encyclopedia than a project book. I would not recommend it to a beginner because it doesn't take you through a number of projects step by step as many mosaic books do. But I HIGHLY recommend this book for someone who has started doing mosaic and wants to increase skills and knowledge. I learned a lot about design, in particular: using colors effectively, including the grout colors, and how to place tiles in the design and in the background in directions that affect the flow of the design. An eye-opening section showed common mistakes, which if one studies before starting a project, can be avoided. There are a few projects that are given to demonstrate certain techniques, and there are photos of many incredibly beautiful works. The patterns are not given for them, so you'd have to attempt to draw them yourself, or let them serve as inspiration. The materials and equipment section is very extensive and helpful. This is a great book you would study to become a better mosaicist, but not use as a project guide.

Rating:
Summary: Belongs in a mosaicist's library
Review: This book, as it's title suggests, is more of an encyclopedia than a project book. I would not recommend it to a beginner because it doesn't take you through a number of projects step by step as many mosaic books do. But I HIGHLY recommend this book for someone who has started doing mosaic and wants to increase skills and knowledge. I learned a lot about design, in particular: using colors effectively, including the grout colors, and how to place tiles in the design and in the background in directions that affect the flow of the design. An eye-opening section showed common mistakes, which if one studies before starting a project, can be avoided. There are a few projects that are given to demonstrate certain techniques, and there are photos of many incredibly beautiful works. The patterns are not given for them, so you'd have to attempt to draw them yourself, or let them serve as inspiration. The materials and equipment section is very extensive and helpful. This is a great book you would study to become a better mosaicist, but not use as a project guide.

Rating:
Summary: This is the greatest book!! I learned so much about mosaics
Review: This is the only "How to mosaic" book you need for starting your own tile mosaic projects. This has been very informational and most of all-practical. Choose this book.

Rating:
Summary: Not for beginners
Review: While the book does offer the standard mosaic-making advice, the alphabetical encyclopedic format makes it frustrating at times. If you are a beginner, as I was, you won't know where to start. 'Planning', 'setting up your studio', and 'equipment' are all topics, but if you don't know exactly what to look up and in what order, it won't do much good. And if you're more experienced, you don't really need big color photos of safety equipment.

The book's strength is in topics such as borders, andamenti, and design techniques. As for nuts and bolts info such as the actual direct and indirect methods, I found Leslie Dierk's book 'Making Mosaics' to be FAR more informative.

Overall I found the encyclopedia 'gimick' to not really be very helpful.