James Chambury – colour, light & shade

To say that James Chambury’s work is reminiscent of almost every landscape painter of the twentieth century, from Edward Seago and Frank Wootton to Edward Wesson and James Fletcher-Watson, is unfair as it implies that it has a derivative quality, which it emphatically does not. What it means is that there is a clearly definable tradition of English landscape painting that has developed in the last hundred years and which has flourished in the hands of some very capable exponents.

James Chambury is one of a long line of commercial artists who, in middle-life, found a fine art voice. Not all of these also found an audience, but James’s move to Essex in 1967 gave him the wealth of the East Anglian landscapes that form the bulk of his work and he was able to exhibit regularly from 1971 onwards.

James’s name may not be widely familiar in the world of art, and this book may perhaps be seen as something of a footnote to the landscape tradition, though it is an extensive and informative one. The number and quality of the illustrations is generous and the only real lack is that of dates, which would have made it possible to trace the development of James’s style in oil, watercolour, pastel and pen & ink.

Landscapes – art journey America || ed Kathryn Kipp

This substantial, large-format volume features the work of 89 artists working across the United States. Each painting is reproduced to the full width of the page and the square layout also allows for the occasional upright composition.

There is a brief biography of each artist and also a short questionnaire which gives them the chance to explain the inspiration for the piece illustrated as well as how they work. Production is excellent and does justice to the paintings, although there are a few that look as though they may have been reproduced from less than perfect transparencies, which is a pity, as the artists surely had others they could have chosen?

Overall, though, this is something to delight anyone who wants to explore landscapes, either visually or practically.

Dragonworld || Pamela Wissman & Sarah Laichas

Subtitled: 120 dragons with advice and inspiration and 49 international artists.

OK, regular readers will know by now what I think of fantasy art. That said, I absolutely love this book. Leaving aside the obvious question a non-specialist reader would have – who knew there were 49 dragon artists in the world? – it’s a homage to something a lot of people take very seriously and it’s beautifully produced. Even I can see the point, not least because of the amount of good humour there is. As well as big fierce Germanic dragons, Chinese dragons, manga dragons, there are some that are just downright cute and there’s a wonderful cartoon from Ursula Vernon that I want on my wall.

I can’t tell you about the quality of the art, though it looks pretty good to me, but I can say that this is about the most comprehensive book you’re likely to find on what (surely?) has to be a specialised subject and that the production won’t let you down.




Making Great Illustration || Derek Brazell & Jo Davies

This exquisitely produced survey of contemporary work and workers in the field of illustration provides a cornucopia of images showing what’s going on in the world at the moment. With over 250 illustrations, there really is something for everyone.

The book is organised by types of work, so that you get chapters on Design and Advertising, Editorial and Political, and Fashion as well as the more technical areas of Typography and Graphic Literature. Each chapter is introduced by agents and clients within the relevant field, thus providing a buyer’s perspective from organisations such as The Conran Shop and the New York Times. In an avowedly commercial field, such a view is invaluable and adds much to the book’s appeal.

Within the chapters, the authors showcase the work of a huge variety of practitioners including Quentin Blake, Oliver Jeffers and Ronald Searle.

This is a heavyweight and authoritative volume that says pretty much all there is to be said on its subject and it’s worth noting that the standard of production even extends to the way it lays open in your hands, allowing the whole of a double-page spread to be seen without the need to force the spine. Close it up, put in on the shelf and it’ll look as good as new.



The Search Press Guide to Painting Techniques || Elizabeth Tate & Hazel Harrison

Although this isn’t actually a new book, it looks like it and the editors have done a good job on updating what was already an excellent idea that has stood the test of time well.

The book is organised into a logical sequence that begins with a section on Preparing To Paint, which deals with preparing canvases, stretching paper, priming and so on. The layout here shows us how the book is going to progress, with each section given a double-page spread with plenty of pictures and simple, short captions that explain what you’re looking at. From here, you get Making A Start, Ways Of Working, Special Techniques and then Themes, which is a rather neat way of working from a technique-based approach to something more practical, where you look at techniques in action in portraits, landscapes, waterscapes and so on.

A lot of people will tell you that painting isn’t, or shouldn’t be, about the technical stuff but rather about expressing your creativity and that’s fine as far as it goes. However, you still need to know how to mix colour, use resists, drybrush, glazing and all that in order to be able to get the effects you want. If you went on a course, this is what they’d teach you but, if you’re working on your own, you need something to help and this mixture of the encyclopaedia (the book grows out of the encyclopaedia series) and the practical guide will give you a lot of help all in one place.

This was a good book when it first appeared and it’s a measure of its fundamental quality that it still is.

	The Search Press Guide to Painting Techniques Book with Elizabeth Tate & Hazel Harrison

How to Draw and Paint Vampires || Ian Daniels

I often don’t review fantasy art books because it’s a field I really don’t feel at home with. However, it’s worth noting that, if this is what you want, it’s about the only book on the subject. And one to get your teeth into. (OK, I only wrote it up so I could say that. Sorry.)

Buy it on Amazon

Free Your Inner Artist || Penny Stanway

This comes from a publisher and an author I haven’t heard of before and it’s always encouraging to see new faces on the block as they often bring fresh ideas and approaches to a field that can sometimes get a bit predictable.

The thing is, though, that there’s a way of doing these things, of showing how a painting is built up from the initial sketch by using a series of step-by-step demonstrations or by starting with the finished result and deconstructing it. Painting is a linear progression from start to finish and you can’t really get away from that.

This, however, is exactly what Penny Stanway is trying to do. I think it’s fair to sum this up as a guide to art as personal development – indeed the cover blurb says that it “encourages you to let yourself paint”. This is a fine idea and even a little bit “drawing on the right side of the brain” but, amongst letting your creative psyche hang out, you do need to concentrate on technical ability as well. Thump that piano by all means but, if you’re going to do it in public, do at least learn a few of the rudiments of music or risk being the subject of a noise control order.

Reading the author biography reveals that Penny is a doctor and has written on food and cooking as well as health, has been encouraged by her friends and family and is now focussing on art and painting. No qualifications or teaching experience are mentioned and I do get the feeling that collections of her work may be confined to the previously-mentioned family and friends.

So, is the book any good? As a piece of art instruction, I’d have to say no. However, if you feel that a bit of personal development is what you need to help you become aware of the beauty all around you and discover your personal artistic style, then this might be the thing that boosts your confidence and gives you the breakthrough you’ve been looking for. It’s all a bit New-Age for me, though.

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Your Artist’s Brain || Carl Purcell

The whole “right side of the brain” thing can be applied to a great deal of creative endeavour and can be summed up as, “you need to develop an artist’s eye”.

Based on what I’ve picked up here and elsewhere, this comes down to the fact that your left, or intellectual brain, sees flat shapes while your right, emotional, artistic side sees colour, shading and texture whilst also understanding what it sees as a subject, rather than an object.

That’s about it, basically and I’ve saved you the cost of several books. So, is there anything left that you can learn from this one? Well, it’s a perfectly sound look at the creative process, covering a good variety of techniques and subject matter and there are plenty of good ideas. One of the things I struggle with is that, having banged on about colour, shading and depth, a remarkable number of the finished results are, well, a bit flat, which rather overturns the point of the book.

I think this is one you need to see before you buy. If you turn the pages and think, “I could learn from this”, then it’s for you. If, like me, it leaves you a bit disappointed well, don’t worry, there are plenty more fish in the sea.

http://rcm-uk.amazon.co.uk/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=artbookreview-21&o=2&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=0M5A6TN3AXP2JHJBWT02&asins=1440308446

A Picture of Cornwall || Ray Balkwill

As the jacket blurb so succinctly puts it, “Cornwall is artist country”. With such a variety of landscapes and both north and south-facing coasts that give contrasting effects of light, the county does indeed have much to offer and attract the painter.

This is, of course, not a book primarily aimed at the amateur artist, but rather at the art tourist or maybe just the carriage-trade souvenir market in general. It’s certainly a welcome antidote to the usual sort of lucky-charm-piskie tat!

However, we’re not interested in that and the relevance here is not just the fact that this is written by and contains quite lot of the work of Ray Balkwill, but that it also features a huge number of other artists who are associated with or have worked in the county. They include Ken Howard, John Raynes, John Brenton, Amanda Hoskin and more and they have a huge variety of styles that Ray has done well to seat comfortably together. Visually, this is a feast, with illustrations filling many of the 144 pages and a text that sets the locations in context without intruding more than it needs to.

Ray Balkwill has gained many fans as both an author and an artist and his choice of other painters has a significant level of interest and authority that should make this appeal to his fellow practitioners. On top of that, there’s the landscape and topographical interest that gives the publisher a deserved winner.

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Fantasy Art in Watercolour || Paul Bryn Davies, Rebecca Balchin & Elaine Hamer

I don’t normally review bind-ups; after all, I’ve been there and done it already and, in theory at least, I’ve said all I have to say.

However, they’ve caught me on the hop here because, although there are four books that have appeared previously, they’ve added 8 tracings in the manner of the Ready to Paint series and that adds something. Admittedly, without that context of the step-by-step guides that go with the dedicated series, this is somewhat limited, but does mean that you get rather more than you did with the original separate titles.

As a guide to four of the main subjects of fantasy art, this sits well and covers a lot of ground. I’m sure that, without the tracings, it’d have come in at £12.99, which would be an unbeatable price. At £14.99 it’s still good value, but it’s just dipping a toe into the maybe-a-bit-pricey.

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