It says a lot for this book that, as soon as I saw who the author was, my first reaction was, “oh, jolly good, not before time”.
There isn’t, it has to be said, a huge difference between Claudia’s various books; her style really hasn’t changed much and that subtitle “with pen, ink and watercolor” could apply to all of them. And yet there’s a freshness to every one that some authors struggle to maintain even to the end of their first effort and her popularity makes it clear that Claudia speaks to a great many readers who take something from every leaf, branch, rock and mountain.
If you’re familiar with Claudia’s work, the chances are that all I need to tell you is that this is her latest book; you’ll have skipped to the “buy it” link already. If not, then I’ll explain what her stock in trade is: the little details of landscape – those subjects I mentioned above and how you can use them to bring a larger scene alive. The layout of this new book won’t be unfamiliar: lots of little details, exquisitely handwritten text and some whole page set-piece paintings that provide the broader context.
What does strike about this book, though, is the quality. The production is definitely a step up, the colours are brighter and sharper and I’d say the artwork is better too. One of the things that sometimes let Claudia down was the set-pieces, which could be just a little bit flat. Here they’re not and, if you’re thinking, do I need another book by Claudia Nice?, come down on the side of yes for these improvements alone.
North Light 2007
£16.99
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