This beautifully produced book even arrived with a band round it to make sure it came in perfect condition. There’s no doubt that it’s been a labour of love, but my immediate question is why this treatment (I’ve never seen it before, at least, not on a review copy) has been reserved for a book on mermaids. I mean, it’s an eighteen quid hardback, which rather suggests the publisher believes there’s a huge and enthusiastic market out there. I know fantasy art is popular, but they haven’t done this with any of their other titles, so why this one?
There’s no doubting the quality of the work or the production here and the book is utterly comprehensive and I must admit I do love it because it’s so good just as a book. I’m also quite sure that, if what you’ve been looking for is a book on mermaids, this is going to be the definitive one. I’d really like to say that it could help you just with figure drawing, but the truth is it’s so locked up in its subject that you’d have to strip away so many layers that this aspect isn’t really an option.
I’m going to recommend this, even though I don’t know anything about the subject, because it just feels so good.