When I saw the announcement of this, I got quite excited, because it sounded like exactly what’s needed. The reality doesn’t quite come up to expectations because it’s rather more basic that I had hoped.
It’s another of those project-based approaches and you certainly can’t fault the detail of the step-by-steps. Aimed more at the raw beginner than the developing flower painter, these are admirably clear and unfussed. The limitation is that each demonstration is essentially the same, just with a different flower and with the emphasis on the petals – stems and leaves are broadly generic.
Olga’s style uses very thin washes to create translucence, which is fine as far as it goes, but often over-rides the true characteristics of the subject. Yes, flowers (some more than others) do have a translucence, but that isn’t the be-all and end-all that they tend to be straitjacketed into here. If it’s a characteristic you want to capture, you’ll find a lot of what you want here, but I’m just not sure that it justifies a whole (rather elementary) book, maybe just a chapter.
I wanted to like this and I certainly don’t hate it, but I do think it has limitations that maybe wouldn’t justify the eighteen quid purchase price. Put it in paperback and make it twelve and I might have thought differently.
Artbookreview.net 