I selected this book to read because I found the cover art riveting. I wanted to see more. Which was good, because this book has lots of examples of her work. And overall, I like her paintings. They can be downright fun. Some of her paintings creep me out a little bit...like the girl with a rainbow-leaking hole in her chest. But even when her works make me uncomfortable, they're well done, and not inappropriate.
That's how I liked her artwork. How did I like her book?
I enjoyed the author's sense of humor, like her dream of having a nut dispenser for the family of squirrels living in her fantasy studio (p.36), and funny phrases like "artistic chili for the brain" (p. 35). She has a fun little ink splotch named "Zu" who adds commentary and demonstrates specific points.
On pp. 43-44 she has some great stuff, i.e. 43 has a good discussion about what composition means, with follow-up advice on 44, such as: remember what part of your painting is going get covered up by the frame. She talks a lot about finding your own stride as an artist. My favorite line in the book is, "You are born an original, don't die a copy (p.13)." Which ironically is derived from a quote (and book) by John Mason, but point well taken.
Oddly enough, I didn't enjoy the second half of her book, where she demonstrates how she does several of her paintings by example. I found it mildly interesting to see how she went from point A to point B, but as an amateur artist, I'm very much about just doing whatever floats my boat. Which is why those of you who apply yourselves and take the time to learn these things are going to be much better artists than I am. I'll try not to be too jealous. My main complaint about the book is that she gets so very specific about her painting tools...I can see people liking this part, because here you're getting recommendations straight from a professional artist, but I'm probably never going to buy them, so finding out how to make those very specific items give the desired effect isn't crucial for me.
Who should be in the market for this book?
Doctors offices. People looking for new books for their end tables. Big fans of Camilla d'Errico. Artists who are really sincere about their craft and always trying to learn something new.
I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my review. This is my honest opinion about the book.
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