Albert Handell, Anita West
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Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Drawing -> Pastel
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13
Average rating: 3.5 of 5
... But keep your eyes open 3 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.
(I'm not clear on the contribution by author Anita Louise West; the text is largely in the first person singular -- Handell's.) This is a decent, if short-winded, introduction to common, fundamental art concepts (color temperature, intensity, complementary colors) and a few pointers specific to the pastel medium. There is little that you cannot get elsewhere in more depth, and some puzzling statements ("A toned paper helps the artist enhance contrast in values" -- p. 20) that beg elaboration. Many of the points are theoretically demonstrated by Handell's own paintings, with a paragraph each of his discussion; but his comments often seem arbitrarily chosen, if not downright wrong for the painting in question. For example, p. 40, he states "these light green colors [of the spring outside the studio window] contrasted with and complemented ... all of the darker interior colors of the studio," but the highest-key portions of the painting are in the interior. On p. 39 a view of a pier shows a flag at half staff. Hendell states, "I purposely played down the detail of the flag," yet it is in plain sight and eye-catching. In fact, the most interesting thing about an otherwise trite scene is the flag (I would have titled the picture "Half Mast") because it adds particularity and involves the viewer ("what's going on?"). The painting is divided exactly in halves horizontally, classically a compositional no-no, so I would have liked to read the artist's discussion of this choice. In some other paintings the artist seems confused (or unconcerned) about the principal light source -- although since Wayne Thiebaud routinely gets away with this, maybe it's not a big issue. In summary, this book is a lightweight, and hopefully encouraging, introduction to a wonderful medium, but the discussion of individual paintings should be read with one's critical faculties in place. Plus, it never hurts to browse another artist's works, even if the lessons contain nearly as many "what not to do's" as "what to do's".
Editorial Review:
Known for his use of luminous color, Albert Handell, whose lush landscapes light up these pages, provides lucid instructions to help first-time pastelists achieve impressive results as soon as they begin working with the medium. After reviewing pastel supplies, the author discusses landscape composition and how to establish large shapes first, abstract certain areas, develop a focal point, work from dark to light, and capture the illusion of reality through color. Stepped demonstrations isolate specific landscape aspects, showing how the pastelist depicts skies, trees, buildings, water, rocks, woods, snow, and light.
