Jane Corsellis - Painting in Oils and Watercolor: A Personal View - Hardcover

The "Atelier" series by David & Charles continues to offer personal apprenticeships with accomplished artists in book form. Previous entries, such as Trevor Chamberlain, a Personal View: Light and Atmosphere in Watercolor (LJ 11/15/99) and John Yardley, a Personal View: Watercolor (LJ 7/97), were particularly successful. Corsellis is another artist known for a sensitive interpretation of light and mood. What distinguishes this volume, however, is her mastery of both oil and watercolor and her ability to interpret the same subject in each. Thus, each medium informs the other. We're also allowed glimpses into the mind of the artist as she does both oil and watercolor studies before refining her ideas into a single, light-saturated oil or watercolor painting. Her subjects span interiors in Malaysia, beaches on Long Island, terraces in the south of France, landscapes in Umbria, winter scenes in London, and a variety of still lifes, figures, and buildings. Shorr, a professor of painting at the State University of New York at Purchase, attempts a similar method of personal art instruction. Through journal entries and a broad variety of still-life oil paintings and pastels, she imparts her method of direct painting, without preliminary sketches. For her, the basic elements of painting color, light, and shape can be seen as assemblages, apart from their literal significance. She strives to paint freely, without preconceptions. This book will inspire advanced artists but is not an essential purchase for general collections. Jane Corsellis and the other "Atelier" series entries mentioned above are highly accomplished works and highly recommended.
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