The Artist's Handbook [Hardcover]

Ray Smith (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0394555856 | ISBN-13: 978-0394555850 | Publication Date: November 12, 1987 | Edition: 1

The definitive, practical guide to all the tools, techniques, and materials of paintings, drawing, printmaking and related visual arts. Over 1,000 illustrations and 175,000 words of text.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In this handsome and substantial handbook, a classic approach to the technical aspects of art, British artist Smith presents a wealth of information on established materials that he organizes first by function--pigments, resins, solvents, and the like--then by media categorized according to discipline. For instance, his section on drawing contains detailed entries on oil pastels, charcoal, and conte crayon. Painting elicits descriptions and depictions of the uses of watercolor, oils, and acrylics. In the printmaking and digital media and photograpzxzhy categories, Smith focuses more on method than media, with subsections on intaglio, lithography, and screenprinting in the former, and, in the latter, a 10-page discussion of computer manipulation of digital images. Throughout, he amply employs full-color illustrations and demonstrations as examples and teaching aids. This excellent overall guide to the visual arts boasts multiple appendixes on color, perspective, health, and safety. With glossary and index, this far-ranging overview is hard to beat. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

The definitive, practical guide to all the tools, techniques, and materials of paintings, drawing, printmaking and related visual arts. Over 1,000 illustrations and 175,000 words of text.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 362 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (November 12, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394555856
• ISBN-13: 978-0394555850
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #509,280 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An informative book for Artists and Craftsmen /Artisans, January 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Artist's Handbook (Hardcover)

An excellent layout on the materials used in the fields of Fine Art and Craft . Special mention is to be made of secret mediums not used in old master painting , with reference to research done at the National Gallery [London]. A welcome addition to the educated Artist's study, should sit well along side one's Ralph Mayer .Also in keeping with todays emphasis on health , there are more than adequate references , to ASTM standards.The only noticeable grey areas are the weak chapters on Vitreous Enamelling and Ceramic Tiles ,perhaps added as an after thought.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but contains some bad advice, May 9, 2003

By 

J. Kyng (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Artist's Handbook (Hardcover)

I agree with the preceding reviewers but must add I found this book to be so general as to require supplementation by other books such as those by Ralph Mayer(somewhat out of date but still useful) or Robert Gottsegan. Ray Smith does offer some very dubious advice in parts of the text eg. he suggests that after priming your support with the traditional lead primer, you should sand it to smooth the surface. This is a TERRIBLE suggestion. Lead is very dangerous when inhaled--it only becomes inhalable when sanded or when used in pigment form. Sanding it is an absolute no-no.Ralph Mayer is a chemist, so his advice on safety issues is a lot more reliable than Mr Smith's. Of all three books, that by Gottsegan is probably the one I would recommend most as it is far more up to date than Smith's or Mayer's.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great resource for artists, September 28, 2003

By 

T. Hooper "thdizzy" (Osaka, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New Artist's Handbook (Hardcover)

This book is an important resource for artists. Ray Smith has a complete knowledge of art materials, and he gives a complete and detailed description of each material and how they are used. It covers a wide range of art materials including paints, grounds, pencils, inks, printing equipment, cereamic tiles, stained glass, and so forth. Also included is information on color, perspective, framing, photography, and exhibiting your work. Basically it's a complete guide to the 2D mediums of art. if you're interesting in 3D arts such as sculpture or pottery, you're not in luck. Those fields aren't covered.

For me, it's interesting to just look through this book and examine the wide range of techniques and materials presented in it. You can find a lot of new ideas to try out. Even if you're an experienced artist, I think you can find something new that you will be excited to try. Check it out. It's worth it.