Customer Reviews

New Acrylics Essential Sourcebook: Materials, Techniques, and Contemporary Applications for Today's Artist

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First let me caution, this book is in no way for beginners. In fact, its overly technical slant is enough to scare people away from acrylics. I'm only partially kidding. As a well seasoned painter and someone fairly knowledgeable in the field, I found the author's vocabulary a bit daunting at times. Flocculation anybody? Does anyone besides the author of this book know what this word means? Flocculation is when your paint curdles, OK?

That said, this book offers wonderful suggestions on how to achieve some stunning effects in the acrylic arena. But in no way is this book a how to. You'll see a picture with something you want to know more about, and you get one sentence without any further explanation. I found this and other things about this book frustrating. The other kink in the works is that many of the "new generation" of acrylics this author is championing are solely manufactured by Tri Art Acrylics, a company the author consults for.

That being said, the book is beautifully presented and definitely has influenced my artistic approach.

Siouxie, Bronx, NY

This is a truly inspiring book. It's all about possibilities and ultimately gives you the knowledge and freedom to explore your own potential with acrylic painting. How awesome is that! I have the first book which shares the 'what and how' about acrylic products, but this book compliments it with sharing up to date information about 'all it can be' and more so you can make the best choices for you and your unique way of creating. It's really in-depth, easy to read and clearly presented. I've been using acrylics more and more these days, and so I've been referring to this for everything...when I want refreshed insight about different surfaces, media, colour and all the mediums! Personally I love the charts, glossary and Q&A sections, oh and the whole chapter devoted to being a greener and more future conscious artist! I am so inspired by this book, I love it!

This may have been a case of a publisher wanting another book from an author who had already given us everything in her first one. Buy Tauchid's first book, "The New Acrylics" 2005, not this one which is a poor cousin to it. Aside from some nice photos of her demonstration pieces, this book offers nothing that you won't already know if you've been working with acrylics for awhile and have read the information provided in art supply catalogs. It is obvious that they were struggling for text because everything is covered twice, once on the white pages and again on the blah-looking beige pages in a Q & A format. Each chapter begins with an interesting list of what will be covered, but you end up disappointed because she just barely mentions each topic. There was so much that I was wanting to know more about but instead the space gets used for flowery prose and to repeatedly duplicate information in two or three different locations. Also, her first book is lush whereas this one has a recycled feel to it. On the plus side, fun photos, good product usage charts, and lots of great information for beginners.

I was hugely ignorant about acrylic paints and mediums. But having fun glueing
things down to other things using gel medium. Then I read this book and my
life has totally changed! I'm trying everything with a new sense of "this is how
this works"--a much better perspecptive than "what IS all this stuff"!!!

This book is for a chemist or for a technical person. Really, there's more than I want to know in these pages. Now I understand what a source book is. The author covered everything.

This is truly a must book for the working artist that gives them updated information on acrylic paints. It also informs you about the acrylic mediums, the working grounds(surfaces) that acrylic paint can be applied to and if any problems. This book is easy to navigate getting answers to your questions quickly with well organized layout sheets.

I am an experienced artist working in all media except oils. I have had other books on the essentials of acrylics, but this one encourages the artist to follow their own inspiratin while using a particular example as illustration.

First of all Rhéni's book is just beautiful: the layout, the colours and the illustration are so inviting. But what impressed me the most is the way the author writes - as if she is actually talking to me, directly answering to my personal needs. And congratulations on the Drama Queen - she is truly inspirational.

I read the book, and it certainly contained information that added to my knowledge--the text well written, the author highly intelligent and knowledgeable.