Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
Rock Art for Beginners is a tutorial and inspiration guide for painting in various styles on rock surfaces written and curated by F. Sehnaz Bac. Originally published in 2017 (as Art on the Rocks), this reformat and re-release from Quarto on their New Shoe Press imprint was released 10th Jan 2023. It's 96 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats.
The book has an accessible and fun "vibe" from start to finish. The art is exuberant and colorful. The tutorials are clear and very well photographed. The author begins with an introductory survey of tools, supplies, and some simple techniques such as rock selection and surface prep. The following tutorial chapters are arranged thematically: mandalas, patterns (hearts, flowers, petroglyphs, etc), animals, and nature. The instructions presuppose no prior experience at all on the part of readers, and all the instructions are clearly written and easy to understand. Each tutorial includes step-by-step photo directions which have understandable short captions.
This is an upbeat and fun book which is encouraging and accessible. The rocks shown range from -very- simple to very very complex. It's not the execution which makes up the complexity, but the level of detail. Even the most complex designs will only require time and not advanced painting/artistic experience.
Four and a half stars. I really enjoyed this little book. This would be a superlative choice for public or school library acquisition, for activity groups, scouting type groups, maker's spaces, youth groups, home artist studios, and similar.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Reviewed by annieb123 on
Reading updates
- 14 January, 2023: Started reading
- 14 January, 2023: Finished reading
- 14 January, 2023: Reviewed