From Publishers Weekly Schilling, a self-proclaimed "watercolor evangelist," is actually a dentist by profession; on stints as a volunteer dentist in developing nations, and later, as a part-time dentist for a Holland America Line crew, Schilling painted the myriad watercolors he highlights in this slender volume. Part memoir, part catalogue and part painting how-to, Schilling's book shows him turning his eye and his quick hand to Venice shipyards, African hibiscus, Jerusalem churches and Alaskan mountains in colored sketches that are technically adept and generically pretty, awash in cadmium yellow, sap green, burnt sienna and cobalt blue. Despite Schilling's nod towards themed groupings, the sketches and paintings feel positioned by a mixture of whimsy and chance. In two consecutive pages titled "Home is Where the Heart Is," for instance, Schilling features pictures of his studio in Africa, a ramshackle cottage he saw near an African clinic, a lighthouse on Isle Royal, the plumbing where he stayed in Nunligran, Russia, and grand home in Provideniya, Russia. (The lengthy captions have much to say about the individual scenes but offer little to link them together.) He offers three-step demonstrations of techniques-e.g., creating the illusion of depth, painting from a photo, making "value sketches" and rendering realistic wood and weathered buildings-explaining them in text and pictures and even including a list of necessary supplies, but this is not a book for the novice. Instead, it's a personal and generally pleasing look at Schilling's favorite memories, which travelers of an artistic bent may find inspiring as they seek out more intimate records of their adventures than snapshots or gift-shop postcards afford. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more From Booklist For the sketcher-on-the-go, Schilling's book is a valuable tool for those who wish to capture their travel experiences in art. The world-traveling watercolorist shares his lifetime's worth of experience with witty anecdotes, nuts-and-bolt advice on simplification (on packing art supplies as well as planning the "action lines" of paintings), and numerous tips on technique. The latter include the finer points of depicting shadows, principles of design and composition, and the uses of layers and values to create the illusion of depth. Complete with a metric conversion chart and a brief laundry list detailing a "painting survival kit" (don't forget those heavy-duty paper clips!) in front plus an index in back, it's a welcome combination of enjoyable travel reading and valuable painting aids. Whitney ScottCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Read more
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