The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques: Fifth Edition, Revised and Updated (Reference)

Very detailed and great if you want to know more about how paints, solvent, etc, are made. It's the blood and bones of the art world.

Well, plenty of reviews here relate the content on this book. From reading, apparently historically, before mass production, fine art wasoften more a 'craft' than an 'art'. Ralph Mayer's book is chock full of explicit details on the analytical side of things that relates more to the chemistry and physics of things than the artistic side. Does not mean this material is not useful to the artist, for it adds a great deal of insight into what the art is all about from that clinical, analytical explanation. It perhaps gives a viewpoint more from a curator's point of view, than an artist. For me, at least one benefit was explanations on why certain materials degrade over time [ie yellowing, cracking], and how to preserve or initiate from scratch a better preservation. I would offer Ralph Mayer's reference book remains in an artist's must have list to compliment a plethora of reference that will advance one's understanding of what they do.

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This book was used but in excellent condition. It looked as though it had never been opened or a page flipped. . Literally indistinguishable from new. I saved about $15. By Ordering used rather than new. Delivery was prompt. I will order from this supplier again. Better than 5 stars.

A very good and thorough reference book. Covers almost every area important to an artist working in pools an acrylics, although oil is the dominant medium. Good reference on ANSI and international color standards for pigments and an explanation of the coding system. Makes figuring out what pigment color by Old Holland, for example, is the relative equivalent in Williamsburg or Harding. I've found it a quite valuable reference.

Expand your technical skill as an artist

This is a great reference for any artist. Whether you're into oils, acrylics, watercolors, encaustics, pastels or any other medium this book has information for you on just about anything you can think of. There's a chapter where you can brush up on your chemistry and one on solutes and solvents. Thinking of making your own media? There's a chapter on pigments and all of their chemical and physical properties. A chapter on Miscellaneous Notes actually makes for good reading throwing out information on various topics related to already mentioned media but also discusses others such as etching, silk-screening and lithography.It's a wealth of information squeezed into 710 pages with an added 48 page index. It's impossible to find this much information on art technique and tools in any 1 other book (IMHO). No pictures (there are charts and graphs) just good information.

I am an amateur artist with some very serious questions about the painting process. I have a need to understand in depth the materials that I am working with. I feel that I do not deserve to work with a material unless I have a historical and technical understanding of it. I am embarassed that I only recently became aware of this amazing tome. As I scanned through the chapter listings, I was excited and delighted by the fact that it appears to address every question that I have... and then so much more. When I started skipping through the actual content of the book I was awestruck by the comprehensive and thorough treatment that it gives every aspect of the craft of painting. I am not exaggerating when I say that this is the most exciting book that I have put my hands on in a long time. This is my bible. My religion is paint.

This wide ranging work is something that most artists will find useful. It has been in print since 1940 and this is the fifth edition. It is however a book that was last revised in 1991so does not reflect many of the developments in pigments and materials or current thinking about resources or toxicity. Also few of us have the space,equipment or ability to try out the recipes for making paints or media he recommends. (Perhaps it is time that the publishers issued a facsimile of the first edition as a historical work and a completely rewritten revision so one could get the best of every aspect of this magisterial work.)I have absolutely no intention of trying out many of the techniques he describes but still find how one could do so fascinating.This said there are many topics discussed in it that are still extremely relevant and interesting and I wouldn't be without it.

A lot of useful information in this book if you are interested in the technical aspects of painting but the author is certainly no teacher. When I tried to find out how to prepare a plywood panel for archival oil painting I nearly lost the will to live and in the end decided to revert to stretcher bars and canvas. No doubt the information is all in there, but the author seems incapable of describing anything in simple terms or structure his explanations properly. His other book  The Painter's Craft  is more useful in practical terms. The Painter's Craft

I was reluctant to buy this because it doesn't seem to be available on kindle and it seemed a little pricey. But a course that I was doing listed it as required reading. So I bought it. It is a hefty volume and having read nearly 200 pages so far, I can see why it would be required reading for artists. It is full of comprehensive and essential information that I wouldn't expect to find elsewhere. It has been referred to as 'The Bible for artists'. I think rightly so.

If you want to take up art, or study Art materials, then look inside this very comprehensive, Art materials handbook. It covers materials and techniques.It covers new and ancient materials and techniques.What's more this book is always being revised and expanded from 1940 to 1991. the last revised edition undertaken by Steven Sheehan.I am informed in the preface, some text changes were made in respect of "the permanence of some pigments", so these references were left out.That's very reassuring to know, the growing knowledge of materials and their use is, over time being reviewed and updated.Hats off to the original creator Ralph Mayer.

I bought this for my granddaughter after it was recommended to her by a well-known artist. And it lives up to expectations.