Customer Review

At 11 inches x 8 and a half inches, this is a decent, coffee table, book size which is good as it is one to treasure, keep revisiting and enjoy.

We've all been on a train in the Autumn and seen the sun, low on the horizon behind the trees and how the trunks and branches seem to become thinner in front of that disk of bright light. Well, this is a book about how to capture the effects of light sources in front of the artist as opposed to the side or behind.

The authoress is a master (mistress?) of her craft. The images she creates are very beautiful and the layout of the book is designed to impart as much of her knowledge as possible to the reader.

The examples given are varied but all fall under the banner of painting into the light. Some are lyrical and could almost be backdrops from Disney's Bambi.

Like every artistic genius, Jenny Aitken makes everything look oh, so simple. What particularly appeals is the fact that with very few brushstrokes she evokes detail which one perceives even though it is not there. This is particularly the case where figures are concerned with more than one example reminded me of Monet's Parisian street scenes.

Other artists have painted similar and had Jenny Aitken produced work like this a century and a quarter ago, she would be remembered as a great impressionist. Well, they got there first and she uses techniques which have been around for a long time but wow, she uses them with such apparently effortless skill that I am on my hands and knees in admiration.

The book is beautifully laid out and pictures are given room to breathe. A lovely, easy read and a book to leave out and visit often. As a manual for producing art like this, I think it is unsurpassed.

Highly recommended.