Book review

The Complete Guide To Painting & Drawing: Techniques & Materials by Colin Hayes
Published by Phaidon, Oxford, 1978

The Complete Guide To Illustration & Design: Techniques & Materials Edited by Terence Dalley
Published by Phaidon, Oxford, 1980

Reviewed by HUGH FOSTER

With Phaidon's addition this year of The Complete Guide to Illustration and Design to their earlier Complete Guide to Painting and Drawing, there now exist two most useful companion volumes that together cover a wide spectrum of techniques in the visual arts - ranging from the classic practices in oil painting, watercolour and pastel, through to the use of the various media in illustration, and the essentials of design and typography.

The compactness of the text, the lavish use of illustrations displaying methods of working or showing examples, make the information in these books instantly available. And though it is true that there are faults (such as the misattribution of a well-known Leonardo drawing to Michelangelo on page 12 of The Complete Guide to Illustration and Design) these are details that do not affect the essential soundness of the technical information.

I would imagine that any artist or designer having these two volumes on the studio shelf could feel secure in the knowledge that the short answer to all basic questions of technique was always within arm's reach. Supported by such accessible information, from that point onward experience itself would be a sure guide.