[.ca] The Encyclopedia of Pastel Techniques: A Comprehensive ... (ISBN 1561380873)

Tremendous shame this book has gone out of print:
As a professional artist working with pastel, I find this book to be an ongoing source of inspiration and reminders of alternative ways of 'doing' pastels. When I get stuck in a rut, or feel 'stale', browsing this book is one of my favorite ways to get rolling again. With the growing popularity of pastels as an artistic medium, this book truly should be re-issued. I looked for it for several months locally, then placed my order through Amazon.com. It took six months, but the wait was well worth it! Thank you, Amazon.com!

This book is a treasure:
This is one of the best art books I have found. The author teaches a lot in a few words. (Have you ever opened an art book, and turned to a subject, only to ask "Is that all they are going to say?") Part 1 is Techniques. Part 2 is Themes. Part 2 breaks general subjects like Landscape, Environment, and The Figure, down to teach you about Seasons, Space and Distance, Industrial Settings, Mood and Atmosphere, Standing Figures, Groups of People, Figures in a Setting, Full-length Portraits, Pattern in Still Life, etc. Even though each section is only a few paragraphs, I learned more than I thought I would. Each section also has several artworks with a paragraph explaining what the artist did. This book shows a wider variety of illustrative styles than most I've seen. I found I could take a new subject, and flip through it until I found the style I thought would best represent it. It is full of color, good teaching, and variety.

Encyclopedia--yes, but organized? no..:
This book is very rich in techniques for all kinds of pastel work, from ink and wash with pastel overlay to oil pastel. Many artists' works are featured, and there are plenty of demos on how the work was done. Plus there is a beginning section on various stroke techniques and the effect of colored stocks on how pastel looks applied. My beef with this book is that it is not particularly organized. So if you are interested in oil pastel, you have to sift through 20 index entries where oil pastel is just mentioned in passing to where it is demonstrated in full. Still, there is a huge variety in this book, so there is bound to be something to appeal to any artist, no matter what their technique or style.