Jaume Plensa Yorkshire Sculpture Park by Peter Murray, Claire Lilley & Jaume Plensa, hardback published by YSP. ISBN  978-1871480863 available from www.jeremymillspublishing.co.uk

I first saw Jaume Plensa’s extraordinary work at the Sotheby’s annual exhibition which takes place at Chatsworth House. Over the years he has become a favourite. As a writer I love words and Jaume Plensa uses words in his sculptures in a fascinating way that seems to speak to the very soul. The solo exhibition of his work at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park was a must see and I thoroughly enjoyed it. What better way to celebrate the exhibition than to remember it through this book.

The text talks about the works in the exhibition and includes an interview with the sculptor. This large format book offers full page colour photographs of the exhibited pieces. The transparent nature of many of the pieces show the beauty of the landscape. Plensa himself welcomed the dialogue between his work and the Yorkshire landscape since his works are usually viewed in an urban setting. As a background the landscape is stunning, the interplay of light on the sculptures mesmerizing. The photography by Jonty Wilde is excellent, capturing not only the sculpture but the background of its beautiful setting. I almost felt like I was walking through the park once more. Spiegel, House of Knowledge and the Heart of Trees, known in my household as the treehuggers are my favourite sculptures. The book also features Plensa’s words offering an insight alongside quotations from well known people like Blake and Goethe. This book encompasses Plensa’s varied work and his use of varied media. It is a beautiful catalogue of Plensa’s work that I would recommend to anyone interested in modern sculpture.

Compendium of Watercolour Techniques by Robin Berry, softback published by Search Press. ISBN 978-1-84448-771-4, price 12.99 available from www.searchpress.com

Watercolour can defeat you with its tricky ways, yet it is often the one medium as artists, that we wish to master. In this book you’ll find over 200 tips, techniques and trade secrets to help you master watercolour. From freeing your mind to knowing the paint and what it can do. This book explains equipment and techniques with some detailed step by steps. I like the section on expanding your palette and adding drama. It’s got all the basic principles for beginners but also tips on how to improve your work for improvers and intermediates. Techniques include pouring, spattering and texture and more. This book has all you need at any level to improve your work. It includes ideas on what to paint too. It makes you want to paint and I know I’ll be picking up my watercolour brushes and paints today.

Drawing & Painting Mermaids by Elaine Hamer, hardback published by Search Press. ISBN 978-1-84448-376-1, price 17.99 available from www.searchpress.com

A fantasy art book all about alluring mermaids. Elaine talks about characteristics, types of mermaid, colour and materials. She then launches into a step by step guide to applying colour. The drawings are excellent and this guide will help even the most ham-fisted artist. She then explains the use of sketchbooks and how to trace a design, enlarge an image and develop ideas.  The main body of the book looks at faces, hair, features, proportion, tails and tailfins, hands, body and everything you need to crete your mermaids. She shows perspective in some detail. The attention to detail in this book sets it apart. She also talks about illustrating a story. There follows two very detailed, complete step by step instructions for creating two different mermaids. This book is of interest to anyone who wants to know the basics of illustration for whatever purpose.

The Complete Book of Fantasy Designs, softback published by Search Press. ISBN 978-1-84448-624-3, price 9.99 available from www.searchpress.com

This book is the best of four previously published books, Halloween Designs, Christmas Designs, Angel & Fairy Designs and Mythical Creatures. This book has a broad base to entice craftspeople interested in fantasy projects. The book includes over 250 illustrations from simple borders and motifs to mythical creatures, flowers, symbols and lettering. Judy Balchin has designed several projects to show you how to use the book. This is not a project how-to book however, it simply provides you with drawings that can form the basis of your own art or craft work. There is also a bonus CD.

The Cloth Paper Scissors Book by Barbara Delaney, softback published by Interweave. ISBN 978-1-59668-397-6, price 17.99 available in the UK from www.searchpress.com

Any fan of Cloth Paper Scissors, the US magazine will have been clawing to grab hold of a copy of this. However, when I started to flick through the pages I kept having a feeling of deja vu – sure enough, this is nothing more than a selection of the best articles that have appeared in the magazine. So my advice is, if you have the magazines but want a collection of the best articles, or preferably if you do not have any of the magazines – buy it. However, if you are happy with your magazines and don’t want to pay again for the same articles – don’t buy it. I would have thought there were enough unpublished articles for Cloth Paper Scissors to have presented us with new ideas. The blurb on the book does state clearly on the back cover that these articles have been previously published in the last six years of the magazine. It should be judged on its content not that a reader may already have the magazines. The book includes all manner of work and media, ideas and inspiration for creating mixed media art. What it does, it does very well. There are ideas to get you started, printmaking with an excellent article on building layers by Beryl Taylor, one of my all-time favourite articles from the magazine, a good section on journals and book making, collage and assemblage – it gets a bit wild and wacky here, which is why I gave up my subscription to the magazine and switched to Quilting Arts, an interesting look at mixed media stitching and lastly selling your art, which offers ten tips and largely promotes Etsy, which I found amusing. This book should capture a new market, uninterested in magazines and subscriptions but willing to pay for a book from which they can gather ideas, inspiration and knowledge.

Degas and the Nude by George T. Shackelford and Xavier Rey, hardback published by Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-0500093627, price 42.00 available from www.thamesandhudson.com

Degas’ nudes are often overshadowed by his ballet dancers. Yet they are some of his most endearing and sensitive work. This is the first book in a generation to explore this theme, prevalent throughout Degas’ work. An excellent draughtsman, Degas’ approach to the figure is instructive. This learned volume consists of essays by leading American and French scholars providing new thoughts and interpretations of Degas’ work including insights from the late Lucian Freud. It discusses how Degas abandoned the classical pose and painted the nude at home in a familiar setting. The book takes us from the classical figures that featured in Degas’ early work to the naturalistic figures that are the most well known. It explores all the media Degas used and discusses Degas’ masterworks. The book concentrates on pastels but shows drawings and sculpture as well as works of other artists who had an influence upon him. The full colour images are excellent and are often shown full page. This fascinating book is an informative read with superb colour reproduction.

How to Draw and Paint Science Fiction Art by Geoff Taylor, softback published by Search Press. ISBN 978-1-84448-891-5, price 14.99 available from www.searchpress.com

This book sets the scene by defining the genre, looking at inspiration and reference using films and more. The art basics section looks at the tools and materials, both traditional and digital  needed to create science fiction art. It discusses composition, shape, anatomy, perspective, rendering, colour theory and visual narrative giving a thorough grounding. The Creating New Worlds section looks at all the elements needed to create an artificial world including landscape and the people that might inhabit such a place. This is an imaginative book that shows you how to create and draw imaginary people and objects. The instructions are excellent, so too the drawings. There are plenty of examples and step by step instructions. This is an excellent book for all those interested in techniques from conception to finished drawing or painting.

Country Landscapes in Watercolour by Terry Harrison, softback published by Search Press.ISBN 978-1-84448-643-4, price 8.99 available from www.searchpress.com

Part of the popular Ready to Paint series, this book provides 5 easy to follow projects with 6 re-usable tracings to pull out so you don’t even need to draw. The paintings are all country scenes including a snowy landscape and a lovely autumn painting of the New Forest. This is the best of the Ready to Paint books I have seen so far. If you are an avid watercolorist who does not like or who cannot draw, this is an ideal book.

Sketching People, Faces and Figures by Giovanni Civardi, softback published by Search Press. ISBN 978-1-84448-683-0, price 8.99 available from www.searchpress.com

This is a very good book for anyone trying to get to grips with portraying faces and figures. It concentrates on three areas – faces in many positions and poses, the figure in the street or at home and drawings of the sculptures found in the Rodin Museum. Although this book is recommended by the publisher as a beginner’s book, you would already need to be good at drawing to achieve this level and I think this book is more suitable to those who want to improve their skills rather than the absolute beginner. It is not a step by step book that the beginner would perhaps seek and the drawings are quite detailed.

How To Draw Exotic Flowers in Simple Steps by Janet Whittle, softback published by Search Press. ISBN 978-1-84448-636-6, price 4.99 available from www.searchpress.com

This book helps you to draw a selection of exotic flowers in pencil or in watercolour. The simple steps are shown in pencil only, there are no written instructions and the final drawing is rendered in watercolour. The drawings are relatively small, 8 fitting on to each page of the book for one project.