The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques Author, Ralph Mayer Reviewed by Richard E. McEvoy

This book might justifiably be called the artist's bible. Unfortunately,  like the bible, it is never consulted by those who could derive the most benefit from its prescriptions. Art schools today dwell on creativity without regard to permanence of the product. I have witnessed a prominent artist lay out his palette on blotting paper in order to give his picture a matt appearance. With the oil soaked out of the paint,  sooner or later it will require a lot of conservation to keep it on the canvas.

I forget how the Handbook came to my notice, but as I was always keen to ensure that my artwork would be permanent, I was bound to find it. Having found it, I read it eagerly. Encyclopaedic in scope, with 756  pages, my fourth edition copy dated 1981 takes account of the materials and sources of supplies newly available to artists at that time.

A list of some chapter headings gives an idea of the scope of the book:-

Pigments, Oil painting, Tempera, Grounds for oils and tempera, Watercolour and gouache, Pastel, Encaustic painting, Solvents and thinners, Gums, Casiens,  Glues, Waxes, New materials, Chemistry, Conservation, and finally Miscellaneous notes.

 The Appendix is a treasure trove of information on formulas, weights and measures, conversion factors for metric and customary units, Thermometer scales, Hydrometry, Calculations for altering the strength of solutions, Glossary of terms, Retail sources of some materials, and Specifications of the American Commercial Standard for Artists' Oil Paints.

The Bibliographies chapter lists books relating to all matters of interest to the artist: drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, lettering and conservation; all arranged chronologically by titles under their various headings with annotations and comments.

As one would expect, the index is comprehensive.

The final chapter in the book is entitled Lists and Tables. It gives Lists of pigments, Pigments for oil painting, Pigments for water colour, Pigments for fresco, Oil absorption of pigments, Drying effects of pigments, Gouache recipes, Pastel recipes, Pigments for ethyl silicate painting, Evaporation rates of solvents, Modern synthetic pigments, Stones for sculpture, Average weights of various materials, Melting points of metals, Woods for sculpture, Average weights of woods, Weights and measures, Oil index of pigments, and Glossary of terms.

The above mentioned oil index of pigments, reminds me of a visit to the Liverpool art gallery many years ago where I saw a fairly recent painting depicting a chair with an upholstered brown back the colour of which was obviously achieved by use of Burnt Sienna with another colour overlaid on the Sienna. The higher oil index of the Burnt Sienna ensured that the fat over lean rule was broken, with resulting widespread cracking.

Other pigments which should not be overpainted are Lampblack and Ivory Black. The chapter on Defects in Oil Paintings is essential reading for anyone wanting his or her work to last.

My advice to all is buy this book if you value your work. It will answer all your questions on the correct technique in all mediums. My copy is the revised fourth edition, but there is now a fifth edition available on Amazon.com.