A Closer Look Techniques of Painting Jo Kirby

Materials and working practices influence a painter just as much as contemporary intellectual and cultural developments. "Techniques of Painting" aims to help readers develop a painterly eye by learning to recognize different materials and methods of application and to appreciate how these features contribute to how a painting looks.

Like all "Closer Look" volumes, this is a 'how-to-look' guide, rather than a 'how-to-do' guide, enabling readers to identify different types of painting in all collections. The pictures illustrated range from 13th-century panel paintings in egg tempera to 19th-century oils on canvas, including works by Duccio, Sassetta, Rubens, Rembrandt, Degas, Monet and Van Gogh, all from the National Gallery, London.

Jo Kirby works in the Scientific Department of the National Gallery, London, and is a world-renowned expert in pigments and paint materials.

"This fascinating book unpeels the layers of art history to the facts of what was available to artists and when… Using examples from the national gallery collection, hidden secrets are revealed in excellent illustrations… Whether you visit galleries, study art history, or painy, the Closer Look series shows the mechanics behind inspiration." Good Book Guide

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