Jane Corsellis - Painting in Oils and Watercolor: A Personal View
The "Atelier" series by David & Charles continues to offer  personal apprenticeships with accomplished artists in book form.  Previous entries, such as Trevor Chamberlain, a Personal View:  Light and Atmosphere in Watercolor (LJ 11/15/99) and John  Yardley, a Personal View: Watercolor (LJ 7/97), were  particularly successful. Corsellis is another artist known for a  sensitive interpretation of light and mood. What distinguishes  this volume, however, is her mastery of both oil and watercolor  and her ability to interpret the same subject in each. Thus,  each medium informs the other. We're also allowed glimpses into  the mind of the artist as she does both oil and watercolor  studies before refining her ideas into a single, light-saturated  oil or watercolor painting. Her subjects span interiors in  Malaysia, beaches on Long Island, terraces in the south of  France, landscapes in Umbria, winter scenes in London, and a  variety of still lifes, figures, and buildings.  Shorr, a professor of painting at the State University of New  York at Purchase, attempts a similar method of personal art  instruction. Through journal entries and a broad variety of  still-life oil paintings and pastels, she imparts her method of  direct painting, without preliminary sketches. For her, the  basic elements of painting color, light, and shape can be seen  as assemblages, apart from their literal significance. She  strives to paint freely, without preconceptions. This book will  inspire advanced artists but is not an essential purchase for  general collections. Jane Corsellis and the other "Atelier"  series entries mentioned above are highly accomplished works and  highly recommended.Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.