Book Review of Painting the Wind-A Children Painting Book By Marion Boddy-Evans:

The Bottom Line

This children's book will have a special appeal to painters because the illustrations look like textured oil or acrylic paintings on canvas. It's a celebration of the joys and challenges of painting, presented as something someone of any age can do.

Pros:

Illustrations look like paintings done on canvas, not graphics.
Introduces readers to the concept of working artists, and the subjects they paint.
Introduces the concept of different pigments for a color, it's not just red.
Each artist has a dog, which is included in the paintings.

Cons:

You may be faced with a request for "real artist paints" and easel after reading this.
Description

Aimed at ages four to eight years. 40 pages. ISBN 978-0-06-443825-4. Published by Harper Collins.
Written by mother-and-daughter team Patricia and Emily MacLachland.
Illustrated by Katy Schneider. Samples of the paintings in Painting the Wind can be viewed on her website.
Guide Review - Painting the Wind

(Book Review of Painting the Wind-A Children Painting Book By Marion Boddy-Evans)

The story in Painting the Wind is a gentle one, about a young boy who lives on an island where artists (and their dogs) come every summer to paint. He watches what they do and paint, introducing readers to different subjects such as still life, portraiture, flowers, landscapes. He joins a landscape artist painting the sea, and finally achieves his ambition to paint the wind.

The book cover says the story is "about holding on to the perfect moments of summer in a place that you love", but I rather think it's a celebration of the joys and challenges of painting, of being a painter, and of seeing yourself as an artist. It presents being a painter as a people with a passion, taking enjoyment in what they create, and presenting art as a career (there's an exhibition). That's a lot for a 40-page children's book I hear you say. Well, the illustrations do at least half of the talking.

The language will be challenging in places, especially for younger readers, but the context helps explain the meaning and is likely to trigger an interest in the "big words". For instance, the paint colors alizarin crimson, terracotta, scarlet lake, and cadmium red are introduced when a painter is going to paint a poppy and "rummages through his tube of reds".

If you've children or grandchildren, or have children visiting your studio, this the perfect book to share. Not only does it explain what a painter is and having painterly illustrations, it also plants the seed of the thrill of creating something, no matter what your age.

Claudine, the daughter of Vincent van Gogh's charwoman, is the only person in Arles who finds the artist and his work exciting rather than threatening. She dreams of becoming an artist herself, and, as represented by Hawkes's (The Librarian Who Measured the Earth) vibrant settings, she begins to see through her hero's eyes: "the trees no longer looked green to her, but gold and purple and orange and blue, and their branches danced like flames." Claudine notes van Gogh's compulsive work habits and volatility, and also witnesses Gauguin's tumultuous visit and the artist's depression following the ear-mutilation episode. But Claudine remains enchanted by his gifts and overcomes her meekness to defend Arles's bete noire, praising his work in full view of the hostile townspeople. Van Gogh, however, remains a shadowy, distant figure, and the story is not likely to carry much weight with those not already familiar with van Gogh. Hawkes demonstrates great versatility: his lush, charismatic oil illustrations evoke by turns the intensity of van Gogh's paintings, the relative tranquility of a more conventional vision and the dark period of van Gogh's depression. While Claudine's love of art and righteous loyalty can seem emotionally airbrushed, Dionetti (Coal Mine Peaches) and Hawkes successfully demonstrate the power of art to transform vision. Ages 6-10.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Refer to: http://painting.about.com/od/productreviews/gr/painting_wind.htm

Hope the above info can be helpful for yu. Thank you for reading.

Edited by Kevin from Xiamen Romandy Art Limited.
(Xiamen Romandy Art is a professional oil paintings supplier from China. If you want to convert your photos into high quality oil paintings, or you want the masterpiece oil painting reproductions, please don's hesitate to contact with us.)
Romandy Art Website: http://www.oilpaintingcentre.com

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