art instruction and reference

This book, as it's title suggests, is more of an encyclopedia than a project book. I would not recommend it to a beginner because it doesn't take you through a number of projects step by step as many mosaic books do. But I HIGHLY recommend this book for someone who has started doing mosaic and wants to increase skills and knowledge. I learned a lot about design, in particular: using colors effectively, including the grout colors, and how to place tiles in the design and in the background in directions that affect the flow of the design. An eye-opening section showed common mistakes, which if one studies before starting a project, can be avoided. There are a few projects that are given to demonstrate certain techniques, and there are photos of many incredibly beautiful works. The patterns are not given for them, so you'd have to attempt to draw them yourself, or let them serve as inspiration. The materials and equipment section is very extensive and helpful. This is a great book you would study to become a better mosaicist, but not use as a project guide.

I rented this book from my library and am now here purchasing it, because I loved it so much. It is a great collection of basics, supplies needed, various techniques, common mistakes, ideas and inspirations, instructions, classic mosaic artworks and lots of colored pictures, (which even have my daughter asking me when we can try to do some mosaics). Hobby store: here we come!
Even if you just want a new addition for your library, its definetly a great buy.

Even though I am a beginning mosaic artist, I want detailed information about design techniques, materials to use, and errors that are common to the craft. This book fills the bill - it's got first rate design information and provides examples of the discussion topics. The arrangement of the topics in alphabetical order may be something that others find less than desirable, but if you read the entire book before making any judgments, you'll find that this is a non-issue. I'd recommend purchasing this book, especially if you only want to buy one.