Colour And Abstraction, George Blacklock – Book Review

And I have to say I didn’t like this book.  What didn’t I like?  Well,…

– All the featured artwork is  George’s own.  He has his own style and after a while you get sick of him running off the same old stuff, with its kidney bean shapes all over the place.  He does refer us to other artists’ work but tells us to google them – this book could have been so much better if it was twice as thick and included all those other artists’ paintings.

– The language was a bit, ahem, woolly and pretentious in too many places.  I just didn’t know what he was talking about a lot of the time.

– The title’s misleading.  Colour’s not that big a theme in the book.  It’s about abstract art and, in particular, George’s abstract art.

– I really didn’t learn much from this book.  I have one page of notes compared to the 4-6 pages I’d have expected from a book this size

– I wasn’t inspired by looking at George’s art

But did I learn anything?  Maybe one little thing.  And it’s to be me.  Do the sort of abstract art that comes from deep inside me.  Keep experimenting but also keep coming back to my own style.  If there are patterns or symbols that I like (like the leopard skin or the black dress in I See A Red Door And I Want It Painted Black), keep coming back to them and incorporating them into more paintings (like Magritte and maybe Dali).  Be like George but don’t paint like George.

This isn’t one I can recommend.  It’s getting one palette.  And I’m going back to take another look at that Rolina Van Vliet book that I gave two palettes to a while back.  I may well appreciate that one a lot more after reading this one. Maybe I’ll raise its rating if it gives me good ideas for sun paintings within my next griddy abstract work.  Anyway, it’s one palette for George.

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You can find this book and more reviews of it at Amazon UK here.  As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.