07.12.12 Adding to the Library

Chimayo meets Calderon

A friend recently asked what sort of "homework" I would suggest to help her better understand the internal structure of horses' legs and my immediate response was "Have you read Animal Painting and Anatomy by Calderon yet?"  This has been one of my favorite go-to references for structure since I first read it.  The book was a required reference for a workshop taught by sculptor Veryl Goodnight that I attended 19 years ago.


Since I was sending my buddy out to find a copy I decided to search ABE just to see how exorbitant an older copy would be instead of a new Dover reprint (which generally runs less than $20).  Turns out older copies are reasonably priced as well!  A dealer in Stillwater NY listed a copy that was originally from the Rhode Island School of Design's library.  That sealed the deal for me. I had to have this book, and the price was less than a new copy even with postage. Happy sigh....

Ahhhh, finally a hard bound copy with that pretty frontispiece painting in color!

And look at all the grime, the charcoal, the clay, the wax that has been layered onto the book's pages by several generations of fellow artists.  Love it!!

 

And the most intriguing little treasure of all -- an actual fingerprint in ink. Hmmmmm... *who* was that?

I just love this physical connection to artists in years past.

Of course I love new books too, and the one I'm most excited about right now (and am eagerly awaiting delivery of my copy) is The Equine Tapestry by Lesli Kathman.  

I like to think of her as the David Levy of the equine color genetics world. Lesli has poured her passion for equine color genetics into this book project and her meticulous perseverance shows in this first volume. You can see a little sneak peek of the book at her blog.  If you're headed to BreyerFest, be sure to attend her new presentations!  I believe you'll find up to date info about that at Lesli's FB page, and of course her webpage is a delight.

Come on Amazon -- I want my copy of The Equine Tapestry *now*.  But until then, I will commune with the spirits of art students past and the instructive Mr. Calderon...