Charley Harper Coloring Book
, Charley Harper Coloring BookWhen is a coloring book not just for preschoolers? Several spring titles will have adults and teens battling the kids for the crayons.
Charley Harper Coloring Book
AMMO
, $6.95 paper (64p) ISBN 978-1-934429-23-5
Charley Harper (1922–2007), the American painter recently “rediscovered” by Todd Oldham, has something of a cult following. Reproduced in color on the back cover of this oversize paperback, 32 images show off his punchy graphic style, his adventurous palette and eye for visual rhythm. In something like spinning gold into straw, the same 32 images are rendered only in black outlines inside the book. This exercise succeeds particularly well with Harper’s work: artists, sketchers and dabblers will find that the pronounced shapes and flat perspectives of Harper’s compositions depend almost wholly on color for their impact. The artistically inclined will enjoy hands-on testing of color theory; everyone else can just have fun. Perforations make the pages easy to tear out, too. All ages. (Feb.)
closeDetailsReviewed on: 01/26/2009
Genre: Children's
When is a coloring book not just for preschoolers? Several spring titles will have adults and teens battling the kids for the crayons.
Charley Harper (1922–2007), the American painter recently “rediscovered” by Todd Oldham, has something of a cult following. Reproduced in color on the back cover of this oversize paperback, 32 images show off his punchy graphic style, his adventurous palette and eye for visual rhythm. In something like spinning gold into straw, the same 32 images are rendered only in black outlines inside the book. This exercise succeeds particularly well with Harper’s work: artists, sketchers and dabblers will find that the pronounced shapes and flat perspectives of Harper’s compositions depend almost wholly on color for their impact. The artistically inclined will enjoy hands-on testing of color theory; everyone else can just have fun. Perforations make the pages easy to tear out, too. All ages.
Reviewed on: 01/26/2009
Genre: Children's
