Books: Raw Colour with Pastels

I bought Raw Colour with Pastels by Mark Leach thinking that it would be an instructional text.

As it turns out, it isn't a how-to book at all.  It's better and provides a lot more.  Leach gives a lot of insight into his thoughts about color, composition, and the planning of paintings.  All the while his passion and love for color is evident.

The text is very heavy with images by the author.  When Mr. Leach hits a home run, he smashes them completely out of the park, creating those rare pieces of art that appeal both to artists and the average art fan.  There are plenty of works that are not home runs - but they all help you understand how much Leach experiments and how to explore color in a bold fashion.

This is one of my favorite books about creating art.  I was not half way through it when I decided that I wanted more of Mr. Leach's writings, but I discovered that he has passed away suddenly in 2008 at the age of 56.

Mark Leach in 2008

Someone in his family has been kind enough to upload an enormous amount of his art work to a Google web album.  If you like what you are seeing, take my word for it, the book is even better. His professional web site is still operational and contains, among other things, his manifesto.