Acanthus Carving and Design

As a "picture book", this is very good, except there are 30 pages of photos in the "Gallery" chapter WITHOUT ANY comments at all. The works are not even identified. And this follows the last sentence of the preceding chapter which says: "Refer to the next chapter to view examples of carvings finished with acrylics, oils, wax, leaf and bronzing powders." Is the reader supposed to guess, or did the author tire?The author does a pretty good job of explaining what makes an acanthus carving or drawing work, at least in 2 dimensions. He does little to explain how to make such a drawing yourself. He mainly suggests practice. I would point to Page's book: "A Guide To Drawing The Acanthus" to illustrate that this is addressable (the first 20 or 30 pages are particularly helpful). It is written there, on page 6, that "It would be wrong to assert that lessons have not been laid down before, yet in so complicated a style, that not only places it beyond the easy comprehension of the workmen, but is generally beyond their circumstances to obtain ..." (the truncation is mine). In the current author's conclusion he writes, "As you gain more appreciation for the design, carving the flowing leaves will become much more understandable and therefore more readily accomplished." Apparently the author believes that it is not beyond the reader's comprehension to master this complicated style through self-study (so congratulations, and good luck!) I would like to see the design section expanded since it is probably the most important part of the book. Perhaps exhibit a little compass-work or French curve (no strategy is recommended in the book)? The actual writing in the project section is so terse that it is monotonous (compared to a good article from Woodcarving Magazine).The notes accompanying the process of carving are just that. He might (better?) provide a link to a video. He provides a link to his website for the book (acanthuscarving.com), but there is little to nothing there right now that is helpful with regard to acanthus carving. Update (4/12/16): The website has been updated and now features some pictures of interesting and impressive carving work done by the author.I'm reminded of the phrase, "Give me a fish and I'll eat for a day; teach me to fish and I'll eat for a lifetime." This is a good book for someone who is hungry now! But do not expect to be instructed as to how you might apply acanthus carving to your own creations. It is good that this is unlikely to be the only book or magazine on the woodcarver's shelf. The section on sharpening can probably be safely omitted.I think it is a shame to see careful writing go out of style because it may be faster or easier to fill up pages using photos. This is the second book I have from the same publisher that appears to have been prepared with this formula.My rating for the book would be 2.5 stars, if allowed. Even preparing this review stimulated my thinking. I hope the comments I have made are taken to good effect in another edition. Let's celebrate acanthus carving with a great book (I've tried as hard as I can to try to help!)

Well, wow!128 pages, in full colour, and most of them have several photos on them. There would be scarcely ten or fifteen pages in the whole book without colour photos.Brilliant work. A terrific reference book, and a great pictirial instructionbook , if you are interested in the acanthus plant & leaf in its many ornamental forms.This book mainly concerns hand carving in timber, but there are many examples of historical work in plaster, marble, porcelain & other media as well.I bought a secondhand copy and it is very good.10/10 to the author & illustrator!

One carvers method. Great attempt at detailed explanations but left me feeling like I was still not getting a complete understanding.

Acanthus carving is not as easy as it looks to a non-carver, and I was glad to find some help on the subject.Lots of trouble spots pointed out, lots of advice on getting out of them.In a couple of places, I got confused (figure 5.9 and 5.11 look identical to me), but overwhelmingly, the text, drawings, and picture are clear.

Very good book for carvers interested in this type of carving. lots of information, photos and step by step instructions.

Great pictures and related drawings. Covers the broad range of information needed to succeed in carving Acanthus patterns and styles.

I just received this book and leafed thru it, and I was really impressed by the detailed photos - lots of pics on every page. Clear text, not overly simplified, has me looking forward to trying some of these carving techniques. I bought this book based on other reviews, if this book had the look-inside feature enabled they would sell a lot more of these. I really was pleased with this book and recommend it to intermediate level carvers and those wishing more instruction on this type of classic carving.

Provided an excellent primer on Acanthus leaf design. The two examples of carving Acanthus leaves was good but you need to have some carving experience as they do not contain detailed cuts.

Disappointed. Bought for inspiration and possible projects but fell way short of expectation.

Perfect

Generally a very good book, just needs more project designs or diagrams to get beginners started.