Auckland Council Libraries: Illustrative techniques and hand colouring

Illustrative techniques and hand colouring

These are guides to the methods of printing illustrations before photography and to the complex processes of making colour pigments. Learn more with this selection of books and listen to our Meet a Rare Book podcast.

Chromatopia

David Coles

Book

From grinding down beetles and burning animal bones to alchemy and pure luck, Chromatopia reveals the origin stories behind over fifty of history’s most vivid colours.

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Colour

Alexandra Loske

Book

This history of colour concentrates largely on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with a collection of original colour material including charts, colour wheels, artists’ palettes, swatches and schemes.

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The encyclopedia of printmaking techniques

Judy (Frances Judy) Martin

Book

This is a visual guide to all the different methods of printmaking, from woodcuts to etching and engraving, screen-printing and lithography. It includes illustrated step by step demonstrations for learning to apply the processes.

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Printmaking

Ann d'Arcy. Hughes

Book

This is an illustrated resource on all the different printmaking techniques, including instructions, accompanied by profiles of artists working in the different media.

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The print before photography

Antony Griffiths

Book

A landmark publication that catalogues the history and development of the printed image.

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Etching, engraving, and other intaglio printmaking techniques

Ruth Leaf

Book

This comprehensive handbook covers materials and equipment, tools, papers and presses, used in intaglio printing. There are detailed instructions for etching, engraving, drypoint, collagraphs, tuilegraphs, and the Blake transfer method.

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Great natural history books and their creators

Ray Desmond

Book

Large illustrated books of natural history are some of the greatest books ever created. Ray Desmond tells their stories - how and why they were created, the problems encountered in their productions, and the beauty of the end results.

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The art & history of books

Norma Levarie

Book

A panorama of book design from its earliest history to recent years. It traces the history of fine books against a background of changing patrons, improving technology, religious and social change, and the state of the arts throughout the world.

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Flora illustrata

creator LuEsther T. Mertz Library

Book

This beautifully illustrated book introduces us to a rare collection of botanical artworks, rare books and manuscripts. It includes Renaissance herbals, nursery catalogues and explorers’ notebooks.

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Botanical illustration

Carol Belanger Grafton

Book

Comprising more than 500 years of printed botanical illustrations, this compendium of black-and-white and colour images begins with medieval illuminated manuscripts and woodcuts from the early days of printing.

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Botanical illustration from Chelsea Physic Garden

Andrew Brown

Book

Chelsea Physic Garden was founded in 1673 to provide plants for the medicinal training of apothecaries. This has always been supported by plant illustrators. The botanical illustrations in this book date mostly from the 20th and 21st centuries.

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The golden age of flowers

Celia Fisher

Book

The 17th and 18th centuries saw a 'flowering' of botanical illustration and witnessed the production of some of the greatest books of plant illustration ever produced.

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Auckland Council Libraries:Book list Recommended reading lists about different topics and genres to help you find new books to read.