Tea by Kevin Gascoyne

Tea by Kevin Gascoyne,
François Marchand,
Jasmin Desharnais,
Hugo Americi,
Jonathan Racine

ISBN-13: 9780593197882
Paperback: 271 pages
Publisher: Firefly Books
Released: November 3rd 2011

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Tea is a comprehensive guide to non-herbal tea, the plant Camellia sinensis. Concise and authoritative text and an abundance of color photographs take the reader on an escorted tour of the world's tea-growing countries: China, Japan, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam and East Africa. Like a fine wine, it is the "terroir" -- a region's soil and climate -- that imparts unique characteristics to a tea. The book covers black, green, white, yellow, oolong, pu'er, perfumed, aromatic and smoked teas.

Topics include an overview of the history of tea, tea varieties, the worldwide export of tea, how tea is processed, signature tea cultivars, the art of making, serving and tasting tea, including tea ceremonies, and tea in cooking with 15 recipes. Also, a set of detailed charts, tables and graphs shows the caffeine, antioxidant and other biochemical properties of 35 teas.


My Review:
Tea provides a detailed look at the history and present state of tea in China, Japan, Taiwan, India (and, briefly, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam and East Africa). The book started by providing an overview of the history of tea and information about the different tea types: black, green, white, yellow, oolong, pu'er, perfumed, aromatic, and smoked teas. The authors then focused on specific countries and talked about where the tea is grow, how the weather affects the tea taste, the tea types that they grow there, if the tea is primarily for domestic use or export, and details about how they process the tea and about local tea drinking ceremonies. They ended with 15 recipes that use tea and some scientific analysis about what levels of caffeine and antioxidants are in various teas and how different preparation methods (steeping times, multiple infussions, etc.) affect the amounts of caffeine and antioxidant in each cup of tea. If you really like your tea and want to learn the details, this book has a lot for detailed information.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

The Urban Sketching Handbook: Understanding Light by Katie Woodward

Understanding Light by Katie Woodward

ISBN-13: 9780760372036
Paperback: 118 pages
Publisher: Quarry Books
Released: December 28th 2021

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
The Urban Sketching Handbook: Understanding Light is an informative guide to heightening the impact of your artwork by capturing the look and subtleties of light in any scene. In settings ranging from fields and mountains at daybreak to neon cityscapes at midnight, learn how to express light effects through color and value to improve and refine your drawings and paintings.

Artist and urban sketcher Katie Woodward offers strategies for selectively translating values for maximum effect, using your sketchbook to experiment with the effects of natural as well as artificial light, and considering many options for visual solutions through work contributed by experienced urban sketchers.


My Review:
Understanding Light is an excellent guide on what to observe and consider to better create a realistic sense of light in your paintings or drawings. This is for any medium, but the illustrations were mainly watercolor, pencil, and pen. While the author provided tips on using value and such to create a sense of light, much of the focus was on making sure that you see what's actually there rather than using the colors you expect to see. She also gave useful tips for what to consider or change if you realize what you're doing isn't working. I've heard some of this advice before, but it never really clicked until I read it so clearly explained here. Overall, I'd highly recommend this book to artists who are getting the hang of the basic skills of their medium and now want to improve their portrayal of light in a scene (urban or not).


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.