The Etcher's Studio - Softcover

Arthur Geisert’s unique and exquisite etchings have been widely praised and exhibited at the Chicago Institute of Art, among other museums. His work is regularly selected for the Society of Illustrators’, annual Original Art exhibition, and his illustrations are now being collected by the Dubuque Museum of Art. He lives in a converted bank in Bernard, Iowa.

Grade 2-8?Watercolor, crayon, and color pencil are mediums children can relate to easily; the complex work of etching is more challenging. Here, Geisert takes away the mystery as he transports young readers to an etcher's studio and provides step-by-step explanations of this age-old art technique. In a thin gesture to story, an unnamed narrator helps his grandfather prepare for a year-end studio print sale. However, as the boy undertakes his most important task (hand coloring the images), his mind begins to stray and soon he is inside the pictures?sailing around Cape Horn, flying over his hometown in a hot air balloon, changing places with a deep-sea diver, and exploring a jungle. While the working relationship between the boy and his grandfather is a nice touch, the youngster's imaginative wanderings go nowhere; suddenly he is back in the studio with the dramatic possibilities never realized. Nevertheless, there is much to share with children. The work of an etcher is skillfully divulged, two well-labeled appended spreads (a panoramic view of the studio, and, in storyboard fashion, the processes of making an etching) give breadth to the presentation, and a short afterword capsulizes the history of the art. In addition, the pages reveal cues to other Geisert books. This selection balances the many books on other art techniques, such as the "DK Art School" series or Douglas Florian's A Painter (Greenwillow, 1993), and, of course, makes an excellent introduction to Geisert's own esteemed creations.?Barbara Elleman, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI
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