Trompe l'Oeil: Murals and Decorative Wall Painting [Hardcover]

These three books look at decorative painting on a grand scale. Wrigley provides an overview of the art in her mostly inspirational rather than practical guide. She gives an international look at mural and trompe l'oeil painting in historical and contemporary settings, even including work by Rust. In his own work, Rust details his approach to trompe l'oeil by showing planned and in-situ projects that he has designed. He gives painting and planning advice as well as his sources for the inspiration of his designs. His book will be useful for experienced decoraters. Buckingham offers the amateur more detailed instructions for decorating walls, beginning with a review of necesarry equipment. She provides instructions for smaller projects before approaching larger-scale stenciling work such as painting mosaic floors and trompe l'oeil fireplaces, although stenciling is covered in better detail in Jane Gauss's Stencilling Techniques (LJ 5/15/96). While all are recommended where there is an interest, Buckingham and Rust should be the first choices for how-to collections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Murals, pictures on walls, have been around for centuries - the Ancient Egyptians decorated their pyramids with them, the Ancient Greeks adorned the walls of their villas with figurative paintings and the Romans believed in divine protection from their wall depictions of gods and goddesses. All these have influenced artists through the ages to the present day, their colour, beauty and intrinsic detail permeating today's contemporary designs. This fully illustrated book offers a brief history of wall painting and trompe l'oeil (tricks of the eye) and showcases the work of 38 of today's most talented muralists from around the world. Full of inspiration for budding artists, the authors explain and highlight the tricks behind creating trompe l'oeil, painting murals, picking styles as diverse as Renaissance, Chinoisserie, Georgian and modern. Beautiful works of art fooling the eye, giving pleasure, adding an extra dimension to a room, and all giving a very personal stamp to the owner's homes. A joy to browse, an interesting and informative read and full of ideas to translate to your own home. - Lucy Watson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The art of illusion is one of the most fascinating aspects of interior design. This portfolio of the world's best contemporary trompe l'oeil artists and muralists brilliantly conveys the thrill of encountering this wonderful art form. Painting techniques and issues of perspective are discussed and illustrated with full-color photos, giving the reader a range of options for creating their own effects. 130 color photos.