More Than a Likeness: The Enduring Art of Mary Whyte

Having come across the work of Mary Whyte accidently online I was very curious about this wonderful artist and tracked down a book on Amazon entitled "Painting Portraits and Figures by Mary Whyte. I duly purchased it and found it a great introduction to the work of the artist. However, it left me wanting more and further research online led to me discovering this book on Amazon. More than a Likeness : The Enduring Art of Mary Whyte is a phenominal book. It is a large hardback book with 368 pages filled with countless large coloured reproductions of her work in great detail. This hefty tome really does give us a clear and detailed insight into the mind and the skill of this great artist. If you are looking for a step by step instuction manual as to how she creates her paintings then you will be deeply dissapointed. However, if you are looking for a book that gives you glimps into the artists creative thought process and gives you hours of inspiration. It is expensive but the clarity of the paintings and the vastness of the book justify the cost. If you love watercolour art, particularly Portraiture then you will not be disappointed by this book.

I bought my first Mary Whyte book "Watercolor for the Serious Beginner" in 1998 when I was starting out with watercolours in California and have been following her work ever since and now have all of her art books. This exceptional study of Mary's work has been undertaken by Martha R. Severens, a retired art historian and past curator of several prestigious art museums in the USA. Her treatment of the work is accurate and professional and helps us to see, yet again, why the work of Mary Whyte is so very enduring - and endearing - to so very many people. Highly recommended. *****

This is not an instructional manual rather it is about the life and work of the artist. You will however learn of how she approaches her work and selects her subjects. A fascinating and informative read.

She is brilliant.

The book of my favourite artist with amazing paintings by her. But the printing is not exceptional I mean you cannot get a grasp of how her strokes really are put on paper