Book Review: Franklin Booth Painter With a Pen

Part of a Quick Copy of one of Booth's Images

This post is a review of the book Franklin Booth: Painter with a Pen.

Many months ago I read this review by Charley Parker on his blog lines and colors. It was then that this book went on my wish list. Recently I was able to purchase it and I am not disappointed.

Franklin Booth is a stunning artist. The description "painter with a pen" is exactly right. His works are like paintings, not drawings. He uses the pen to carve out the image much like a painter does.

The book begins with four short articles: a foreword, an intro, an assessment of Booth's work and a biography. These ten pages of text and illustrations are then followed by nearly 100 pages of reproductions of Booth's work - some full page and some smaller.

This is the beauty of this book, it is full of Booth's work! There is plenty to examine. I keep looking through, pondering over images, trying to glean insight from what I see. I don't mean pen and ink techniques either...his use of value and tone are just incredible, the medium doesn't matter.

The importance of tone in artwork can be so clearly seen in his work. The design of his work is clearly thought out. This book, in many ways, could be used as a primer on the elements of art: line, tone, value, composition...it's all in there.

I highly recommend this book, not for info on Booth, but for gawking!