A Primer of Basic Forms for Artists, Designers and Architects
by John Allen
Floris Books, 2007, £9.99
Review by Bobcat
This may seem a strange book to review on the Network website, but a review copy was inexplicably sent to the office by the publishing house. I frowned and laughed and put it to one side, but then started to get intrigued. I flicked through, and then started reading; not that there are very many words. This is a book that simply celebrates the beauty of pattern. It is a book of circles,divided and divided again, exploring the joy of golden ratios and symmetries, of natural spirals and labyrinths, finding their exquisite expression within the shapes of flowers, retelling them within the tidy perfection of the artist's sharp pencil.
This is not probably a book to buy if you are not a person for whom
drawing heptagons is a source of deep satisfaction and inner joy.
But if your Druidry is richly nourished by the beauty of pure
mathematics and natural geometry, as is mine, and even if your day
job doesn't require you to know how to create an accurate 13 sided figure or balance proportions as close to 1.618 as you can, you might just love this little book ...
