The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

The Angling Artists by Tony Meers - Book Review



I was fortunate enough to receive a review copy of the book by Stephen Harper and my first impressions of the book are very nice indeed. The front cover depicts a bronze carp that has just leaped from the water and is illustrated by Reg Cooke. The rear of the book portrays a carp amongst the roots of a tree or bush and is illustrated by Gareth Fareham. The book itself is well bound and is nice and heavy with 203 pages. I do like a heavy book.

With a foreword by Bob Buteux, a painting of Temple Pool by Maurice Ingham and a picture of Bob holding a Temple Pool carp all on the first two pages I couldn't wait to get stuck into the book. This follows with a short introduction about the author Tony Meers and then an in depth introduction into the book by Tony himself. This then leads onto the first chapter by Bernard Venables.

As you would expect the book is literally full of portraits of fish, anglers and landscapes etc throughout the book. There are also numerous photographs in both colour and black and white. I found the portraits of Richard Walker, Fred J Taylor, Bernard Venables and Chris Yates by Maurice Ingham just wonderful, there is even a self portrait of Maurice. You also get a great insight into each artist, not only from their artistic work but from the written word in each chapter as well.

Each chapter begins with a short history about the artist, the artist then introduces him or herself (those artists sadly no longer with us are introduced by someone with a real insight into the artist), the chapter then continues on to discuss the species of fish that is related to the artist's chapter. Each artist is associated with a fish or fishes. There are 19 chapters in all with contributions by Len Arbery and Bob Buteux along with illustrations from many many others. Please see this link viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9287 for an in depth list of contributors. I have have also added a link to the 'Harper Fine Angling Books' website.

The artwork in this book is simply stunning and believe me chaps this book is definitely one for the collection.

The Book Launch
Saturday, 5th October 2013 from 12 noon, at the Lands End Inn, Lands End Lane, Charvil, Reading, Berkshire RG10 0UE.
(A fantastic angling pub, full of cased fish and angling memorabilia - and great food too!) http://www.thelandsend.co.uk

And many of the artists/contributors will be at the launch to chat, sign books and display their fantastic artwork. But if you can't make the launch, cloth-bound and leather-bound copies are available to purchase online, or by cheque at http://www.harperanglingbooks.co.uk

Another one on my list

I can't make my mind up about this one; I'm sure it's a fabulous book but pictures don't seem to do it for me as I prefer a good read.

DaceAce wrote:I can't make my mind up about this one; I'm sure it's a fabulous book but pictures don't seem to do it for me as I prefer a good read.

Well , there are some good stories which accompany the artwork with each artist writing his/her own piece so I am pretty sure the book will cater for all tastes .

Firebird wrote:There do seem to be a great many fish painters these days. I've only seen one I thought really good, though many have very good technical skills.

The pioneer of modern day angling art in my opinion has to be Robin Armstrong , lot of artists followed suit and very soon most wildlife artists began to see a new subject matter become more and more popular .It is a personal thing though and we all see things differently . I particularly like the work of David Miller and Chris Turnbull , both accomplished artist in their own right but with completely different styles and techniques .

I also enjoyed your artwork paul in your very good book I think its great and very different

Mazza wrote:I also enjoyed your artwork paul in your very good book I think its great and very different

Thats the thing Mazza , trying to be a little different , it is hardwork but there are some very fine artists out there all with their own distinct style . I think this book will show off some of their work at its best .

if I had to choose a style of fish painting I like it would be maurice pledgers who I really like and one from the past would be reg cooke

Looking forward to the launch. A friend of mine is a very good artist but tells me that fish are hard to paint. As for which artist. Maurice Pledger's work is truly wonderful, in fact, it was the cover whch prompted me to buy his first book. One other artist is Keith Linsell. Anyone who saw his artwork at the Perch fishers book launch could not fail to have been impressed. I have seen some of his latest work at his home of Carp and they are quality pieces of art.

Here is a picture showing the hard back edition, the leather edition with slip case, signing cards and book mark.