The book is beautifully illustrated and lavishly photographed. It begins with a history and introduction to henna and mehndi. Since this book is more slanted toward mehndi inspired design and crafting, the 'Getting Started' chapter is less about how-to for temporary henna tattoos on skin and much more about tools and supplies for paper and crafting and paint based mehndi design. There is a very short section on blending henna paste to make a stain (especially for leather items), but that's not the main focus of the book. Only one of the projects, a stylish tambourine (p. 88 in the PDF version), actually uses mehndi henna paste. Most of the other projects use acrylic paint, glass markers, or other media. It's a relatively short book, 131 pages, but full of inspiration.
There are a number of beautiful projects which really appealed to me, including the beautiful mason jar on the cover. The other projects run the gamut from paper & stationery to picture frames, wall art, coasters and pendants. I certainly intend to modify some of the designs to textile art and intend to make placemats and a tablecloth at the very least.
This tutorial book has a step-by-step format. The design pages are all laid out in steps with each following part highlighted so the progress of the intricate designs follow naturally for the artist. The design pages comprise roughly 30% of the total content, followed by about the same amount of project tutorials.
There are also outline template pages to try out different layouts on hands, feet, legs, etc. There are inspiration pages with information about non-traditional designs as a further experimentation starting point for more 'tribal' looking art.
This is a wonderful resource for mixed media artists, doodlers/zentanglists, and creative souls of all types no matter what art form they prefer. It's a joyful book absolutely full of inspiration.
Four stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
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