Mess: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes

I ordered the "Mess: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes" in order to be able to give me a creative outlet as I love to draw and create.Firstly, I find this product to be excellent value for money; at £11.48 it's excellent value for money especially with how many prompts there are throughout the book.Secondly, I find it suitable for both children and adults alike. And what's better is you can do whatever you like with it and the prompts are there to give you an idea of what you can do. It really gives you full control of how you want to express your creativity whilst giving you a prompt to give you an idea of what to do. This is perfect for when you want to be creative but don't know where to start.Overall, I am very pleased with my purchase and I will definitely be getting a lot of use out of this book!

I purchased this book along with Wreck this Journal on recommendation of my psychology student friend who suggested it for me as I do suffer with minor obsessive compulsive disorder in the sense that I need things to be organized and perfect.This book is very similar to Wreck this Journal, as a matter of fact some of the pages are identical, the front of the book is more about general destruction, while the latter parts of the book are more about exploration of textures, materials, different paints, colours, techniques and also tells the user to reference people, places, things etc. There is a lot of general doodling, but usually with some sort of instruction - ie photo of landscape with instructions to draw a storm of some description. I am not looking forward to burying it for 3 days! I must say! I will probably do that when I am done with it.I love that this book is a bit more educational to artistic techniques, people etc. The beginning of the book speaks about an interview with a Dutch Sailor summing up the work of Bas Jan Ader referencing a piece called "Broken Fall" which shows a man bouncing up and down swinging on a branch over a creek. The sailor references that "moment of transcendence when you leave everything behind and leap into the unknown". I feel this book encapsulates that statement very well. There is a lot of experimentation and tasks that do not have a particularly obvious outcome, and while not dangerous, the book challenges your views on what art or perfection is. I have done a few pages and in describing them verbally it sounds like I am destroying a perfectly good book, but actually when I look at pages there are little bits and pieces on some pages I love, some I hate. But the unknown has become known and I have referenced a lot of Ader's work, who i have become very intrigued with.This book has become a permanent fixture with me along with Wreck this Journal. I find rather than pulling out a phone and going into my own little world on a bus, train etc this is a fun way to pass the time. Ive had several strangers ask me about the books and I've happily filled them in.I would recommend this book to just about anyone. Some pages are fun to do with younger children. I feel it would be particularly good for an art student or fan. I haven't got to the pages yet, but I am looking forward to pages exploring textiles and texture. Its great fun, and I love it.

Sometimes watercolour painting can be infuriating because the paint never does quite what I want it to. This book is teaching me a different perspective - art does not always have to be about the perfect execution of an idea, sometimes the randomness of a 'messy bit' brings energy, freedom, or something else to a work that cannot be repeated and captures a moment in time.Children will love the anarchy of defying conventions as this book encourages, but it's not necessarily a children's book. Frequently an exercise cites the name of an artist or art movement for further research and this opens doors to learn about a world of modern art that we might not otherwise hear of. Add to this a new found freedom that an adult artist might learn from it and you have a book for all ages.It's great fun trying out the exercises, even if some of them are too off the wall for me I'm having a go in the spirit of challenging my inhibitions.Some reviewers have said the book would be better if spiral bound but I disagree. Sure it would be tidier that way, but that's not in the spirit of the book. The binding is of good quality so although mine is bulging it is not falling apart. If it does then I already have a plan to spiral bind it myself, by hand, with an untidy Heath-Robinson approach.

Bought as a gift but seems exactly as described and come in pristine condition

If you like Wreck This Journal then this is right up your street! WTJ is still my favourite but I loved doing this one. The prompts on each page are interesting and fun while also getting you to think creatively and think differently about your creativity. Highly recommended!

Delivered quickly. A great price secondhand and I love all the ideas in the book to encourage me to think outside boxes and boundaries xx

I bought this book with a couple of other Keri Smith books, and I found them really entertaining. This one was a lot of fun as you got to make mess with lots of different mediums and it was very creative. I did notice that some of the ideas were similar or the same as those in 'Wreck this Journal', as well as it required you to use things that were not found around the house or could be bought cheaply. So not all the activities were done. But would recommend.

This is the second book by Keri Smith I have picked up, this one is good but not a patch on wreck this journal.