Yannick Guégan author of the chapters on marble, wood, friezes and ornaments, and drapery in The Handbook of Painted Decoration (Norton), is an expert decorative painter and lacquerer who has practiced his trade for almost forty years. In 1982 he was awarded the title Meilleur Ouvrier de France for decorative painting and trompe l’oeil, the highest French distinction in the trade. He is the founder of the Institute Guégan at Mesquer-Quimiac in Brittany, where he teaches the techniques of decorative painting to students from around the world.