2 comments about Sketches from Japan.

1. Every fan of drawing, everyone who has ever traveled with a sketchbook will enjoy this little collection of his travel sketches from Japan, and this will delight those already acquainted with the ravishing beauty of Francis Ching's architectural drawings. Ching's other books are analytical drawings, showing architectural detail and forms with a controlled, disciplined line that architects know as the Ching style - contour drawings with a hierarchy of line emphasizing the outlines of figures. Ching's freehand sketches are a remarkably free riff on the drawing approach seen in his other work, as if he finally took his tie off and improvised a solo.
   
   These are predominantly contour drawings. Tone is used for contrast of focus, or emphasis of a figure to its ground, but tone is rarely used to define a volume. The control of line is extraordinary, and the variety of marks interesting. But the power of the drawings often comes from his orchestration of many contrasting textures, shapes, and details.
   
   Ching has remarkable control of representing a detail and describing its place as a part of a whole: there is always clarity in the disorder, even showing the exuberant chaos of telephone and power lines criss scrossing over the busy street. One can almost feel the mist, smell the sounds and hear the bustling noise on the street. The crowds of people are convincing, and he has no fear of quickly sketching a whole cluster of motorcycles. Looking at Ching's drawings feels like taking lessons in vitality, in visual selection, and in how a talented draughtsman really requires an editing, selective eye.
   
   The drawings are unfortunately interrupted by a graphic drawing analysis of the Centennial Hall of the Tokyo Institute of Technology. There's nothing particularly wrong with the analysis but it is nowhere near as compelling as the drawings, and also this sort of formal drawing analysis is covered well in Ching's other works. This analysis breaks the tone of the rest of the books, and it's a relief when the analysis ends and the exploration of Japan's urban life begins again.



2. There is a long tradition among artists and writers of maintaining a journal to record observations and impressions. Many writers use journals to write informally, often spontaneously, to describe real or imagined people, places, and events. Artists and naturalists as well fill sketchbooks with both words and images to help focus their observations. Frank Ching, the author of this sketchbook, not only records the optical reality of what is seen; he uses these drawings as a means of gaining understanding, insight, and perhaps even inspiration. His drawings stimulate the mind to think and can even make visible aspects that cannot be seen by the naked eye, or captured on film by a camera.

   Frank Ching made most of the drawings in this sketchbook in or around O-okayama, a town southwest of downtown Tokyo, where the Tokyo Institute of Technology is located. The subject matter ranges from street scenes to traditional construction details, from temples and their sacred precincts to stimulating juxtapositions of old and new. He has successfully captured the sights, sounds and even smells of vibrant metropolis Tokyo, enabling the reader to feel the humid heat of the day or the cool rainy mist that fell as he drew. In addition, there are scenes sketched during the author's brief excursion to Kyoto and the mountain village of Takayama

   All the drawings were executed in a pure contour-line technique with a fountain pen and black ink. There is a crispness and finality to an inkline that is both daunting and exciting. The process not only fostered the careful observation of details; it also required seeing how they fit into the larger framework and pattern of shapes, and noting which details could be omitted. The shape and extent of the white spaces are as important to a composition as what is delineated.

   Francis D.K. Ching (1943- ) completed a month in the spring of 1990 as a visiting scholar at the Tokyo Institute of Technology which he spent producing this sketchbook.

No comments about MP AutoCAD 2004 Companion : Essentials of AutoCAD Plus Solid Modeling.

No comments about Design Tools for Engineering Teams: An Integrated Approach (Delmar Drafting Series).

No comments about AutoCAD 2006 Tutorial - Second Level: 3D Modeling.

2 comments about Letters from the Avant-Garde: Modern Graphic Design (Kiosk Books).

1. As Paul said, a great book. I first met Paul out dancing out at the Limelight. I trust him with my life. You can trust him with this book review.



2. A nice solid spark if you do identity work. Untitled Books in Soho and Amazon are the only places I've been able to find it, a good inspiration-resource and a refreshing alternative to the overflow of tacky pretentious desin books like Flatness Is God and 007 License To Design.

No comments about Professional Handbook of Architectural Working Drawings.

No comments about Stretto House (One House).

No comments about Greenways: A Guide To Planning Design And Development.

2 comments about Helmut Schmid: Gestaltung ist Haltung / Design Is Attitude.

1. This is a simple and good book. Clear, concise, and a primer in pure typography, Schmid reveals the essence of ink on paper. And he is not afraid to speak confidently of the role of the counterform, the pure whiteness of the paper, the skin upon which the writer's words take wings in the deft hands of a typographer such as he.
   
   The Basel School influence is evident. However, the designs carry the influence of the East as well. Working from Japan, Schmid has absorbed not only the early teaching of mentor Emil Ruder, but the simple, quiet elegance of Japan -- the Japan of the rational tatami mat, the clear design of the Katsura Palace, the bold stroke of the calligrapher's brush, and the Taoist essence of the tea ceremony. It is the immaterial that imparts essence. That is evident everywhere in this elegant book. If design is attitude, it is not in your face. It is simply there.
   
   
   Rich Kraham.com



2. If you like a swiss typography this is a book for you.
   It only use lower case in this book. Helmud schmid was a student of Emil Ruder and if you had a Emil Ruder book this has a similar feeling. The type is very small with three grid coloums.
   I recomended to my friends and they ordered the book after I showed the book.
   Truly wonderful book

5 comments about Blueprint Reading for Welders.

1. The book was ok. There are a lot of mistakes in it but, it did have so good information in it.



2. I needed to have this book for a welding class that revolved on learning to read welding blueprints. Just as the title is "to the point" of the purpose of my class, the content of this book is also "to the point". It begins with very short chapters (units) which refresh your memory on reading orthographic drawings. The book then begins to work its way up to the real "meat" of welding blueprints, which is quite easy to understand in this book. It's one of those textbooks that I will keep after the class is over; I won't be selling this book back.



3. I have been welding for a few years and have forgotten things that this book helps me refresh. Everything I need to know about welding symbols is in one book.



4. I am learning to weld and fabricate and I think that this book will- No, I know this book will help to advance my career in the welding and fabrication field. OUTSTANDING. I hope A.E. Bennett and Louis J. Siy decide to write more informative books/manuals. The approach is straght foward and very helpful. You will not be confused.



5. VERY GOOD BOOK, it will answer ALL your questions about welding blueprints. I am an engineer who wanted to learn how to make welding drawings. I have some background in welding, but none is needed for this book. I believe welders would like the book too, (like the title states) as the first sections of the book goes over engineering drawings and explains them simply and thoroughly. Lets hope the author/s of this book write some more books on other subjects, I am so tired of books that succeed in only confusing you.

   Well worth the money.