3 comments about Watercolor Made Simple with Claudia Nice.

1. This book was suggested for me since I am a relatively newcomer to watercolor. The person who suggested it has been a painter and teacher for over 70 years(she is 95 and still teaches a small group). She was right its a great book for people such as myself.



2. Great book, but not simple enough for a total beginner like myself.



3. This a very good book. It covers many aspects of painting in watercolor, including some difficult-to-find tips like mixing convincing shadow colors, working with color triads (3 colors) to create mood, and a list of common colors that are transparent, opaque, staining, or granulating.
   
   There are troubleshooting tips to help the beginner who wants to achieve certain effects but cannot figure out what went wrong.
   
   The book has only 127 pages, but it is fiiled with useful information about techniques like washes, glazing, layering, masking and spatter. There is also some information about the use of unconventional aids like stamping, sponging, alcohol and plastic wrap. Every page is filled with Ms. Nice's realistic yet magical artwork.
   
   Where to use transparent or opaque watercolor, and how to test pigments for transparency would have been some welcome additional information.
   
   Overall, it is a good book to own, especially for the beginner to intermediate levels.

No comments about Bloomsbury Rooms: Modernism, Subculture, and Domesticity.

5 comments about Making Miniature Flowers With Polymer Clay.

1. This is the only book on this subject that I know of, so it's better than nothing. But it's frustrating throughout because the photos depict the author's hands better than the items she is holding. The verbal instructions are fairly good, but in this topic better pictures are a must. Maybe there will be a second edition with this problem corrected. Meanwhile, enjoy her pretty hands.



2. This was the first book I ever bought on polymer clay. I barely knew what polymer clay was - I looked in the book, thought "I can do that", bought some polymer clay and by that evening was making fabulous roses. This was the perfect introductory book - the books I have subsequently purchased and used would have scared me off. This is the basics, how to condition the clay, roll it into balls, make the shapes, assemble them, bake, and maybe paint a little. No color palettes, skinner blends, no fancy equipment - just clay, your hands, some wax paper, cornstarch, scissors, toothpicks and an oven. The instructions are incredibly detailed, the pictures perfect - Quast doesn't leave you to try to figure out a single thing. No matter how "uncrafty" or unartistic you are, the projects in this book will make you think you were born for the art of polymer clay. The book covers roses, dogwood blossoms, daisies, cherry blossoms, pansies, daffodils and irises, and ends by showing you some great jewelry and decorative household items you can make.



3. This is a must-have book for anyone wanting to learn to make beautiful miniature flowers. It is great book for all levels, even those who have never worked with polymer clay.

   At first glance I though it would be hard and very time consuming. I was wrong. I was amazed at how easy it really was. In less than two hours, I had a very impressive looking rose bud.

   The author first covers materials and how to work with polymer clay. Included templates help you judge size & shape. Each part of every flower is then explained step by step. Numerous color photos help to guide you.

   Flowers covered include roses, dogwood, daisies, cherry blossoms, pansies, daffodils, and irises. There are a few projects in the back showing you how to frame the flowers and make jewelry or ornaments out of them.




4. I have many books on polymer clay and this is one of my favorites! The techiques show here can be applied to any sculpture but what impressed me was how lifelike these projects look! And with such detailed explanations and illustrations it is an easy jump to use these techiques to create flowers of your own choice. I have made figures from polymer clay for 7 years now and most books are repetitive to me, I found this one re-energized my creative juices and gave me something new to make, I now make minature flowers to adorn some of my figures and have been pleased with the new dimension it adds.



5. Step-by-step instructions on how to make seven different flowers using polymer clay. Detailed diagrams and tips (from tools and materials to color blending). Good book for beginner flower artists in the polymer clay medium. Provides list of sources and references.

1 comments about The Professional Practice of Architectural Detailing.

1. This book has some valuable information in it regarding architectural drawings. It is somewhat lacking in the fact that it is a bit dated and does not include much information about computer aided design, but this can be overlooked.

No comments about Town House: Architecture and Material Life in the Early American City, 1780-1830.

3 comments about Victorian City and Country Houses: Plans and Details.

1. From Basement to Attic this book gives the reader full coverage on the structures it covers. All floors and all sides Plus.
   
   A must have for any interested in the homes of this period.
   
   No library of the subject of Victorian architecture is complete with out it.



2. "Victorian City and Country Houses: Plans and Details," by Geo. E. Woodward, is a visually rich window into the architecture of the late 19th century. This book is an unabridged reprint of a volume originally published in 1877 under the title "Woodward's National Architect, Vol. II."

   This book contains floor plans and elevations (both front and side) for both row houses and stand-alone houses. One fascinating aspect of this book is the inclusion of plans for the basements and attics, in addition to those for the primary floors. Also included are designs for gazebos and other structures.

   You will see many of your favorite Victorian era architectural elements in this book: towers, covered porches, mansard roofs, and more. A series of detail pages focus on some specific decorative elements: dormer windows, balusters, finials, roof cresting, etc. Overall, an excellent book.




3. has led me to this facinating and compelling book. Although I'm certain there are simmilar books out on the market, this was the one that I first picked up. Prior to this time, I had been looking at home planning magazines in a vain attempt for needed inspiration. Even if you do not own a home or are planning in the near future, this book is too good to pass up.

2 comments about The Victorian Home in America: With Over 250 Illustrations.

1. 15 years before this book appeared, the author, born in Austria but converted to a love of Victorian architecture upon his arrival in the US, produced "The Gingerbread Age," the first popular volume that dared to express admiration for a period in building then considered the nadir of the art. In his Foreword to this work he talks of the "torrent of fan mail" that followed. It's not saying too much to maintain that his work was responsible for the eventual revival in Victorian architecture which began with the hippies creating Painted Ladies in '70's San Francisco and swept the nation in the mid-'80's. Having established the true quality of post-Greek-Revival, pre-World-War-I houses, he turns here to a deeper analysis and description of the different major styles--Gothic, Italianate, octagons, Mansards, Queen Anne, Richardson Romanesque. Lavishly illustrated with bw photographs, floor plans, and reproductions of period pictures, its text written in everyday language with little specialized jargon, and provided with a large appendix listing where to view existing Victorians and a sound list of books to go on to, the book concentrates chiefly on exteriors, though some views of notable rooms are included. If you're looking for good basic overviews of domestic building of the era, Maass's two books are indispensable to your collection. As a social historian, I consult them often.



2. Over two hundred black and white illustrations blends an architectural survey with a history of Victorian times from 1840-1900, examining the many styles of town and country homes of the times and describing both interiors and exteriors. The Victorian Home In America presents fascinating architectural coverage.

3 comments about 500 Small Houses of the Twenties.

1. Architects featured most frequently are George W. Repp, Frederick L. Ackerman, Whitman S. Wick, William Carver, Charles F. White, Jr., George H. Schwan, and R.C. Hunter & Bro.; designs also contributed by Verna Cook Salomonsky (the only woman architect represented at the 1939 New York World's Fair's World of Tomorrow), African-American architect Paul Williams, Claude Bragdon, James Dwight Baum, and others noted below.
   
   Perspective drawings, floor plans, and descriptions of principal features of outstanding 1920s designs, many by leading architects of the period.
   Reprinted from the major 1923 architectural publication, The Books of a Thousand Homes. Includes perspective drawings, floor plans and descriptions of the principal features of outstanding 1920's small homes, many by leading architects of the period, most inspired by colonial architecture and the bungalow concept.
   
   1,135 b/w line illustrations, 262 b/w photographs and tone drawings.
   Vast treasury of floor plans, descriptions, and perspective drawings and photographs. Bungalows, colonials, semi-bungalows, other styles presented. Concise descriptions outline special features of each house, details of construction, siting, materials, more. Also, essays with practical advice on house building. Architects, architectural and social historians, students and enthusiasts of architecture and design will find in these pages a rich selection of small-home concepts that once set the standard for a new era in American home design, and that still form an integral part of our landscape many decades after their first inspiration.
   
   Henry Atterbury Smith's compilation provides an accurate and intriguing reference to the historical development of the modern suburban environment. This book represents a set of ideals aspired to by the Arts and Crafts movement, ideals which should be appreciated and emulated by the architects and builders of the twenty-first century.



2. If you like old houses, (or at least early 20th Century houses) or you want to get a feel for some of the social history of the period, this is a wonderful book. I think it complements nicely the other house catalog reprints from Dover. While the illustrations and plans are smaller than those in some of the other books such as the Sears 1926 house catalog or the Aladdin built in a day catalog, it does show 500 houses. It also has some interesting articles concerning the state of domestic architecture circa 1925 or so.



3. Did you ever find yourself stopping your car to oggle and old brick or stucco bungalow, now a bit run down but free from "modernization"? Ever wonder how they were designed or what kind of floor plan they might have? For the amateur or the professional architect, Henry Atterbury Smith's compilation provides an accurate and intriguing reference to the historical developement of the modern suburban environment. For those of us who enjoy dreaming of one day designing and building our own bungalows, this book is pure delight. The house plans are displayed with the information which would have been available at the time of their initial distribution which can be quite amusing as well as historically informative. This book represents a set of ideals aspired to by the Arts and Crafts movement, ideals which should be appreciated and emulated by the architects and builders of the twenty-first century. Do plan on a long, leisurely perusal of this book if you enjoy history, architecture and craftsmanship as much as I do!

5 comments about Not Built in a Day: Exploring the Architecture of Rome.

1. My wife and I recently returned from Rome, and one of our many fine moments in that glorious city was sitting on top of Michelangelo's Campodiglio, with Mr. Sullivan's book in hand and understanding for the first time exactly what Michelangelo did and why -- and thus helping us understand more deeply the greatness of his accomplishment. So it went with magnificent works such as Borromini's San Carlino or Bramante's Tempietto. Similarly, we came to understand the failures -- what the architect wanted to do and didn't quite get there. Mr. Sullivan's goal, was to help us move beyond admiration or puzzlement at what we are looking at, and understand what was done, and how well it did or did not work. Very well written, tough in its judgments, and infused throughout by a love for the city. Don't go to Rome without it.



2. A good read for those who love history, it is an excellent companion for travel to Rome



3. George Sullivan's "Not Built in a Day" is a unique and wonderful combination of scholarly knowledge, art, passion, and wit. The author recently gave a series of slide lectures at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. based upon the material in the book, which I attended. His lectures were exceptional -- insightful and enjoyable, a college-level crash course on the history of European architecture that was set entirely in Rome! He really made the buildings come alive through his enthusiasm and humor; I especially liked that he not only had definite opinions on buildings, but also explained clearly what architectural qualities those opinions were based on. This same in-depth but accessible approach can be found in the book, which is unlike any other guide to Rome that I have seen. I would enthusiastically recommend it if you are going to Rome, and if the lectures show up at a museum near you in the future, I would enthusiastically recommend them as well.



4. This remarkable book is a must read if you are planning your own itinerary in Rome. The author's love of Rome and its Architecture are apparent from the first page. He organizes the overwhelming amount of information into compact and readable units. Pick a time period or Architectural style of interest and follow the detailed path laid out by the author. The added information of the art to see inside each structure makes this the only "guide" book to Art & Architecture that you will need on your visit to Rome.



5. Not Build in a Day blends astute architectural observation with basic guidebook practicality. The descriptions combine detail and relevant explanation to make the most lay-person feel expert as they dissect the infinite elements in a church, piazza, or palazzo. For anyone who's been to Rome, the inexorable shuttling between sites makes you numb to the city's splendor, but Not Built in a Day constantly re-orients and reminds the reader that every site contains an element of architectural, historical, or civic wonder that makes the non-stop walking completely worthwhile.
   
   The book's walking tours can be strictly followed (I completed tours 1,2, and 7 without any diversions), but once I had a better feel for the city, I picked specific places that I wanted to see and then read the appropriate entry.
   
   Every guidebook should aspire to be Not Built in a Day

No comments about Topologies: The Urban Utopia in France, 1960-1970.