5 comments about The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America.

1. Comic books have gone through waves of popularity and condemnation, but the great scare of the early 1950s takes the cake. Here David Hajdu offers an enlightening cultural history of that bizarre witch hunt, which was not necessarily directed at the superhero stories that later dominated the medium, but the then-huge crazes of true crime and horror comics, the insanity and gruesomeness of which are still loved by nonconformists to this day. Hajdu starts with a selective history of comic books then proceeds to the cultural obsessions of the early 1950s, which created near-hysteria against anything that wasn't unabashedly conformist and squeaky clean. In a close parallel to the contemporaneous McCarthyism, critics and do-gooders were convinced that comic books created the menace of juvenile delinquency, with politicians and civic groups disregarding the lack of clear evidence in favor of holier-than-thou values and purity.
   
   Hajdu does a great job deconstructing the great comic book scare into its component parts - a fear of nonconformity, cultural snobbery, political self-aggrandizement, shallow jingoism, and a refusal to accept the thinking power of kids. Knowledgeable observers will recognize that the rhetoric of the great comic book scare has repeated itself in subsequent cultural witch hunts like those against rock, rap, the Internet, and video games. Hajdu is an excellent cultural historian, and while he sometimes lapses into turgid professor-ese like "nor did they use Hooligan's clashes with the law for pedagogy," he really brings out the cultural and political causes and effects of a scare that was really about much more than comic books. Censorship Does Not Pay. [~doomsdayer520~]



2. I bought this book due to an appreciation for the issue of censorship and because I enjoyed the EC books, which have been reprinted recently in hardcover. However, I found this book to read almost like an encyclopedia. It's definitely well-researched but written in a tedious, drone-like style. Rarely have I read a book where I couldn't figure out the definition of a word I didn't know within the context of the sentence, but that happened numerous times here. People come and go, names are brought up and never mentioned again, other works are cited, but all in all the book couldn't keep my interest. Most disappointingly, I didn't feel the book really showed how the comic-book scare "changed the world," it just said it did. Perhaps I'm not the target audience for this style of writing, so look at this review as a friendly 'heads-up'- if you're looking for a lighter read, skip this book. Otherwise, enjoy.



3. In hindsight, censorship so often seems ridiculous. It seems silly now that anyone was trying to keep readers from reading _Tom Jones_ a couple of centuries ago, or that seventy years ago, movies could not show married people sharing a double bed. A less familiar arena for censorship was comic books of sixty years ago, an effort that was not only silly but was successful. Before it, a kid could spend a dime to buy a horror or crime comic, which gives the title to _The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America_ (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux) by David Hajdu. The problem, according to the censors, is that kids were putting their dimes down for comics that were sexy and violent and which punctured the complacent conformity of the fifties. Hajdu, a professor in the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, has given a lively history of comic censorship (this is not an academic treatise) and the toll it took on liberty but also on the thousand-or-so artists, writers, letterers, and others who were putting out hundreds of comics a month. Hajdu says that with each comic traded and passed along, the comics reached more people than movies or television at the time, so when the censors succeeded, it was a real shift in culture, one worthy of documentation in this comprehensive and readable book.
   
   Protests about comics started when they were first invented at the beginning of the twentieth century, and in the forties critics criticized the "mayhem, murder, torture, and abduction" handled by "superman heroics". This is one of the surprises in Hajdu's work: many of the censors were so eager to include all comics as insidious that they saw fault in the superheroes that we all know were fighting for "Truth, Justice, and the American Way." Psychiatrist Dr. Fredric Wertham accused Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman of, respectively, fascism, homoeroticism, and sadomasochism. The main concern of Hajdu's book is the horror comics that had a brief lifespan, starting when Bill Gaines of EC Comics introduced them in 1950. The tales were not just bloody, they were weird, and were poorly understood by adults, who could only fathom that conventions were being challenged by the reading styles of youths who were at constant threat of becoming "juvenile delinquents" thereby. Dr Wertham, as an expert acknowledged by everyone who hated comics, was invited to testify before a 1954 Congressional hearing. Senator Estes Kefauver organized the hearing, as he had done for the more famous hearings on organized crime a couple of years before. A highlight of the book is Gaines's appearance before the committee. He was eager to testify, but was exhausted from a Dexedrine bender and did his cause little good. Kefauver faced him with the cover of a comic that showed a man gripping a blood-spattered ax in one hand and a severed head in the another, standing over the headless body of a woman. Gaines said he used his own good taste as a measure of what was permissible, and Kefauver fired up about the picture, demanding, "Do you think that is in good taste?" Gaines stammered, "Yes, sir, I do, for the cover of a horror comic," and proceeded to explain that it would be bad taste if the man were shown lifting the head higher to show more gore. He essentially sealed the case against horror comics.
   
   Hollywood had adopted a code that cleaned all the filth out of movies, and similarly the comics developed a code and a seal of approval. The code was one thing that killed the comics; the other was that Wertham and the Congressional hearing had made the occupation of working on comics unsavory in the eyes of the public. Artists who had taken pride in their work no longer liked admitting what they did. Like other publishers, Gaines capitulated, throwing hundreds of artists into other fields. They became postmen or security guards; one who went into advertising said he made a fine living, "But the work was work. It wasn't comics. You couldn't be as creative. It wasn't fun. You don't have the freedom... I missed comic books for the rest of my life." It isn't surprising that with the rebellion of the sixties that comics (or comix) were part of the trip. Gaines himself had a revenge of sorts. He took the satirical part of his comics and turned them into a magazine; if they were in a magazine, they didn't have to conform to any comics code. The magazine was _Mad_, and it was far more influential in making kids laugh and distrust authority than the horror comics had been in making them ax murderers. Nonetheless, the comics scare succeeded where the Commie scare had not; at the same time as the Congressional hearing on comics, Senator Joseph McCarthy was beginning his downfall. Hajdu's book is funny and revealing, and has excellent small biographies of the main players in the comics and anti-comics game. The anti-comics forces won this one for the censors, and put a temporary end to one particular branch of an art form that has come back in today's graphic novels. Those crying for censorship this time are having little effect.



4. While most people are well aware of McCarthyism, the tale of the persecution of comic-book writers by moral do-gooders and other pests remains unknown except to those who either lived through it, or younger comic-book fans that know their history. Hopefully, Hajdu's compelling new book will change all of that.
   
   The book covers comic-books from the post World War 2 era to the late 50s, and describes the rise, reign and tragic fall (and neutering, under the 'Comics Code') of comic books as an industry, until their later revivals.
   
   It was quite saddening to read of the numerous people who put their hearts and souls into their work, and how they were essentially forced out of their jobs and treated as social pariahs. The modern day attacks upon video-games mirror the attacks on comics in the 50s.
   
   Hadju depicts comics as being the unsung hero in rebellion from established, conservative norms. While rock n' roll is often blamed for this triumph, he shows a very clear generational divide between parents and young adults over comic books as well, and the same arguments of 'morality,' taste and juvenile delinquency were applied to both. While Elvis shook his hips, kids were reading illustrated stories that frightened, excited and entertained them.
   
   The ultimate question that The Ten-Cent Plague leaves us with is this: who is more fit to judge a child's reading diet - parents or busybodies?
   
   One hopes that Kefauverism will join our lexicon just as McCarthyism has. He fought hard for that honor, and fully deserves it.



5. When I think about all the uproar over the last few years over video game violence, about how they teach kids to kill and desensitive them, when I think of all the Jack Thompsons of the world suing game publishers for what they purport to do, I am still glad to know that it could be worse - far, far worse. Jack Thompson may be out there, but he never for one day held as much sway over parents and lawmakers as Fredric Wertham and Estes Kefauver held over America in 1955. While Joe McCarthy was busy hunting Commies, these two were going after the comics industry, at first just horror and crime comics, but pretty soon all comics, to them, were "crime" comics.
   
   I've read a lot of comics history (Men Of Tomorrow being a great example), but this, to my knowledge, is the first book to look squarely on those few years post-WW II, pre-television when the Great Enemy was comics. Mind you, this was a time when super-heroes as a comic were a fading trend. The war made for some good hero stories, but the kids were looking for something new now, as were all those G.I.'s who read comics overseas. All of the familiar stories are here - M.C. Gaines' strange death, his son Bill helping to make E.C. Comics known for horror, the rise of romance, the launch of Mad, and of course the sub-committe hearings on the juvenile delinquincy,eventually to be associated with Tennessee senator Estes Kefauver.. Thankfully, Hadju , while giving more detail of that moment than most books, didn't just re-iterate every little nuance of the hearings. He did, however, bring a new dimension (and for me, a new hate) to Fredric Wertham, the pyschologist who wrote Seduction Of The Innocent, a book linking comic books to juvenile delinquency. He weaves a pretty good narrative of just how this man became so powerful in his opinions, and how he had the ear of almost every parent and city organization in the country.
   The reason I say things could be far worse now with video games is that these guys actually had everyone so worked up, almost all the states were passing legislation banning the sales of most comics to almost anyone. A lot of times, they wouldn't even make it on the shelves! I also enjoyed seeing the exact origins of the Comics Code Authority, whose stamp on comics I was used to seeing most of my life (it's quietly been shuffled off now - DC Comics never uses it anymore, and Marvel has their own in-house ratings system). Yet read how the Authority worked, and what they looked for, and try to imagine that companies were still submitting their stories to these guys for approval as recently as five to ten years ago...that's how far-reaching the effects were.
   
   The biggest revelation reading this book has to be the first part of the appendix: over fifteen pages, Hajdu lists more than 850 individuals - artists, writers, and others - who never again worked in the business after the crackdown on comics. I can't even begin to fathom that. That would basically be like the entire industry today just disappearing! It was also shocking, to me, to see just how many children went along with all these public book burnings (and so soon after WW II!). Many didn't even realize why they were doing it, but they felt they were doing something good because the PTA said so. As a co-worker of mine would say, there's a lot to anger up the blood in here.
   
   "Naturally, with comic magazine censorship now a fact, we at EC look forward to an immediate drop in the crime and juvenile delinquency rate of the United States. We trust there will be fewer robberies, fewer murders, and fewer rapes!'
   -Bill Gaines, Editor of EC Comics, in the final issues of all of EC's "New Trend" line of horror and crime comics. That's the kind of bitter sarcasm I expect from the guys who created Mad Magazine

5 comments about The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.

1. I am not experienced in the art of drawing and this book has been a tremendous help to me. I find that I can draw much better than i thought. I highly recommend this book.



2. I don't know why the neg reviewers on here are bowing down to The "Natural Way to Draw," like it was written by some genius guru. There's a reason "Natural Way to Draw" is listed waaay down on the Amazon rank (almost 5,000 down) compared to this book, "New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" .... meh.
   
   If you tell yourself any of these things, this book is for you:
   
   * I can't draw
   * I can barely draw stick people
   * I wish I could draw
   * I wish I were artistic
   
   (etc etc)
   
   If you think you've ALREADY developed some natural talent and are trying to hone your skills, consider skipping this book and picking up "Natural Way to Draw" by Nicolaides.
   
   Let's put it this way:
   
   Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain = Complete Noob to drawing
   
   Natural Way to Draw = Noob v 2.0



3. My college art instructor tried to tell his class about drawing on the right side of the brain but he could not explain it nearly as well as this book does. The exercises contained in the book are very helpful to art students.



4. What I need is is a solid week to let myself enjoy this book's method.
   
   I originally read the 1st edition, and bought this highly revised edition.
   
   One telling line from the first edition that is missing: "I would look at what I wanted to draw until 'that' happened, and then I would draw ..." Dr. Edwards describes this as the left brain-right brain shift.
   
   Whatever.
   
   I only know that, until it happens, my drawing style resembles stickmen. Afterwards, I think I might have a chance.
   
   My only (personal) problem is that my own mind is time-centric, and regulated by its own internal clock.
   
   What I really need it to take this book and sketching supplies, and find a week to learn to relax again. The following week I'll pick up the pencil and let my overactive, speaking mind have a holiday and I'll draw.
   
   Left brain/right brain. The parlance was set three decades past. Use this book to truly see, and technique will follow.
   
   Recommended.



5. wow...First I just wanted some book to improve my drawing skills and after buying this i just cant imagine the way i improved my skills thanks to Dr.Edwards and her team for such a wonderful creation.This is just like a crah course which has changed my skills so rapidly and the examples given are so good that a beginner can also understand what drawing is all about and how to use the rght hand part of the brain in a proper way.

5 comments about Masters: Art Quilts: Major Works by Leading Artists (The Masters).

1. I just got my copy of Masters: Art Quilts, by Martha Sielman, published by Lark Books and it is perhaps the most important book to come along since the first book on art quilts many years years ago.
   .
   This is a great way for us to study the masters so that you all have the benefit of seeing what's good about the best of the best. Studying the work of the artists in this book should be a good exercise to help you with your own work, not in the sense of copying someone else, but in understanding the design elements each artist has used to get the results that have made him or her famous. It is also good to know the artists individually as this is the living history of our art heritage.
   
   If you are a member of an art quilt group, you can use the book as the basis for study of each artist's unique style. As an individual artist, it is a great way to study art quilts without having to leave home. What I like too is that the writer doesn't use a lot of difficult to understand terms so even a beginning fiberartist can readily relate to whatis being discussed. Martha Sielman writes in a very comfortable and down-to-earth style.
   
   I like this book as there are a wide variety of artists covered and each one is discussed in depth regarding the artists' backgrounds and lots of good notes about the artists' techniques and styles.
   
   Aside from all of this, it is the most fantastic opportunity to see the works of artists whose works you might not otherwise have an opportuni'ty to see. We so seldom get an opportunity to see a number of each artists pieces . This book is definitely a visual feast. and one it is truly hard to put down. I think my only regret is that I didn't want the book to end!



2. Well.My first Lark book I would have not bought if I could find it in a Montreal bookstore first.
   I am not into photomontages and reveiws of what won prizes years ago.Alot of what is pictured is downright self seeking and kind of ugly to look at.
   About 1/3 is of what is presented is cheerful and non political,but not new either.
   I got it today, and will return it to amazon tomorrow.I am sorry to sound so dismal about this book,but I have to say if you want something more interesting for your own inspiration,maybe try going to a few quilt shows,or try looking up something from Katie Pasquini,if you think she can lead you to something new.
   I am returning this book tomorrow.I am getting just a little bit tired of seeing quiltmakers recreating their personal shrouds of Turin,especially with tire tread tracks photocopied onto cotton,photocopied again, over photocopies of other deceased persons...if you are a recent graduate of an art school,you will get my drift of images of photocopies over more photocopies,embellished with sewing machine tracks of threads to re-instate what veiwers already can see.
   The variety of work promised on the cover does not live up to what is inside.I don't know what is,in fact, masterful about most of the work in this publication,but don't care at this point.I am returning it,I want my 16 dollars back.I really am dissappointed with it.



3. I have so many art quilt books and doubted that I needed another until I caught a glimpse of someone else's copy of Martha Seilman's Masters: Art Quilts: Major Works by Leading Artists. I knew that this was one more book that I had to own. When it arrived I first gave it a swift perusal and then went back to enjoy each artist in delectable leisure. She gives an in-depth treatment of each artist with several pages of pictures and commentary, some by the artist, some by Martha. Lots and lots of glorious colored photos!
   
   The quality of the paper and photography add to the overall appeal of the book. Would I recommend this book? Most definitely!



4. This is one gorgeous book! The photographs and paper they are reproduced on are of first rate quality - you can almost feel the texture of each of the many many works included.
   
   From forerunners in the art quilt world like Michael James to some of the newest innovators in the genre like Pamela Allen, this book's author has judiciously chosen from a wide array of artists the ones that reflect the diversity of this medium.
   
   This book has become my favorite book on the art quilt shelf!



5. This book is wonderfully presented by giving ample coverage to the quilting artists within the book. Photographs are top quality. Best art quilting book on the market today!

5 comments about Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood.

1. I've never read a graphic novel until this book. I first learned about this book after reading the amazing reviews for the movie version of this book. I always make it a point to read the novel before seeing any movie so decided to pick this up. Having read quite a few fiction and history novels on post-WWII Iran(including Septembers of Shiraz recently), this was a topic that highly interests me.
   
   Last night I started this book and couldn't put it down until I was done. It is a captivating and immersive experience and I just ordered "Persepolis 2" and can't wait to read it as soon as it arrives from amazon. I loved the simplicity of this novel. The dialogue and story telling perfectly captures an adolescent Marjane in Iran through the crumbling of Shah Reza Pahlavi's regime and the initial promise and subsequent reality of the Islamic revolution. Satrapi effortlessly captures all of the emotions that she undoubtedly went through during these times, both in word and in picture. While I was somewhat skeptical about the illustrations, they once again added an additional layer of context and dimension that took this from a great book to an extraordinary book.
   
   If you've never thought of reading a graphic novel, do yourself a favor. Buy this book and enjoy -- it is a true treasure.



2. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi are very well written novels that effectively describe the author's experiences while growing up in Iran during the Iranian Revolution, the Iran-Iraq War, as well as many other historical events. I really enjoyed reading Satrapi's childhood account of such dramatic events in Iranian history, and the comic book format made the memoirs even more enjoyable reads. The innocent and sometimes ignorant perspective of a child is a very positive way of broadcasting such terrible and negatively viewed events in a way that everyone can understand them. Satrapi definitely does an excellent job of enticing her audience while also giving them an accurate and perhaps new way of looking at history.
   I would recommend Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return to anyone, whether they are students wanting to learn more about historical events in the Middle East, westerners who do not comprehend the many struggles Iran has faced, or just an average person looking for a dramatic yet accurate read. The historical events that are depicted within these graphic novels are very easily viewed in the eyes of such a mischievous and driven child, and her account is one that anyone can associate with and learn from. Despite the apprehensive atmosphere created by the mounted unsettlement of Marji and her family as well as the captivating and simple drawings that accompany the text, Marji is always able to demonstrate great strength within her family, and becomes fully aware of the perils of her country through trial and error, just as the reader does when they witness the overwhelmingly inspiring account of a little girl growing up during such a divisive point in history. After reading such a powerful message, one comes away with not only a greater view of historical events of the world, but also has a greater respect for all storytellers, no matter how much of a minority they may appear to be.



3. Please take the time to read this striking memoir and its sequel, Persepolis 2. The language is straightforward, as is the graphic style. Satrapi's very personal story speaks to both the difficulties of living in a straight-laced, dogmatically rigid society, and the many different stories and perspectives of those who live there. Iran is often portrayed in a reductionist manner in the West, and a close reading of these books serves to broaden and deepen our understanding.
   
   Additionally, Satrapi is currently near the end of a speaking tour in the U.S. IF you have the opportunity to hear her speak, take advantage of it. She is a cogent and compassionate speaker who will further deepen your understanding of the Iranian people.



4. "Persepolis" is a great read. In less than two hours, you'll know more about Iranian history than you probably ever did. I, for one, felt positively ignorant as I learned of the Shah, the Islamic revolution, the Communist sympathizers... all told through the eyes of a teenage girl who thinks she is a prophet. The book is informative, fun, and an easy read. It will dispel many stereotypes without resorting to political correctness. I'm very glad I opted for the book over the movie version currently in theaters. I'm often bored by animation, but the graphic novel is interactive and the story flows nicely. Read it... you won't regret it.



5. I read Persepolis the day it arrived from the bookstore. I sat down with a cup of coffee, some French downtempo, and proceeded to inhale the entire book, cover-to-cover, in a little over two hours. I reread it recently, and this time prefaced my reading with light research. I checked out an interview with Asia Source, took in a few literary reviews, and brushed up on the history of the ancient city of Persepolis, for which the novel's title is based. I tried to piece together the historical context of the book with the artistic process that inspired the author to write such heady material into a graphic novel.
   
   Let me preface by saying I don't think heady material is too good for graphic novels. I've read a few of these in the last few years -- this and Blankets are notable. I find graphic novels take the best of literature and film, combining them for an eloquent, visually striking experience. The use of light and dark as metaphor is the most compelling, and Persepolis uses this often, and best. The stark, unforgiving illustrations appear at once so bleak and in an instant so bright. In one frame the thick black gashes are the dark bags beneath a dead demonstrators vacant eyes, and in the next frame are innocent and child-like, a squiggling and unsteady black line framing a young Marji's equally gleeful, cherub face.
   
   Reading around I noticed this technique, both jarring and "immature", nearly turned off many a potential reader, and risked undermining the heady politics of the book. After reading Satrapi's interview with Asia Source, however, I understand its purpose: these thick swaths of black and white, with nary a shade of grey, are the same black and white rhetoric that shapes world politics and culture. The characters, sometimes barely more than a stick figure, are the caricatures politicians make of their foes. It's only in the subtle changes of facial expressions -- a widening of the eyes, a furrow of the brow -- that we can see some semblance of a human underneath, small but just as telling as the thought bubbles floating above their heads.
   
   The goal to separate and explain "the people and the terrorist/fanatacist/fundamentalist" stereotype is completely, totally achieved within the first two frames of the novel, where we are ambushed by a row of somber-looking little girls draped in black veils, the symbol of oppression and woman-fearing almost universally despised in the West. With one quick glance we could almost assume these are one portrait of one girl repeated over and over, except for the little whisps of bangs peering from beneath each of the shrouds -- some side-swept, some parted down the center, some curly, some straight. Within seconds we are reminded: these are real people, not soundbytes or 3-second video clips looped over and over for the horrified bemusement of Americans.
   
   Still, while Marji is shamelessly out to shatter the assumption that the Iran people or culture is fundamentalist or oppressive, she refuses to paint the people as shining examples of progressive open-minded goodness who have been unfairly categorized for the one or two freedom-hating fundamentalists. There is evidence of even the kindest, gentlest folk adhering to the more oppressive rules of the regime, but not out of a desire to oppress, but out of faith, tradition, and trust for those in power. Again, this is best exemplified only a few pages in, as we see an image of women demonstrating both for and against the veil. On one side the unveiled women stand erect and angular, eyes narrow yet full of furor, championing the freedom to literally let their hair down. Opposite, a row of veiled women "confront" them, their clenched fists slightly limp, their eyes closed and pious, little Madonnas suffering quietly our sins. The former look young and angry, the latter look almost ancient. They were likely a mixture of the two; there were just too many to tell.
   
   In the current political context, these images are the most striking: little clumps of dogged beliefs squaring off against one another, rows of protesters hurling rocks at soldiers, soldiers aiming guns at protesters, massacred demonstrators lying in the streets, ghostly figures pushing the Shah out of frame and out of power, hordes celebrating the exile of the Shah. Seeing this story unfold through of eyes of a young girl is a very singular, educating, and transforming experience, but even riveting notions like war-from-a-child's-vantage need a kick in the goods, and sometimes the blur of faces could snap me back to the reality the first-person singular was beginning to lose. Images of individuals of many ages, classes, and backgrounds uniting, and eventually overthrowing, a centuries-old monarchy gives a sense of urgency, audacity, and realness to this revolution, which was all but excluded from every single history book I ever read throughout almost two decades of schooling. It made it seem as huge as it was, and is, in a way that neither textbooks nor one little girl can quite describe.

4 comments about Classical Painting Atelier: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Studio Practice.

1. This book comes across as a quasi-religious manifesto at times, and as shameless pandering at others. There is not a whole lot of actual information or instruction here beyond a basic level. The idea, I think, is that you have to actually attend an atelier to get the full instruction. (The author runs an atelier.) There are quite a few nice reproductions in this book and that is the main value I see in it. The moderns in general dont hold up well against their old master and 19th century predecessors although there are some exceptions such as jacob collins and jeremy lipking. This book also includes one of the most horrific images I have ever seen - a skinned bloody rabbit on a plate. If that sounds appetizing to you then maybe you'll like this book more than I did. oh yeah I hate odd nerdrum too - totally overrated.



2. The author called her first book in this series 'the course I always wanted to take' in other words the highlights of all the different instructors and methods she encountered studying.
   
   Unless you study at a formal atelier like, say New York Academy or Grand Central Academy, chances are you'll run into a variety of methods and approaches when learning to paint and draw.
   
   This book gives what I think is the best comprehensive overview for people who want to become accomplished "realist" or 'classical' painters - its definitely filled in a lot of gaps for me.
   
   There is no shortage of information out there about painting...the problem is its not distilled - what this book gives you is the distilled wisdom of the author- an accomplished painter who runs a respected atelier.
   
   For example there is a great book about artists materials -but its 900+ pages long (artist materials handbook) - its great to have that information but whittled down materials overview in this book is "useable".
   
   Some other key points:
   The quality of the reproductions is outstanding
   examples are not only old masters but contemporary realists - and not just the author!
   
   Highly recommended and I might add ,an outstanding value.



3. My studio is filled with books on art. However, there are only a handful of them that I would consider extraordinarily useful and this is one of them. I haven't had a chance to read the entire text but the portions I have read are very well done. I can't get over how packed this book is with colored reproductions of works by my favorite artists such as Jacob Collins and Tony Ryder. You will find it hard to read because you will be caught up looking at the beautiful works which are represented. Thank you, Juliette Aristides, for this long awaited, much needed work!



4. Juliette Aristides has done it again. She has followed her first book titled Classical Drawing Atelier, with another book on painting. As in the case of the first book, she and the editors/publishers (Watson & Guptill) have created a beautiful book that not only provides helpful instruction, but it's simply beautiful as a work of art itself.
   
   It's hard to keep this review short because there's a lot to discuss, but to start I'll admit that I'm biased. I'm thankful that Juliette has taken the time to write it and I hope it goes into its tenth printing in the next two years. The near death of classical painting and drawing at the hands of "modern" art would have been an incalculable loss for western society, but somehow, reason and knowledge remained in the minds of a few, and classical art survived. Many of us recognized all along that it has value and have rejected the alternative, but the pressure to conform to creating the ephemeral and inferior art that society desired was too strong for many. This stunning volume confirms that classical art is coming back and Juliette has helped that process.
   
   The book comprises four parts and nine chapters: Part 1) The Artists Studio - describes both historic and contemporary atelier practices; Part 2) Timeless Principals - covers composition, value, and color; Part 3) Timeless Practices - discusses the process, inspiration, and the muse; and finally section Part 4) Masterworks - beautiful images from some of the most important realist painters through out history and some contemporary masters.
   
   The author covers processes or "choices" if you will, and most importantly, she conveys "thinking" about those processes. The book will aid those that want or need to understand why things are done in a particular way and by extension, in some cases the reasons you may not want to use a particular method or continue doing what you are now. Illustrative examples primarily include figurative and still life work while landscape is only lightly represented, however, the same principals and processes are applied to all types of painting, not a specific genre. Artists represented include the usual masters such as Rembrandt and Hals, but we also get to see contemporary paintings from Daniel Sprick, Nelson Shanks, Scott Frasier, Jacob Collins, et. al. Each painting shown includes a short description and discussion about the work, talking about the methods employed and the effects achieved.
   
   The value in this book is not simply the information provided (it's well written) or the amazing images - a stunning and beautiful selection including one of my all time favorites entitled Roses by A.H. Thayer - but in the larger meaning the book conveys as a revival of intelligent painting. Very few, if any, art schools today can even imagine what artistic training should include. Students attending these schools often learn that it's not about the final product, but simply about the process of making art, and any art is good art. The result is thousands of unskilled, abstract painters and artists "graduating" and thinking everything they do is worthwhile. In their defense, the students have few opportunities to learn real skills because their instructors are products of the same system. The cycle can be broken, and with the help of this book showing what's possible and how it's done, many students can demand more from their schools or simply extricate themselves from the morass and seek an atelier.
   
   My hope, and I'm sure it's shared by the author, is that this book will be an inspiration to those seeking more from their instructors or school, and even from their own art.
   
   Well done Juliette and thank you for creating another important book. Highly recommended. 10 Stars!!!!

5 comments about Acrylic Revolution: New Tricks & Techniques for Working With the World's Most Versatile Medium.

1. This may appeal to some folks - to me, it didn't. Will be returning the item, as it is not all that appealing, and does not contain much I would be interested in (I enjoy realism , and this seemed full of gimmicky ideas. sorry.) (Like the way it was bound. though)



2. Although i do agree, it is not suited best for beginners, I found so much useful information from this book!
   
   The techniques and different effects can be used with ANY ART STYLE. (contemporary, post-modern, classic etc.) Depending on your level of skill.



3. Whether you've just begun to paint with acrylics or are a seasoned veteran painter, there is a wealth of new techniques in this book to add to your painting repertoire. Great ideas, well organized with lots of photos, this is one of the best books around for acrylic painters, calligraphers, book artists and just about anyone else who wants to use acrylic paints in their art.



4. Acrylic Revolution: New Tricks & Techniques for Working With the World's Most Versatile Medium. This book is full of practical tips for different ways to use acrylics. It is easy to read and very informative. A must read for experienced artists and those just starting to explore acrylic paints. I especially enjoyed all of the examples she gives for different techniques and ways to create textures and effects with the paint and various mediums.



5. I am looking forward to completing current projects so that I have time to just PLAY. I want to give everything in this book a try on a small scale so that I am familiar with the techniques and can draw on them when needed for just that right touch in new projects.

5 comments about Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students (Design Briefs).

1. I like this book a great deal. The next time I have a chance to use this in a class (to teach) I will. There are lots of good examples, the language is clear, and it's not too ethereal or esoteric. I think it's a great introduction to typography and laid out very well.



2. I love type, but I lack an educated background on its use. I was so looking forward to learning about such details as when to prefer a sans-serif versus a serif in certain situations, how people react to various different families of faces, prescriptions for when to apply different types of layouts, and so forth.
   
   When I got was a partially complete history lesson on how different types of faces and families evolved, an introduction to grid layouts with very little prescriptive advice, and weirdly, a brief editorial primer teaching how to mark up the printed page with pen.
   
   To its credit, the book is full of examples of layouts. As I read, I expected any minute I'd penetrate the entry level "Here we see an example of a layout" to the real meat, but it never ever happened.
   
   To the author's credit, the book was meticulously assembled and was clearly the product of a great deal of effort. And, this is not the first design-related book I've discovered that lacked meaningful depth.
   
   But to any practicing designer looking for some guidance for taking their use of type to the next level, or understanding beyond his own innate instincts when to apply certain techniques, this is not the book for you. In fact, I'm not sure who this book is for.



3. It's informative, it's inspirational, it's philosophically engaging, it's warm and welcoming. But it might not turn you into a master typographer.
   
   A beautiful read, this book presents history and theory into well-thought, easy to swallow bite-sized chunks. Along with exercises, this kinda gives it away as a student's textbook, which might be less than what you're after, if you're a working designer wanting to advance your typographic skills. It might still worth getting the book. Did you knew Gutenberg used alternate glyphs and ligatures? I know now. Smart guy, this Gutenberg.



4. Simple and elegant this book has engaged me even further in my exploration of good use of typography. Anne's fresh and encompassing approach makes it easy to get involved in using type well. The book has several exercises and a wealth of information that helps appreciate type, and use typography. The advice is not software specific making it useful for many years to come, and encompasses the printed page and web/screen use of type. A great grounding book in Type and Typography.



5. This is the book you should read if you are in any way interested in typography - and that includes all those interested in the web.
   
   The topics are basic and historical, exactly what is needed for a firm foundation; it's refreshingly easy to read for a technical book.

5 comments about Wall and Piece.

1. This book is great. Page after page after page of stencils and stories. There are so many things to look at, it's well-organized, and includes a little something to read on almost every page. Some of the things in this book made me laugh, and other pages really made me think about the world I live in. I guess that's the point.
   
   If you want to get into stencil painting, this book will open your eyes and give you lots to think about.



2. ONE OF THE SMARTEST, MOST PRODUCTIVE, HUMOROUS, STREET ARTISTS AROUND. WHAT ALL GOOD GRAFFITI ATTEMPTS, BUT OFTEN FALL SHORT OF A MUST FOR THE STREET ART LOVER!



3. it is interesting and entertaining. the stuff he does is really cool. some of them are a bit strange, but others are hilarious. he likes to make fun of various people and things, so someone who is a bobby, or british cop, might not like it as much. otherwise, he just does stuff for fun, such as writing "what are you looking at?" in front of a security camera. its fun to just look through the stuff he's done. he is an amazing artist. and very creative guy.



4. If you know Banksy, you know everything he has ever done is worth 5 stars. But in case you are concerned about their presentation, this book goes far to present his work with beautiful imagery and insightful commentary from the Banksy, itself!!
   
   If you do not know Banksy yet and you enjoy stencil, symbolism, absurdism, political art, graffiti or taking risks to prove a point- just buy this book, you will not regret it!



5. this is a nice coffee table book for suburbans like me who want to appear edgy. banksy's work is brilliant.

5 comments about New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook: Guided Practice in the Five Basic Skills of Drawing.

1. Great book for those of us with a creative bent but not sure how to proceed. Recommended by Daniel Pink.



2. i have read the book drawing on the right side of the brain. what this book is can be also taken right out of the original book. it is just more of what it says a work book. or you could just use some drawing pad to do the exercises in it. It takes out of the book the lessons, so save your money and just by the book. which by the way actually is also a very useful book to learn and understand drawing . It is not that it is a bad book, it is just wiser to save your money and buy the actual book to read itself. everything in the workbook is taken from the reading book.



3. This is a good guide for students and a great-abbreviated version of the full-length instruction book. It makes it easy to keep a record of your progress especially if you are not interested in keeping a journal while you are learning to draw.



4. I have a family that is full of artists, and always felt really sad that I couldn't draw even a stick figure! A little while ago I realised something important - that drawing is a form of literacy, like writing, and so many of us don't make it past kindergarten.
   
   Visual communication is really under-rated in our school systems, which pretty much relegates most of us to the category of 'non-drawers'. Betty Edwards' book changes that!
   
   
   The work book is really all you need, although if you would like to go into the reasons behind her book, then the text is great. I bought both and am very glad I did.
   
   I am only part-way through the workbook, but it's amazing to see what can be produced in such a short time. If you want to climb that wall that has been bordering in your creativity, then I can't recommend this book highly enough!



5. This Workbook is a companion to The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and is a useful accompaniment to the book itself. It is spiral-bound so it lays flat and is easy to draw on, includes one drawing sheet for each exercise, and VERY usefully, includes a plastic "viewing pane" as recommended in the book.
   
   One slight drawback (for me -- maybe an advantage for some) is that it repeats instructions for all the exercises in the main textbook itself, and includes fewer supplementary exercises than I had hoped. Also, with only one drawing sheet for each exercise you're probably going to want to buy a drawing pad anyway.
   
   All in all, I highly recommend you buy "The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" book first, try a few exercises, and if you like them and see progress, then buy the "Workbook". (You won't need the viewing pane until later exercises).
   
   All in all, a worthwhile investment if the book seems to be helping you.

5 comments about Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art.

1. Understanding Comics is a very, very deep dive into the history, meaning and creative processes involved in creating comics. The author, Scott McCloud, has clearly studied his topic. You will not walk away from reading this book without a deeper appreciation for the medium.
   
   Yet, I found I lost interest pretty quickly in what the book was teaching. There are four reasons for this. First, I was thrown by the fact that the book, itself, is a comic. I can count on, well, one finger how many comics I've read that attempt to convey scholarly information. While Mr. McCloud's illustrations are very well drawn, the medium itself caused me to expect a lighter approach to the subject matter. Second, the author occasionally goes beyond teaching to preaching. Third, many of the book's concepts are confusingly conveyed. For example, Mr. McCloud uses a pyramid to show the range of different comic authors' styles. Unfortunately, this explanatory vehicle is hard to follow to start with, let alone when it's abbreviated and repeated quite often in subsequent pages. Fourth, Mr. McCloud goes on too long with some of his arguments. I often felt the urge to skim or skip past particularly long discourses where little new information was being added to earlier information provided.
   
   If you're looking for a deep, scholarly analysis of comics, this book is for you. If you're looking for an easy to read, interesting new perspective on comics, you will probably not enjoy this book.



2. good stuff, though i felt 'making comics' was better all around. easier read, and more pertinent information... though this is a nice companion book.



3. This book is an excellent, entertaining, and easy read for anyone interested in art, not just comics. It analyzes the visual society of comics and other art in nearly every aspect imaginable in a splendidly playful fashion, that will surprise even the skeptics. No wonder it features in French comic recommendation lists and catalogues.
   
   If you browsed to this page and you don't have this book, you should probably buy it. In my (and others') experience, the book will subsequently travel through your circle of friends because its appeal is universal, making it hard to put down.



4. I read this and it made me a better cartoonist McCloud really makes you THINK about art and the philosophy of cartooning. And of course, his illustrations serve to really make this an enjoyable book to learn from. You owe it to yourself to check out this work.



5. I happened across this book in the library, and was _that_ close to putting it back on the shelf. I was looking for art books to teach sketch drawing. I went back to the shelf for a second look, then couldn't put it down.
   
   The comic book method of combining words and pictures to convey a message was amazingly effective in this book. It's a book about how to understand comic books, and it is itself a comic book. What opened my eyes was just how powerful a medium it is.
   
   The medium hasn't even remotely been explored completely. It's wide open. This book is itself an amazing poster child for the art itself. McCloud's artwork is beautiful, and absolutely effective in every line. His range of capabilities is astounding. It's a pleasure experiencing this book. When my kids get older, I want them to read it and I hope they'll get excited about drawing.
   
   Anyway if you're interested in creating comic books of your own, or are interested in learning about comic books themselves, this book is a must read. It is certainly McCloud's best work. The drawings are clearly drawn by hand with pen and paper. McCloud's later work is clearly done on computer, and something precious is lost in the translation. I'm sure the computer saves a great deal of time, but the end result is...just not the same. This book spoke to me in a very profound way. Get a copy for yourself.