5 comments about Metal Craft Discovery Workshop.

1. Another excellent resource item for my daughter who is currently just beginning her experience in creating metal objects.



2. LOVE THIS BOOK. My new favorite. Well done with good detail on how-to as well as a nice gallery of art. A+



3. Taa-Daa! Linda and Opie O'Brien have come to your metal-anxiety rescue with Metal Craft Discovery Workshop. The O'Brien's - the combined force behind Burnt Offerings - are prolific in many artistic realms, but especially in metal. The duo produces some fantastic creations, especially with metal. In this book they share some of the secrets behind their awesome work - and demystify working with metal. Included are the steps necessary to achieve specific results, common tools you can use to work with metal, and an extensive array of cool projects. Having this book at your side is like having two metal experts at your disposal - the book is laid out well, easy to understand, full of great pictures, and stuffed with hints, tips, explanations and ideas.
   
   From a way cool family tree to wearable art - and everything in between - you'll learn the ins-and-outs of making various items out of many types of metal. The O'Briens have done a magnificent job of writing for beginners, without turning off those more familiar with metal. Another reason I'd recommend this book? It proves that the most important factor in making magnificent art is the creative drive - not a lot of expensive tools. For example, did you know you could get a patina finish with potato chips and water? I'm serious...and the O'Briens tell you how - in a fun, breezy style that amps up your desire to jump in.
   
   After following this book you'll have some neat new metal creations - and you'll have learned from two of the best.



4. This is the book you will want if you want to learn how to creatively make jewelry, collages and dolls. They provide you with clear instruction , lists of tools needed, and supplies to do the creating.
   
   I received this book within a week of ordering.



5. The book is very helpful and provides you with all of the tools you will need for the techniques in the book. Very helpful for someone just getting started with working with metal.

1 comments about World Textiles: A Concise History (World of Art).

1. The shipping was super fast, the book was in pristine condition, but best of all, the info in the book was exactly what I needed. It was not a fluffy book about textiles, but a thoroughly researched and well written book. I'll refer to this one constantly. Overall, a fantastic transaction. Thanks much!

No comments about A Theory of Craft: Function and Aesthetic Expression.

4 comments about Kandinsky.

1. The book was received timely and in good condition. I am enjoying the art work. The book is verything I expected to be, very abstract.



2. 
   
   Normally I do not read art books, for art tends to speak for itself.
   
   My wife bought this one in response to remarks I had made in an art boutique in Maui about a Miles Davis painting we saw there. The comment, the same one I made on other occasions upon seeing similar paintings by Ornette Coleman, Calman Shemi and Wasssily Kandinsky was that "I could hear the paintings much better than I could see them."
   
   Shemi actually has a series of painting, fittingly called "Jazz" - and if you do not think about them too hard, you can actually hear the music in them.
   
   I suppose since there are no art books about Miles, Ornette, or yet even about Shemi, the next best thing was for her to get me one about Wassily Kandinsky, known to be my favorite artist. And speaking of books about heroes, never was I more disappointed than by Miles' own book "Decoy," whose title could not have been more prophetic as it was not so much about his music as it was a decoy deflecting one from Miles' music and focusing on how Miles - even deep into his fifties - seemed still obsessed with remaining a "hip East St. Louis inner city thug." And while "Decoy" certainly cut Miles down to human size, nothing can ever erase the impact of his musical genius and legacy. Miles, whatever else, were his failings, did for music what Kandinsky spent a lifetime trying to do for painting: He freed American music from its rigidly imposed aesthetic structural strait-jacket of time and chordal discipline, in one fell swoop.
   
   His "Kind of Blue," is such a pure expression of musical yearning for freedom; such a pure expression of musical genius, such a pure stretching of the boundaries of musical form, and such a pure stripping away of social orthodoxy, that it alone serves as a transcendental model for yearnings for freedom that go far beyond the bounds of music or even the arts. We are unlikely to see one musical piece have such a profound impact on the psyche of a culture repeated ever again.
   
   What a surprise it was to discover in this volume by Ulrike Becks-Morlarney, that Kandinsky was nothing if not a frustrated musician, using his palette of colors as a musician would use a horn: to express his emotions through the visual modalities of color, light and his own understated and reorganized idea of form. Kandinsky does so with the same freedom from the rigidity of structural orthodoxy as that expressed by Jazz musicians such as Coleman, Coltrane, Monk and Davis. And while any description of what was going on in his head has to be a vast oversimplification, it is not too much of an exaggeration to suggest that Kandinsky was a "revolutionary musician" with a paintbrush, an easel and a palette of colors, rather than a horn.
   
   And just as Miles staged a quiet musical revolution with the album "Kind of Blue," one that overthrew a half-century of musical orthodoxy, Kandinsky, who gave up Law at the late age of 30, also staged a quiet revolution again the established orthodoxy of painting at the turn of the 19th Century. Both of these syn-esthetic trailblazers had keen cross-modal sensitivities and sensibilities, and could smell, feel, see and hear across and well beyond the established aesthetic boundaries. Both used these heightened sensitivities and sensibilities to burrow beneath the established orthodoxy so as to better upend it.
   
   And upend it they did.
   
   While Miles' used "structural understatement," "rhythmic nuance," and "tonal finesse" to get his abstracted musical message across, Kandinsky used "overstatement," "boldness," and "surprise" to communicate to us abstractly through colors, light and form. Miles' muted trumpet "tip-toed" across the musical canvas like "walking on egg shells," while Kandinsky's bold colors and angular lines "shocked and awed" the old representational objects and their representations motifs back into the closet somewhere well "off the stage" of the canvas.
   
   And while there is a great deal that is both comic and tragic about the lives of both of these "larger-than-life" artistic geniuses, what provides the common thread between them is their relentless single mindedness yearning for freedom from mindless and repetitive orthodoxy. In the end their goals were the same: to free art (and by extension people) from the shackles of conventional orthodoxy and mindless constrictions. Taschen has produced an enduring masterpiece of artistic biography here. It summarizes in the most exquisite way the essence of the man, Wassily Kandinsky Five stars.



3. "The artwork is composed of two elements. The inner and the outer. The inner element, regarded individually, is the emotion that feels the artist' s soul . That emotion is capable to provoke a parallel emotion in the spectator. Generally, while the soul remains bounded to body, only the vibrations will be able to be attracted though the sensation. Hence, the sensation is a bridge from the materialness toward material (artist) and vice versa (spectator). Emotion-Sensation-Work-Sensation- Emotion." (Wassily Kandinsky)
   
   Wassili Kandinski represents by far, one of the highest peaks in what concerns the reinvention and redefinition of art, deeply worried about Theosophy, inaugurated several artistic movements in pursuit of new forms of expression. Indeed, his memories from Moscow, his unforgettable impressions from the childhood, generated a vigorous inner creator impulse that would become a true driving force.
   
   The text describes with zealous detail, his metamorphoses in Munich since 1896 to 1911, his decisive meet with Gabriele Munter, his settlement in Murnau, as well as his breakthrough toward the abstraction "The blue rider" his interlude in Russia 1914-1921, his fruitful period in Bauhaus 1922-1933 until his last stage: the bio-morph abstraction in Paris 1934-1944.
   
   That febrile disposition respect the perpetual innovation, the same fact he could live in worlds so opposite (October 1917, respect the new tendencies of Paris and Munich as gravity centers of fevered proposals), the sharp contrast between tradition and innovation, the breakthrough of so many paradigms, the Fauvism, Cubism, Impressionism, Constructivism, enlivened in his soul the imperious necessity to transcend the Halls of his art and thence, his concerns for publishing and divulgating his standpoints.
   
   His life was a worthy example of Camus statement. "To create is to live twice" and this book provides of a very ordered sequence, every one of his different stages of transformation.
   
   Highly recommended.



4. Ulrike Becks-Malorny has brought recent perspectives on Kandinsky's career to further light with this new biography.

   The density of the layout is phenomenal: so much is crammed into this volume it is almost unbelievable. It includes many plates in colour and numerous documentary photographs.
   
   The handsome large format paperback begins with his artistic life in Munich, in the process showing many of his earliest impressionist, fauvist and folk inspired paintings, photographs and sketches, lino- and woodcuts, etchings and drawings never seen before.

   Most illustrations are captioned with insightful comments about the work and matters of relevant historic interest.

   It also shows how his work developed in dialogue with other artists, architects and musicians of his era, especially the Jugendstil artists, Gabriele Munter and other Blaue Reiter painters, Paul Klee, Adolf Hoelzel, Kasimir Malevich and Alexander Rodchenko.

   My only problem with the book is in the non-justified text and choice of font in Times Roman, which in this particular leading, is not the easiest typeface to scan these days.

4 comments about The Dynasties of China: A History.

1. If you are trying to find a starting place in the history of China, then this is a good book for you. It is very shallow in the sense that it is only a sketch, but that is all you could reasonably ask of a small book like this that covers such a long period in history.
   
   There are many books that cover any of the subjects treated here in great depth, but what this book offers the beginner is a firm rock to build on.



2. I just liked this book because I wanted to read a good brief history of China and I think this book manage to do that. It is a well written book to introduce yourself to this ancient culture.



3. Early on in the introduction to this book, author and ex-gameshow host Bamber Gascoigne quizzes the reader on their knowledge of Chinese history with questions in the vein of `which came first between Song and Tang' and `name a Chinese emperor besides Kublai Khan.' If you happen to be privy to this information, chances are you won't find anything earth-shattering or even particularly new here, but if, falling in with one of Gascoigne's running themes, you've heard of Ming vases and Tang poetry and are curious about some of the stories behind the "inscrutable monosyllables" that describe them, The Dynasties of China: A History is an extremely well-written, accessible, and consciously Eurocentric yet relatively harmless place to start.
   
   The book is divided into 8 chapters, each devoted to a big name Chinese dynasty. There were of course many more, but Gascoigne's focus, and his greatest strength here, is building up on what the `lay reader' is most likely to be familiar with going into the text. Parallels and references to the `western tradition' abound, but they are deftly handled, steering clear of reductionism and exotification. That said, the book is at its best in the earlier chapters covering the legends of high antiquity through to the fall of the Han, a vast stretch of time including some of the least well-known eras in Chinese history. After that we immediately skip ahead some four centuries to the Tang dynasty (fans of the Three Kingdoms period will need to look elsewhere), which is given a bizarre treatment as the entire chapter is almost exclusively handed over to a description of the relationship between Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen, who were, admittedly, accomplished poets and occasional minor statesmen. While it's normal for general history books like this to elaborate on certain stories to put the focus on underlying trends and major social developments instead of on names and dates, it's still pretty rare to see an intro to the Tang where the Empress Wu Zetian basically only shows up in a clarification of the naming system (in case you're asking why there are so many Wu's) and a towering figure like the Taizong Emperor Li Shimin isn't mentioned at all. It could be noted that Gascoigne's elevation of Bai Juyi to something of a backbone supporting Chinese civilization throughout the ages is a rather novel approach, as well as a pretty good hint that we're getting more of a tour of heavyweight traditional scholars like de Bary, Watson and Waley (lots and lots of Waley) than of "primary," or even "Chinese" sources.
   
   This contentment with relying on `western observers' becomes much more evident in the later chapters, where we're presented with the Mongol Empire essentially as recorded by Marco Polo, the Ming through Matteo Ricci's eyes, and the late 17th through the 18th century, which saw the Qing Empire take Chinese Civilization to its arguably greatest heights, is given the customary polite nod of acknowledgement before Gascoigne launches into the inevitable and sufficiently apologetic and `self-critical' retelling of the opium wars and the destructive role of imperialism in the construction of Modern China, dotted with quips from the period's (usually British) participants. This actually works well enough here, as, again, the point of this book isn't to provide a comprehensive historical account of the area, but to flesh out the background that most readers of English already have of Chinese history. Gascoigne excels at this and keeps the information as clear and familiar as possible. The details are necessarily anecdotal at best, and while we zip through some controversies, historical exceptions and peculiarities without so much as a second glance, all the major `macro' themes are there and the reader should finish this book with a painlessly acquired grasp of the bigger picture that will hopefully lead to further, and better informed, reading.
   
   It's already a well worn cliché to highlight the challenge of condensing X thousand years of imperial Chinese history into Y hundred pages, and this is hardly the most exhaustive attempt out there. It is, though, an engaging and relatively quick read (contrary to what it says above, the book has a total of 228 pages including the index and short bibliography), and is definitely recommendable to anyone with even a passing interest in the area, for getting your bearings during an introductory course, or as a rewarding way to spend a lengthy first or second flight to China.



4. The Dynasties Of China: A History By British author Bamber Gascoigne is an informed and informative history of the eight major dynasties of ancient China that span 3,500 years of Chinese civilization. The focuses is upon crucial characters of Chinese history, from antiquity up to the 1912 revolution that spelled the end of an Empire. Concise and fact-filled, specially written so as to be easily accessible to the lay reader, The Dynasties Of China: A History is an absorbing tour through the centuries and a highly recommended addition to school and community library World History collections.

2 comments about How to Read a Modern Painting: Lessons from the Modern Masters.

1. The most entertaining and informative art history book I've ever read. Recommended for those interested in art, history, psychology, even science (looking at questions like 'how do we see?'). For one who already knew and loved visual art, it re-explained the 'modern' era of painting from it's earliest origins. In essentially chronological order, important paintings are "de-constructed", along with the lives of the artists who painted them. Thompson explores the socio-political, philosophical contexts of the times and places where modern art evolved. Also, Thompson reveals the how and why of the techniques and theories (color theory in particular) which drove the modern movement. All this.... and it's really fun. I didn't want it to end!



2. this is a great resource for teachers of art and art history. Thompson digs out some great details that I havent come across elsewhere

5 comments about An Introduction to Acrylics (DK Art School).

1. I found this book to be just what I needed to get started with acrylics. It is concise, yet has all that a beginner needs to know what to buy and how to get started. I found the simple exercises very helpful and look forward to trying the more complex techniques as I gain confidence.



2. Pretty picture as in all DK books but gives an entire overview of all acrylic paining in 72 pages. A lot of simple paragraph definitions of techniques but nothing of any direction or use for a begining painter. A great picture book for a child.



3. I bought this book based on all the other reviews and now I too love it. Loads of beautiful color pictures and examples and written clearly. If you're beginning acrylics - get this !



4. Considering that I have yet to find a complete compedium of Acrylic techniques, this is probably one of the better books out there, especially for beginners. This book will give you the short and skinny on your tools, paint and mediums, and canvases/surfaces. After that, the book starts giving examples on how to tranfer your image onto the canvas with pencil prior to painting, using opaque methods to painting, transparent(watercolor style) methods, drybrushing, scumbling, and more. Then at the end of the book, it contains a series of gallry examples in acrylic to inspire. This book is a good foundation book, and gives many approaches to using acrylic.



5. When I decided that I wanted to start painting, I bought five "How To" books. This one is my favorite, hands down. The book is well organized, well written, and contains a lot of beautifully detailed photographs. The author has kept the text to a minimum, letting the photographs do much of the talking, which works far better for me than other books that have more emphasis on written instruction.
   
   In only 72 pages, every topic is covered, and no question is left unanswered. It begins with a brief history of the medium, then moves on to cover color, paint types, brushes, painting surfaces, tools, and techniques, as well as galleries of different painting styles. There's even a section on experimental approaches, such as stenciling and inventive scraping. Rather than presenting a series of exercises (as many books do), this author encourages experimentation and discovering your own personal style, an approach that really inspired me to pick up a brush and get started.
   
   Also worth mentioning is that every photograph and illustration is in color . . . really GOOD color. This may sound like a no-brainer, but a few of the other books I purchased contained a lot of black-and-white photos. Hey, you can't learn to paint in black and white!
   
   Experienced artists may find the material here a bit too rudimentary, but for the true novice, like myself, this book is a winner. If you're looking for that ONE book to get you started, this is it!

3 comments about Concepts of Modern Art: From Fauvism to Postmodernism (World of Art).

1. This is not an easy book to write, because the modern art world has gone wild with multiple radical approaches to what used to be a relatively easy-to-understand subject. Thus I have no objection to a multply-authored text. And it is expected that some of the chapters will be better than others. OK.
   My objection is to the pictures. They are all in BLACK AND WHITE! This, in a field where the impact of color is so important! Almost as bad is the fact that all the pictures are bunched at the back, so, each time a picture is cited in the text, you have to go to the back to find this. And many are too small.
   I would have expected better from such an experienced art history publisher



2. This book is a compilation of essays on all major art movements of the 20th century. It offers a comprehensive review with very elaborate information on movements, ideas, artists and artworks. Furthermore, it explains the artists' concepts of art, thus enabling the reader to understand why and how artworks were created. The book is very helpful and detailed. It is a must for all those interested in 20th century art, both for students/enthusiasts and experts on the subject.



3. This book gives you a dynamic look at the movements of the 20th century. Some of the entries are a bit lacking and stale. The transition between different writing styles proved unfavorable, but the book is useful as reference. I do not recamend it as an introduction to modern art. It focuses more on the events that shaped movements as opposed to the idealogy of them. If you are already familiar with modern art, this book will prove useful in building on a foundation of knowlage. I found "The 20th century Art Book" useful in reading this book. It helps compensate for the black and white pictures.

5 comments about Why Art Cannot Be Taught: A HANDBOOK FOR ART STUDENTS.

1. As a recovering survivor of an MFA program I can wholly relate to Elkins' criticisms about the failure of critiques to shape art and artists. It is poignant that Elkins is unable to offer up a solution.



2. this book is not for current art students, or graduates (it's simply too late for you to read this)
   
   considering the expensive and time consuming path of art training at the University level ? then i recommend reading (or even just skimming) "Why Art Cannot Be Taught : A HANDBOOK FOR ART STUDENTS" not only because it gives a clear overview of the evolution of the methods of passing craftsmanship in the fine arts through (European) history, but because you'll see that picking a few art classes is probably going to serve you far better than undertaking a full course of study (and the stories of "classroom psychodrama", and students having to explain and defend their work was easily worth the price of the book, IMHO)



3. As a critique of how studio art has traditionally been taught at the university level, Elkins is dead on (pun intended). His portrayal of B.F.A./M.F.A. programs is vividly familiar to anyone who has gone that route. The book is also hilarious and a great read. But since we (studio folk) are the chief audience, we already know all of this, right?
   
   The critique of Elkins' book is not that he misrepresents anything, but that he misses things: namely the field that addresses teaching art, known as "art education." He does not pretend to consider it, but that doesn't excuse the neglect. If that sounds funny to you, meaning you assume Art Education is a joke-field, I urge you to delve into the research published in its premier journal, "Studies in Art Education," and, then, compare this research to that which has recently emerged from Art History and Art--that is, if "Art" (studio professors) produces any research at all. Well, it does here and there, and Art History produces some interesting research, as does Art Education, whose primary agenda is to address issues of critical theory, postmodernism, and visual/material culture. In fact, I understand that the Art department at Elkins' institution is in the process of making this pedagogical shift as well as some other leading Art schools here and abroad, like Yale.
   
   The point I'm making is that Elkin's portrait--that postmodern art is at odds with the outdated mode that exists in art schools--is partly untrue. Cutting-edge Art programs, and certainly Art Education, are exploring interesting post-disciplinary projects that resonate nicely with the sublime mantra of the postmodernist discourse that informs them. In a general sense, the schools that Elkins describes are those whose tenured faculty have rested on their boring Modernist laurels, which died quicker than their 4th-tier universities could pass them through the nominal tenure process, a tragedy that I think is slowly but surely evaporating.
   
   Understanding that Elkins is probably aware of all of this and expecting academic readers to draw this out of the book, it's not so bad. But for those who do not know the inner workings of academic art programs, the book could do a better job of explaining where the pedagogical answer lies. I like to think that for some reason, Elkins had those answers and kept them reserved for another book, rather than that he, like the oldie-moldy prof's he ribs, is a living anachronism.



4. The answer: I think so. The author changed my way of thinking about the subject of what is plausible in arts education in our time. The apprearance of total artistic freedom from judgement as formulated by postmodernists, yet the intrinsic nature of how the academy/school affects an artist, is seriously examined by Elkins.

   This book is amongst the first to pragmatically question some of our common misunderstandings about the methodology involved in teaching the visual arts. The reason for this maybe due in part to modernist and postmodernist intellectualizing of art (e.g.-the endless pages of ink spilled in history books about content free Minimalist paintings and Conceptual Art). Elkins really does an marvelous job at collecting the evidence that studio art teaching and learning is fundamentally different in goals from more conventional subjects such as the sciences, languages and even music...yet, artists should have a somewhat rounded education.

   To the authors credit, the book avoids the idealistic view of the arts, dispenses with the RomanticEra cliches of " the gifted talent" or "starving artist" or "outsider art" and deals with THE pragmatic reality of art instruction. Elkins' surveys are about the historical roots of art instruction: the Medieval workshops, the Renaissance guilds,the Baroque academies, and the 20th c. Bauhaus School are compared and contrasted with one another.

   THIS comparison of instruction models is EXCELLENT!

   The assumed historical 'reality' of the types of artists each system was capable of producing serves as a spring board for discussions on how philosophical discourse influences the instruction model. The book addresses the question of "what body of knowledge is central to the education of an artist?" Is it life drawing, technical and mechanical skills or is it a selected reading and immersion in the liberal arts(i.e.- should an artist have a classical education w/ emphasis on Greek literature -or- postmodernist and shifting in emphasis related to an artist's native culture?_)

   Elkin's book fully illustrates the very real world dilemna that students interested in the visual arts face when choosing between "art schools" and small "Liberal arts colleges." "Art schools" tend to only be interested in art, with a myriad of opportunities to be exposed to the art world, with little if any exposure to core general education courses. Paradoxically, the art schools are also places where one is likely to find the latest art theory in deployment despite an 'art school'student populace that MAY NOT have the educational background to engage in meaningful discussion with instructors. The situation is the exact inverse with students at "liberal arts colleges" (and the university in general) where the student is academically armed, yet, is enrolled in significantly less demanding studio courses. "Liberal Arts colleges" and art departments of universities,while providing excellant general education for an art student -most barely engage in the issues of making Studio Art much beyond the dilettante level. Elkins makes a very fine point of emphasis on what is either impractical or too obscure to teach about art in the general curriculum of both classroom enviroments-i.e.-such things as art that uses obscure techniques, extremely radical and/or conservative methods. He deals with that rarely mentioned art class phenomenon- "the critque"- where the student presents thier work to the class to be analyized. Elkins illuminates 'The critque' of art schools (and studio art departments) in a manner that should deal with every sort of postive and negative experience that could be siphoned from such an ordeal.

   Essentially the heart of "Why Art Cannot be Taught" is to illuminate what works and what makes 'sense' to teach in the pedantic school environment about art. Elkin's thesis ("that art cannot be taught") is a descriptive interpretation of the reality that art education like 'true art', the 100%creative stuff, is something unique and irrational that can't be easily duplicated at the whim of educators. A must for anyone that has interest in the peculiarities of being a student of the visual arts!




5. The author details art instruction through the ages and discusses the question asked in the title. Art and artists would be so much better thought of by society, and art istself would improve, if the ideas in this book were taken seriously. It is a DEEP book, not for casual reading.

5 comments about Painting Light With Colored Pencil.

1. "Painting Light in Colored Pencil" is a wonderful book if you are interested in technique applied to still life compositions. She does a great job of moving reader through process of the creation of a "mood" that is related to light. Most of her examples involve fruit, flowers, and ceramics. If this is your interest, you will find the book helpful. If you are interested in landscapes or more unorthodox subjects I believe you will feel the book is too limiting. The first 31 of 126 pages is dedicted to materials, photography, and composition. For a beginning colored pencil artist this may be very helpful section. For advanced artists, you will probably skip over this section. I liked the book since it contains interesting techniques and a good message -paint what you like (what inspires you) and have fun at it.



2. This is a must-have book for the colored pencil or any artist at any stage in their art career. I am not a beginner, but found lots of good advice and suggestions that have helped me in my art. What first impressed me when I flipped through the pages was the beautiful drawings and photos. Her use of light is incredible.
   
   There are 21 demonstrations for the reader to try, everything from leaves and flowers to candlelight. Her use of color is applicable for any type of art style, from portraits and animals, to landscapes and still lifes which Ms. Baird favors. While she is a realist there is still alot of information that is helpful for those who's style tends to be less realistic.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   



3. Cecile Baird is an expert with colored pencil realism -- a slow, layered, difficult medium that depends on good drawing skills and a patient attention to detail. Her artwork is spectacular, but unlike some colored pencil books, so are her step by step lessons. She'll take one element from a major work of hers and go through it step by step till you can create something similar -- and from there set up your own still lifes to convey the light of a candle, the rich textures of brass or wax with light shining through it, the soft petals of a rose.
   
   Her style creates something reminiscent of the Old Masters, a still life with musical instruments will have lavish textures throughout, brocade that shines in the light of a lamp, brass that gleams and glass that's transparent. This book solves all of those technical mysteries and is wonderful if you want to draw chrome or glass or cloth or light.
   
   Ms. Baird has a great way with words too, her explanations are clear and easily followed as she breaks down what seems to be an intuitive process into understandable principles you can apply to your own ideas and subjects. Be prepared to make some intelligent substitutions on which colored pencils to use for the projects, or visit several art stores for open stock pencils. Like most authors of colored pencil books, she has her favorites and they range across several brands. But having tried the projects by substituting similar colors in Prismacolors, they work fine with the substitutions.



4. This product came exactly how it was presented-quickly and in great condition-couldn't be happier!
   
   Thanks for the quick turn around-very pleased!



5. I found this book easy to understand. The color theory is very helpful. I would recommend it.