5 comments about Human Anatomy Made Amazingly Easy.

1. The book does have some insights into human anatomy, however it is all bland with no feel for it.
   Most importantly it concentrates more into male anatomy and not give you a healthy dose of the female anatomy as well.
   As a male artist, studying my own body will be more educational than this book.



2. this book is not helpful to anyone who is a serious artist. if you want to get good at drawing, want to learn more about anatomy, get an anatomy book. this book is suited for people who don't really care about anatomy, and just want to know enough to scrape by.
   I did not like this book.



3. The drawings are wayyyyy old school. Nothing like the comic book looks yyou see now. It reminds me of that old school superman show where he jumps on a trampoline and then flies into the air. So for the guys body it's very old school western muscular (so not very. not much of a six pack and stuff)
   
   i would have loved this book if he had used the drawing style of some of his other books!



4. This books has a very specific function, and is not for everyone. I would reccomend this book for any casual artists who want to draw cartoon or comic-book / manga style art, and need to reference a basic anatmony.
   
   This books is NOT for people who want to do realistic art. This books is NOT for someone who wants to draw a specfic style of art (i.e. how to draw manga). This books is NOT for people who needs to learn how to draw from the ground up.
   
   This books is best suited to casual artiststs / fan artists who already have an idea of how to draw, and already have their own style, but need a reference for simplified anatomy seen in comic books and manga.



5. I admit this book is a lot better than I thought it would be.
   I'm glad I didn't pay the nay sayers any mind.
   Though I have decent drawing skills not good enough to be considered a master but not a beginner either.
   
   I still think in order to improve your Artistic understanding of anatomy this book is a good start in the right direction though I still recommend you draw people who are willing to model for you or take a life drawing class if you are of age.

5 comments about Enchanting Fairies: How To Paint Charming Fairies and Flowers.

1. A beautiful book with clear, easy to follow instructions. A great addition to any collection for fairy lovers/artist. As a lover of fantasy and creator of fantasy art for many years I enjoyed this book very much. I especially love the fairy babies included in this book,
   since they often seem be left out.



2. I thought the step-by-step painting technique demonstrations were excellent. Aside from being a how-to on painting fairies, there is a lot in the book about rendering natural details like flower petals, bubbles, leaves, water, hair, flames and snowflakes. All of the techniques Barbara Lanza uses to create her enchanting worlds can be applied to landscape and still life painting, as well as portraiture. I've learned a lot from her book.



3. I bought Barbara Lanza's book and was thrilled. Great product for the price! Her beautiful, delicate illustrations and clear instructions were easy to understand. I also liked that her love of fairies came across and inspired me. The variety of fairies and flowers was also refreshing. I would recommend this book if you would like to learn fantasy art!



4. I am a self taught oil painter and craft artist who was raised on Fairy stories. When I saw this book advertised I hoped it would help me and it has. I like her Fairies, not to baby type of cute.
   
   She has great pictures with detailed instructions of how to achieve her art work using two different media. The way the book is written, her instruction is also adaptable to any media or type of work you want to do. A friend was having trouble painting a nice drape of fabric on one of her projects. I showed her my Enchanting Fairies book and it showed her exactly what to do. This is a good investment.



5. I bought this book for my daughter who loves to draw and loves fairies. She has read other fictional works by the author and enjoyed them. This drawing guide had the right mix of how to and fictional background to keep her interested and inspired to draw the various examples as well as take them a step further. It also has enough detail in the information and interesting presentation to keep the "child at heart". If you want to draw this particular fantasy subject or just people, it is an enjoyable read that contains many useful details.

No comments about Collectivism after Modernism: The Art of Social Imagination after 1945.

5 comments about Southwestern Pottery: Anasazi to Zuni.

1. a beautiful coffee-table book on old and modern Southwestern Pottery. I would have liked a little more on the old stuff and a little less by modern potters, but it is a minor quibble.



2. this is a beautiful book the the pictures in the book are so vivid and colorful, it would make a wonderful addition to any library or it would make a great coffee table book!



3. I was impressed with the display groupings presented and the journey of the authors beginnings of his collections and the knowledge he aquired along the way. He gave good advice to new collectors. I open it daily and alway see something I missed. It's a great book to add to your collection.



4. I'd been looking for a book like this for ages. It goes through every pueblo's pottery, describing the special characteristics of each, and talks about the important potters in each pueblo.
   
   This is very well written in an easy going, non-snobish style, instantly increasing your depth of knowledge in southwestern pottery. The photographs are excellent and plentiful, giving many diverse examples from each pueblo/region/era.
   
   Highly recommended for those new to collecting. I gave a copy to my parents in New Mexico, and even though they had been doing a bit of collecting for years, they have a much better understanding of the history of some of the pottery sitting on their shelves. They love this book.



5. This is an excellent book for both the beginner or serious student of Southwestern Pottery. It gives examples of all styles, types, and designs, making it easy for anyone to understand what makes each Pueblo's pottery unique. Perhaps not as "in depth" as some others, this book is easily the best book out there today as far as explaining and illustrating the basics. It really is an indispensable guide and reference book. The authors are regular guys rather than scholars, so it is easy and enjoyable to read, and filled with great photos of their quite amazing collections. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a place to begin learning about Southwestern Pottery.

2 comments about How to Draw (How to Draw (Dover)).

1. This book is for those who wants to teach their student or children very basic drawing.



2. I bought this as a present for my six year old. She loves to draw and has a passion for art. I feared the book might be too advanced for her skills however I was wrong. The book was a hit! In fact the whole family is having fun drawing pictures!

5 comments about John Singer Sargent: Figures and Landscapes, 1874-1882; Complete Paintings: Volume IV (John Singer Sargent).

1. Sargent excelled in all media and this book, the third in a series, clearly shows why he was the best of late 19th century American artists. Many of his paintings have become icons of American art, and here they are shown in the context of his life and artistic development. The color reproductions are superb and the book offers many hours of repeat perusal.



2. These books are the epitome of scholarly research into Sargent's work, made even better by the researchers inclusion of intimate personal and professional details. This presents a great background to viewing the well printed illustrations. One should not just purchase one of these volumes, indeed the experience palls UNLESS all three are not bought . One cannot praise this sort of in depth research and the resulting publications highly enough. The only quibble is one of size, given that Sargent revelled in life-size compositions, it is a a pity that pure economics forbid the printing of larger volumes- I mourn the death of the "elephant folios" so derided by librarians.



3. A wonderful collection of amazing images. This book will be looked at for many, many years.



4. The best book on a painter I have been able to buy for quite a while. As with the other three volumes so far published of Sargent's catalogue raisonne, this is absolutley stunning. Paintings are all in colour unless they have been lost, and the figures and landscapes are breathtaking. The text is anecdotal and interesting, with contemporary correspondence and criticism. This is what a catalogue raisonne should be, and never is - something exhaustively illustrated and investigated, rather than an artist's lifetime crammed into one volume with highlights followed by black and white "postage stamps" at the back (as long as the artist is worth it - and Sargent is worth it). A great tome on a great artist, and unbelievably good value. Go out and treat yourself.



5. The color reproductions are awesome. This books is a collection of Sargent's less known work which is refreshing. Some oils are not as polished as the more well known work which helps to show his technique in early stages---a plus to serious professionals and students. To me, this book provided a wealth of visual clues to understanding his thought process and technical principles. The writing, however, is the typical stuff used to fill most coffee table books. No insight whatsoever into Sargent's painting principles, tonal procedures or color palette. The author obviously knows little in that regard but there is so much information out there the text could have been more illuminating. Buy it for the reproduction quality and awesome collection of works. Worth every penny in that regard.

5 comments about Manufactured Landscapes: The Photographs of Edward Burtynsky.

1. Edward Burtynsky is an extremely talented photographer and manages to capture the most dramatic and mysterious of scenes. Extraordinary photographs of some extraordinary subjects.



2. I am a great admirer of Edward Burtynsky - and I will not hide my dissapointment with the book. I've seen an exibition "Manufactured Landscapes" twice, and have to say that reproductions in the album are of a poor quality, not to mention that at least in this particular case size does really matter...
   
   The album is good to have a general idea about the author, his work and his workshop (nice introduction, and interview with Edward Burtynsky - that's what I've missed from the exibitions) but if you haven't seen full-size prints before, do not buy this book - otherwise it might spoil your opinion about one of the best photographers ever...



3. I discovered Ed Burtynsky by chance when waiting for my dentist...
   It was a chock : over its technical knowledge, this guy is capable to find the perfect angle to show what he wants to show !
   
   as we say in France "respect !"



4. the reproductions in the book were awful. i had seen his exhibition and purchased th e book because of it. the reproductions were not any where up to the originals. i am a photographer and the book is useless to me.
   ronald meyerson



5. I viewed the original exhibition at the National Arts Gallery in Ottawa a few years back. The images are breathtaking, unnerving and awe inspiring.

5 comments about The Object Stares Back: On the Nature of Seeing.

1. This is not a review, but an account of my experience of reading Elkins' book. I found that my way of looking at the world shifted. The feeling of the writing seemed a blend of inner thoughts/feelings being shared with the reader. A gift for anyone interested in reconsidering what they think they know about their own eyesight. Elkins is a true teacher. (Apologies for the pretentious "real name" middle intial and suffix...trying to find a way to change that on Amazon)



2. I'm fascinated by this book since it tackles art and subject from several important perspectives -- aesthetic, philosophical, anthropological. The figure-field reversal is not often treated in such detail or with such interesting illustrations. The first image of a eunuch is extremely haunting and well placed to begin the discussion of our objectifying the world and often forgetting the humanity of those who we picture or study.
   
   I asked Elkins if I could borrow his title for a solo art show (this was several years ago) and he was gracious to allow me to do so. I mention this because I found Elkins to be one of those aware adventurers in the quest for who we are (and who we think we are) as defined by those objects in the world that stare back upon us.



3. James Elkins gives a lot of interesting speculation on the experience of seeing, but unfortunately, he fails to give much linkage of his subject to the experience of making and seeing art, which is curious in that the author is an art historian. He attaches a lot of importance to the idea that conventional seeing is a form of "blindness," that is, that conventional day-to-day seeing is extremely limited, but, again, he seems to be uninterested in the ways that artists remove these limits, both for themselves and their audience. So much of the writing is about how the author himself sees and does not see, that eventually I became bored, as one usually does listening to one person talk on and on about his own limited experience of a subject.



4. I haven't read much of this book, because it contains images of the most awful thing I have ever seen, the 'death by a thousand cuts'. These pictures still haunt me, and the author uses them, claiming that they are disturbing because they represent somebody who is halfway between being alive and dead - I disagree - they are disturbing because they are scenes of an atrocity inflicted on a living being. (The victim was a woman who allegedly committed adultery in China, I'm not sure when the photos were taken but they look quite old).
   Those four pictures have destroyed any faith I ever had in human beings, they will probably do the same to you if you are unfortunate enough to ever see them.



5. James Elkins has a wonderful way of opening our eyes to the world. He explains the way we see, or maybe what we don't see, in a witty and extremely accessible way. Elkins uses his knowledge of Art History and mixes it freely with neurology and psychology to bring us readers at a different level of understanding of the world. I'm already a true fan!

5 comments about Draw 3-D.

1. Yes, you could invest in any of a number of books on perspective and learn all of the principles, theory, and nomenclature. Or, you could spend an hour or two with this book, Draw 3-D, and begin using perspective correctly in your own drawings now.
   I found this book to be informative, effective, and fun.



2. This is an essential starter book for anybody who wants to learn to draw in 3 dimensions.
   
   Draw five circles in a ring
   And add a little dot
   Use a ruler to connect
   the edges to the spot
   Chop the ends with curvy lines
   Erase what you don't need
   It's so easy, anyone
   Can follow and succeed
   
   Write your name or draw a box
   Then draw another two,
   Or three and four, and before long
   Your perspective comes through
   Horizons, roads, vanishing points
   Interiors and out
   With practice you can draw this stuff
   Without a single doubt
   
   It gets much harder at the end
   But once you've grasped the rules
   You'll find it takes a little time
   Applying all the tools
   This makes it so much easier
   It has a chatty style
   I think that once you try this book
   You'll find it quite worthwhile
   
   
   Recommended for ages 9 to just before senility.
   
   
   
   Amanda Richards, July 13, 2008



3. This is a very fun to use book, with detailed and specific explanations and easy to apply examples, so that, by the end of the reading, you can do some things on your own that look very real.



4. "DRAW 3-D" has given me a new eye for perspective drawing, how to size objects for distance. I love practicing technique. Great book!



5. This is one extraordinary book on perspective. Although directed at young people, it is wonderful for anyone who likes to draw. I got two copies, one for my niece. She loves it! It makes perspective fun and easy. This author is an amazing teacher. Makes it completely panic free.

No comments about Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Concise History of Western Art (with CD-ROM).