3 comments about Drawing & Painting Fantasy Worlds.

1. I have been interested in fantasy drawing, literature for many years. This book is filled with recommendations and examples to help get you thinking and show you what is possible. Once the wheels are turning it is up to you to create. I like seeing the examples of the author's work illustrating his points and also giving fuel to the fires of my imagination.



2. -To "Drawing and painting fantasy figures" Anyone interested in the subject of fantasy/sci-fi art/storytelling/animation should get both these books. The best thing to come along since "Encyclopedia of fantasy/sci-fi art techniques"



3. This book covers similar ground to Cowan's previous title, Drawing & Painting Fantasy Figures. Both cover traditional and digital media, both explore specific projects and general idea generation, and both discuss studio setup, traditional and digital art submission, and other essentials for artistic survival. It's not a total rehash, but both works complement each other to the point that it's worth your while to read both if you're going to read one. I haven't seen the third book yet (Drawing & Painting Fantasy Creatures, I think is the title), but if it follows suit it, too, will be at its best if considered with Cowan's previous works.

1 comments about Rapunzel's Supermarket: All about Young Children and Their Art.

1. This book is an excellent book but when it was published it wasn't put together very well because the pages are coming out/the cover came unglued from the pages. I would definitely recommend this book for teachers of kids!

4 comments about The Museum of Bad Art: Masterworks.

1. Like any art, bad is subjective. Yes, the examples in this book are pretty awful, few are so transcendentally awful as to truly satisfy. I understand excluding the kinds of things that would be easy targets (kids, paint-by-numbers, etc), and a little of that does a long way anyway, but... I dunno. I wanted to see stuff that would haunt me in my nightmares, that make me long for the sweet release of the grave. Instead, it was just lots of "what kind of person would actually finish that?" moments.



2. Some of the write-ups were written so well, it took several days for me to stop giggling. This book is WELL worth the money!



3. This is such a wonderful idea. I made it a point to visit the Dedham, MA museum several years ago when I visited Boston. Take a back seat you stuffy art snobs! These folks put it all into perspective. I've even sent the Museum some bad art I've found around here! (I think it ended up at the prestigious auction.) The folks who give up their free? time to do this are very clever and free-spirited. Every town should have one!
   Get the book!



4. This is my kind of art book, filled with truly awful paintings, all with an explanatory text in the finest critical doubletalk. I laughed out loud several times reading this, and that makes it invaluable in these grim days. Why doesn't Frank Gehry build a museum for these guys?

5 comments about Silk Painting: The Artist's Guide to Gutta and Wax Resist Techniques (Practical Craft Books).

1. An excellent book showing many and varied techniques with very easy instructions. This book is very inspiring.



2. You name it she tells you how to do it. For beginner & Intermediate silk painters. Educational, Informative and well formatted. My only suggestion is a ring binding so the book could lay flat when it is being used for refeence.



3. An excellent, comprehensive guide for the beginning silk painter. The author demonstrates many inspirational designs and recommends her preferences for dyes (by brand), gutta, and other resist options. I've not painted on silk before and, after reading this book, I feel I have all the knowledge I need to begin painting on silk.



4. I love this book! I think the blend of historical content and variety of techniques described make this the perfect book in your resource library!



5. This book has great, inspirational photos and very good instructions. My main disappointment with it is the authors attitude toward silk paints (i.e., not dyes). I have used several varieties of the paints that are made to mimic dyes and find them to work very well, leave the silk soft and be very easy to use. They are a great way for a beginner to get started and try most of the same techniques used with dyes without the hassle of steaming or the toxicity. I am glad that I had some experience silk painting before I got this book because her attitude would have discouraged me from every trying. Aside from that - it's an excellent book, worth the price and full of great pictures to inspire you.

5 comments about How to Draw Cartoons for Comic Strips (Christopher Hart Titles).

1. Christopher Hart has truly done an excellent job with this book. Filled to the rim with illustrations, techniques, explanations and inside information, if you've ever wanted to learn about humorous illustration or cartooning, put this on your list. You'll be glad you did. :o)



2. Great book. He displays how to cartoon men, women, children, elderly and many types of animals. He does it in an extremely visual way that even a child could follow along. This book is packed with 95% illustrations and 5% text. To me, that's a winner. The 5% text that is in there is invaluable. The print is nice and large and easy to read. I am very happy I bought this book. It is a keeper.



3. From the beginning of this book to the end, it is filled with (finally) basic, step-by-step instructions on drawing cartoon people, body parts, the "action line", body language and style. And then it starts all over again with animals! Mostly dogs, cats, and different fowl, it also includes less common animals, like beaver, porcupine, raccoon and many sea animals. Can't forget the great alligators and dragon. Finally, the book spends time on placing the characters, reference lines and specialty shots and the all-important "balloon". Another great one by C. Hart. I think I own most of his books and they are all worth great merit, better than the other books I've seen out there by far.



4. A few years ago, on a whim, I decided to start drawing. I didn't know where to begin so I bought this book. I really believed I couldn't draw. The techniques in this book were so easy to learn that soon I went from drawing stick figures to expressive cartoon characters. My confidence went up and I took on more complicated projects. Now, I work part-time doing illustrations and it all started here!



5. This is an excellent book for any beginning artist or anyone else wanting to learn cartooning. Chris Hart publishes some of the best books on art that I've ever seen. This book gives good details on drawing that is easy to follow and understand. All in all, this is one book that should be in every artist's library.

5 comments about How to Draw Manga: Occult & Horror.

1. This is a very good book, helping alot on making scenes as scary as needed.



2. this book doesn't have much on how to draw characters but if you just want some ideas on what to draw if you want to draw monsters then it is a good book. it doesn't offer any real good instruction.



3. ...mmmm, ive seen better. i thought it would be a little more intersting. but then again, horror manga isnt a huge deal right now. Uzumeki is the one i read that got me into it. i guess im just not as interested in drawing a woman with her jaw half ripped off. *shrugs*



4. umm, i liked this book, in fact i stole it from my brother ^-^ well, yeah.
   this might be helpful
   Chapter 1 essence of fear, basics of fear start with darkness and shadows, scary faces, fightening moods other stuff, i'm to lazy to type<3
   
   blah blah blah
   chatpter monsters and ghosts
   chapter three spirts devils and fansty creatures....there five chapters in the book but now i'm bored it's a good book buy it



5. I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THIS BOOK! ^^ It's one of the best books out there on this subject. Though some pages are downright creepy, the book is great over all if you like to draw this or like to use it in anyway. ^^ I recommend it for fans of Ghosts to Warewolves to Demons to Ogress to... just about anything! I own it and love it a lot!

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.

1 comments about Marimekko: Fabrics, Fashion, Architecture (Bard Graduate Centre for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design & Culture).

1. I just saw the last weekend of this show in New York at the Bard Center and it was inspired, to say the least. The book is the next best thing to being there if you are a Marimekko fan. It is a more thorough look at the company than the older title "marimekko phenomenon". The editor of this book, Marianne Aav (also the show's curator) was responsible for the 1998 show/book from the Bard Center on Finnish Modern Design. Marimekko's brave colors, shapes, and graphics are made more powerful, in my mind, by the fact that the final result appears so simple. While I mourn the lack of this in much of today's clothing/textile design, I think that the renewed excitement about Marimekko, and design in general, indicates that this is changing. There is a lot of exciting material coming out of Scandanavia and Finland by young designers right now, but Marimekko's influence on modern design cannot be underestimated. Their vision ranged beyond textiles into architecture as well, which the book illustrates. This exhibit & accompanying book have done a fine job at giving credit where it's due.

No comments about Things That Talk: Object Lessons from Art and Science.

2 comments about Philip Guston Works on Paper.

1. The book is based on a major Guston exhibition in Europe a few years ago. Each of four critical essays is followed by a series of about 20 to 40 full-page plates relating to the preceding essay's theme or perspective. This format allows for better insight into Guston's work than a typical chronological format for instance. All except the last essay have smaller illustrations also complementing knowledgeable text.
   
   Guston's work displays "expressive range and changeability" more so than most other modern artists, including Pollack and de Kooning to whom he is often compared. Nonetheless, these works on paper show the whimsy, humor, exploration of forms, and recurring underlying sense of menace which have made Guston's paintings distinctive. The whimsy, almost obsessive dissection of forms, their depth, etc., are threads which link--though do not unify--Guston's paper works (and paintings) from his early days in the latter 1940s and early '50s when he radically used "naked line as a vehicle for the most brittle compositions" through to his maturity with "the compilatory, the cumulative that conveys the sense of involved objects."
   
   Guston's unpredictable, imaginative works are rooted in his "restlessness, self-doubt, and a mania for hard work, [which set him] off in search of the unknown and undiscovered in hopes of being able to lend these qualities pictorial expression." No one can doubt that Guston achieved such pictorial expression. The instability--though not to the point of disintegration--of the personality was the matrix of the art work. More than almost any other modern artist, even Francis Bacon, Guston's complex, fertile psychology was the source of his work.
   
   The mainly critical essays bring in psychology and occasionally biography for a multidimensional understanding and fitting appreciation of the drawings and Guston as an artist. The collected 166 works on paper (76 color) covering Guston's career from the mid-1940s (earlier works were excluded) with the critical essays relate the significance of such works in the development of this artist's creativity.



2. This book illustrates a traveling exhibition (Germany, Denmark and the Morgan Library in NY) on a part of Guston's work that was already studied at the Moma, 18 years ago. From the early works to the last drawings of the late 1970's,including some of his beautiful oils on paper from the early 1970's, all the aspects of the artist as a draughtsman are tackled in an enlightening text, served by beautiful images. This is a high-quality publication, with many works still in private hands and never shown before . Strongly recommended.