5 comments about Faeries (25th Anniversary Edition).

1. An amazing book, it totally takes me away when I'm reading it. Beautifully illustrated, the drawings are amazing, so detailed. This one specially is a superb edition, very well designed, and totally worth the price.



2. I totally love fantasy, folklore, and mythology, so this book was naturally of great interest to me. The pictures of various classes of mythical creatures were absolutely wonderful, and the text that described the myths upon which the pictures are based was interesting and fun to read. I would highly recommend this book for someone interested in a book about fairy folklore that's not overly academic.



3. I LOVE THIS BOOK ABOUT FAERIES. I READ IT OVER AND OVER.
   THANK YOU
   PEGGY BOND



4. I've begun a bit of Faery book collecting and this was a great selection to sort of tie my many books together. The book is just like new and I saved quite a bit on the price. I am very faery happy!



5. The illustrations are hauntingly beautiful and the whole book just flows wonderfully. Really lets you feel as if you know all about the fairies...both good and bad!

5 comments about Pencil Drawing Techniques.

1. The book have techniques that I already knew but can be helpful if you are trying to learn



2. the book was in good condition when it arrived. And it helped me a lot



3. This is an excellent resource for beginning pencil drawers. I refer to it consistently and I highly recommend it. Definitely worth the money.



4. This was a gift for a person who had just started pencil drawing as a hobby. He declared it an excellent book with many good pointers.



5. It helped a bit, only in a way to be able to look at the photographs as reference WITHOUT ANY WAY OF KNOWING HOW TO DRAW THEM BEFORE I PROCEEDED!
   this book is pretty unorganized & gives half-way step-by-step looking illustrations, and the ONLY ONES are for the landscaping section in the book (which there is only about 4 pages total of them)! so, in this "book", you are pretty much to geuss for yourself to know what TO do & what you CAN do with the book!
   Also, the section that claims to focus on a portrait only gives one-paged illustrations "drawing a man", "drawing the eye", & "drawing a teenager", THAT'S IT!!!
   
   I now no longer a biginner, but this book barely helped me remove that title...
   
   So, what I'm trying to say is,
   if you are a biginner, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK, IT WILL NOT HELP YOU IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A GOOD BOOK TO LEARN FROM!
   but... if you are not, YOU SHOULD ONLY BUY THIS BOOK IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A FEW REFERENCE DRAWINGS IN LANDSCAPE (which would probley be a waste of money, also).
   so if you want to buy $13 bucks worth of 8 or 9 pages in landscape reference drawings without knowing how to draw them first, then go ahead.

5 comments about Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type (Design Briefs).

1. The organization of the book seems a bit disjointed to me. I would have also liked to have seen a lot of the examples use actual type rather than block diagrams.
   
   The overlays are helpful, more discussion about them would make them even more useful. I want to like the book, but am not quite there. If I had to describe the book in one word it would be sterile.



2. I am a web designer and a someone who appreciates good print design. A lot of books on CSS (cascading style sheets) try to explain the concept of grids, but these are usually written by people that have a great grasp of the tech side of things, but their writing skills, or ability to relate these concepts are limited.
   
   This book doesn't mention web design (so far as I've read), but she perfectly explains grids.
   
   Lastly, this book is a piece of art. It is pretty. It is stylish. It has semi-transparent overlays in many of the sections allowing one to see a page without grids. This book is special.



3. amazon has super slow shipping. took a month for the book to arrive. had to buy another book at a bookstore.



4. If you want an excellent book dealing with the grid - and if you want to actually learn something - get Tim Samara's Making and Breaking the Grid. I was very unhappy with this purchase.



5. Esto es un gran aporte al conocimiento y una herramienta imprescindible en el diseño gráfico, claramente escrito, excelentes y variados ejemplos, increíbles hojas guías y una gran redacción. Excelente compra!

5 comments about How to Draw Animals (How to Draw (Dover)).

1. I bought this as a gift for the daughter (7 years old I believe) of a friend of mine. I am very impressed by the results. She snapped it up and immediately began using it. You could see her drawing improve almost immediately, and she came up with some very impressive (and hilarious) drawings.
   
   I can't really give the book any higher praise than that.



2. I was a little irritated that I paid 5 bucks for the book and when I received it, the suggested price was 2.95. I thought Amazon would be cheaper, not more. Learned my lesson.



3. I was trying to find Spiro-graph for my niece when I read the reviews of the new version. So I realized what my niece might really enjoy is something to help her learn to draw free-hand. She loves them! She's mastering the images too quickly!



4. I'm an Ed Emberly fan, and as my children (and admittedly myself) have drawn so much out of his books, we've started to branch out to more sophisticated drawings. With the exception of Ed's, most "how-to" books pretty much "teach" in the same way: They give you a number of guides which are supposed to take you from simple shapes to the picture you're trying to arrive at.

   It's apparent to me now, having revisited Emberly's work as an adult, and going back to books like this, which were tremendously frustrating to me as a child, that the key difference between a book like "How To Draw Animals" and "Ed Emberly's Drawing Book of Animals" is =not= the complexity of the final picture.

   The key difference is the =gradient= between the guides.

   In an Emberly book, each guide adds one or two very simple shapes to add--and tells you which shapes to add and often where (though it's usually obvious) and maybe even some explanatory text, etc., etc., whereas a book like this often gives you half-a-dozen shapes, and requires you to tweak the shapes you drew previously, all without a word of instruction or a different color or kind of line showing where the changes are.

   Of course, these things are obvious to someone who already =can= draw, but very frustrating for those who can't.

   Now, in my experience, most drawing books are like this, and you can't realistically buy them and be shocked when they all more-or-less take this approach, so I didn't really mark Ms. Soloff-Levy's book down for it.

   Parents and teachers should pay close attention when buying these books for children. They all have different skill levels and the difference between ending up with a kid who gets frustrated and wants to throw the sketchbook away and ending up with one who enjoys drawing is, in a large part, going to depend on the adult's understanding of what skills a particular book requires.

   For what it's worth, I'll continue to post my experiences here.

   From a skill standpoint, I'd put this book after Ed Emberly's Big Red Drawing book. The shapes used are subtler than straight geometrics, but there are often only a few elements to a picture. And, thankfully, there are more than just three guides. (Some drawing books give you just three--or even two!--guides to go from nothing to a finished picture.)

   I'd give it four stars but in some of the drawings, the guides don't match! I don't mean that a shape has to be tweaked or subtly altered, but simply that a leg in one guide is in a different position than the same leg in the next! Other than that, this book is recommended.




5. This book is very good for children. The children have not put it down. It teaches them how to draw basic animals and gives them a sense of accomplishment!

5 comments about The Complete Potter's Companion.

1. I have ordered from Amazon.com several times now and each time the item has been shipped right away and in good shape. This last purchase-The Complete Potter's Companion arrived quickly (it was a college class book) and it great shape. The decription stated it was used in excellent condidtion. It most defintely was. In fact if it didn't say used, I would never have guessed. Good job



2. Very informative with great step-by-step photos also. This book is really good at showing a wide variety of techniques and including historical information that is really interesting.



3. This book is a nice addition to any beginner potter's library. It is not in depth but offers a wide variety in information that is useful and helpful. It is most definatly in my 'top 10' of pottery books.



4. I'm new to pottery and found this book to be informative. I also found many creative ideas that sparked my own creativity.



5. This is a very pretty book, and it does cover a breadth of material, but it's very shallow. An entire book could be devoted to each chapter. It provides a good overview of what can be done with clay, but in the end, I have to turn to other books to get more than a cursory understanding of individual processes.

5 comments about Frida Kahlo.

1. This book is one I have been wanting for awhile, so it was very exciting to finally have a copy. I studied Frida's work whilst at University and have remained an admirer of what she stood for and what she created.This book is firstly a lovely hardcover, with good photos of her work. It includes written reference to her life in Mexico, her family, loves, creativity and sadness. I have previously read work by Hayden Herrera so this book met my expectations from that perspective. If you find Frida's story and work intriguing, then this will be something to add to your art book collection. Personally I enjoyed this very much but if you are new to her work then this is an excellent reference book to start with.



2. I bought this book after seeing the landmark exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The show included a number of photographs from Kahlo's own albums and from other photographers. What startled me was the difference between the woman we see in the photos and the person Kahlo shows us.
   
   The photos show a person who is more vital, more dynamic than the iconish character that Kahlo paints. I appreciate the usual art history stuff about her biography and influences, but I wish someone had the courage to approach the distortions that made her art.
   The reproductions in this book are excellent and I passed it on to my daughter who, like many women of her generation, finds Kahlo to be a touchstone.



3. I have several books on Frida Kahlo in fact an earlier version written by the same author, but I felt this addition stands on its own & warrants keeping as there is enough new information, visuals to make it a keeper.



4. My wife and I saw the recent Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Walker in Minneapolis. We both thoroughly enjoyed it. I bought the book "Frida Kahlo" on line from Amazon as a gift for my wife. My wife has a bad back as did Frida. The pain in her body comes through in her art, and I think my wife felt a strong connection with Frida. My wife loved the book, and she was very happy with the gift.



5. To say that this is a major catalogue from a major exhibit is to ignore the more important point...this is a collection of brilliant essays on Kahlo and stunning photographs of her painting and related works and people in the Kahlo circle, but also Mexican folk art, history and the modernist movement in Mexico. He is also a thrilling writer and critic on the use of allegory and on Kahlo and RIvera's hatred of what Zamudio-Taylor calls "the modern capitalist universe" against which both Kahlo and RIvera rewrote "Mexico's fragmented and violently interrupted history." As Z-T states, "Kahlo's mexicanidad prefigures postmodernism's distrust of progress and linear readings of history. This, most striking article, however, by Zamudio-Taylor who has apparently had extensive contact with her work and its curiatorial special questions, emphasizes Kahlo's work as existing at the cross-roads of a history and of conflicting narratives. He links her concerns not only with other Mexican painters and writers, but also the avant-garde in Paris; namely, Andre Breton. This article is amazing both for its erudition and its multi-dimensionality and detail.
   This work is a collection also of fabulous paintings, photographs, time lines and for these reasons it is a must have in any library on Mexican art, modernism etc. Z-T is perhaps the most formidable of the authors of essays, but the book has also other major contributors, ie Carpenter, but especially Hayden Herrera and who interrogate Kahlo's legacy also as it influences those who followed, while also following up on the specific riffs in the work of others on the body, on the poetics of self that have their roots in Kahlos combustive images.

5 comments about Spectrum 14: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art (Spectrum (Underwood Books)).

1. I have purchased the last five issues of Spectrum and enjoyed this almost as much as Spectrum 12. I have just started puchasing the re-issued original issues and can say that Spectrum 1 may have fewer pages but still is well worth the money. I find myself looking online for the artists that impress me. I just wish there was more information supplied on the art shown. Overall, I would definitely recommend Spectrum 14.



2. This is my second purchase of spectrum books. 13 was the first one I brought. All I can say is this is one of the most stunning art books I have ever owned...that and after going through this one I may have to pick up all the other books. Every page is full of beautiful work from a wide arrange of different styles. I can't say how many times this book has saved me when It came down to me trying to complete a illustration. It constantly inspires me and makes me want to pick up a paintbrush or any drawing tool for that matter and create.
   
   Spectrum deserves all the praise in the world for the great effort that they put into all these books. To top that off most standard art books like this go for itleast double the cost. Love these books!



3. Like Santa Claus, Spectrum only comes around once per year and is always highly anticipated. This annual collection of the world's best contemporary fantasy and Sci-fi art is always a favorite not only due to its sheer size and beautiful production, but also because of its diversity in scope. Spectrum presents the best art from the fields of books, comics, advertising, editorial, concept, and even sculpture into each year's volume.
   
   As always, the book begins with a look at the year in review and the trends in contemporary fantasy art before getting into the opening category of advertising art and presenting the first of its gold and silver annual awards to the best in each category. This year's gold winner in the advertising category went to James Jean for his Retro-hip "Spacerace 2020" painting for Nike. This gorgeous pop-art piece is a tribute to Sci-Fi imagery of the `40s and `50s.
   
   I'm not sure how they could have picked a winner in the book category as there are so many outstanding pieces. While Jon Foster's winning painting for Night Shade books was very good, Luis Royo's offering for his graphic novel, "Dark Labyrinth". Adam Hughes took home the Gold Award in the Comics category for his depiction of the sleek and sexy Scarlet Witch from Upper Deck. As a long-time comic book fan I love seeing the industry's artists getting their just due as the outstanding artists that they are. Other standouts included Gary Giannni's standout art from the Prince Valiant comic strip that is in the best tradition of Hal Foster, and Charles Vess/Mike Kaluta's work from the Vertigo Comics series "1001 Nights of Snowfall".
   
   One of the categories I look forward to most each year is the dimensional chapter featuring the year's best sculptures and models and this year was certainly no disappointment. A. Brent Armstrongs mammoth 54" tall piece featuring King Kong atop the Empire State Building is simply breathtaking! The Alex Ross designed Superman resin sculpt by artist Karen Palinko features the distinctive look of Ross as Clark Kent rips open his shirt to reveal Superman's legendary logo. Shawn Nagle's "Tarzan and the Golden Lion" based on art by longtime Tarzan illustrator, J. Allen St. John, is another winner.
   
   Spectrum never fails to deliver a little something for everyone's taste and Spectrum volume 14 may be the best edition yet. Grade A.



4. I was wondering, who would review this and not like it. Anyway, Whenever I stumbled upon this series I was quite happy. Way back when, one of my favorite books was a compilation of Dragonlance art from the 80's I think. Great pics in this and wonderful works of art.
   
   Fantasy and Sci Fi lovers and art lovers in general will be pleased with this.



5. These annuals seem to be getting bigger every year, yet there's not less quality involved. Great book for reference of what's going on in this field. Great stuff as usual. Digital art is gaining pretty fast these days, but it's still looking good.

5 comments about Digital Art Studio: Techniques for Combining Inkjet Printing with Traditional Art Materials.

1. This is the best book if your looking for that edge when diplaying your images. I have all these wonderful images but really coudl'nt get them into a gallery, I have already been offered a place in a gallery because of this book.
   
   There are so many ways to diplay here. Getting through your printer is easy, I found finding the polyproylene in Australia was a little hard but the net is good for that. The directions are so simple and if you need help I have found the girls are only to pleased to assits if you ask.
   
   Thank you so much girls for this wonderful book.
   
   Once I have dealt with the Dry Emulsion Transfers I will move onto some of the other chapters.
   
   Kind Regards From Helen



2. This is a classic, and a must-have in the list of mixed media books. If you're a professional artist who is looking to stretch and try new techniques then you'll enjoy Digital Art Studio.



3. This is a wonderful book... written by artists and for artists using digital photography, image manipulation [IE; pshop] and digital printing to create artworks. Every stage of the process is explored... and tips and tricks are freely given.
   
   So refreshing to see artists encouraged to grab these tools and run with them. Over and above the multitudes of print-techs with flash machines selling "giclee" prints.
   
   Congratulations! Artists in the digital age... buy this book!



4. This is a superb book for any photographer who likes to experiment and explore various print making techniques. The artwork in the book is phenomenal and the instructions are detailed and easy to follow. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants push the creative boundaries.



5. I purchased the book Digital Art Studio approximately a year ago and couldn't wait to start reading it. I was familiar with the beautiful work of the authors, Karin Schminke, Dorothy Simson Krause and Bonny Pierce Lhotka (Digital Atelier), and had always wanted to know their "secrets" and how they produced such beautiful work.This book spells it out with descriptive copy and great illustrations.
   As a thirty year veteran Advertising and fine art photographer, I have found that this book has taken my work to another level. I have created countless pieces using the techniques described in this book and have found it very easy to follow and understand.
   I can highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn alternate art processes. It will light a fire under your creative spirit!Digital Art Studio: Techniques for Combining Inkjet Printing with Traditional Art Materials

5 comments about The Rescue Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece (P.S.).

1. If the reader is interested in a fast pace and action, then this book will not satisfy. The basic story is not a lengthy one. The digressions into background matters provide useful peeks into assorted issues, such as thievery, forgery and the art world, but go on for too long and should have been condensed. I found myself impatient for the story to move forward. The sheer number of delays and digressions bordered on comical.



2. Edward Dolnick has turned the story of the theft of Edvard Munch's famous painting "Scream" from a museum on Oslo into a great character study of the English detective who gets it back. Two mystery men steal a ladder, climb a wall, break a window, and make off with the poorly-defended painting.
   
   Detective Charlie Hill uses his half-English, half-American upbringing to impersonate an employee of California's Getty Museum interested in ransoming the painting. James Bond-type intrigue ensues - missed connections, interfering local police, thuggish bodyguards, aimless drives through the middle of the night, fistfights, etc. etc.
   
   Dolnick writes with humor and verve; the story moves speedily and only occasional descends to cliche. The greatest strength of the book is its some heroic depiction of Hill and some sidekick characters. My only slight disappointment was that the "whodunnit" revelations at the end seem like an offhand afterthought. The motivations, plans, and intentions of the actual thieves are given minimal space; I was left feeling a bit teased (teased, but satisfied).



3. This was a fascinating look at the world of Art theft and those responsible for recovering the masterpieces. While the book's central focus is on the theft and recovery of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" (taken from the National Gallery in Oslo, Norway on February 12, 1994), it also managed to pack in true stories of solved and unresolved thefts of some of the worlds most beloved paintings.
   
   I have been to some of the world's most renowned museums and have seen original Van Gogh's, Renoir's, DaVinci's and Rembrandt's, etc., and on each occasion the place always seemed so secure. Not so according to this book. Evidently museums are lacking the funds in their budget to beef up security, making it a sitting duck. What's worse is that the criminals, if caught, face very little penalties for stealing these items. It's outrageous if you think about it.
   
   Excellent book that was well worth my time.



4. To use an old cliche' this book was right up my alley. It fascinating because it's about "true crime," which is far more intriguing to me than the antics in the Da Vinci Code. The meanderings didn't bother me. I wanted to know about the history of art thievery. Charlie Hill is a great character--flawed, quirky and still believable--a complete mess! I also found the writing well drawn--good vocalbulary--good descriptions. I loved the way he described Charlie as if "a careless ckerk had stapled together pages from several resumes." I found myself smiling as I read this great book.



5. This was a book I would not have purchased if I had not heard the author on the radio. I am so glad I did. While the book does jump around a bit, I didn't really find it distracting as the story and Charlie Hill are so fascinating! Even beyond the theft itself, I found myself wanting to know more about Edvard Munch. If you have a chance, read a bio on the artist first and then read this book. It's very interesting to know what Munch was trying to convey in his painting and give more insight as to why the painting is so valuable.

5 comments about The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques: Fifth Edition, Revised and Updated (Artists' Handbook of Materials and Techniques).

1. I had this book in the 1980's. Some significant changes on grounds like masonite so it is best to revisit what you thought you knew. But still an excellent resource.



2. The book was useful, but it was a real hard slog to read it all; unlike other books on this subject.
   
   Probably the biggest problems I had with was that many of the materials mentioned... I had no idea what they were because they are called something different in the US, plus many other newer materials weren't mentioned. The book was quite dated, and it made me wish I'd sprung a few extra dollars to get the 5th edition.
   
   But still, this book (perhaps the 5th edition rather than the 4th) IS essential reading for any serious oil painter. (If you can understand all the very technical and long-winded information!)
   
   I wasn't taught MOST of the technical information on oil paints at all at art school! It is great to have a bit of information on how to make your paintings last for many years. (I hate the thought of putting all that work in only for them to warp or crumble or peel in time!)
   
   This book is not suitable however for beginners or amateurs who only want to know the basics about materials and so on. (This is a difficult read and very technical, in my opinion.)
   
   A great book that does that is Encyclopedia of Oil Painting Techniques by Jeremy Galton which is suitable for beginners and serious painters alike (and has a LOT of pictures in it as compared to this book which is all TEXT!).



3. Essential for teachers and anyone wanting to know those hard to answer technical questions. It is the Bible for painting materials and other archival mediums and techniques.
   The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques: Fifth Edition, Revised and Updated (Artists' Handbook of Materials and Techniques)



4. If you are searching for a book that will explain materials and tools for the artist this is the first book you should turn to. I have been referencing this book for a decade now and still have a lot to learn from Ralph Mayer, a man who spent his life investigating various techniques of painting.
   
   If you open this book up, you will come across just about any question you might have. For instance, I recently used Mayer for egg tempra painting. In his book he has a few pages regarding the subject, not many, but enough to fully explain the basics and get you started properly. He covers brushes, pigments, paints, from the obscure to the most basic.
   
   One section of the book that I am keenly interested in is his break down of a massive number of pigments where he goes into more detail on each than any other source I have come across.
   
   This is not exactly a how to paint or draw book. This book is intended for those who want to make a serious study of process practices in the correct manner for archival purposes. This is a must have book that should be in any painters studio.
   
   One last item of note: If you have used this book before and found it of interest, I highly suggest that the next time you are around New Haven CT that you visit the Yale 'Ralph Mayer' center. Yale itself has many museums and buildings worth visiting and the Mayer center is just one small highlight. Its staff was very kind when I visited. When I showed an interest in Mayer, they were eager to share some of the more interesting aspects of the collection.



5. While I don't work in oils, the coverage of oils seemed exceptionally deep. Material on pigments also was relevant to watercolor (something in which I dabble) and pastels (one of my major areas). I was disappointed not to find any real discussion of charcoal, graphite, or colored pencils. It would have been nice to get a slight discussion of materials not "professional", such as wax crayons.