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

1. This is an AMAZING resource for any artist interested in transferring methods.
   ESPECIALLY when you purchase the DVD that goes along with it. I recommend you do.



2. I bought this book about a year ago, and have found it very useful. Useful in re-thinking what printmaking is and can be, useful in fairly good details on some quite interesting techniques. This isn't for the beginner I don't think but as I have my own etching press and a good printer with a straight thru path it opened up a world of new possibilities to me.
   
   Pros: A huge variety of processes. Lots of illustrations of working with the materials.
   
   Con: Some processes do require access to expensive equipment, but with some imagination this isn't as limiting as first appears. Some references and specific equipment is dated, most OK.
   
   I've seen criticism of their art - but that's not even relevant, art is about PROCESS, and the biggest positive about this book is that it is all about process. One page alone started me down a road of exploration that has lasted 10 months now - and I don't see the end. Four years of graduate art school didn't excite me this much. [...]



3. This is an amazing book. I love all the techniques she shares & the gorgeous pictures throughout. I am very pleased. I have also purchased the DVD & can't wait for that to arrive.



4. / *
   This is the book that will free your creativity from the complacency that may have set in by accepting the limited substrate offerings from printer manufactures. Through the well documented guidance of the authors, we can embrace past printing techniques while introducing modern techniques that a computer and software like Illustrator, Photoshop, Painter and Maya have to offer. I highly recommend it if you are serious about exploring a new level of creativity to your artwork.
   * /
   
   Woohoo!
   Drew



5. 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

5 comments about Cartooning the Head and Figure.

1. Exhaustive variations, small printing and illustrations, pages jam-packed with examples. Good for the price; some readers will probably prefer a more modern volume. Talented author. Worth a look.



2. This the best cartooning book around. A classic. A must for entry level cartoonist or professional.



3. I'm always looking for the perfect book of whatever variety, & speaking as a former library employee, a cartoonist & art teacher, Jack Hamm has written THE book on cartooning. It is so packed with examples & not so much text, as it should be, it has tips & then TONS of examples. The style ranges from early American cartooning style to 50s/60s modern style. Fantastic examples of different expressions, hand positions, walking positions, drawing women, all of it. All good. If you want a great guide for old fashioned American cartooning, this is the one to get. Then get the Preston Blair book from Walter Foster.



4. This book is full of great ideas and tips. There's plenty for the beginner, like little tutorials on highly-stylized eyes or noses or mouths, or straightforward examples on common poses, but it's not just a book for beginners. There are a lot of highly-finished drawings as well, and examples of moving from simple to more complex drawings. Plus tips on various penciling and inking techniques, and various cartoon genres. All in all, there are literally thousands of examples and sketches, enough material to keep anybody busy for a long time. I've pulled this book down from the shelf more often than any of my other numerous drawing books, and I've filled page after page with exercises based on the material. A classic and worth far more than its price.



5. If you're a cartoonist this is a book you have to have. It has been in publication for quite a while but nothing better has been created in the way of a great, all-purpose reference book. I've gone through a couple copies of this book and no matter how many times I looked at it I was still able to come up with ideas. Whether you're just starting out or have been doing cartoons for years you should have a copy of this book.

5 comments about The Japanese Tattoo.

1. Nice artwork. Large pictures, basically information of the tattoo designs, and their meanings. If your interested in Japanese artwork you will like this..



2. Although the pictures are old, the tattoo-work is still astonishing. A great book for inspiration if you're like me, planning to tattoo a japanase motiv.



3. On the good side, Amazon service was just as great as ever in delivering this book.
   
   On the bad side (and there are several) this book had a cheap feel about it just from opening the packaging. Reading the preface / introduction I was stunned by the insulting gibberish by D.M. Thomas as to the Japanese tattoo culture. Looking at the back cover of the book you also see the photographer holding the heads of her subjects which also feels demeaning to the Japanese men portrayed in the picture: Japanese are not very touchy and touching ones head is generally not a good thing in most Asian cultures: the impression is of a woman and her two dogs. Not nice.
   
   Later in the book you find the photographs blurry and the picture text very poor: you could have filled these huge pages with a lot of informative and captivating text about Japanese tattoo and culture. Instead you get to read what is pretty much: "this man has a fish tattoo".



4. The book is nice but some of the photos are not that great in quality. Has some nice designs, but I have to say I expected a little more of this book. Would probably buy again though.



5. This book is worth the price for the pictures alone. Which is good because the writing is extremely sub par, with misinformation and just wrong information. The art is wonderful but the writing is so bad that you are probably better of not even reading it.

3 comments about Art History, Volume I (w/CD-ROM).

1. I actually saved $100 by buying this used version... theres no writing in it... the book is is great condition and i payed $4.25 .. (i was expecting a book with half the pages missing) The best deal i've got on amazon!



2. Finally, an art book which includes not just female artists but also art from more regions than Europe and Great Britain. This book is consice and factual in its assessment of art history. Considering that the basic appreciation of art is subjective and therefore opinion based, Stokstad keeps her personal views to herself and merely reflects the views of each period or region which affected art (and therefore art history) and why certain types were popular.
   I would recomment this as a good expansive look at art history for students or art enthusiasts!



3. I had to have this book for my Art History I class, and the second for part II of the class. This was not a book that encouraged me to look further into art history. From what I see the author put many of her own opinions into this book. That is not what makes the history. . .history is history, not opinion based ideas and theories. I would not reccomend this book for teachers that would like to inspire their students to pursue art history further. . . good variety of art work, just not good enough to appreciate it.

5 comments about Chanel: Collections and Creations.

1. Chanel: Collections and Creations is an utter delight from cover to cover. The book itself is beautifully presented, printed on heavy stock and bound tightly. Unlike some other "coffee table books" I've bought, it feels like it was made to last. This book is a real treat for both the casual and dedicated fashionistas alike. Images are gloriously rendered both in full color and crisp black and white. The full page shot of the iconic camellia brooches and the section dedicated to the Chanel suit were particular highlights. A number of photographs are so detailed and well shot that you almost feel you can reach out and touch the clothing and jewelry pictured. I can highly recommend this excellent resource - even for those with a mere passing interest in the house of Chanel. A very happy addition to my book collection.



2. Ultimate in beauty style and class.
   Everybody loves Coco.
   A great book.
   And it smells wonderful.
   Style, my friends,
   always look for that style!



3. A great book for all CHANEL FANS! I love it. I love the pictures in it. The way the subjects are treated is very interesting and the pictures are great in it too.



4. Of course, Gabrielle, Gaby, Coco...all Paris is here. The couture, the perfumes, the hats, le style. Many colors and many memories. I love this book.



5. The book is even better than what I thought.
   Amazing, worth every penny!

5 comments about Secrets to Drawing Realistic Faces.

1. Finally I found the book I've been looking for almost a year. I've been trying to learn how to draw photorealistic portraits for months. I've bought plenty of books on drawings, but sadly they were either full of dry theory, with pictures I didn't like, or had great pictures, without showing me exactly how to get there. This books is just what I needed. It shows you exactly how to get from a blank sheet of paper to a great looking portrait.



2. Secrets to Drawing Realistic Faces is one of the best instructional books on drawing faces that I've read thus far. It has some extremely useful tips that have improved my drawing after just the first read.
   Proper(realistic)shading and proportion were my weak areas; this book covered both in an easy to understand way. It also offers simple and great ways to implement these tasks properly.
   If you are a beginner or even intermediate artist this is a great book to have on your shelf. Although probably not meant for the advanced or established portrait artist.
   I'm sure I will be reading it several more times so that I can fine tune my skills.



3. I'm a novice and I found this book a very good start. Very easy language, the author discusses all facial features in good detail (although I found the hair topic inadequate, but hey you've got to practice.)



4. Wonderful instructional book on teaching how to draw. Beautiful photos, and great illustrations. I would HIGHLY reccomend this book to those trying to learn to draw!



5. Not recommended if you are inexperienced at drawing 101. It will lead to total frustration! I am not finding what there is to substantiate saying this is a great book. Fortunately I have another instructional book that teaches about proper proportion from the beginning. I am planning to take a drawing course and had hopes of getting a head start (no pun intended), but this book does nothing to clarify issues about the basics. The drawings in the book are all extremely professional, well-executed and very un-basic. So I recommend it for people who are already drawing extremely well and are maybe even semi-professionals. However, since I am not that far along and am no judge of that, maybe it doesn't go that far. I'm sitting here right now feeling extremely discouraged.

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 The Artist's Complete Guide to Drawing the Head.

1. William Maughan's book "Drawing the Head" is worth buying just for the illustrations alone. But, it is also a fundamentally sound guide as to how to achieve likeness in a realistic albeit artistic fashion. It looks so easy but, that is, often the case with art instruction books. In fact, the steps that Maughan clearly sets out i.e. gesture, proportions,shadow shapes,edge control and detail, are each mountains that have to climbed until, that glorious day when we hope everything comes together. And even then we will still be starting out. This book is a truly informative guide as to what mountains have to be climbed. The student will, however, have to provide the effort and do the climbing. The didactic way in which the examples are coupled to the text is commendable and a joy to follow, the drawings inspiring. The student is educated on materials and how to use them. An unexpected but thrilling chapter on creating aliens out of yourself or friends is wonderful. If only the last chapter on colour could have been extended to show more clearly how some of those effects were rendered. But, I think, thats just me being greedy for more from this gifted and distinguished artist. Buy the book and if you can tear yourself away from wondering at the illustrations, get on and use it. That's what its for.Your bound to become better.



2. This is a beautiful book to look at but I found the title deceptive. No where in the book have I found drawing instruction for the head. The author/artist basically just does his own thing, but doesn't offer any direction for someone wanting instruction on the drawing of the head! I will keep it and possibly scan it again when I am more advanced.



3. I was so inspired by the particular technique in this drawing book that I purchased the materials specified and got to work doing a very successful portrait following the step by step directions. It was the easiest portrait drawing and my most sucessful ever.KF
   
   
   
   
   
   



4. This book taught me how to use light and shadow to make realistic portrait. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to draw as a hobbyist. Since I am not a professional painter, please take my advice with a grain of salt.



5. I took classes with William Maughan, several of them in fact and I need to set the record straight. This is the best drawing instruction book I have ever read. It will give you fundamental and instinctive understanding of techniques that can carry over to any medium (that includes oil and pastel and graphite). Your people will never look like aliens again, they will be shockingly realistic (if you want that) or effectively abstracted (if you want that). It's just a shame that Bills humor and approachability doesn't come through in the text, but all the info is there.
   
   In this book you will learn:
   
   An extraordinarily simple and instinctive understanding of how shadows really work. Chiurascuro is a fancy word for how shadow forms are shaped and he'll teach you how to see it and render it. This is the secret to realistic drawing.
   
   How value works. Value is really just how dark or light something is, but there is a logic to it that ties into painting and drawing. You will also draw MUCH faster with more convincing results. The curious color of paper and charcoal Bill uses in this book simplifies values to become easier to render, instead of ten shades of darkness he compresses it to five, thus making it easier for you to understand. From there you can apply it to white paper or canvas and any color medium you want. All tools he teaches you to use here are instinctive and excellent.
   
   The proper proportions for the head and face no matter the sex, age, or ethnicity of the subject.
   
   An incredibly fast, effective, and instinctive drawing technique that WILL translate into other media and other subjects.
   
   Sincerely, these are the core fundamentals. These are techniques rarely taught in school or presented in books. There is no perfect, all encompasing art book, but this one teaches fundamentals the self taught rarely understand. Bills techniques changed my life, the book has those techniques and teaches them in an extremely streamlined manner. I wish I had this book fifteen years ago....

5 comments about D.I.Y.: Design It Yourself (Design Handbooks).

1. I'd had the impression that I would learn some techniques on creating my own stuff: business cards, websites, t-shirts, stationary, etc. They touch on all these subjects, and more, in the book. But I was disappointed that it is really more just a collection of ideas and work that MFA and graphic arts students have created, with very little technical detail of how to create designs for yourself. I was looking for a how-to, not a see-what-we've-done.



2. I saw this book years ago and thought I'd like to own it. Now that I do I really am underwhelmed.



3. This is basically like all those magazines - Sunset, Martha Stewart Living, etc. etc, - wherein you buy it with the hopes of being inspired to create, update, remake, etc. and you ACTUALLY NEVER WILL, except in book form!
   
   I love reading the book - it's cute, kitschy and definitely entertaining, but really, who can create these crazy wall decorations and/or press kits and have them turn out flawless!?!??



4. I know a little about Lupton's career -- teaching, writing, and curating shows. She seems very intelligent, but I don't understand who this book is really for. Beginning or advanced people? Crafters or designers? Some of the ideas in this book (wrapping paper) are so obvious that I think anyone with an ounce of creativity has already figured them out. Some things (commercial embroidery) seem very advanced and specialized, and not useful to most people. The layout of the book is nice, but the content is very inconsistent. Was this really a student project, as someone mentioned? If so, I think Lupton should have made more of an effort to make sure that everything came together and made for a coherent whole. I think there are better DIY books out there.



5. Pretentious art student tripe, mostly. I discovered that I can wrap gifts with newspaper! I can use a graph paper notebook for a scrapbook! I was looking for examples of cutting-edge design, and a methodology to implement it. What I got was the product of the tragically hip after too many lattes.

5 comments about The Figure in Clay: Contemporary Sculpting Techniques by Master Artists (A Lark Ceramics Book).

1. Fantastic book! What a joy! I agree with some of the other reviews that this is perhaps, not a book for novice sculptors. However, if you are working in clay; already been creating sculptures; and are looking for a way to increase the size of your work, this is the book for you. It will be a timeless treasure for me. Just seeing how other sculptors are currently working gets my juices flowing.
   
   Pay particular attention to the "gallery" at the end of each section. After being blown away by the featured artists work, you get into their heads a little more by seeing examples they have chosen of other sculptors work. Good stuff!
   
   If you are a beginner, don't be put off by the lack of basic information. Go take a class in clay--whether it's on the wheel or hand-building--get inspired and keep this book to remind you of what could be in your future.



2. Better than expected. Some novel and interesting techniques as well as anatomical knowledge put to use in unique visions makes for a very useful book for beginner and advanced sculptors. There is just enough personal and aesthetic information to make me want more. And, the focus on individual artists who then select other admired artists offers a sense of network and insight.



3. I am fairly new to building in clay, and I found this book a treasure trove of ideas and techniques by masters of the art. The book is beautifully illustrated, and each of the artists describes their personal vision with regards to their work and then gives a detailed description of the process and techniques used in creating a piece along with formulas for their clay bodies, glazes and firing techniques. I found this book very helpful and inspiring.



4. I've been wanting to get into ceramics for a while and this book was just the thing to get my creative juices flowing. It has many (500 actually) beautiful pieces to admire, with such a wide selection of styles. I love that it has a both beautiful and grotesque figures revealing so many artistic view points. It's definitely not a "how to" book, with just enough info to get a basic idea of how each piece was created but the beautiful photographs and wide variety of sculptures makes it well worth purchasing.



5. A rich and exciting collection of wonderful artists and a never ending wealth of inspiration. My favorite book of contemporary ceramic art