5 comments about How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs.

1. This book is ok, for those who are not interested in drawing from life, and are content with drawing from blown up photographs. So if drawing is just a fun hobby this book would be super to draw portraits of your friends and family. But If you wish to progress beyond the point of basically making an exact copy of a photo then this book isn't for you. Hammond uses graphs to basically copy a photograph. So if you wish to draw a person, or any object that is not in a photograph this book will not help you sharpen your drawing skills.



2. This book is excellent if you've always been wanting to draw, especially if you thought you couldn't. It will prove that you can, and quickly. I literally went from stick figures to commissioned portraits in under a year. You will not be disappointed if you purchase this book!



3. i definetly would recommend this book,as well as another book by carol parks called secrets to realistic drawing both excellent tutorials and reading



4. If you want to learn how to draw pencil portraits from reference (photos), but you don't manage to do more than simple sketches almost always impossible of they be recognized (it was my case), this is your book. Suitable for beginners want to progress in days, what would usually take months for being reached, this book teaches step by step with 20 demonstrations, how you can draw portraits from photos.
   
   For me, good method is that that teaches you to draw better than you drew before, and this is with certainty this category. The method doesn't make you to lose time with theories that a lot of times only serve for thickening the book. It is focused from start to the end, in as to do a pencil portrait from photos. This was my objective when I decided to learn how to draw and in spite of me always be wanting to learn to draw better, today I can say that that objective was reached. For who wants to venture in learning how to draw pencil portraits, this with certainty should be the first method to invest.



5. I already had some drawing experience, but this book really helped refine my skills and give my portraits a professional quality.

5 comments about Fine Art Publicity, 2nd Edition: The Complete Guide for Artists, Galleries, and Museums (Business and Legal Forms).

1. Fine Art Publicity has some very good ideas about marketing and publicity. We just opened an art gallery, and have already had a few articles published in local newspapers thanks to the suggestions in this book.



2. I am writing a business plan to open an art gallery.
   Even though I already know how to market service businesses,
   I need to learn a lot about marketing an art gallery. I
   found a trove of very good advice in this book. I appreciate
   the easy layout and readability also. I expect anyone
   with an art business can find ideas here.



3. The majority of art career guides come from either career counselors or artists themselves, so it's refreshing to note that Fine Art Publicity: The Complete Guide For Galleries And Artists, appearing in its second updated edition, is written by an industry publicist backed by the knowledge of her profession. Galleries and artists receive the basics of marketing to the art community; from researching a media list for both local and national contacts to locating businesses connected to the arts, and gathering a library of samples for targeted publicity contacts. Simply an outstanding reference; a 'must' for aspiring artists and gallery owners alike.



4. I dont usually write reviews, but I completely disagree with the bad review on here. This is an incredibly useful book for art galleries. I can't express how helpful this book has been to me. This is a guide for galleries not artists, so maybe that's why the last reader had issues.



5. I buy alot of books but I have never before seen a book written for an adult audience spread so thinly over so many pages. I suppose this was done to try to create the illusion of there being more information here than there really is. What little useful information this book contians seems to be repeated over and over. I would guess again to fill pages. I feel there is virtually no practical information here for an artist and very little for a gallery. I usually don't have an interest in writing book reviews but I was so disappointed in this book that I wanted to alert others to search elsewhere for useful information.

2 comments about An Atlas of Radical Cartography.

1. I heard the editors of this book on the radio and I was intrigued by the map ideas, but I was disappointed in the execution. Some of the maps are not maps, but drawings, such as the one of North and South America drawn in a faded red with the label across the continents "Latino/a America." Is this radical? Another, titled "Routes of Least Surveillance," shows surveillance cameras in Manhattan--but the data is from 2001, and there's no explanation of how the data was obtained. Perhaps the included book gives an explanation, but the map should stand on his own. It also has silly little vignettes of people--invented or real?--who might want to avoid the cameras, e.g., Wanda gets the creeps from the though of unsupervised male camera operators ogling her as she returns home from her Power Pilates class. Finally, I didn't find any of these maps particularly attractive or innovative--there's nothing I would want to put on my wall. You'll find much better designed maps in any of Tufte's books. If the point was to get me thinking about radical ideas through cartography, this book failed.



2. Space Discovery:
   A review of An Atlas of Radical Cartography
   Review by Daniel Tucker
   
   The fist time I went to Central New York state, was the first time I knew where it was. The first time I heard about Sudan on the news, was the first time I knew where it was and what was on the nearby borders. Our personal maps of the world are continuously changing. Through our experiences we become aware of places and ideas previously unfamiliar. Through culture and tourism we feel invited to explore what feels new to us. Through disasters and devastation we become conscious of locales that are further away that anywhere we could have imagined. All of this information and these experiences informs the expansion and creation of our map of the world and how it works.
   
   Lize Mogel and Alexis Bhagat have edited "An Atlas of Radical Cartography" a beautifully designed 160 page book of ten essays, ten 17" x 22" maps, that all fold up and fit into an elegant slipcase. It's the second book to be released on the Journal of Aesthetics and Protest Press, a sister project to the original and ongoing annual Journal, which has become an important hub for critical and creative writing about the intersections of contemporary art and politics. The An Atlas collection is unique and unprecedented, collecting together many of the primary voices that have connected the visual and semiotic language of cartography with current political and artistic discourses.
   
   The map is an obvious and practical device for people attempting to better understand the world in all its complexity, this project illuminates this "why mapping" question. Some of the reasons that essayist and map makers in this volume identify for their interest in maps include: shaping arguments, shaping policy, considering the continuity between geography without physical connections, as an ongoing research process, just to follow the connections between things we do every day and complex infrastructures, or to encourage a critical civic engagement and understanding of how things are planned and how they work.
   
   An Atlas of Radical Cartography is an amalgamation of several different ideas. It is an experimental primer course in geography, a sampling of spatially oriented trends in contemporary art, a portable mini exhibit and a field guide to ongoing international debates about space and place. The collection of maps/essays starts to differentiate between the aesthetic experimentation and art trends that sample or reference geography, and the political mapping practices that take seriously their goals to change how we think about and use the world around us. An Atlas will be of interest to quasi-planners, drifting artists, experimental geographers, lovers of places, haters of maps, lost students and engaged citizens alike. It calls out attention to vital "radical cartography" work that is happening in cities and communities with which we could all relate. An Atlas asks us to handle maps, examine thoughts and rediscover space at a time when there is great confusion about what is where, what is near, how far is far, where we should go? An Atlas asks us to take great care with the world we currently have, to better understand its complexity and how it works, and to more thoughtfully consider how we are getting where we are going?
   
   For more information
   The project http://www.an-atlas.com/
   The publisher http://www.joaap.org/
   
   Bio: Daniel Tucker is the editor of AREA Chicago (areachicago.org). For more information see miscprojects.com

2 comments about Secret Lives of Great Artists: What Your Teachers Never Told You About Master Painter and Sculptors.

1. Secret Lives of the Great Artists is a sister volume to Secret Lives of Great Authors. These two books were recently published by Quirk Books.
   This slim volume contains text and humorous drawings of the artists.
   The author is Elizabeth Lunday; the artist is Mario Zucca.
   Thirty-Five famous artists have their lives surveyed. Artists profiled include Leonardo, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, the Impressionist and such modern artists as Jackson Pollock, Edward Hopper and Andy Warhol. The book is a treasure trove of trivia such as these examples display:
   Vincent Van Gogh enjoyed eating paint which may explain his weird behavior!
   Frieda Kahlo had an affair with Leon Trotsky and enjoying bathing her 300 pound artist/husband the rotund Diego Rivera
   Caravaggio murdered a man in a brawl.
   Henri Rosseau was once convicted of bank fraud.
   Gustav Klimt was terrified of traveling outside Vienna
   Along the way the author provides tidbits about the Mona Lisa being without eyebrows; the Venus de Milo and Pre-Columbian art.
   This is a fun book which pay interest young people in art.



2. This is not only a well-researched book about the great art masters' lives but also a book full of laugh-out-loud humor. Who knew, as pointed out on page 48, that several of Michelangelo's assistants quit during the four years it took to complete the ceiling of the Sistine chapel - "..hardly suprising since the team lived together and shared a single bed. Since Michelangelo believed bathing was bad for his health, the staff may have been eager to make for the door as soon as possible."
   
   Recommended for serious art history students, teachers, and those of us that just enjoy funny stories.

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!

5 comments about Creative Collage Techniques.

1. I'm speaking as someone who knows zilch about collage -- or close enough to zilch that it doesn't matter. Which means I'm extremely impressed by the way the authors clearly explained techniques and concepts in a manner that didn't confuse the ignorant (me) while informing both beginners and experts. I'm guessing they DO inform experts just because of the wide range of information. The result is that I feel I really begin to understand the basic concepts without being overwhelmed. My only problem is to choose which fun methods to try first. There is certainly an exhaustive array of options. I can't speak for more experienced people but, for beginners, I can't imagine a book being more helpful than this one.



2. I have dabbled with collage and assemblage and want to do more. What I mainly want is info on supplies and technique, rather than an overview of what other artists are doing in the field, or a history of the art, or coaching to overcome fear of doing art. I took six collage and altered book books out of the library. This one worked best for me. The information about what supplies, adhesives, and papers/boards to use was well organized, clear and simple. Each technique was presented in a straightforward, step by step way accompanied by examples. This book had more techniques in it that seemed like ones I would want to work with than some of the other books - I'm not at a stage where I want to build a complicated studio setup or use photocopiers and photography a whole lot in my artwork, but I appreciate knowing about techniques that are a little more advanced than gluing paper down.



3. This book was actually a text book for a college class. As a not very artistic person, I found some of the projects to be a bit intimidating. However, the explanations were very helpful. The pictures are beautiful. I found the descriptions of the elements of design very helpful.



4. *****
   I have been reading collage books in order to get ready for a collage class I'm taking next month; while all the ones I've read have their strong points, this book is truly the "Bible" of collage---it contains the widest and most in-depth information of all of the books I've read. It covers so many topics, and for a beginner, enables me to see just what can be done with collage. As I become more experienced, though, I am certain that I will refer to it again and again.
   
   Ever type of collage conceivable to me is covered here, with step by step instruction. It is written in an instructional (as opposed to entertaining) style, and is definitely a reference book, but one that I think every collage artist should have.
   
   If you are wanting to learn more about collage and can only afford one book, this one is it. It covers many different styles, so unlike other books, if your style is not the same as the author's, you might be left out---no chance of that with this book.
   
   Highly recommended.
   *****



5. This book does offer specific projects and yet leaves an open-ended aspect for artist innovation and personal touch. There are a lot of methods explored and so this text is a great one in addition to the works of others in this genre. The greatest part about this book is that contemporary collage artists are featured and this gives the reader a connection with his/her peers. There is no "art history" and "these are the famous collage artists" feel to this book: it is 100% TODAY people who are creating collage art. This aspect makes the world of collage feel approachable and in the here and now.

4 comments about Who Owns Antiquity?: Museums and the Battle over Our Ancient Heritage.

1. Some ancient art belongs to the world, not necessarily to the present nations who now claim it. Several times over the years, I have seen, studied, photographed, and talked about the Elgin Marbles in London's British Museum. During my long life I have heard about and have read about the Parthenon, but I have seen it only once--two years ago. Should I now try to go to Greece to see the Elgin Marbles? At age 81 and here in California I think of the Elgin Marbles as being from ancient times that are basic to our civilization and not just to the present Greek nation. Should the British "give them back"? I don't think so. The book, "Who Owns Antiquity..." by James Cuno ©2008 legitimately takes the museum point view which I enthusiastically share. John L. Sommer.



2. The book underlines the attitude behind Cuno's outspoken cultural superiority. In a recent AP interview, Cuno said: "Cuno: I think any of these modern nations can exercise a greater claim than any other nation on antiquities found within their jurisdiction. But not in terms of an identity with those ancient people. It is not on the basis that they are the modern heirs to the achievements of these ancient peoples, that they descend from them in any kind of continuous or natural way and that the modern culture is akin to the ancient culture."
   
   This is a century old canard that claims an ethnic group has only a tenuous tie to their ancestors. His words about a "continuous and natural" descent are offensive and bigoted, reminiscent of some particularly odious racial theories from the 19th century which read a mixture of bloodlines as reason enough to dispute strong connections with ancestral pasts. What, after all, does Cuno mean by "a natural way"? Is language not enough for him? That some nations use artifacts for political reinforcement of nationalist goals is not reason enough to dismiss a people's ethnic and cultural affinities with these same artifacts.
   
   Take the case of the Elgin marbles, for instance. He worries that cultural artifacts may be destroyed if located in a singular place. Yet Lord Elgin destroyed the marbles themselves in removing them, lost many in the Mediterranean, and the British Museum allowed patrons to spill wine on them during fundraisers. To insist on spreading the wealth of the Parthenon marbles is as smart as perhaps cutting Lincoln's face off the memorial and giving it to Singapore, or amputating the arm holding the torch on the statue of liberty, and sending it to Uruguay.



3. Cuno is a defender of the so-called "universal museums", now called "encyclopaedic museums" and perhaps more correctly, imperialistic or totalitarian museums. The museum that never has enough of anything and seeks a total control of all cultural objects by all means, including the use of force by the army of the country where the museum is situated-Louvre, British Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. These museums now lament the end of the imperialistic and colonial period in which they amassed most of their stock. This was the period when the Europeans could take virtually from any country whatever cultural object they desired. That period is, mercifully, at an end and Cuno and co are agitating for the return to that system, so-called partage system which enabled the Europeans to take away massive archaeological objects from countries like Egypt. Cuno labels those who seek the return of the stolen cultural objects as nationalists but what about those who fight to keep the objects in the museums of the West, are they internationalists or what?
   This new book does not advance in anyway the debate about the restitution of cultural objects. On the contrary, it will only help to solidify the known positions. That leading museum directors do not understand the desire of Africans and Asians to recover their stolen cultural objects, is a sad commentary on the cultural landscape of the world. The perspective would have appeared better without the addition of this book which will only serve as additional object for heated controversies and it comes from a museum director of one of the leading museums of the Western world.
   Kwame Opoku. 22 May,2008.



4. Anyone who has ever been enthralled visiting one of the world's great archeological museums would benefit from James Cuno's book. So would archaeologists, museum directors, curators, antiquities dealers...and journalists who have signed on to the out-of-control drumbeat demonizing museums and collectors. Source country bureaucrats and power-wielders should read it as well, but they probably will not. Cuno's is a refreshing, insightful and intelligent counterpoint to mainstream misinformed denigration of the world's great archaeological museums. It convincingly argues that nationalistic retention laws for antiquities neither preserve sites nor objects, nor do they benefit the larger interests of civilization and mankind. There is probably more here than the non-specialist is interested in, but the beginning and end of the book are more than enlightening, and the reader can go back to middle chapters for background and revealing histories of the modern nations of Turkey, China and Italy. This book is an eloquent plea to save the inspiring fragments of mankind's long history which belong to us all. Cuno believes using them for nationalistic agendas is not the way.

5 comments about Trust the Process: An Artist's Guide to Letting Go.

1. This is a well written, easy to read book on creativity. I found it very useful in pursuing my photography hobby. I took off a star because like so many books the author seemed to run out of things to say about 2/3 of the way through and filled the remainder with repetition and unrelated "
   stuff".



2. I loved this book. Lots of food for thought, and lots of directions for exploring. I read it slowly over a period of a couple of months, and plan to pick it up and read a chapter here and there when I'm stuck.



3. Have you ever gotten so sick of the meals you are used to cooking that you will try any recipe? You might then be so hungry that you'll eat it anyway, no matter how bad it tastes. Well, I got stuck reading this book.

   Sometimes you need any kind of creative push you can get, and this book is so bad, I would be willing to do anything besides read it. Check this out--"I cannot augur the creative spirit's labyrinthine ways." There is just no excuse for that sentence. And there are 210 pages full of them. McNiff also mentions D.H. Lawrence twice in the first two chapters when any reasonable person would have to be forced to mention Lawrence twice during their entire writing career. Unless he is talking about his children, or making a truly canned reference to mythology, McNiff can only discuss standard junior college material, which of course, would be any commonly known artist from the beginning of the 20th century.

   Now, let me take the opportunity to complain about visual arts getting kidnapped by academia. Art does not exist as an educational tool. It can be studied, but that is a separate activity. Art exists because people like to make things, and sometimes our eyes get hungry. Put your charge card away this time, don't buy this stilted little book.

   Good luck on your art!




4. This is one of the books I read before I published my own book on art creativity - Creative Painting For The Young Artist. A good point of the book is that it deals with painters block. Not many art books do. This is important for me because I had always thought that I could not paint till the age of 24 years. This book with the book Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain are especially good for right brain learners who have to enter the process of painting through emotion and getting the larger picture before paying attention to details. That is you can't begin painting by sitting in a class and beging to draw a shoe. This has brought a sense of failure to many would be artists. This is more than a book on creativity but also a book about the psychology of the artist as the book also deals with painters block, dealing with criticism, the purpose of being a painter, states of consciousness and childhood origins of the artist.



5. Whether you are an artist, dancer, writer, musician, healer or seeker, you will find inspirition and validation of your path with this book. Shaun McNiff, artist and internationally known advocate of the creative arts therapies, presents a thoughtful and beautifully written case for trusting the natural movement of the creative process. This wonderful book includes observations from "famous" artists about the creative process, anecdotes from ordinary people who are experimenting with new attitudes in their daily lives and suggestions from the author about creating a satisfying life. In a world where destruction has become a form of popular entertainment, this book offers an alternative. Worth reading, then rereading again and again!

5 comments about The Practice and Science of Drawing.

1. Do not order the hardback version of this book. It does not contain the illustrations referenced in the book. The paperback has all the illustrations and it makes a big difference. I had to return the hardback and get the paperback version. The paperback version I would rate 4 stars because it teaches sound techniques to drawing.



2. The text of this work makes references to various illustrations/plates which have apparently slipped the attention of the publisher. This book is MISSING the corresponding pictures. Do not by this half-baked version from Indy Publishing. You can pick up the complete version printed by Dover for a fraction of the price. (paperback)



3. This book hails from an era where people took their time and savored a more thorough approach to their craft, much unlike our present day rushed instant gratification mentality. It will take a good deal of patience to stick with this book, but it will prove a most invaluable tool to any artist, whether an absolute beginner like myself or a more advanced student. It's important to learn how to use your vision and what to look for before trying to duplicate something on a sketch pad. This is the correct approach since it's important to understand the theory behind what you are doing before actually attempting to do it. Excellent book



4. This book presents much of the essential information the student requires to learn how to see and draw accurately. Such a delight to read that since I bought my first copy in the early 80's I have reread it many times, so many that I've had to purchase a second copy.



5. This book was very inspirational to me. He talks about learning how to really "see" what you draw, and had great examples from paintings and drawings of the past, explaining rhythm, balance, unity of line, etc.
   
   At times the language was a little archaic and wordy, but I liked how he emphasized key points over and over again.
   
   This book would be good for artists (it was on the recommended reading list for my art school), but also for people who just enjoy looking at art.

5 comments about Extreme Beauty: The Body Transformed (Metropolitan Museum of Art Series).

1. This is a beautiful book illustrating the different ways cultures reform the body and for what reasons. It is just like actually visiting an exhibit at a major museum. But this you get to take home and enjoy over and over. The photos are plentiful, full color, large and professional. The text is not overly scholarly, but informative and intelligent. It does leave me wanting to delve deeper into the subject intellectually.



2. To read this book reveals not only plenty of interesting and quite often surprising information on fashions past and current but its text and pictures are highly complementary. In addition a lot of the provided information gives insight into social structures of the centuries referred to - and once more it is proven that fashion is one of the quickest instruments to testify social and historical changes to the world.



3. Extreme Beauty is a wonderful book that celebrates the Metropolitan's equally brilliant exhibit about fashion and it's different preoccupations with the body. The exhibit was magnificent, and the book truly honors the tone and feeling of it, while being extremely informative in it's own right. The book is divided into different chapters such as neck and shoulders, waist, chest, etc. Each chapter features photos of the garments displayed in the original exhibit, as well as additional historical drawings and photographs of the various fashions and cultural trends that have celebrated the parts of the body. And, as promised in the title, the book explores the cultural foundations of bodily transformation and mutilation(?) through everything from extreme corsetry, [..] footwear and peircing to the tribal women who use metal rings to actually elongate their vertebrae. Harold Koda's insightful and meticulously researched commentary is just the icing on the cake. This is a must for any fashion library, but also of great interest to non-fashionistas.



4. Sentient humans with brains as well as bodies have always been fascinated by the way we adorn ourselves and why. Once we can get past the cultural anthropology of fashion, and the fads that make it a billion-dollar world industry, we can dig down to discover the roots of historical and current adorned beauty, and EXTREME BEAUTY does this . . . beautifully.
   It is pleasing--in an era in which physical beauty and adornment typified by fashion have been roundly rejected by most of the jeans-wearing public--to find a book that lets beauty out and helps us exercise our sense of mystery and wonder, based in no small part on human sexuality and attraction. Harold Koda (curator of the Costume Institute at New York's Met) has mounted a show and created a book with marvelous insights and passion, and the illustrations are wondrous--consider, as a case in point, Thiery Mugler's 'Chimere,' with its savage eroticism.
   One could quibble with Koda's arbitrary division of the body into 'neck and shoulders,' 'chest,' 'waist,' 'hips' and 'feet,'
   and his exclusion of the fascinating face/head/hair perplex, and the hands, with their magical touch and allure. But this book and its illustrations will become a benchmark by which human adornment is judged, and is a keeper of power and importance.



5. Harold Koda's Extreme Beauty surveys concepts of fashion and beauty. Koda considers the evolving, changing strategies of beauty around the world, focussing on different body parts and how they are accented and displayed through varying uses of clothing and cultural perception. Black and white and color photos of unusual fashion choices and styles make for some eye-opening insights.