5 comments about Bright Earth: Art and the Invention of Color.

1. Bright Earth is about the long history of paint, not as much as art and painting but of paint itself, and the amazing history people have with visual art.
   
   Focusing on the machanics of paint, where the pigments came from, possible ways people discovered paint, and how different pigments interact with their binders, this is a very intersting and informative book on the technical aspects of visual art, but the book is more.
   
   It deals also with the historic aspect of color and how cultural precepts influence our perception of color and color theory. How our cultural baggage influences how we see color and our reactions to it.



2. It is not easy to classify this book, I would not say it is a science book, what the title "the invention of colour" would suggest, nor an art history. It is more a history of dyes and pigments and how they were used by artists of different ages.
   
   It explains how the availability of materials shaped the artists' palette and how the artists of different periods chose among the available pigments to create and shape their own colour style. Avant garde painters took advantage of the discovery of new pigments (sometimes in detriment of durability and stability) in order to create new styles and art movements, that gradually became mainstream.
   
   Chapter 2: "Plucking the rainbow. The physics and chemistry of colour" is brilliant, clear and comprehensible, as are all approaches to science topics by Mr. Ball.
   
   The book contains very detailed descriptions and "recipes" of how pigments were obtained in alchemists or craftsmen laboratories, quoting the original "magic" texts, craftsmen manuals or art treatises of the time, instead of using chemical formulas, but Ball briefly explains the minerals or chemical compounds and the chemical reactions that took place in the "cauldrons" to produce certain hues.
   
   Ball uses the original names of the pigments or colours throughout the book, like "vermilion", "ultramarine", "azurite", "indigo", "orpiment", to name a few. Since they were used to name a colour, a substance or both, sometimes the same substance gave origin to two different colours, creating a lot of confusion. At times, this read like a soup of ingredients to me. Although this does not affect the readability of the book, I find it difficult to remember all these words. If it should serve as a reference, an Appendix, listing the dyes, minerals or substances from which it was obtained, formula, period or artist that used it most, etc. or a "coloured" timeline would be more useful.
   
   Would this book have been written by somebody different than Phillip Ball, it would most probably be very boring. Mr. Ball definitely knows how to write, since the book is quite easy to read, despite the extravagant display of factual details.



3. Colour is easy to take as grant. However, the great painters of the history worked often with a very limited palettes, as good pigments simply weren't invented. The best blues and reds were very valuable, which defined the ways they were used in medieval painting. There's plenty of detail in the history of art that can be explained by the economics and chemistry of paint.
   
   Philip Ball is a chemist and painters will learn a lot of chemistry from this book. Chemists will learn about art and painting and curious reader will learn both. The book is clearly written, entertaining and educational: an excellent example of good popular science. There are plenty of interesting details, as Ball goes through the history of art and pigments from the stone age cave paintings to modern art. (Review based on the Finnish translation.)



4. Bright Earth gives a detailed history of the development of colour as used in art (painting primarily). It is well written and easy to read but perhaps tends a little towards being a pedantic. Nevertheless it is very helpful in understanding colour and its use in art through the ages.



5. excellent service book is very deep and scientific, but i waded through it.

No comments about A History of Roman Art.

2 comments about Early Medieval Art (Oxford History of Art).

1. I also had Prof Nees for an undergrad course on Early Medieval Art at UD, and he's the most ridiculously brilliant man I've had in three years here. I had this book as a text, and it is thorough and very informative. Definitely a good source for medieval art.



2. I took an undergraduate class with Larry Nees at the University of Delaware, and I have yet to meet anyone who does not think he is one of the most coherent, intelligent, and fascinating art historians out there. You can't go wrong here!

2 comments about The City: A Vision in Woodcuts (Dover Books on Art, Art History).

1. I haven't read the story yet, but a quick flip through the book leaves me feeling cheated from its minimal presentation.
   
   There is no introduction, no foreword, no editorial notes of any kind except the copy on the back cover. Worst of all, the book is roughly 6x9 inches but the art on each page is about 3.5x5 -- the art could have been up to 60% larger still with reasonable margins. The current size might match the original production, but this is a relatively big book for what seems to be little value.
   
   The story had better be amazing to justify the wasted paper and lack of even basic extras. Even if it is, I wouldn't recommend this as a first entry to woodcut graphic novels. Without any kind of supporting information, I feel like I'm about to walk into a fog.



2. Masereel's work, as one of Will Eisner's inspirations, is an ancestor of the modern graphic novel. That historical insight is a freebie, though. Reading this slim book offers many rewards of much more direct sorts.
   
   It's not a graphic novel itself, no matter what some have said about it. Instead of a novel's narrative coherence, this presents a sequence of still images. They relate to each other only loosely and conceptually, not in causal flow. This criticism applies only to how Masereel's work is presented, however, and not to the work itself. That is exceptional.
   
   Woodcut may look crude, if your eye isn't attuned to it. Edges are hard; delicacy arises from the subject matter and composition, not from the medium. That works well in this case, since Masereel uses it to document the hard parts of city life between the two world wars. He shows love freely given, but also physical love for hire or taken by force. There is death, violence, and military hardware in the streets. Masereel shows both sides of everything, though: medical students harvest life for others from a woman's cadaver, and a steel mill's torrent of fire reminds the reader of how society's tools and materials are formed.
   
   Masereel's visual style tends toward the primitive, despite the city sophistication of his subjects. It works. His primitive lines emphasize the primitive urges of life, love, control, and violence. He fills his visual field with detail. Even though woodcut is a medium of contrasts, many of these prints tend toward a uniform texture and "gray." That sometimes makes it hard to focus on the central points of an image. It also conveys that very urban sense of closeness and distraction, the feeling that everything everywhere is competing for attention, and confusion about what really needs the attention.
   
   Dover has recently brought this and similar work (including Lynd Ward's) back into print after decades of obscurity. Perhaps the copyright limit expired and the work has fallen into the public domain. Whatever the reason, it has fallen back into public awareness, too, and I'm glad of it.
   
   //wiredweird

5 comments about Face Food: The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes.

1. This is a good book if you like to look at pictures of completed bento's. It is very small, almost pocket sized. Some of the ideas are very clever. However if you require any sort of instruction--either cooking or assembly wise this is not the book for you. It is a nice addition to my collection but I have found it pretty useless.



2. Pretty pictures...lots of them. (Though I did expect them to be in high gloss, not just printed on the page - The colors seem muted.)
   Not practical for actually reconstructing said Bentos, there are no directions (other than for some cheesy "beginner" ones in the appendix.) Under a picture of your desired character it will simply say "ham, eggs, nori, fishcake, rice, cucumber. . ." you have to figure out what made what. Amazing pictures, though! Enough so that I don't own this book yet (sat in Barnes and Noble and perused it for 30 minutes) but I intend to make it one of my next purchases.



3. FACE FOOD: THE VISUAL CREATIVITY OF JAPANESE BENTO BOXES could just as easily have been featured in our 'Arts' section: it's a fun little collection pairing color photos of creative Japanese bento box lunches with listings of the ingredients which go into them. Each bento box features 'food art' shaped into various figures that creatively fit into the small food boxes. Any library strong in food art displays will find it an unusual, inviting key to creating food art in smaller spaces than is normally featured.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



4. If you need recipes and cooking guides this is NOT your book. There are many other books with recipes (Bento Boxes: Japanese Meals on the Go, and Manga University Culinary Institute's: Manga Cookbook both come to mind), and many groups (like eat_my_bento on livejournal) just waiting to help you figure out how to make bento. What this book offers is inspiration; Stunning, unbelievable, "how did they DO that" inspiration.
   
   Focusing on "character bento" this book is full of pictures of theme bento boxes. From the simple and "easy to picture myself doing" box depicting three little pigs (the pigs are rice balls with ham ears and noses)to the Disney Cinderella who is depicted with enough realism (in ham and cheese and spices) to look like a licensed image!
   
   there are NO instructions given on how to duplicate these bento Boxes. the only "instructions" are for the two line drawings in the back by the author suggesting a "Pac Man" and starry sky scene bento box. The ingredient listing given for each box is helpful, but doesn't tell you what is being used in which area of the design. This book is mostly useful for inspiring you to try something a bit beyond the "hot dog octopus" of the typical bento box.



5. I am astounded at the creativity displayed in the pages of this book. Some of the food show within its pages are indeed "to lovely to eat". I never cease to be amazed at the creativity that some people have in preparing a dish and having the level of artistry to make it look so beautiful, whimsical and appealing!

5 comments about How to Draw Cars Like a Pro, 2nd Edition (Motorbooks Studio).

1. Motorbooks tends to put out some pretty skimpy titles. Lots of flash and little substance is often the case. This book seems to be an exception. As a total non-artist this book really helped me develop some skills in the area of automotive art.
   
   A lot of good information without a lot of opinion. Nice drawings for you to use for reference and motivation. Good coverage of the different types of media.
   
   I'd buy it again.



2. I find it that this book covers most of aspects you need to know to draw cars "properly". I recommend this book for anyone wishing to learn or hone their skills on car drawings, because it is quite difficult to understand such thing for some people like me :D



3. My 11 y/o son is into drawing and into cars, so naturaly he started drawing cars, but he needed some help. I for one don't know what to do (not an artist), so I got this book for him, and so far the drawings he brings me are soooo much better. They are as good as the ones in the book, but it sure did give him a few pointers here and there. He loves looking at the tips, and hints in the book. All in all it made a difference to his drawings.



4. This wasn't so great at how to draw cars, but there is a lot of good stuff on how to render them realistically, which is why i bought it.



5. The books delivered were brand new. No problrms with the binding or the pages.

5 comments about A World History of Photography.

1. World History of Photography
   
   
   great book and brand new thanks



2. The 3rd edition of this book, published in 1997, is a popular textbook for college art history classes and is held by many libraries. The hardcover 4th edition published in 2007, whose ISBN-13 is 9780789209467, has a similar dust jacket and is also 9"x12" (but has 712 pages, as opposed to the previous edition's 695). Both editions are visually attractive and informative.
   
   Overall, the 4th edition improves upon the 3rd only somewhat. The chapter numbers and names, and the titles of the interspersed sections on notable topics and technical histories, are unchanged. I leafed through the 3rd and 4th editions, and chapters 1-10 have no significant differences. In other words, recent trends and findings in the history of photography prior to 1950 have been omitted. I would have liked to see at least mention of more old photobooks (e.g., Moi Ver's 1931 "Paris," Brodovitch's 1945 "Ballet," and Heisler & Styrsky's 1945 "On the Needles of These Days"), interest in which has increased this decade, and a sentence or two on the 2002 discovery of an 1825 photo by Niepce.
   
   Chapters 11 ("Photography Since 1950: The Straight Image" and 12 ("Photography Since 1950: Manipulations and Color") on pages 516-629 were only moderately revised compared with the 1997 edition. I count 2 photos dropped from the old edition and 11 new photos. Changes in the text include addition of some female, non-Western, and contemporary male photographers; more material on "Digital Imaging" on pages 620-625; and a couple new paragraphs on "The Market for Photographs" on page 625.
   
   The current edition has slightly revised text on pages 630-631 about "Digital Image-Making," a new afterword on pages 639-641, an updated time line on pages 655-660, a glossary on pages 661-665 now with terms related to digital imaging, and references as recent as 2007 on pages 666-683.
   
   I could find only a few mistakes (e.g., "Todd" instead of "Tod" Papageorge on page 527, "Miquel" instead of "Miguel" Rio Branco on page 547, and limitations of definitions of "burning" and "dodging" on pages 661-2 to only digital techniques). The numbering of figures on pages 630-640 is incorrect (should be 816-828, not 808-819 and 816). A number of major 20th-century photographers (e.g., Ralph Gibson, Jeff Wall, and Francesca Woodman) were excluded, which is unfortunate. There is no mention of "paparazzi" or "Photoshop" (in specific, not just the general discussion of software on page 631); for better or for worse, both of these have influenced the history of photography.
   
   In summary, if you have the 3rd edition, there's little reason to obtain this one. If you don't have the 3rd edition, or if you have the 3rd but want some updates in the material on the 1950s and beyond, buy this book from Amazon.com!



3. Well, I have to say that the author is an excellent researcher. Although she concentrates mainly on the creative and artistic sides of photography, the technical aspects are also presented, albeit briefly. I know this book is used as a textbook in several schools, and the problem I have is that it reads like one. While perusing this work, I couldn't help feeling that I was back in college, cramming for a final exam, rather than being taken on a journey through photographic history. In other words, the author's writing style is a tad dry. The facts are all there, and the pictures are wonderful, but she never seems to convey the emotion or feelings of the events. So, if you want something to study, this is it. If you want something to read and enjoy, I'd go elswhere.



4. A lot of information concentrated in one book, just what I needed: A lot of facts with perfect examples of photos and other illustrations. Especially I liked that there are no author's opinions, or philosophical discussions in this book, just facts.



5. This is the most informative and comprihensive book on the intruging history of photography. Anyone interested in the medium must own it. Easy to read and woderful to look at.

1 comments about The Best of Bridgman: Boxed Set (Boxed Sets/Bindups).

1. This really helped my sketching. It has some written directions, but mostly depictions of specific examples. You still have to practice, but this book has illustrations that usually show exactly what you want.

4 comments about The Skateboard Art of Jim Phillips.

1. Presented in this book is practically the very definition of BAD TASTE! But, two stars given because if you happen to be into the silly skateboard scene, you'll probably LOVE this one.



2. I bought this book based on the two other reviews on Amazon but when I received it i was a little disappointed. It wasn't exactly what I expected. I wasn't very familiar with Jim Phillips' art before this book. I own other skateboard art books, but this kind of art is too busy for me. If you're a fan of Jim Phillips' art then I guess this book is for you, but it wasn't exactly my taste.



3. I think there is a big difference between this book and the Skateboard and rock poster book. This book comes with full blown pages of closeups of all of or most of Jim's artwork. I'm a hobby artist myself so I'm really jazzed up about this book. Another book to get that is rather intresting is Disposable which covers different skateboard companies and riders but you will be happy with this book here.



4. Jim Phillips is finally stepping out from the obscurity of his drawing board to take a bow for the countless skating design innovations for which he is solely responsible. The skateboarding, surfing and rock & roll art of the last 30 years was trailblazed by this softspoken and humble artuer and the rest if the world has been playing catch-up ever since. Any skater who grew up riding in the 70s, 80s and 90s had these designs plastered on every wall of their bedroom as well as the decks of their boards. The ripples started in Santa Cruz, CA but have radiated out to impact the art worlds of Europe, Japan and Canada. Check out Jim's other 2 books on Rock Art and Surf/Skate art, too! AWESOME!

No comments about Dark Water: Flood and Redemption in the City of Masterpieces.