5 comments about Drawing Realistic Pets from Photographs.

1. I purchased this book for my daughter's 14th birthday. She loves to draw and is quite talented. I gave "Drawing Realistic Pets from Photographs" to her for her birthday and she loved it. She sat right down and sketched the cat. She said when she opened it "Awesome". This book shows the picture of the animal and then how to pencil/charcoal draw the picture by hand. I would highly recommend this book.Drawing Realistic Pets from Photographs



2. Lee Hammond's books (all of them !) are so great! Easy to understand and lots and lots of great tips. Really comprehensive and excellent work.



3. I am an oil painter and I wanted to experiment with pencil drawing.I have a few of Lee Hammond's books and I think this is the best by far.A very good book that explains a lot of detail and helps a beginner get motivated to learn.



4. I purchased this book for my daughter because she loves to draw animals. It has fantastic illustrations and pictures with easy to follow instructions. My daughter is eight and it was easy enough for her to understand yet challenging enough to keep her interested. She was very happy with the book & her drawings have really improved with the help of this book.
   
   This book has been great for her & she's since checked out other how-to-draw books from the library. It's helped give her more confidence in her art work.



5. I like to draw but always have trouble getting my sketches exactly looking life like. After doing the lessons in this book there's no stopping me. It is so easy to understand and the final results are amazing. Well done Lee Hammond I also bought the painting copy with excellent results as well.

5 comments about How to Draw Anime & Game Characters, Vol. 1: Basics for Beginners and Beyond.

1. After recently purchasing this book, I am quite pleased with the nature of it's explanations. The first section of the book is about basic technique and a look at how to pose a character naturally. The rest of the book is basically a bunch of well drawn images you can use to hone your skills.
   
   Remember, it's practice that makes a good artist. Use the sample images in the book and try to recreate them exactly. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.



2. This book is great, i've gotten several books on how to draw anime and this is the best i've seen. The level of detail and the well explained text and example is just the best buy i've done on this matter.



3. I bought this book because, obviously, I wanted to learn how to draw anime character. Instead of going straight into it, this book has you draw basic pictures first(i.e. boxes, connect the dots, faces.) which is what a person needs to draw well. After gradually building in difficulty, amatuer drawings are displayed and critiqued for the learners benefit. All in all, everything is layed out well and the mission is accomplished.



4. This is helpful in understanding the actual process of drawing and how its done is explained well.



5. this book was not helpful at all!!!i had just recently got into manga and anime drawing so i thought that this book would be helpful to me you know with the title being "basics for beginners" and all. all it did was show me useless information.all it does is show you characters made out of these weird rectangle type things only and then the finished project (but thats all no hair no clothes no nothing), instead of step-by-step directions on everything. if you are a beginner i would highly reccomend NOT, i repeat NOT getting this book!!! it confused me and didn't actually show me how to draw anything!!!if your a beginner and don't know where to start, your not alone!!! although this is the first book i ever got on the whole anime subject i would suggest some other how to draw manga books but definately not this one. try how to draw manga ultimate manga lessons volumes 1-6 and more how to draw manga volumes 1-4. believe me if you want, if you think diferently and want to try it any way be my guest but in my oppinion it's a total waste of money!!! hope this helped!!!

5 comments about Writing Dialogue.

1. Prof. Chiarella here provides a very useful guide for the writing of conversation. Not only does he explore the basic grammatical mechanics of different writing tricks and techniques, but he gives us generously as a good teacher the strength and encouragement to pursue our individual talent and multiple voices. Basically the author tells us to write, and then to write, and then to write some more. He has us listen as carefully as possible everywhere we can, and to absorb, to take notes, and above all to write.
   
   This humbly slim yet very substantial manual deserves an easily accessible place of honor upon any aspiring and practiced and advanced writer's reference bookshelf, along with the unabridged Webster's and Elements of Style. It is valuable not only for presenting the standard forms of dialogue, but also for courageously opening the door for us to break any and all rules, and above all at all times to write.
   
   Highly recommended. The author's voice is that of an excellent and supportive and gentle teacher, well practiced and effective in his pedagogy. Well structured and well written, and isn't that a nice change from the vast majority of how-to-write texts which come surprisingly poorly written, angry and incompetent. His examples are all useful and well selected or written as well. Buy this book for the writer you love, including yourself.
   
   In no time you will be writing complex conversation like Joyce's Ivy Day in the Committee Room, or maybe even the mighty Mamet!



2. Speaking across a generational divide, I find "Writing Dialogue"
   helpful for self-editing. I am too annoyed by the tv culture to sustain interest in author's clever essays. But I do look at tv in spurts with better informed, purposive ear. It is bending the ear to picture scenes that instructs my writing.
   Helpful, but annoying in my sixties.
   Grandma Writer



3. this book is lousy its the worst. It promises alot but doesn't deliver.
   
   If you want to learn to write meaningless every day conversation like:
   
   "Hi how are you Sam?"
   
   "I'm fine thanks George."
   
   Then this book is for you. It never gets past the above formatt of dialogue and the narrative of this book is boring and hard to understand. The writer is a bafoon who admittedly carries a journal around recording conversations like the above "Hi sam..." The book is so annoying it make me want to scream.



4. Chiarella looks so far down his nose you'd think he was Pinocchio. Some good ideas buried pretty deeply in the bloated monologue. I learned very little I didn't already learn from more general books on writing that had a single chapter on dialogue.
   
   The man curses some very four letter words and brags about how he did it as a kid. He says to listen to others for book ideas. He hasn't a clue about modern block-busters we want to write. I have about twenty books on writing, and no good one on dialog yet.
   
   The author is indeed high in his ivory tower looking down on his ignorant students. He is a teacher, not an author. He has written a book of short stories (no reprints is my guess) and several short stories for various magazines. Come on, this is the lowest rung of professional writers.
   
   Boo for Chiarella and Boo to Story Press.



5. Having spent more than a third of a century writing non-fiction--55 business books--coming out of retirement to write my first novel, I thought, would be easy. Wrong! What a shock. Going from under 10% dialogue to more than 50% was no small barrier to hurdle. ##### Some would say, if the shoe doesn't fit don't wear it. O.K. Good logic. But the problem, I found, was not insurmountable. And, Chiarella is quite right: fictional dialogue and conversational dialogue are worlds apart, and his book zeros in admirably on the differences. ##### In the final analysis, though, I feel close study of early 20th century classics is the best way to learn the proper use of dialogue: The Great Gatsby, 1925, Fitzgerald's lyrical use of prose, incorporating free-flow dialogue so seamlessly, is a good example. And, for crisp, hammerlike-impact speech the earthy utterances as presented in James M. Cane's The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1934, and the gritty, survalist tone of the words spoken in his Double Indemnity, 1935, I think, illustrate my point. Then there is Nabakov's Lolita, 1947, to study for the eloquent, multi-layered emotonal landscape it lays out and the dialogue that echos this. ##### In sum, I found Chiarella's "take" on dialogue to be most interesting--as a "spur" to reach further for answers, in all, a good "kick-off" platform.

4 comments about Drawing with Your Artist's Brain: Learn to Draw What You See, Not What You Think You See.

1. I am sold on this book. Betty Edwards' Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is awesome, and its insights are foundational for a good artist, however, I think Carl's book is more hands on and simplifys the basic teachings with more exercises and less theory.
   
   I recommend buying, reading, and doing the exercises in both books, but if you only get one, I would go with this one.



2. I wanted to learn basic pencil sketching, so I went to a bookstore and browsed all the books they had on the subject. This one definitely stood out as the most practical for me as a beginner. I just want to be able to draw for fun, and the ideas of this author made a lot of sense. So I bought the book and brought it home. I skimmed the whole book quickly to get the main ideas, then I sat down, took off my shoe, and started to draw a picture of my shoe based on the ideas. It is definitely the best freehand drawing I have ever done in my life - by a mile. And that's only applying a fraction of the principles and tips in the book. I'm looking forward to digging in more.



3. If you think you can't draw, then Drawing With Your Artist's Brain is for you - and for any general-interest lending collection where how-to arts titles are popular. Here is a guide which offers step-by-step insights into how to create true-to-life renderings, overcoming personal angst and understanding how to define form, see values correctly, and use value patterns effectively. An observation-based approach covers landscapes, portraits and still life equally, applying important concepts and principles to the mix. A top pick from an artist whose PAINTING WITH YOUR ARTIST'S BRAIN has proven most popular.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



4. This is a good comprehensive book for beginners and covers most things of importance, but it has a few defects. The reference photos from which the drawings are done are too small, making it difficult to see what the author is talking about. The author leaves his sighting lines on his drawings, which is like leaving up the scaffolding after painting a house--it looks unsightly. He drones on for too long about values. Toward the end of the book, he runs out of things to say, and the book becomes a gallery to show off the author's drawings.

5 comments about Rapid Viz, Third Edition: A New Method for the Rapid Visualitzation of Ideas.

1. This book was a requirement for one of my design classes and i have to say, this book is really basic!!!!! I would rate it higher if it didnt drop in detail about how to do design after the first chapter. What is also funny, the 1st chapter is the most indepth, longest, and informative chapter, but all the rest are nothing important in a sense. Its like all they do is review the 1st one, lol. If you have any somewhat knowledge about drawing this book would either be a complete waste of your time, or a decent refresher. I would recommend this book if you have a kid that has some knowledge of drawing and just wants to learn more. There are alot of visual aids and little text in this book. I have not scene other items of this writers work, so im not gonna be too harsh, but i was disappointed in the book. Also, using this book for a design class, it was sad, no wonder it was an intro to design course, I just wish they could have used a different book....



2. Smaller overall size to save money? Why?
   The result is overall poor quality, hard to see images, reduced sized graphics and WHY is a portion of refections lessons removed from this edition but present in the 2nd?!? I now have to use a copy machine to enlarge the pages for my college student use the text/lessons.
   
   But don't forget, the 3rd edition now has an exciting new cover...Big deal!
   
   Wake up publishers, give me BACK quality , perhaps in a 4th edition?



3. I suppose the smaller format kept the cost down, but I was disappointed to find that out AFTER I bought them. (That's right, "them". I ordered a dozen for a drawing class I held at my company.)
   
   It still has great content though, and I further suppose that if you never ran into the larger format edition, you may not miss it. Excellent content. Not just another drawing book.



4. This new 3rd edition is barely decent, not great. In some ways, it's easily worse than the good 2nd edition(!)...
   
   First off: the most obvious change here is in its *size*: this 3rd edition is about 2/3 as big as the 2nd edition- tiny! I'm talking about the overall physical dimensions: mainly length & width, with depth not being radically changed.
   
   Most of the lettering is the same size as before, although a few pages include microscopic printing. These new physical dimensions are *not* an improvement. This whole book has an uncomfortably crammed look & feel, not unlike a packed elevator ride. "Get me outta this thing!" is my honest reaction here.
   
   Maybe it's because I'm so used to the 2nd edition: I consider it to be the *BEST* version, even though I only rated it as being somewhat above average. The 2nd edition is basically good, and I'm glad I have it, but I still don't think *any* version of Rapid Viz has lived up to its real, full potential. My basic complaint with these books is that the illustrations themselves often look a little too unfinished and sketchy, lacking the true detail & depth that a 5-star book might have. At other times, some drawings actually have *too much* microscopic detail. And in an effort to make an already conceptually clear & concise book even more clear & concise, this new 3rd edition eliminates some drawings & photos along the way(!). Even worse: the photos that *have* been included are reproduced poorly, as if they were printed with a cheap, pre-Internet, black & white inkjet printer. I thought new editions of books were supposed to get better, not worse! I give this thing 1 star because it's a completely unnecessary downgrade- at best.
   
   In short: Yes, this 3rd edition has a fancy, new, computer designed cover, but I easily recommend the better 2nd edition *by far*.
   
   **Copy and paste 1560520558 to search for the better 2nd edition here on Amazon!**



5. Don't worry if you can't draw. The right brain really gets a exercise in this precise exploration of visualization of concrete concepts or large illustrations. Great for jotting down those quick notes. Simple notes through small visual captions which communicate your thoughts to your clients. Master the napkin drawing in minutes. Bring your ideas to life through simple drawing principles explained in Kurt's book.

5 comments about Art for Kids: Cartooning: The Only Cartooning Book You'll Ever Need to Be the Artist You've Always Wanted to Be (Art for Kids).

1. My daughter absolutely loves this book and it improved her cartoons right away! I like the variety of different possible features presented. This is a beatiful, very well done book.
   
   Christine Mitchell, author and illustrator of:
   Welcome Home, Forever Child: A Celebration of Children Adopted as Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Beyond



2. This is unlike any other cartooning book past or present. Too many cooks of this genre show you the standard "draw an oval and a triangle and now you have a duck!" or "draw like I do!" instructions. Art Roche's book teaches kids to think, to imagine, to be funny. Art gives readers the tools to pursue their styles, not his. It's an easy read, full of great illustrations, and humorous examples. Art Roche makes anyone from from 4 to 84 want to pick up a pencil and have fun! Great gift for any kid or kid at heart.



3. Beautiful Book. Purchased for my 9 year old grandaughter as a Christmas Present. She loves to draw and wants to be a cartoonist. I know she will love this book. So easy to understand!



4. My 12-year-old picked up this book and devoured it in one sitting, reporting it helped him conquer some of the problems he had encountered as a recreational cartoonist. He especially enjoyed the section devoted to writing.
   
   This is a gorgeous book - hardcover with color on every page. Great art, lively text, and very inspiring - it works as both a "how-to" and personal cartooning cheerleader.



5. You want to draw cartoons? Why wait? Start learning the important fundamentals from one of the best in the biz. A giant among pygmies -- that's Just the Way It Is (and Bruce Hornsby agrees with me, so there!)
   Why spend more money learning some OTHER system that will only result in your work looking like everybody elses? Do you really think someone is going to pay you to draw so-so copies of Japanese Anime? Get real, Get this book, shmucko. With a little effort (we remember effort, right?) and dedication, the sky's the limit.
   Do the right thing and start tuning in to what makes you unique -- after all, we can SELL that!!! Roche is the Real Thing, and his work speaks volumes. Your eyes don't lie to you, and neither will Mr. Roche.

No comments about Electric Firing: Creative Techniques.

2 comments about Contemporary Graphic Design.

1. Im pretty happy with my purchase it comes on time and in good shape to thanks



2. I got this book after a VERY long wait (nothing to do with Amazon, Taschen delayed its publication for months and months...) and I could not be happier with it.
   
   The waiting was well worth it, Taschen prints great products and this thick, colorful book is no exception, you get great design from the plastic jacket, to the silky pages that are very well printed (full yellow pages with no banding, WOW!).
   
   About the content:
   Interesting, up to date and very pleasing to the eye (even if you're not into graphic design you want to buy this book and have it sit on your coffee table, it looks great as an object too). You get lots of cases/projects from various places and eclectic cultures.
   
   I highly recommend buying this book if you work or want to work in graphic design.
   
   Aldana

5 comments about Color Mixing Recipes.

1. Very useful book. Even though I majored in art in college, I didn't learn all that's in this book. It's changed the appearance of my paintings totally. I love it. I'm already ordering the one for portrait colors too. Very easy to use, with quick, exciting results. Someone mentioned that the colors were "out of date," referring to Hansa Yellow in particular. Hansa Yellow is a pretty standard color in the artist's palette, and not out of date. Colors may go out of date in fashion, but not on an artists palette.



2. This is an excellent book for painters just starting out, or painters in general.
   Mixing recipes for more than 450 colour combinations. This book is a Must.



3. Very good quality printing, so you can get a good read. It was helpful, but I ended up making my own charts with the current colors that I keep. Who uses Hansa Yellow?



4. I do like spiral-bound books which feature either brushstrokes or in this case, recipes, as the pages lie flat (there is no spine to flatten or pages which keep flipping at a vital stage). The book starts with a general overview of color theory but doesn't get obsessive about it. Then come the recipes which are clear, easy to understand and there is a plastic color mixing grid at the back to help get the proportions accurate. The book deals with Oils but there is a conversion chart for Acryllics included. At 49 pages and with a hardcover, it is compact and easy to carry. I liked the over all format of the book which also includes a small section on Portrait Colors.



5. This book is great for anyone who loves to paint, but struggles with getting just the right tone...just the right shade...even just the right color! While I've noted that a few "recipes" contain errors (it's pretty clear that mixing one part white with four parts cadmium yellow medium will not yield a "pumpkin" orange), I still find the book useful because it allows one to see what combinations and proportions of colors will result in a desired hue, value, or intensity. While Powell acknowledges in the Instructions that paint colors vary somewhat among brands, I have noted one or two colors that are significantly different from the paint I usually buy (Windsor-Newton oils). Even so, I have been quite pleased with the results, and I believe my painting is all the better for using this guide. I certainly recommend it to anyone who has experienced the frustration of having mixed selected colors only to discover that the end result is totally wrong for its intended use!

3 comments about Fully Booked: Cover Art and Design for Books.

1. The latest in contemporary design in the areas of color, graphics, typography, and within the requirements of a definition of a book, shape are applied to the design of books by more than 260 book designers, commercial artists, and graphic designers from European countries and some from the U.S.
   
   The styles range from understated, almost muted (as when pastels are used) to classical-like for their sense of order to striking to chaotic so one can not get any coherent sense of subject and has to figure out wording on one's own. No matter what style, however, each book has some expert, innovative, or imaginative touch or technique to distinguish it.
   
   This large catalog illustrated with several color photographs on each spread of facing pages itself employs the innovative, rarely used technique of half the text aligned in one direction and the other half aligned in the opposite direction (as sometimes seen with the texts in two different languages in a bilingual edition of a book). Samples of the book design of the numerous artists range from a couple of six or so.
   
   The covers of the books are like product packaging, not the routine, familiar look of the large majority of books in a bookstore or library. Some of the most interesting are covers for classics and major authors whose books remain in print over the years. These book covers can be compared with ones of past editions so that this contemporary interpretation of the particular book by graphics, images, etc., can be especially appreciated. Such covers of books by Tolstoy, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Robert Louis Stevenson can get one to thinking about them in new ways. Many of the covers are engaging for their play of elements, sometimes to the point of interactivity. The cover for a book No Smoking is like a pack of cigarettes which has to be opened for the book to be drawn out. The wittiness and liveliness of many of the covers is exemplified by a design with two round eyes on the top cover and a tongue sticking out from the page edges.
   
   It is in the inner pages of the books though where the greater degrees of innovation are seen. Not only is formatting varied by composition, typography, and graphics, but in some instances the shape customarily associated with a book (i. e., the page) is transformed to the limits. Some pages are folded to make particular sections or to contain particular material within books, sometimes with folds within folds. Some more complex fold-outs are like origami.
   
   Not only book designers, but graphic designers, product designers, and commercial artists of all types would get sources and ideas from the hundreds of clear, detailed photographs.



2. Cultural commentators frequently write about the potential decline of books in the digital age and they might be right as far as literature is concerned. The arrival of the Sony Reader, Amazon's Kindle and other electronic readers could mean that today's young grow up reading literature on anything other than paper. Perhaps not so easy to present visual books in an electronic format but I expect it will come but what can't be digitized is the feel of a book: the weight, texture of quality paper, pictures printed in four color with a varnish fifth printing, binding and even the aroma gives a bound book something special. Can you hear them say "Open me!"
   
   The editors of Fully Booked like to create the impression that books are alive and well though I thought the message was rather diluted because so many of the wonderful examples shown exist as just one copy. These artists and designers have used the medium of bound paper to create works of Art rather than beautiful examples of art run of in hundreds or thousands of copies and available to a wide audience.
   
   Whether it's one copy or thousands there is no doubt that the pages display some quite amazing and fascinating creativity on paper. Is there one example that sums it all up? For me that would be `Your Home' by Olafur Eliasson, a nine hundred page oversize book that features various cross-sections of a house which have been laser cut into the pages so that you physically pass through the building as the pages are turned.
   
   Other intriguing books include Susanna Berkenheger's `Time for the Bomb' which has large die-cut holes punched through many of its two hundred pages though it does seem that these eliminate lots of text. Robert The creates art by using books as objects like a gun shape stamped out from a novel, Jason Salavon cleverly uses an IKEA 2007 catalogue minus the photos and text so all that is left are 374 pages of the background color panels (yours for $500) Tank Books had the neat idea of publishing classics that fit inside flip-top cartons with clever packaging design that combines the author and title in a cigarette-box style graphics.
   
   Fully Booked is a visual feast of one edition books and others published in many copies but it is unfortunate that the book's production takes on some of the experimental design that is apparent in many of the titles illustrated. For a start the book is printed in two sections, look through the first 141 pages and then you'll have to turn the book over to look at the other 121 pages. I can't see any reason for this other than designer whimsy! There are two contributors essays filling sixteen pages throughout the book, none of them have page numbers even though one essay refers to the others by page number. The illustrations are keyed to the captions with a numerals set a five point light face so you'll have problems reading these in a domestic lighting environment. The middle of the book has a ten page designer index and oddly the book's imprint is part of this. All of this suggests to me that the publishers seem rather unprofessional in the way they present information to book buyers.
   
   Apart from the lapse in some of the editorial production (so four stars) Fully Booked will amaze anyone interested in contemporary book creativity.
   
   ***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.



3. This book is so full of brilliant ideas. I couldnt manage more than 5/6 pages before being flooded with inspiration. Very strong concepts very well executed.