5 comments about Artdolls: Basic Sculpting and Beyond.

1. This is a very good book for the serious doll maker. I recommend it to anyone wanting to improve their skills.



2. This book is essential for anyone who would like to make Art dolls or any kind of polymer clay figure sculpture. The photography is useful and of a good quality, and the text is in-depth and helpful. I would reccomend this book to anyone, but there are just a few minor things I take issue with.
   
   Firstly it's the near complete lack of painting instructions. I have only found a few referance so far in the book regarding painting, and all it mentions is that you may use china paint for a realistic blush, and acrylic washes for shoes! I'd love to know, for example, the different types of paint you can use for the skin, and what Mr. Johnston reccomends against using, and perhaps some techniques for the painting.
   
   Secondly, I am concerned about the section on the soft-sculpted body. All we're told in regards to making our own is: "I advise starting with a pre-made body armature and stocking (both of which are available from retail shops)" Well. They are not available from "retail shops" really. I couldn't find them in any craft store, doll store, or art store in my entire city in fact! The only actual manufacturer of these "doll body stockings" that is easy to find online is Mr. Johnston himself, or rather, Mr. Johnston's website, which has a wide catalog of doll-making supplies. Looking at a photo of the body stocking, it looks actually extremely easy to make. A pattern for this flat thing could easily have been printed in the book so that we could photocopy it and size it to what we like, but no.
   I find this a very sneaky way to solicit business, that we NOT told how to make them so that we have to buy them from him. In Mr. Johnston's defense, he does mention the "2,000-stitch body" which is for advanced dollmakers, but we are not told how to make it. I hope it is in his advanced dollmaking book, which I do not yet own.
   This issue brings me right to my third and final point, constant self-plugging. Apart from the numerous referances to the fact that he provides doll supplies (with his website info in the back under "suppliers") there are huge reccomendations for ProSculpt. ProSculpt (which you can buy from his website as well as other stockists) uses one of his pieces as a logo, so I'm not sure I can trust this reccomendation to be impartial, but that's just me.
   There is also a paragraph or two devoted to how easy it is to work from a resin head armature, which one of his students started manufacturing from a prototype he made (hey, guess the only place you can buy that!). As well as his "Kemper-Johnston Primary Sculpting Tool" -- a tool he created himself and then got the Kemper company to manufacture. It's assumed for many of the tutorials in the book that you own one of these tools, as we're told to poke our primary sculpting tool here and there at certain points.
   
   I honestly have no problem with people plugging themselves and their own brand of supplies in their own book. After all, he wrote it, so why shouldn't he! *BUT* I do take issue when the sale of his own supplies comes ahead of helping the beginner. I find the way we are herded towards buying his supplies to be absolutly insidious, and it is a taint on an otherwise spotless book.
   
   I assure you that you CAN make your own soft-sculpted body, just look for tutorials online. You don't have to buy his premade ones! Also, why not photocopy the photo of the body stocking and blow it out in size and use it as a pattern? There's saving money!! And you can easily make head armature out of aluminium foil or sculpey, you don't need a special pre-fabricated resin one! It's just a luxury for the lazy. And you don't NEED a fancy $15 multi-purpose sculpting tool! Dental tools and rubber clay smoothers and fingers work just perfectly. Again, it's a luxury.
   
   All in all, this is a fantasticly written and illustrated book, one of the better art instruction books I've seen. Mr. Johnston is an absolutly fantastic artist, and his dolls are imaginative, alluring, and beautiful. We're all human, and the allure of extra profit can get to anyone (especially us starving artists!). So forgive him the plugging, read and love this book, and just fill in all the missing gaps with your imagination!



3. Good teaching, helpful details, nice stories behind some of the creations but many of the photos are very unprofessionally done. Considering the price of this publication more thought should have been put into the photography.

   Note: Mr. Johnston does quite a bit of "selling/self promotion" of his products in this book but it is his book so it's his right, right?

   Overall, a very good book on sculpting, sewing, encouraging others to succeed.




4. I've read all of Jack's books, taken his seminars and viewed his videos. As good as his books and videos are, this book is head and shoulders above them all. It may be the most complet text and photos available on polymer doll making. The photos are wonderful, the text is educational and the sculpting is excellent. Jack is one of the best doll makers and educators in America.



5. This is Jack Johnston's best work. I have read everything he has written and find this one amazing. If you make dolls you must read this book.

3 comments about A Dollmaker's Art: The Creations Of Nancy Wiley.

1. I am still making my way through this book. There is so much to see. Every piece is so intricate and detailed each time I look I see something new.



2. Nancy Wiley is tops in her field. Her creativity is awe inspiring. You can't help but exercise your imagination when thumbing through this book. The incredible color pictures and the journey into her mind is invaluable material for want to be doll makers. Don't want to make dolls? This book is still a great exercise in opening your mind to the world of true creativity. I have been eyeing this book for two years. I couldn't find it in the library so I am thrilled that Amazon offered it.



3. This book is beautiful. Everyone one who loves artists' dolls should get this.

No comments about High Style 2005 (High Style Magazine).

4 comments about Collector's Compass: Barbie (r) Doll.

1. This is a great book for those that are looking to collect barbie and don't know how to judge a doll or what problems they might have. They will not have to learn with an expensive horrible experience.
   IT is good for new sellers because it presents them with all the questions that they will have to answer. AND finally tells them that GREEN EAR is not REALLY completely fixable and that this decreases the value of the doll!
   A mistake many novice sellers commit. Writing on their description "green ear, but I have heard it can be fixed"....



2. This book would be wonderful for many who are in to loving Barbie. It gives wonderful tips on collecting.... wonderful for beginners!!!



3. I checked this book out of the library and that was a relief, because I did not waste $12.95. I found nothing new or special in this book. There are plenty of other Barbie books out there that may be a bit more expensive but you will get your money's worth if you spend an extra $10-15 on one of them.

   There is no price guide, no list of the vintage outfits available, and only 16 pages of color photos. (16 pages isn't very impressive when you've seen Barbie books that contain hundreds and hundreds of color photos.)

   I gave this book 2 stars because it's fairly inexpensive and it could be helpful to a complete novice who has never read _anything_ about Barbie collecting. There are still better, more informative options for absolute beginners. A lot of the advice in here is generic common sense and BASIC information that could apply to any collectible hobby.




4. this book is compact and informational. it features photographs and plenty of tips and direction to beginners. The author includes cleaning, how to buy, and a beginning awareness on the world of barbie collecting

No comments about Hopi Kachina Dolls (Plateau, Vol 63 No 4).

No comments about Heubach Character Dolls and Figurines.

1 comments about The Collector's Guide to Transport Toys: An International Survey of Tinplate and Diecast Commercial Vehicles from 1900 to the Present Day.

1. If you love tin toy and diecast toys then you will love this book.Most double pages feature toys catering for such things as buses,trucks,emergency vehicles and so much more.You will love looking back through the past of toys you probably had and I bet you say:"I had that one!".
   The photos are clear,in color and the text to describe each one is exceptional.
   This book is a must.

1 comments about China, Parian & Bisque German Dolls: Ca. 1840-Ca. 1900.

1. "A large number of beautiful and unusaul photographic material, many of the early dolls with china, parian and bisque heads are presented in this book for the delight of collectors and art enthusiasts. Skillfully modeled hair styles and trimmings adorned these dolls. Through their subtlely and artistic modelling they are often far more valuable as an art object than a play doll. Since many of them are sought after by collectors, this book presents for the first time in great diversity and color, a wide selection of the most beautiful dolls. They are the oldest among the china head dolls, especially remarkable, and their past extends up to the Royal Porcelain Manufacturers of the 19th century from Meissen and Berlin. Until now their past lay rather poorly illuminated, so that very little was known about these dolls. Only in the last few years has painstaking detective work by comparison of old findings determined new information. Thus was it possible, for the first time to associate a larger number of doll heads to their respective manufacturers. This book illuminates a largely unknown chapter of doll history, offers new knowledge and provides the collector and student of art with valuable help in appreciating, identifying and collecting the modelled hair dolls of the 19th century German dolls."

No comments about Ginny an American Toddler Doll.

1 comments about Dolls: And Why We Love Them.

1. The title and cover illustration of "Dolls and Why We Love Them" compelled me to pick it up. I then could not put it down because the illustrations so beautifully portray why I love dolls. Vintage paintings of children and their dolls fill the pages of this short book with nostalgia and idealistic images of children caring for their beloved companions.

   The text rises to the stories told by the paintings with short prose and poetry sections based on different themes introduced throughout the book. The text is not a deep or lengthy look at why we love dolls, but the sentimentality well reflects the emotional tone of why we love dolls. This quick read is a treasure that will be picked up again and again by those doll collectors who love their dolls.