4 comments about No Experience Required - Colored & Watercolor Pencil (No Experience Required).

1. I've spent a lot of money on books to teach myself painting. I believed many grand promises made by these books and have found myself more disappointed than successful. Not the case with this one. This book was so easy to understand, I was thrilled to find success at my early attempts. Techniques were explained clearly and the demonstrations were also easy to understand. Highly recommended.



2. The way Gary Greene explains how to use colored and water color pencils makes it very easy to follow the steps. He clearly
   shows what results to get in an easy to follow manner. Great for beginners as well as more advantaged users of these mediums.
   I highly recommend this book.
   
   Constance Hingert



3. This book does a very good job of showing how to use colored pencils and watersoluble pencils both indepently and together. I used it to use watersolubles for large areas and the colored pencils for detail and it helped quite a bit.



4. I have always wanted to learn how to use colored pencils. This book covers the basic techniques of both colored and watercolor pencils and how to combine them. The author does not assume anything and explains basic techniques you can try along with step by step directions for several drawings. I found this book an excellent way to get started.

5 comments about Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle.

1. this is the book for those people who have seen and like the Cremaster Cycle. a super companion that gives very interesting background, and criticism of the cycle.



2. Whether you like Barney or not, this book made for the Guggenheim solo exhibition in 2002 have lot of meat. 500 pages covering his Cremaster series (1,2,3), with numerous photograph stills of his films, reference photos, and his works. Approximately, 340 works are shown. The book quality is very good (did not quite match the creativity of Damien Hirst's I want to spend the rest...book), but nevertherless, this book will serve as Barney's important documentation.



3. I finally bought a copy of this book after putting it off since the show in 2003. I'm glad I got it before it goes out of print, and recommend the hardcover over the softcover as it is a beatiful object/catalog.
   
   Sadly, as I have looked more closely into the book since I got it home, I noticed that the book doesn't come close to covering the majority of the actual works that resulted from the Cremaster films. Perhaps this wasn't the reason for the catalog, but I was under the impression that such a huge book would be pretty comprehensive in its documentation of the works it's about. Not so with this volume. Barney is a master of the capitalist side of the fine art world...and no doubt knew that if he reproduced the works he has sold in tandem with the release of each film, his auction prices would suffer. Therefore his immediate sale prices (from the studio/gallery) would stagnate as well(prices rarely drop from that artist directly).
   
   So, what you get here is a fat volume with tons of sketches, production photos, and documentation of the sculpture. In addition you get a verbose essay by Nancy Spector as well as remembrances from participants in this massive undertaking. It is in the lists of works from the cycle that the volume's gaps become apparent. Barney sold several "artist framed" suites of photos from each film...which act as stand alone pieces of work to be consumed by collectors and institutions. It is these works that are not fully documented in this volume. Even if they had done a page of thumbnails for each of the five films, it would be better than to reproduce one photo from a suite of three or four as they have done here...and each film had 5-10 of these suites made in editions ranging from 2 to 50 copies. Look for another book somewhere down the line documenting these works (or the original volumes released for each of the films which cost an arm and a leg now) to get these in your library. Otherwise, the only place I've seen these works reproduced is in auction catalogs, exactly where Barney and his supporters are happy to see them show up.
   
   I have a certain level of respect for what Barney has accomplished here. Both as an artist and as a viewer. Unfortunately, this amazing artifact if NOT the be all and end all of the Cremaster Cycle, and one must look elsewhere to get the whole picture(s).
   
   Here's to hoping that a DVD release of the whole cycle fills in the gaps left over by this book, which is eye candy rather than a substantive look at this artist's work.



4. Nancy Spector, Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle (Guggenheim, 2002)
   
   Nancy Spector's tome may just have been meant as an accoutrement to the Guggenheim's massive Barney exhibition in 2002, but as an accoutrement, it stands out. Not only in its physical dimensions (Amazon's website says the shipping weight of this book is 8.6 pounds, but after lugging it around for six weeks, I'm willing to put money on the idea that it's closer to twenty-five; it's over a foot tall, and easily as thick as one of the larger volumes of the unabridged OED), but in the concept itself. Spector's essay on Barney takes up the first ninety-two pages, after which comes a glossary of Cremaster terms that reads better than any other glossary you've ever read (think of The Dictionary of the Khazars to get an idea, but using all terms that relate to the Cremaster cycle). Then, of course, the photographs. Mostly video and production stills from the films, but also photos of pieces of Barney's original sketches and storyboard, the sculptures made after the films, and other wonderful little oddities. Good stuff, and a must-have for any Barney fan. Those who have just heard the name, but not seen the films, will get an excellent overview of what you've managed to miss. Those who have no idea who Matthew Barney is, check it out to see what all the fuss is about.
   
   In other words, you want this. ****



5. Why would anyone pay hundreds for the H/C version, if a shiny, new paperback is only $40? Please enlighten this fool? Thanks!

1 comments about Feminism and Art History: Questioning the Litany.

1. This is essential reading for anyone interested in feminist art history. It was one of the earlier scholarly compliations of critical articles concerning issues in visual representation of women as subject and by women as artists. Ranging from a study of images of women in Greek art, to an analysis of the psycho-social motivations of 20th century Expressionism, to an investigation of American quilting and its influence on contemporary art, each essay contributes to our understanding of paradigms which are basic in forming a new context-- a context which is needed to re-examine the white, Western male canon of standard art histories. The essays also provide a fundamental vocabulary for investigation of specific works, and aptly balance the feminist positions about art with vital, challenging interpretations of cultural conditions and biases which have affected our perception of gender and the place of art in societies over time. The introduction by the editors defines the content, nuance and strategy of the feminist art historical project and is as pertinent today as it was twenty years ago. I would recommend this book as a useful starting point for research and education; and for students, teachers or anyone willing to cast off the blinders of assumed histories.

No comments about From Art to Politics: How Artistic Creations Shape Political Conceptions.

5 comments about Photography: A Cultural History.

1. 
   
   great condition thanks
   
   Photography: A Cultural History



2. I found photography a Cultural History a very hard to read book. The author seems to jump from subject to subject and from photographer to photographer without any cohesive meaning. The chapters get harder to read as you move towards the later chapters, unfortunately. I don't see what is the sense to mentioning what a photogrpher did or said in a 2 or 3 sentence paragraph, then jump to another photographer and do the same, then jump to another one and do the same and so on and so on. Also, why is the photographers years of existence printed next to each photographers name in parenthesis ? This only makes the book even harder to read. I bought the book because I'm a photography student and the book is mandatory for one of the required courses, but if it was up to me, I would rather use and purchase "The History of Photography" written By Beaumont Newhall even though it is out of date. This was the book originally used in the past, but a few years ago allot of schools decided to switch to the Warner Marien book which I think was a big mistake.



3. An exellent source. The price was unbeatable. At school a smaller version of this book was over $100 and I paid less than $50for a more complete book!



4. i had to buy this for class, and for once it isn't a "textbook" ! finally an art textbook that doubles as a coffee table book, and one you can read. very good text - easy, and not too "academic." highly recommend.



5. This text was hardcover and gorgeous.. and over 1/2 off what the bookstore at my school was selling it for.. Thank you

No comments about Restaurant Graphics.

No comments about Installation Art.

No comments about Cuba: Art and History from 1868 to Today.

5 comments about Samurai Sword: A Handbook.

1. mr. yumoto's work is very descriptive and pictures fill the pages more than text does.
   
   "Samurai Sword a Handbook" lacks an analytic quality that would bring togheter the social, historical, technical and martial dimensions of the nihonto.
   
   last but not least, such an important - and relatively undocumented - subject as care and maintenance of japanese blades is simply and vaguely evoked in two pages that make up a ridiculous chapter.
   
   all in all, yumoto's work is too old to be satisfying to comtemporary readers in search of a meaningful, concise handbook which would explain rather than describe.



2. A PERFECT SOURCE WHO WANTS TO LEARN ABAUT JAPANESE SWORDS AND THEIR HISTORY



3. I finished reading it yesterday. It is too much for beginner and not enough for intermediate or even expert...
   
   It is definitely usefull for future reference in terms of finding more about your sword or swords you want to buy and using some of the criterias. Photos are B&W and crappy and references text-to-drawings are badly organized.
   
   What is strongly missing is types of sword damage, how to eveluate type of damage and find it on blades etc...
   
   I dont know when book was written but some information also seems bit obsolete...
   
   If the book was hardcover, had two times more pages, colored photos to go with drawings, better organized and have more information, I would give 5. Now I give 3 of 5.



4. This is a good, short overview of the basics of Japanese Swords. Recommended.



5. This is an awesome book for anyone wnating to know more about samurai swords and speaking as a beginner myself, I found that this book explained everything clearly and concisely - I now know a lot more about swords than i did before :)

3 comments about Hensche on Painting.

1. This book is about Hensche's thoughts and insights to painting the landscape and about the Portrait and figure. Alot of valuble information in such a little book. Well worth the price. It could be used as reference book, to be reread over and over.There was a chapter on Seeing that I liked very well.Though I am a pastel painter and he focuses on oil, the information is well suited for any medium.



2. Very informative. I agree with his feelings about professors telling you to go get 'm tiger without providing enough basic information and that we need to get back to drawing as a basis for painting.



3. I found this book far less useful for practical painting pointers than those based on the treachings of Hawthorne, William Morris Hunt, Henri and Sloan. Granted, those are tough acts to follow, but there it is. What I did find fascinating was Hensche's perspective. Clearly, he greatly admired Charles Hawthorne as he should. He even went as far as to suggest that Hawthorne in some ways eclipsed Monet and bridged the gap to the abstract expressionists ... maybe in some ways. What I found absurd was Hensche's suggestion that he had gone beyond Hawthorne (and therefore beyond Monet!). Hey, I've heard from some of his students that Hensce was a great teacher and a nice guy ... and I don't doubt that, but in my opinion, as an artist, he never painted anything of tremendous merit. On another topic, the book shed some fascinating, although brief, insight on a rivalry between Henri and Hawthorne that I had never heard of before. Also, there are some refreshingly blunt statements that Hensce made summing up a couple dozen artists from Rubens to Andy Warhol at the end of the book. So, the book is worth a quick read if this sort of thing interests you. I'm glad I bought and read the book (it is brief and inexpensive) even though I don't think it was outstanding.