No comments about Colour (Documents of Contemporary Art).

3 comments about Art History, Volume I (w/CD-ROM).

1. I actually saved $100 by buying this used version... theres no writing in it... the book is is great condition and i payed $4.25 .. (i was expecting a book with half the pages missing) The best deal i've got on amazon!



2. Finally, an art book which includes not just female artists but also art from more regions than Europe and Great Britain. This book is consice and factual in its assessment of art history. Considering that the basic appreciation of art is subjective and therefore opinion based, Stokstad keeps her personal views to herself and merely reflects the views of each period or region which affected art (and therefore art history) and why certain types were popular.
   I would recomment this as a good expansive look at art history for students or art enthusiasts!



3. I had to have this book for my Art History I class, and the second for part II of the class. This was not a book that encouraged me to look further into art history. From what I see the author put many of her own opinions into this book. That is not what makes the history. . .history is history, not opinion based ideas and theories. I would not reccomend this book for teachers that would like to inspire their students to pursue art history further. . . good variety of art work, just not good enough to appreciate it.

5 comments about Math-terpieces.

1. My 4 year old LOVES this book. She will often stop me during mid read to clap her hands and tell me how much she loves it. We started out with just getting one way to make each desired number and are working our way closer to getting all of the possible ones. I love how she has gone from random guessing to being able to predict and look for the correct grouping. She is also realizing when she has made a mis-step and needs to try a different combination. Since we now need to keep track of our correct solutions, she is learning more about writing numbers and her first few mathematical symbols. The art is fun too. Thank you Greg Tang!



2. Before reading the book and playing with it with my kids, I was going to give this a lower review, but despite my dissapointment for having little value teaching about artwork, it's a great book. There is so much math in many masterpieces and it would be amazing to have a book that used different great pieces to illustrate this (for instance, patterns, which is a grade 1/2 math lesson is easily taught using Mondrian). This book does not do this at all, in fact, the artwork is just pretty backdrop to the math learning and grouping. So, I guess my bone to pick is the illusion that the reviews gave that this taught something about art, it doesn't, but it is a neat formula to teach math.



3. Greg Tang encourages his audience to develop number sense in a lively way. With the help of this and his other books, you can encourage your students to develop a more fluid approach to math. I have used many of his books in my classroom, and find it is best to pre-teach his way of combining number sets before reading the book aloud (just a short lesson).
   
   After introducing several of his books last September, I spent the rest of the year listening to students' spontaneous explanations of how 13 is really just two sixes and one more, or 5 + 8 which is really 5 + (5 + 3), but it's easier to see it as (5 + 5) + 3, and so on. When kids catch on to what he is doing with numbers, it is hard to get them to stop...but why would you want to?



4. I love this book and have shared it with colleagues! What a great idea to combine math and art, and what a great way to tackle problem solving which is not always a favourite with kids! For teachers, it helps us cover two subject areas at the same time which we greatly appreciate. When I saw the cover of this book, I was instantly intrigued. I liked the fact that it's suitable for all age groups -- older students may appreciate the art history aspect more, but the rhymes appeal to all ages. The illustrations jump out, are appealing and make math more interesting. When I showed this book to some of my students, one instantly said that it was "neat" because everyone came up with a different way of getting the answer yet everyone was right, to which I responded with a delighted smile!



5. Bravo, Greg Tang has done it once again! This wonderful book is full of authentic masterpieces which Tang recreates to get us looking at the art in a "math kind of way!" This book is super for all elementary levels, kindergarten through grade five. The focus is on addition, and the many ways we can group numbers to get to a given sum. We love it!

5 comments about John Singer Sargent: Figures and Landscapes, 1874-1882; Complete Paintings: Volume IV (John Singer Sargent).

1. A wonderful collection of amazing images. This book will be looked at for many, many years.



2. The best book on a painter I have been able to buy for quite a while. As with the other three volumes so far published of Sargent's catalogue raisonne, this is absolutley stunning. Paintings are all in colour unless they have been lost, and the figures and landscapes are breathtaking. The text is anecdotal and interesting, with contemporary correspondence and criticism. This is what a catalogue raisonne should be, and never is - something exhaustively illustrated and investigated, rather than an artist's lifetime crammed into one volume with highlights followed by black and white "postage stamps" at the back (as long as the artist is worth it - and Sargent is worth it). A great tome on a great artist, and unbelievably good value. Go out and treat yourself.



3. The color reproductions are awesome. This books is a collection of Sargent's less known work which is refreshing. Some oils are not as polished as the more well known work which helps to show his technique in early stages---a plus to serious professionals and students. To me, this book provided a wealth of visual clues to understanding his thought process and technical principles. The writing, however, is the typical stuff used to fill most coffee table books. No insight whatsoever into Sargent's painting principles, tonal procedures or color palette. The author obviously knows little in that regard but there is so much information out there the text could have been more illuminating. Buy it for the reproduction quality and awesome collection of works. Worth every penny in that regard.



4. Still waiting for the delivery of Sargent's Figures and Landscapes. It was ordered on 4/14. Hope it will be delivered soon.
   
   Deirdre Dunne



5. i was very pleasantly surprised to see so many Sargent paintigs and drawings i had never seen before. Some quite obscure images in color - many studies and sketches - things that interest other artists and Sargent fans - I have not read much of the content yet but the little I have read was very interesting, although not of great use to artists in that there is not much description of Sargents working methods (although there was some) - but this is usually the case with monographs - much history but not much instruction. So as artists we must learn mainly from the paintings - which fortunately are very well reproduced in this volume.

2 comments about Art: A Brief History (3rd Edition).

1. My son needed this book for his college class. It was very useful and the seller was very accomadating. She even offered to take the book to him because she lived across town from him. She opted to mail it to him.



2. This book arrived promptly and in condition that I am very satisfied with. Overall I am very happy with my purchase!

1 comments about Rings: Jewelry of Power, Love, and Loyalty.

1. This book has a lot of pictures and gives a brief history of the rings. I can look through this book again and again and never get board. I would recommend this book. Well worth what I paid.

5 comments about Mark Kistler'S Draw Squad.

1. This book draws you in (pun intended) to its world of sketches and wimsy. My son (10) loves to sit with Mom and draw together. We picked this book as part of his homeschool Art requirement, and he eagerly uses it every day. The book focuses on the development of 10 fundamental principles of good drawing (shading, perspective, etc), and reinforces these principles through over 30 lessons. The lessons are well-organized, clear and easy to do - we bookkeep about 20 minutes to do the day's lesson. If you need to improve your child's (or your) drawing skills, this is the book for you!



2. Mark Kistler's "Draw Squad" was my gift to my niece on her ninth birthday. She is a crafty young lady, always coloring and drawing. When she opened "Draw Squad" for the first time, I could see her interest in it. Along with this book, her gift included a sketch pad, pencils and sharpener, a gum eraser and a sturdy notebook with pocket folders to store her drawings. (I checked out the simple supplies that Mark listed for beginners). The first gift that she picked up after opening all others was this book. She followed the step by step instructions and drew a rabbit within minutes.
   "Draw Squad" will be used for several years as a learning tool and a reference book. It brings out the hidden talent in all of us.



3. Satisfactory for gift for our (artistic) 11-year-old granddaughter; we expect it to help her in freehand drawing, especially of 3-D drawings on a 2-D surface. She can take it from there as her abilities and interest (and parental support) permit.
   
   Thanks.



4. This book has a lot to offer. Its main focus is on achieving 3D effects through a number of important techniques such as shading and shadows, perspective, foreshortening and density. It is obviously geared toward a very young audience, but its lessons are so fundamental that any adult lacking basic drawing skills will benefit from them.
   
   Bear in mind that this review is written from the perspective of a non-artist who enjoys drawing. The level of ambition I'm addressing is analogous to that a conscientious writer of letters, or emails, posts and reviews on the Internet, not that of a James Joyce or a Thomas Pynchon. Likewise, this review is not for aspiring professional artists - it is for adults and children who wish to confidently hold a pencil to a blank sheet of paper.
   
   I can see the book working in a classroom setting, but without the energy of an enthusiastic teacher or classmates, a child or adult alone might quickly find the lessons boring. They're a little like doing scales on the piano, though not nearly as arid.
   
   It is almost a sure thing that a child or said "adult lacking basic drawing skills" who does enough lessons to grasp the eight key words (besides attitude and daily practice) will then have many (not all) of those skills, leaving behind the great majority of us who don't know how to draw and actually fear drawing. For that alone the book is well worth the dough, but personally, I find it too boring to go through entirely. Progress is quick, though. What I did glean from about ten lessons is very useful; to go through all thirty would reinforce what I already learned and I preferred to branch out in other directions. Still, Draw Squad remains in my library, just in case I feel like doing a few "scales."
   
   Among the many skills the book does not impart (this is not a gripe, as this book is very basic and the subject matter is vast) are composition, negative space, the great importance of shaded areas in rendering faces and other organic subjects, and some notion of measurement in the positioning of objects, items and features, and I could go on. The book deals mainly with objects and is cartoonish in style, and gives very little attention to complex or organic subjects such as animals, trees or the human figure and face. But don't worry - there is no shortage of books on these. Betty Edwards' "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" is decent, but the skills acquired from Kistler's book would be more at home with De Reyna's "How to Draw What You See", which uses fundamental shapes the Kistler graduate will have mastered as building blocks to complex drawings.



5. This was my favorite book when I was in elementary school. From it I learned how to draw, and I still love to draw now in graduate school!
   
   With lots of practice as a kid, and with the insightful and fun guidance of this book, my drawings improved a lot.
   
   Thank you, Mark Kistler!

5 comments about Logology.

1. This book is a must-have for graphic designers. Even the cover is inspirational. I'm dying to implement the soft hardcover with deboss on a future project. This is the real deal. You won't be disappointed.



2. First of all great looking book, a vinyl crackle embossed finish with matching orange printed page ends.
   The great thing about the opening section is a selection of case studies that is broken down into: The Assignment, Development, Solution, and Application with words and visuals. The remaining 2/3 is what you would expect a bible of great logo design. Some pages are devoted to a one designer as well, and some logos get more attention and are given a whole page of display. A bit like the Los Logo series but not as cramped full, a bit more room to breath. My mate took one flick through when I got it and ordered it, a very good book.



3. hello,
   
   I really would like to say something about that book but, I'm still waiting for it.



4. This book is just wonderful to hold. The soft leather cover and the bright orange page edges are great. I love the case studies showing the development of various logos, and there are over 200 pages of logos to flip through for inspiration. As someone else noted, the English isn't quite perfect. While reading, I thought "This sounds like it was written by someone with English as a second language." Then I flipped to the front and saw it was made in Hong Kong. It's still readable, and really- we just want to see the logos anyway!



5. It's so great to find great logo books such as Logology! This is one of the few that I have found worth buying. It's full of very progressive styles and refreshing ideas. You'll love the orange leather cover with various debossed logos. Very fun book to have on your shelf or table. Some of the text on the back cover and within was written a little interestingly, but I guess it gives this book a little character. Anyways, I would recommend this book to anyone to wants to break away from the mainstream corporate identity logos and be a little more progressive.

5 comments about A Kaleidoscopia Coloring Book: Abstract Adventure (Kaleidoscopia Coloring Book).

1. This coloring book is imaginative and fun! The pages are full of interesting & creative designs. a++



2. I Love this abstract coloring book !! This is a wounderful product and i would recomend this to anybody who loves to color abstract coloring pages.



3. This is one that I have already started on,..with colored pencils,...,..I really enjoyed what little that I have started on,.last night,..Arcystal



4. Thank you for bringing these wonderful coloring books to Amazon.com! Year after year, at Minneapolis's Art a Whirl I look forward to finding Kendall Bohn's art studio because of the colorful and intellectual art he produces. Kendall is an artist who has not forgotten our children (and the children at heart) and their need for abstract, creative and fun art. Each coloring book is a flawless masterpiece which makes them a fantastic gift for cultivating imagination. At any age, anyone can color one of these beautiful pages to match any room and frame them for all to admire. I look forward to your continued releases!



5. The book allows creative influence to be shown without as many boundaries as in the usual coloring book. The images give an immediate interest to anyone who likes to color, and who wants to be able to show themselves creatively. Its great from front to back!

2 comments about Illustration Play.

1. I found Illustration Play very inspiring. While the hand of the artist is clearly evident in the included work, it brings a warm handmade aesthetic that is not just another gimmicky contrived DIY style, but the real deal. Good solid work throughout.



2. A playful sticker-bound cover gets this book off to a good start. The first artist uses fabric and stitching to concoct her illustrations - something I hadn't really seen before...that is until about 200 pages and a dozen other artists doing the same, later.
   
   Overall, this book was a welcome departure from digital-centric art. While there are various methods and media featured, this book makes it seem like every other "unique" artist has jumped on the fabric and embroidery bandwagon. They all just start to feel derivative of eachother when lumped in a book together. But maybe embroidery just isn't my cup of tea.
   
   Some truly innovative/interesting artists mixed with a bunch that just didn't do it for me.