3 comments about The Intelligent Eye: Learning to Think by Looking at Art (Occasional Papers, No 4).

1. 
   Recently I bought at least 5 books regarding the modern art analysis. May be this one is the book that most cleverly resolved the question on how to approach the complex modern art. It presents a strategy to open up your mind and get the most of every piece of art that you confront in a museum or a gallery. It does not dwell upon art history but emphasize on what to look and how to look. Unfortunately, at the end of its barely 90 pages, you ended asking for more.



2. This book is interesting for artists. It opens up your mind for different ways of thinking.



3. The Intelligent Eye is a great way to teach students (or anyone) how to think by looking at artwork! This book has an easy to read, conversational style to it as it shares some very basic truths about thinking.

5 comments about Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross.

1. Mythology collects the stellar art work of Alex Ross showcasing the worlds finest images of the major DC characters such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. This book highlights key points of the characters beginnings and evolutions with clear and informative writing. Gorgeously illustrated by Alex Ross coupled with wonderfully laid out design work the reader will find it quite difficult to put down this handsome book.Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross



2. An amazingly illustrated montage of Ross's work. A beautiful book for fans of comic book art and art in general.



3. AMAZING. Totally worth buying. If you like Alex Ross, you will not regret this purchase. The book includes Ross' comments on inspiration, collaborations, thoughts, insights, and much more. Truly inspiring.



4. It's a great work, detailing all the work of Alex Ross in DC Comics. In this book, we get the notions of how he figures out the characters, their concepts and ideologies, etc. Moreover, with this book we can see how the Art is transported from the artist's mind to the paper.
   There's just one book better than this one: it's hardcover version, much more beautiful.



5. Wow. I love Alex Ross, and he has soooo many beautiful pieces that they shouldn't have had any trouble finding classic, beautiful images.
   This calandar is half filler. Some months are nothing more than pictures of toys based on Ross's paintings. That's ridiculous. I could have settled for the design art that the toys were made from, but I didn't buy a calandar of the artist's works to see lame products several times removed from the actual art.
   High hopes led to great disappointment.

5 comments about The Lost Museum: The Nazi Conspiracy To Steal The World's Greatest Works Of Art.

1. This book, published some 9 years ago, has quickly become a classic and an indispensable study of the European (if not French) art market during WWII and of the Nazis' plundering of the artistic riches in the various countries they overran in the course of the war. Murky figures such as the French dealer Fabiani, German "experts" working for Goering, Rosenberg and, of course, Hitler, museum directors, Jewish dealers or collectors and the fate of their galleries and collections (most of them "aryanized"), the role of French government officials, of Swiss auction houses, everything is tackled in an efficient and informative book. Pictures of disappeared works whose locations are still unknown, and a rich checklist of all the sources used by the author make this book a valuable addition to the literature on WWII.



2. Other books may relate how the Nazis plundered art, but this book actually led the world to do something about it. You know how you read in the paper all the time that some heir of a Holocaust victim is in a lawsuit to get back valuable paintings? It's directly a result of The Lost Museum. For fifty years, nothing happened in terms of restitution. Feliciano's groundbreaking investigative research is what led museums to examine the provenance of their artwork, caused governments to change their statutes of limitations, and urged heirs to pursue artworks they assumed had long ago vanished.
   
   
   
   I wish I could give it more than five stars.



3. Those of you who read Lynn Nicholas' astonishing The Rape of Europa will be disappointed by this book, which is in many ways a necessary supplement to Nicholas' spine-tingling work. The record of greed, fear, coercion and barbarism visible behind the glittering surface of the Parisian art world in the 1940's is a truly moving human story. The photographs, all of now-vanished works of modern art, provide a valuable record for the historian, as many of the lost works have never been published. Unfortunately, the book is nearly ruined by a flat and pedestrian writing style. The author may have taken years to write this book, and conducted hundreds of interviews, but one would never know that. Feliciano writes as if he were a USA Today reporter - utterly superficial treatments of serious issues and no sign whatsoever of any personal investment in the story. The art and personalities of the period deserved a better historian than Mr. Feliciano, I am sorry to say. Useful for the documentary information only.



4. A repititious summary of art work confiscations by the Nazis, particularly from Jewish galleries, during World War II. Plentiful accusations of greed by cooperating art dealers, including some famous names, during and after the war. The French government to this day has performed questionably in returning works by famous artists to their pre-war owners. The Swiss government, in harmony with its management of Jewish refugee bank deposits, has performed even worse. Over-all, a depressing litany of evil deeds in a poorly structured account of art world activity during the German occupation of France.



5. A repititious summary of art work confiscations by the Nazis, particularly from Jewish galleries, during World War II. Plentiful accusations of greed by cooperating art dealers, including some famous names, during and after the war. The French government to this day has performed questionably in returning works by famous artists to their pre-war owners. The Swiss government, in harmony with its management of Jewish refugee bank deposits, has performed even worse. Over-all, a depressing litany of evil deeds in a poorly structured account of art world activity during the German occupation of France.

5 comments about An Atlas of Anatomy for Artists.

1. This book is a very excellent source for any kind of artist who wants to learn anatomy. It starts at the basics (bone structure/skeleton) and works up through muscle and outer anatomy like skin. Although there are no words accompanying the sketches and diagrams - aside from captions - they are very clear and easy to comprehend. However, most of the pictures are of developed, athelete's muscles instead of "average" or even "below average" muscle build. It also does not include diagrams (only photos) of younger human anatomy (i.e. teenagers and young adults). Overall, this book is very handy to have around, especially if you're starting to get serious about your art.



2. I have been doing studies out of this book for several months and it has proven itself useful many times over in helping me learn the subtleties of human gross anatomy. The additional plates are useful in that they give you different styles to look at and evaluate. It may be outdated today, having first appeared over fifty years ago, but as a beginner this has only made it more comforting.
   
   I would hesitate to call this, or any one anatomy book, a definitive one, but it is a good choice to tote around since it's relatively small and comprehensive.



3. This book contains blurry reproductions of master drawings (Michelangelo, etc.), crudely executed original drawings, hard-to-read text, and at least one error in labelling. Better artistic anantomy books are out there. Three books come to mind: Paul Richer's Artistic Anatomy (from which some of the best drawings in Schider are taken), Eliot Goldfinger's Human Anatomy for Artists, and Stephen Rogers Peck's Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist.



4. I'm not amazed that this book is still in publication. I bought the first press back in 1981 while still a junior in high school on the advice of Joe Kubert to study anatomy. It still sits in my reference today. The wealth of information that it contains should make this book cost more. The plates from Leonardo, the hand section, the muscle groups,on and on and on. This is the must have. You will not be disappointed.



5. I bought this book almost ten years ago for a drawing class I took. I still use it today for reference. This book has to be the most useful book I ever bought while I was a student. I have never gone back to my math or science books. But I always go back to this book. Buy it you won't regret it.

2 comments about Come Look With Me: Exploring Landscape Art With Children (Come Look With Me Series) (Come Look With Me Series).

1. All types of art and artists with questions to start conversation about the piece. Great for the elementary age.



2. I am a docent at an art museum and the goal is to get children develop a love of art. This book is exactly what will assist a child to enjoy art.

2 comments about Color Workbook (2nd Edition).

1. I'm currently a Color Theory student at Savannah College of Art & Design, and was required to pick this exspenive book (not even hardcovered), but I didn't mind. This book has turned out to be the most interesting and fascinating piece of material I've read in my life. It deeply explores both the additive (RGB), subtractive pigment (RBY), and subtractive process (CMY) theories without coming off dry at all... written very much for the average person. Even moreso, the big plus is that it sets aside an ample space for discussing the additive theory in regard to computer apps such as Photoshop and Illustrator, great for me, since I'm a Visual Effects major.
   
   Yes, it's a tad exspensive, however you will not be dissapointed!



2. This was a truly remarkable book, well organized, well laid out. The activities are very creative and informative. It helped me understand the posibilities of color.

3 comments about The Kids' Multicultural Art Book: Art & Craft Experiences from Around the World (Williamson Kids Can! Series).

1. This is another excellent art book in the "A Williamson Kids Can! Book" series. I have several in the series, all of which have provided me many ideas for my students' art projects. I have used this particular book least however, because the projects are more complicated than the other books, and require more adult intervention, especially with younger children. It's advertised as for ages 4-8, but for children to work more independently, I recommend most projects as suitable for ages 7-13.

   Materials include paper, aluminum foil, yarn, salt dough, yarn, popsicle sticks, mud, paper plates, papier mache. There are recipes included for the papier mache and salt dough. The projects represent the following cultures: Native American, Latin American, African, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese. None are very authentic, but are good simulations of arts from these cultures, and can enhance cultural studies, or be done just for fun. One project I have returned to several times because of it's ease to do, and because of its attractive artistic results is the Guatemalan Wild Cat.




2. This is another excellent art book in the "A Williamson Kids Can! Book" series. I have several in the series, all of which have provided me many ideas for my students' art projects. I have used this particular book least however, because the projects are more complicated than the other books, and require more adult intervention, especially with younger children. It's advertised as for ages 4-8, but for children to work more independently, I recommend most projects as suitable for ages 7-13.

   Materials include paper, aluminum foil, yarn, salt dough, yarn, popsicle sticks, mud, paper plates, papier mache. There are recipes included for the papier mache and salt dough. The projects represent the following cultures: Native American, Latin American, African, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese. None are very authentic, but are good simulations of arts from these cultures, and can enhance cultural studies, or be done just for fun. One project I have returned to several times because of it's ease to do, and because of its attractive artistic results is the Guatemalan Wild Cat.




3. This is a wonderful book with a range of easy to more complicated crafts for children from 4-8. We have done a number of the projects in here and not only do my children enjoy them, but they get some exposure to cultures outside of their own. There are suggestions for changing the art projects to incorporate more creative impulses as well. It's the one craft book I keep returning to because the ideas are so interesting.

3 comments about The Drawing Book: A Survey of Drawing : The Primary Means of Expression.

1. Great selection and themes. Printing and layout are excellent. Significant pull quotes draw you in. The broad range of contributions is unusual in today's world of art stars and the system that supports it. An attractive and substantive addition to a library.



2. A great read and welll bound solid reference book. Tempted to give 5 stars but a personal quirk is that I was looking for more images less text, so rating is more about me than the book.



3. The weighty set of examples packed into THE DRAWING BOOK: A SURVEY OF DRAWING: THE PRIMARY MEANS OF EXPRESSION should deter no real artist: it provides an outstanding gathering of works by artists, architects, sculptors, filmmakers and more to demonstrate the versatility of drawing. Add essays by curators Kate Macfarlene and Katharine Stout and art writers Charles Darwent and you have an in-depth survey through five artistic themes - measurement, nature, the city, dreams, and the body. It's the color plates which stand out here, as silent testimony to the range of expression drawing can bring to each theme and thought.
   
   Diane C. Donovan, Editor
   California Bookwatch

3 comments about Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age.

1. Nice range of examples categorized by how they look. An example is "ornate, curlique, sinuous". More a look book reference than a topic/subject reference. Examples include books, posters, ads, CD/DVD, web designs...all using art with a human touch.



2. Handwritten is a history lesson and an inspiration piece, breaking into a series of successive styles from polished to grunge. The exploration is seemingly complete, and as the above commentor wrote, will inspire you to pick up a pencil and sketchbook, and have at it.



3. Heller and Ilic's book is a collection of (in my opinion, and theirs), exemplary work in the world of graphic design in which the "handwritten" has been implemented in the artists' works.
   Examples range from magazine covers, traditional advertisements, film festival posters, album covers, book covers and other media/art. There is a wide range of styles covered, and though there is not a lot of text that accompanies each featured piece, the descriptions of the work are insightful to how (in the opinion of the authors) the text/design work, and in what ways. For instance, the authors comment on one poster which used a childish scrawl saying, "Scrawl is most effective when located with a generous helping of negative space, as is portrayed elegantly in this poster etc.etc."
   Though you might not agree with their observations, you will most definitely get something valuable out of your disagreement, wether it is a better sense of your own visions and style/likes/dislikes.
   
   All in all, this book is worth the money. It is bound to inspired you to break out a pencil and your sketchbook again.

No comments about Collections of Nothing.