5 comments about Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic Treasure Hunting and Decorating Guide.

1. It is a lovely book, full of ideas and the photos are the best. I loved it!



2. Rachel Ashwell has grown 'Shabby Chic' from a decorating style to a big brand name. The ideas in the book are testimony to the fact that you do not need a lot of money to create a beautiful interior in your home. It is filled with gorgeous photographs to inspire the tentative home decorator into action. A lovely coffee table book that is beautiful to look at and filled with practical ideas that can help you create the look of luxury (minus the price tag that usually accompanies it). Full of terrific ideas for decorators with a limited budget who love comfort and style.



3. This is my favorite Shabby Chic book. It's full of beautiful pictures with the classic shabby chic look. The ideas are clean, feminine, vintage. Although it isn't shock full of written ideas, the inspiration from the pictures and captions was enough for me.



4. I find this book incredibly useful for tips in buying things, old and new, for my home. The handwritings in this book are readable, and I am not a native speaker! And it is interesting to see how Ms. Ashwell's taste and eye get more and more refined over the years. I appreciate work by other great interior designers like Jacques Grange and the late David Hicks and my style is not very much shabby chic at all. But for everyday living, I find Ms. Ashwell's advice to be adaptable and elegant. This book does not disappoint.



5. Ms. Ashwell continues to inspire me with great collecting and decorating tips. She actually shares her sources, which is refreshing.

2 comments about Delicious: The Art and Life of Wayne Thiebaud.

1. Kids in grades 4-6 will relish this colorful biography - just over a hundred pages in length - of one Wayne Thiebaud, an artist whose food paintings have come to represent not only food but 20th century American art as a whole. From gum machines and paint cans to stadiums, Thiebaud's art representations captured and depicted popular American culture, and DELICIOUS reviews his life, influences, achievements and art forms with an eye to exploring his lasting impact. Any library strong in colorful biographies for kids will find this a pick that lends to leisure browsing as well as report assignment.



2. An absolutely "delicious" study of a contemporary painter, how he makes art, and what art does, packaged in a wonderfully designed book that young people (and pretty much anyone else) will enjoy.

5 comments about The New Modern House.

1. It's fun to look at nice houses on the cutting edge of design and this book contains plenty of those. The downside is that you don't get to see each house in much detail and the book contains a number of concept houses that are just mock-ups and haven't been built.



2. I was somewhat disappointed as a current homeowner and builder of a new contemporary home, I (like many people) was trying to get ideas. This is more of a text book for architecture students, showing them the far reaches of art. Very little ideas could be had as far as conceptually and practicly speaking...



3. Me encanto este bendito libro ! Ya que se lo compre a mi pana full RICKY !! SI CHICAS RICKY !!
   
   
   2 meses mas tarde..... BEST SELLING BOOK OF THE YEAR !!
   
   JE JE .. kkkkkkkkk



4. Mr. Jones really needs to give his photographer a bonus because his images really make this book, not that the text is not well thought and out and researched. Most of these homes are just spectucular, I love the use of glass, steel, and rich woods, it's so clean and elegant. You really come away with a new appreciation of current architectural styles as you puruse this wonderful book. Frankly, I could not live in many of these homes, but all of them radiate beauty and inovation. Highly recommended, if for no other reason than to get some ideas for your own home, uh, but you better have some stock in Apple.



5. Contemporary and very different modern designs by top designers and firms are the profile of Will Jones' The New Modern House, which packs in color photos of all kinds of structures, from seaside homes to complex, multifaceted layouts for flat landscapes. Accompanying discussions survey architectural intentions and design options, but it's the photos which capture attention.

5 comments about Vietnam Zippos: American Soldiers' Engravings and Stories (1965-1973).

1. While reading this extraordinary and unique book it is obvious that Edwards put the time and effort into this project and Buchanan packaged it. Yet Buchanan seems to want all the credit. She alone is listed as the author, but what did she actually do? She wrote a distant and dry essay - well written no doubt, but what exactly is her relationship to this fascinating object called the Vietnam Zippo?
   
   Judging from the lively discussion below on this page, Buchanan was, in fact, the publisher with the power to manipulate the crediting. It appears that Edwards' role was greatly diminished and he was relegated to the person who just provided the collection. Apparently another sad example of an artist being taken advantage of - there must be a back story here and it probably isn't pretty. What a shame this situation is considering what a finely crafted book it is.



2. The Vietnam War had many facets for those who served in that theatre of military combat from 1965 to 1973. One of the unique memorabilia associated with the conflict were the Zippo brand cigarette lighters that were ubiquitous among the American troops. Drawing from the collection of Bradford Edwards, Sherry Buchanan (an independent scholar, author, and expert on both Asian and Vietnamese contemporary art, history and culture) has created "Vietnam Zippos", a volume of images of Zippo brand lighters used and personalized by members of the American armed forces. Zippos lighters were visible associated with the burning of grass huts as part of search-and-destroy missions, they were used as engraved symbols of social protest, and often became a kind of talisman for American GIs during their hazardous tours of duty in that increasingly unpopular conflict. Beginning with a Timeline that begins in 1965 and ends in 1990 (when Vietnam Zippos were sold to tourists at Saigon Street Stalls), "Vietnam Zippos" is a fascinating and specialized military cultural history that is a unique and recommended contribution to the growing library of Vietnam War histories, biographies, and scholarly studies.



3. A touching compilation of soldiers who served in Vietnam and the history of Zippos in the Army. Full of color pictures: numerous Zippos dipictaing pictures, unit slogans, witty banter, and more. A must read for anyone who wants to connect with history.



4. It is a shame and a pity that such an impressive book should reflect such a travesty in crediting. What does Ms. Buchanan have to do with the Vietnam Zippo? There is ample evidnce that it was the focus of Mr. Edwards' attention for many years. Yet he is relegated to a minor participant in the book itself! Anyone who closely examines the book can see the truth - it is self-evident. Apparently, Ms. Buchanan's massive ego overshadowed her sense of justice - she, as the publisher in fact, decided to not even share the authorship with Mr. Edwards. Othewise, it a near perfect book - striking graphic design - highest quality photographs - excellent essays and thorough research. Life can be unfair.



5. My hippie Dad loved it! He is a history buff and had not heard of this practice!

5 comments about Mad Man's Drum: A Novel in Woodcuts.

1. I've only recently come across the work of Lynd Ward.
   Originally published in 1930, Mad Man's drum is a true graphic novel, telling a story only through wordless woodcuts. [Rather than a collection of masquerading comic books bound between hard covers.]
   Every page of this graphic novel is a lesson in woodcut technique.
   I've always liked Dover books as publishers. Their books are well made and inexpensive. For 10 bucks or so, this one is a bargain tutorial for any wood-be woodcut artist.



2. I first saw this book when a friend of mine bought a first edition for two dimes and a nickel thirty years ago. I almost stole it from him! This is one of the most fascinating novels ever made. Lynd Ward was an absolute genius. He helped pioneer the graphic novel. The wood cuts are sublime and filled with detail. What wonderful compositions! What a story! I've read and reread this novel many a time and I seem to see something different in it (and myself) every time. I was delighted to see Mr. Ward's works republished in a paperback format that decently represents the original. Since the original hardback version can cost a fortune, it's nice to have this so I can give it to others and let them experience this magical thing. Check out his other woodcut novels too!



3. Lynd Ward's Mad Man's Drum is a graphic novel in the truest sense of the word; told through the use of 128 woodcut prints, and using no written text, Ward tells a story of obsession and the tragedy that can be a result of succumbing to that obsession.
   
   Given that there is no text, the reader must rely on the imagery and symbolism that is presented in each woodcut; therefore, I believe that each reader may take something different from the story. Perhaps I am not the person for this story, but it took me several "readings" to feel that I was beginning to come to an understanding of what was happening, and I still don't believe that I have a true grasp on all of the nuances of the story. This is why that I feel a true review of the story would almost be impossible for me to write.
   
   Mad Man's Drum was Lynd Ward's second graphic novel, and is an amazing piece of art; however, given that the drawings are all in black and white and limited with the amount of detail woodcut prints can offer, I found it difficult to follow the characters and what was happening in each frame. While the basic principle is easy to understand, I felt the subtle nuances of the story are lost somewhere in the telling. I give it three stars for the complexity of the project alone. Perhaps someone with a better understanding of the psychological symbolism and imagery would be better suited to this book.



4. the progression of the story was excellent, and it is great to see the origins of the popular graphic novel today!



5. "God's Man" (1929) was Ward's first wordless, illustrated novel. It was a hard act to follow: masterfully illustrated, articulate, and thought provoking. "Mad Man's Drum" (1930) tops that remarkable achievement. In it, Ward shows even finer skills in his demanding medium, more evocative imagery, and more baffling turns of narration. The result isn't just a pointless puzzle, but a starting point for an exploration in thought, the kind that rewards the reader no matter where it leads.
   
   The format is stark: one black and white image per page, for over 140 pages. The nature of woodcut, in the style used here, is that there are no greys. The black-and-white blacks are truly black, and whites blank white. Ward overcomes that with mastery of fine line, and with "gray" carefully modulated in their alternation. One scene, an optical effect of light streaming though a cathedral window, is simply mind-boggling.
   
   Dover has printed these images beautifully in dense darks on heavy, opaque paper. Part of the reason that this book has been so long out of print may be that the technology for doing justice to Ward's images has only just matured enough to make books like this affordable. Don't assume that low price means inferior reproduction - Dover has created (or recreated) a book truly worth having.
   
   //wiredweird

5 comments about Shenzhen: A Travelogue From China.

1. Let me just indicate that I am an avid fan of artist Guy Delisle's graphic novels and short stories. I have since purchased his newest book "Burma Chronicles" after reading his wonderful, insightful and caustic "Pyongyang", which details the bizarre, communist "hermit" nation of North Korea.
   
   "Shenzhen" by no means, was the author's first book of its kind, and the predecessor to "Pyongyang". In thisblack-and-white graphic novel, Delisle chronicles his stay in the province of Shenzhen, a region near other major cities in communist China, and the more liberal nations Hong Kong and Taiwan. Personally, I had high expectations for this book despite the somewhat mediocre reviews already up on Amazon. I bought it together with "Burma Chronicles" and read it as soon as it was shipped to me from America. As my first review on Amazon, it saddens me to give this book a 2 out of 5 stars.
   
   First of all, I must compare "Shenzhen" to Delisle's "Pyongyang", because expectations precedes my opinion of the book here. Where "Pyongyang" succeeded as a highly-intelligent, witty, satirical and insightful graphic novel (which this comic genre rarely does) about the absurdities of North Korean life under the dictatorship of Kim Jong-Il, "Shenzhen" does little to inform, to humour, or to intrigue the readers much. Delisle's Shenzhen travelogue merely focuses on his personal boredom, alienated state of being as a foreigner whom knows nothing about the Chinese culture and way of life as he does his job as an animator consultant in an outsourced studio (which does animation series for TV). Through his drawings, narrative boxes and speech bubbles, we are brought into a totally new environment of China and the way of life of the Chinese people as Delisle interacts with his people from various businesses, from strangers, as well as fellow colleagues, along with translators helping and following his footsteps. However, this merely brings us a glimpse into the China culture through a foreigner's eyes, from how some Chinese food is revolting to him, to how a public toilet (arranged in 2 columns of squats with no form of barriers at all) ludicrously resembles an altar of sorts. Personally, most of these "glimpses" are interesting, though trivial. They aren't really superficial per se, but it all seems too spontaneous, and at times frivolous. At one moment in the book, Delisle himself even admits that "[he] keep[s] at [writing] without real conviction. Going in circles in a hotel room, even if it is in China, doesn't seem like the kind of trip anybody would want to read about." First of all, although he may be plain honest about his disparate connection with the Chinese' way of life here, but to admitting it would nonetheless be disengaging himself with the enticing readers. Secondly, Delisle deviates from the main setting of his story as he makes occasional trips to Canton (Guangzhou) and Hong Kong. Instead of making explicit, tangible comparisons between these supposedly more democratic and liberal nations with China, he bragged about how bored he was in Shenzhen and makes flippant comments and jokes about how he enjoyed his shopping spree in Hong Kong.
   
   There are no specific chapter divides in "Shenzhen", except each segment begins with a full-page, realistically rendered drawing of some random building or skyscraper under construction, before moving on to his different sojourns and trips to various locales in Shenzhen. As compared to Delisle's follow-up "Pyongyang", which details much more about the draconian, authoritative control that is exerted on the North Korean people, from the robbing of their liberty, to the disparate class of wealth between the elites and peasants in the communist nation, "Shenzhen" does nothing significant of this sort. Like "Shenzhen", every chapter in "Pyongyang" begins with a full-paged drawing of places/monuments (such as the Juche Tower or the emblem of the Marxist-Communist party), but it further serves the purpose of revealing, one after another, interesting facets of the plight of the N. Korean people and its deplorable culture and practices. Again, "Shenzhen" does nothing of this sort.
   
   The drawings in "Shenzhen" are mostly etched with charcoal, along with other varied styles such as ink or scanned pictures from real sources to represent different times and situations. Most of the charcoal drawings however appear somewhat skimpy and sparse, and often messy, which is inherently different from "Pyongyang", which is more clean, neat, consistent and candid. Perhaps, this adds to Delisle's treatment of the city as one that is blighted or heavily polluted.
   
   As a Singaporean Chinese (not China-Chinese) who knows how to speak Mandarin, also, it is somewhat offensive for Chinese readers like me to detect the incongruity in the speech bubbles of the Chinese characters depicted in his book. Delisle, to his convenience, chose to inscribe nonsensically-pieced words picked from god-knows-what passages that absolutely make no meaning at all, at least to readers who knows Chinese. To English and other foreign readers, this is an otherwise trivial note, and one which adds to the obliviousness of Delisle's experience in China and his blatant disregard for the Chinese audience and language.
   
   In short, "Shenzhen" offers a fresh but limited perspective of life as a foreigner in China. For this reason, along with an identical price tag to the successful book "Pyongyang", I had expected more from Delisle, and was highly disappointed in the end. I hope his latest work "Burma Chronicles" does more, like "Pyongyang", to reveal more interesting facets of life and culture under authoritative regimes, and not fall into the trap of bemoaning about his boredom or alienation, or detail flippant activities and non-enticing monologues.



2. Deslisle spent three months in southern China working for an animation company. During that time, he ate at some of the same places over and over, didn't learn any Chinese, and took one sight-seeing trip to Hong Kong. While Shenzhen isn't the easiest place for a foreigner to fit in, Delisle doesn't make much effort to learn the culture and frequently laments that he's "bored." If you've been to China, though, you'll laugh with recognition at many of his observations. As the lead character in this autobiographical work, he's a bit too passive to be engaging unfortunately.
   
   Guy Delisle is a gifted artist and animator, but the artwork in "Shenzhen" is not as clean as one would hope for. It's rendered with a chalk or pastel, and can sometimes be unclear. It works, though, because it reflects the confusion and uncertainty that he feels in China.
   
   At the end of the day, three months (or 150 pages of a comic book) is a brief and unsatisfying look at a country as complex as China. I would recommend this to travelers who have been to China, but there are more in-depth looks at the country for those unfamiliar with it.



3. I have read both Delisle's travelogues, Shenzhen and Pyongyang. Pyongyang was on enigmatic North Korea and interested me even purely because so few information come out of that country. To be able to see (weird) North Korea from a regular traveler's standpoint (even though Delisle was on a work assignment, which he was again at Shenzhen) was curious and very refreshing. On the other hand, Shenzhen, while Delisle's keen attentions to cultural details still shine through his wonderful drawing, somewhat lacks that curiosity factor. The story is filled with more of the portrayal of his loneliness in a foreign land, where he can hardly communicate with anyone. I feel Shenzhen is a sort of a more realistic version of the movie "Lost in Translation." The book still receives a very high mark for its artistic value, but if I were to choose only one between two of Delisle's travelogues, it has to be Pyongyang.



4. This is an absorbing traveller's tale which I began reading late at night and couldn't go to bed before finishing. Not only didn't I find it boring but I disagree with most of the criticisms in Thy Tran's review. Firstly, Delisle made it clear that he tried hard to converse with and get to know his translator but received no encouragement, which he found quite disheartening. The incident where they only begin to talk a short while before he leaves, when the formality and apparent awkwardness inherent in their situation fall away and parting is suddenly close at hand, is entirely true to life and happens to all sorts of people both within and across cultures. Also, Delisle obviously tried several places to eat and a variety of dishes with varying success and for him to settle on reliable favourites, as a semi-permanent resident, is quite natural. We all do it both at home and abroad while keeping our curiosity and options open. It seems to me that Delisle does all this in an understandably human way and I cannot see how this reflects badly on his attitude. He is obviously frustrated by many things and makes no bones about it, but he remains curious about the world he finds himself in and tries to find a way into it through the thing he knows and loves best, drawing - and by seeking out the work of Chinese artists that he has a powerful response to. I also fail to see any of the stereotyping that Thy Tran seems to infer from the book and on another flick through it I cannot readily see any of the "buckteeth" he finds so annoying. Like Delisle's "Pyongyang" this is a highly enjoyable and very human book and I recommend it.



5. I first came to Shenzhen a year or two after Delisle spent his three months in the city, and I have been here since. Mr. Delisle should have gotten out a bit more and tried to get to know more expats at least, although understandable because his time was limited. There's no reason for a dull moment here. Nevertheless, many of his observations were spot on and made me chuckle about how things were and how some are still the same. The physical city has changed and it is so much easier to live a life with the comforts expats expect. Likewise, the outlook of the people here is much more cosmopolitan than before--although there are still many moments of cultural disjunction.
   
   The inherent story of Shenzhen isn't as compelling as his book on Pyongyang, but Delisle has found plenty of observations that keep the book flowing fast. It's great snapshot of a city in the midst of a huge transformation. (BTW, that 15 story windowless building you saw once, but never saw again. It's a parking structure that is still around.)

2 comments about Look! Art History Fundamentals.

1. In the past, I have assigned either Barnett or Tucker for my undergraduate art history classes. I plan on switching to D'Alleva's text. Its lively, smart, and well written. Great references and bibliography as well.



2. This book is a well written book and I would recommend this book to any student or parent

5 comments about Van Gogh: The Complete Paintings (Klotz).

1. This single volume edition ISBN 3822812153 published in 2001 containing 740 pages was originally issued in two separate volumes. It contains all of the about 870 paintings comprising the artist's complete output, reproduced in full colour with just a few exceptions where for any of several legitimate reasons a colour picture is not available.
   
   It is an admirable effort, the quality of printing is superb, and the standard of photography in many instances is excellent showing the texture of the paint and brush work. In the case of the latter the paintings truly sing out from the page. The pictures are presented chronologically, which in itself is very revealing. The text is extensive and very informative, and being largely based on Van Gogh's letters makes truly fascinating reading and lends an intimate edge. It provides a background to the artist's life and his work and influences.
   
   I should mention a couple of points. Many of the reproductions are quite small, less than post card size, some considerably less; there are of course some half page and full page size too. The other point is that while the text and illustrations are fully integrated there is little if any relationship between the text and image on each page. When there is a reference in the text to a picture the picture is invariably to be found many pages apart. Of course with the pictures presented chronologically this was bound to be a problem; but would it then not have been better to separate the two completely. One could also argue for a larger page size, but a least at this fairly modest size the book is at least not unwieldy.
   
   That aside this is a splendid book; and one of the best surprises is that while there are of course many very familiar paintings here, the less familiar are by no means overshadowed by them; it is in fact a revelation to find so many superb yet relatively unknown works. Tremendous value, a book not to be passed over.



2. First off, I must point out that I did not read the English version of this, but the French one; since it's a translation, it should basically be the same.
   
   Taschen has the nice habit of making great books for comparatively very cheap prices; and that is once again the case with this collection of all Van Gogh paintings. The paper is top quality (glazed is it? I forget how it's called, but it's the same as you find in every other taschen publication) and the size of the book ensures a good view on the paintings.
   
   I had read 2 books relating Vincent's life, so when it came to read another text on him and his work, I already knew most of of the bulk of that artist's life; however, this wasn't redundant at all. The authors have interesting things to say and usually do so in ways that won't kill you with boredom (even if I sometimes don't agree with the theories proposed). Substantial citations from Van Gogh's letters are used there, which is good, since Vincent wrote a lot. The book does a good work of setting Vincent Van Gogh in context, letting us know what authors he read, and what kind of human being he was. And Vincent was a particularly wonderful human being in my opinion, something this book does not fail to show.
   
   Now as to the pictures of the paintings, what can I say? If you like Van Gogh's art, you'll like them. And even though you may not like everything he's ever done, it's worthwhile to have the whole thing to see the evolution of his art from a very dark and gloomy universe to a violently colourful one.
   
   I definitely recommend this book for everyone interested in knowing more about Van Gogh than the basics. The book is a beautiful object as well, pretty heavy, but very classy.



3. To those of us who have seen only some of van Gogh's paintings in international galleries this book, bringing together every painting that he did, and many drawings, is a constant source of pleasure and interest tempered only by regret that the artist received so little recognition in his lifetime and by his tragic end. The quality of the reproductions is high and the text gives a sensitive and scholarly review of his life, his work and his motives and makes considerable reference to his letters. It ends with a useful illustrated chronology of van Gogh's life. Because there are more paintings than text one is forced to turn pages, sometimes many, to find a painting referred to in the text but this is inevitable unless one is to have merely a catalogue, with comments, of his works. Walther and Metzger are to be congratulated on this fine work.



4. This is a very nice publication to have on your shelf. Van Gogh is an icon of Western culture and it is almost certain that you can call more than a few of his images to mind quite easily. What this provides is a greater context for those several images by providing what it calls "the complete paintings". I have no ability to say whether it is complete or not, but I can say that the vast number of paintings reproduced here provide a wonderful context and the images become more connected and make quite a bit more sense than they do in isolation.
   
   Are the color reproductions perfect? Of course not! Mechanical coloring cannot approach the vivid colors these paintings have in real life. I am always pleasantly surprised when I get to an art museum and see real colors up close and personal. Things are so wonderfully vivid! The texture of the surfaces is also fabulous to see in person.
   
   But a book can never be as brilliant as seeing the painting in person. However, for a few dollars you can survey a body of work you will never be able to see in a lifetime. So, it is a fair trade off. Just make sure you get to a good museum as frequently as you can to enrich you senses and your soul.
   
   The text accompanying the paintings is really very good. The problem is that is provided next to a painting by Van Gogh and one's eyes can barely stay on the text. I find myself drifting to every nearby painting and focusing on that more than what the editors are telling me about Van Gogh's life and work.
   
   Very much recommended. The binding, Paper or Hardcover is irrelevant for home use. Pick whichever you prefer and can afford. For heavy use, obviously the hardcover is the better choice.



5. I used this book to research the fascinating problem of the perceptual and spatial distortions in van Gogh's paintings, for which it was very helpful, so later I make a few comments on that for what its worth.
   
   I've seen dozens of books on van Gogh's art, and this one is one of the few on the market that contains his complete output. Although the book contains some commentary, for me the most important thing was the reproduction of the paintings. Of course, book plates can't do full justice to the original paintings, but for color plates these are pretty decent. Van Gogh often just squeezed the paint directly onto the canvass from the tubes without mixing them, so one way you can tell if a color plate of a van Gogh painting is good is to look at one that you know of where he did this and see if the colors look right, and if they're close to full saturation. If they look washed out or off in some way, you'll know they're not. But overall, I thought these were pretty good.
   
   As I said, I used this for some research, so I include those comments here for anyone who might be interested in some of the more technical aspects of van Gogh's paintings. However, you don't have to read them since they are pretty dry and technical :-).
   
   As Ernst Gombrich has shown, analyzing space in a picture is an extremely complex business. The fact that even sophisticated observers sometimes form mistaken impressions of a pictorial space is itself an interesting phenomenon and illustrates an important principle of the human visual system, which is that it is not very good at evaluating precise metrical relationships. If the space is so constructed that it is at least internally consistent, it may look realistic when it is not, and the space may even seem distorted when it is not.
   
   Considering the problem of the different recession rates for the objects in van Gogh's paintings, how do we account for these distortions? We could simply dismiss them as errors resulting from van Gogh's inability to paint perspectivally, but would be a mistake, for the following reasons:
   
   1) The magnitude and direction of the errors in the sizes of objects are consistent with known psychophysical mechanisms of size constancy.
   
   2) There is a strong shape constancy effect, and also (as John Ward has pointed out), such as in the two chairs and the pictures on the wall (in his Bedroom at Arles).
   
   3) Van Gogh's failure to map out an initial, precise, major metric eliminates the most important perspective cue for object scaling and thus permits the inherent constancy-scaling effects of the human visual system to surface.
   
   4) Although distorted perspectivally, the space is nevertheless internally consistent. This is to be expected from the operation of secondary size-constancy effects.
   
   5) The technique of squinting to enhance one's depth of field, which van Gogh is known to have used, would reinforce cues to size constancy by essentially putting the station point behind the artist.
   
   Points 4 and 5 require further discussion.
   
   As noted earlier, secondary size constancy is the tendency for the sizes of objects to correlate with other perspective cues. Even in a painting with a very poorly defined or no major metric (such as in van Gogh's Bedroom), most perspective errors are not random. If they were, the errors would occur in both positive and negative directions about some mean value and would therefore average out. This is rarely the case, however. Usually the errors show a consistent trend. This is because once a given direction and magnitude of deviation has been established, other cues tend to be altered accordingly for the sake of consistency. This can be seen in van Gogh's Bedroom where different objects show similar effects. Although the objects themselves show different vanishing points, the size effect is nevertheless the same.
   
   Van Gogh is also known to have used squinting in order to increase his depth of field. Doing this would cause both foreground and background objects to appear simultaneously more in focus and therefore would have the effect of putting the station point artificially in back of the observer. Durer illustrated a device to accomplish this in his treatise on perspective, but simply squinting strongly can produce a powerful effect of several feet.
   
   Schapiro, Heelan, and various other writers have commented on the sense of realism which van Gogh's paintings create in the viewer. But at this point we could ask why, if van Gogh's perspective space is in many ways so imprecise, we continue to see it as powerful and realistic? Partly it is due to the fact that although there are many spatial distortions present, the space is nevertheless consistent with psychophysical expectations and the distortions due to size constancy are of the proper psychophysical magnitude. This is perhaps to be expected given van Gogh's interest in objects and in the depiction of objects for their own sake. The result is that objects possess more autonomy in van Gogh's paintings than they would if he had taken pains to construct a unified perspective space and thus show appropriate psychophysical effects.
   
   The main reason, however, concerns a fundamental principle of mammalian visual systems. It has been demonstrated repeatedly in experiments that the human visual system is a poor detector of the absolute values of such things as brightness and distance. On the other hand, the visual system is very good at preserving relationships and relative levels of things. Our eyes, for example, throw away information about luminous intensity but conserve and even enhance information about relative brightness and contrast borders, as in the well-known case of Mach bands. This mechanism enables us to easily detect the outlines of objects under varying levels of illumination. In fact, the visual system is such a good extractor of lines that it creates them where they don't even exist or where they are only suggested, as in the well-known case of illusory and subjective contours.
   
   A similar phenomenon occurs in space perception. As I discussed earlier in this article, many experiments have shown that people rarely view paintings from the proper perspective point, and yet experience very little distortion in the perceived objects. This suggests that the visual system constructs an internal model which preserves the relations between the objects in a scene. When distortions occur, the visual system is capable of compensating internally for the perceived distortion. In practical terms, this means that the perspective may depart substantially, both quantitatively and qualitatively, from reality and yet be seen as realistic if it is not too greatly distorted and if the space is at least internally consistent.
   
   What all this shows is that artists are, in essence, perceptual problem solvers, or, as Rudolph Arnheim has said, "visual thinkers." Such a view is, I believe, preferable to the idea that the artist paints from some inexplicable or mysterious talent, or from some sort of abnormal psychology or pathology.

5 comments about The 20th Century Art Book (Phaidon).

1. this book has a really cool cover design but i found the art depicted inside extremely disturbing. do not look at this 'art' until you are familiar with the term dadaism. this is the opposite of art, 'anti art'. spend your money elsewhere.



2. it is a dictionary of the 20th century art,i can look through the artists and their work.



3. I bought this book as a supplimental text for my 20th Century Art History class and I'm so glad I did! It's a great book for anyone who's interested in art- or for those who hear an artist's name mentioned and wants to check that artist out. The fact that the artists are in alphabetical order makes this a very easy to use reference.



4. This is an interesting, informative and colorful book in very good condition.



5. A very useful and beautiful resource, this book has the added appeal of having taken the time to acquire writings with some very sensible, succint and honest appraisals of artist, genre, message and composition. All this family of books do likewise but with this book it seems so much more important to get that structure absolutley right, and they have.
   Like the other members of it's family it has an a-z approach and takes in a vast array of genres, suprising just how diverse 20th century art is. The only problem, as always, is that those on display have to be limited, so naturally some works and even some artists do not appear. I would not allow that to be off putting, this little family of books gets bigger by the year so I feel assurred that the unrepresented will not stay so for very long!

3 comments about Working Methods: Comic Creators Detail Their Storytelling And Artistic Processes.

1. This is a good book to buy if you're considering Sequential Art as a career.
   Briefly detailed, this book focuses on the working methods comic artists follow during a project.
   The book is fun. BUY IT.



2. The book has a great help in understanding how other artists go about creating their work. I have always been very interested to know how artists have their setup in the studio, and he book has provided beautiful pictures of artist's desk and studio space. Besides, I thoroughly enjoyed samples of artwork that include concept drawings to finished art.



3. Great read and informative.
   Many artist's draw and ink the same story but with their own perspectives.
   Many tips on working methods for comic artists.