No comments about Drawing Light and Shade: Understanding Chiaroscuro (The Art of Drawing).

No comments about The Humanities: Culture, Continuity, and Change, Book 6.

5 comments about Ed Emberley's Big Purple Drawing Book (Ed Emberley's Big...).

1. My son is seven and loves to draw, he loves this book, and uses it often!



2. The students in my art classes loved Emberly's books so much I had to get copies for the other art teacher's classroom!



3. I am now 26 years old but as a child, I had at least 4 of Ed Emberley's books and my mother would take my brother and I to the library to check out those we didn't have.
   I am an engineer but on my way to a degree in Product Design. My brother, while he got a degree in English, was a top student in his art classes. Both of us have used our love and talent for art as adults.
   The great thing about this book is that Ed gives you the basic pieces but encourages you to be creative and go beyond the book and make the drawings your own. Many other drawing books only show a specific technique or how to draw a certain object which is discouraging and makes people believe that art has to look a certain way. When the truth is, art is what you like and what you make it to be.
   I believe that creativity is crucial and to be encouraged in our youth. I spent hours and hours with Ed's books. They are great for car and plane trips. You couldn't get us to stop making our own worlds on paper!
   Shove the computers, handheld games, and game boxes aside and put this in front of your children instead.



4. I bought this book for my 9 year old step-daughter. She loves art and drawing. I also got the Ed Emberley book of animals, which is great. This book seems cluttered and the drawings are much more difficult. The reading level says 9-12, but I'd say its the upper end of that range.



5. Another great Emberley book teaching how to draw by using simple geometric shapes to build anything from pandas, poodles, robots or even intricately detailed pirate ships.

5 comments about Batman Animated.

1. What a visially stunning book. Bruce Timm's artwork is sensationally brought to the reader through Chip Kidds fantastic use of photo design. This book thoroughly examines the behind the scene design concepts of Bruce Timm and Paul Dino and company with insightful reading on how they got to create one of TV's best animated series. A valuable piece of work collecting wonderfully laid out illustrations. Highly recommended for the curious and pure fans of the Batman character.



2. A very good buy, i was waiting to have this book in my hands for a long time and i finally have it, it's just excellent for those who love the batman animated series and animation. It has a lot of tips and information "behind the scenes" of the series.
   very recomendated, the only bad thing is that it was the only book this kind, i'm still waiting for something similar but of justice league and batman beyond.



3. "Batman: The Animated Series" was one of the most revolutionary and influential cartoons ever created. This book, written by B:TAS writer/producer Paul Dini, is an essential look into the creation and phenomenon of the series. While a little slim on actual reading, what is there gives you that most coveted "behind-the-scenes" info on what it took to make "Batman". (For another perspective on the show's creation, check out the "Modern Masters: Bruce Timm" interview book.)
   
   The real meat of the book lies in its visuals: photos, line art, animation cels, background keys, licensed toys, etc. The layout of these materials seems a bit haphazard (for being done by the "design-god" Chip Kidd), with captions sometimes hard to correlate with their images and numerous fold-out pages (which I really don't care for). However, the sheer number and quality of images is amazing, and some of the full-page renderings of production key art is breath-taking. I question some of the image choices in the character-design section, particularly the villians. But, again, there's a lot of ground to cover here and the quality and quantity of pictures is overwhelming.
   
   The book was published before Batman Beyond and Justice League, so the ending comments might seem a little off. Still as a retrospective on the "B:TAS", you can't ask for much more. This would have been a 5 star review, if only there'd been a little more reading and a bit less visual confusion.
   
   Bottom line: Love "Batman: The Animated Series"? Buy this book.



4. Who best to write a book about this justifiably award-winning animated series than one of the series writer/producers--Paul Dini (who wrote one of my favorite episodes--"Heart of Ice")? And with graphic designer Chip Kidd involved, you have a book that looks great on the coffee table. The best word I can use to describe this book is "thorough." It contains superlative art in full color, storyboards, character designs, in-house memos, licensed products, an episode guide from the animated series, plus great information on why the series was created, why the censors said no to certain aspects, as well as facts about the movies based on the series (SUBZERO, MASK OF THE PHANTASM). My only complaint is that the book isn't longer. But that's not the authors' fault. They put together such a great book, you'll want as much insight into the creation of this series as you can get (like a good DVD provides). And these guys deliver! This is a great "backstage" look for fans of the series.



5. I really was blown away by how meticulously put-together this book was. Besides the animation being great, this documentive source included everything from the episode guide title cards, merchandise (including ice cream and bubblegum cards), storyboards, character concepts, and a hell of a lot more! It also includes a great photo of Bruce Timm's drawing desk- complete with all the references he uses such as G.I. Joes & knick knacks. Color photos are adorned throughout, but besides that, there are also great stories of what the animation department went through with the head leaders of Warner Bros. There is even a charicature drawing that includes everything that the animators were restricted to draw (a nude, smoking Catwoman, a boozin' Joker, Batman strangling his foe, etc- it's really a treat!)
   Even if you've had the misfortunate of not being familiar with this cartoon series, owning this book will make you realize how much effort is needed to create something this vast, and how much more we need to practice to ever reach this level!

No comments about The Human Spirit, Volume I.

5 comments about Swedish Room (Creating the Look).

1. This is a great book! Specially for a novice in Swedish style. The pictures are really beautiful and the description is very detail oriented. Also the way the author use of the history and phsysical location of the different periods make a difference when being introduced to something new. A definetly A+!



2. I was looking for a more real world book on Swedish interiors, i.e., color palettes, decor ideas, etc. This book depicted lavish, extravagant rooms that would be more in keeping with very high-end decorating. If I had a castle, perhaps....
   
   Wonderful photos of truly beautiful rooms, indeed, but the uptopian flavor of the book matched its price, so rather than keeping it on the shelf, I returned it.



3. The cover and the look-inside-glimpse do not do this book justice att all. It's not all that rural and folksy, but has wide range of interiors from palaces, mansions, farms and cottages. The in-put from Italy (and later France) was huge in the days when Sweden was a major European power in the 17th century. The book moves on into the Gustavian era of simple elegance and continues to regency and the summer-houses that became popular in the 19th century. A very well illustrated book with excellent photos.



4. Beautiful book, well researched and written with carefully selected and beautiful photos. A must have for anyone interested in Gustavian interiors and the homes that contain them. The interiors selected for this book are the relatively simpler ones with soft color schemes and a cleaner, pared-down look - ones more acceptable to contemporary tastes - rather than the gilded neoclassical palaces of the same period. If you are interested in the more palatial interiors of the same period I recommend: Neoclassicism in the North, Swedish Furniture and Interiors 1770-1850 . I noticed in browsing through this book, that a number of the interiors selected for inclusion in The Swedish Room are actually the simplest rooms in otherwise grand palaces.
   A very pleasing selection of interior views overall and much better than Barbara Stoeltie's similar book, The Country Houses of Sweden.



5. I have found this book a constant inspiration when considering the Swedish style in general and Gustavian in particular.

   The photos and colours are excellent. The text begins by being historically interesting and illuminating but becomes unfocussed and then banal. The translation is awkward in parts. Still the information is superior to the commonly gushy interior design style.

   Although there is a section on contemporary versions of the classic Swedish styles, it remains primarily an homage to the original rather than an illustration of an inventive combination.

   Nonetheless, an excellent reference book.

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

5 comments about Marc Chagall: 1887-1985 (Special Edition).

1. This book on Chagall is a steal for the price. The illustrations are lush and the text is very readable.
   
   I knocked off a star because I would rather the book was more comprehensive, even if it meant paying more. Still highly recommended though.



2. After viewing the book I ordered for my husband, he and I loved it so much, I ordered another for my sister-in-law who also absolutely loved the pictures and stories about one of our favorite artists. It makes a great gift for any Chagall fan.



3. This book collects some of Chagall's works, mostly paintings, but also mosaics, stained glass windows, and the ceiling of the Paris opera (stunning), into sections describing different parts of his life and career.
   
   The text was intersting and illuminating in very few words, which was good, because that left more room for full-color plates of Chagall's brilliant works! I could just stare at each one for many minutes and get more out of it with each minute! The man was a genius. And the plates are pretty high-quality, so it's easy to really enjoy them.
   
   The only reason I did not give this book five stars was I thought it was a little short, considering the scope of Chagall's work. It would be difficult, indeed, to produce a book that would be completely comprehensive, and maybe the author had a page limitation because of the series he was writing for, but I sure would have liked to see more works presented.
   
   I have some other books on Chagall in the queue: one on watercolors and gouaches, and two books of lithographs. I'll report back on those once I've read and gazed at them.



4. I'm not sure what this other reviewer is talking about, it has to be for another book and it ended up here. This isn't really a "book" it's just a bunch of stickers. They're nice stickers though - little reproductions of some of Chagall's artwork. Pretty high-quality as far as stickers go.



5. This is the most wonderful book about Chagall I've ever seen. The colorful and beautiful illustrations made me so exciting. The colors are fantastic compared with other books about Chagall. I recommend this book for any Chagall fan confidently. Though it has something to be desired because of being written in Spanish instead of English, this is only for you!

No comments about History of Creativity in the Arts, Science & Technology: Pre-1500.

No comments about New Media Design (Portfolio Series).