5 comments about The Art Nouveau Style Book of Alphonse Mucha.

1. The Art Nouveau Style Book is exactly what it says; many examples of Art Nouveau style over a broad range of uses, from wallpaper to silverware, chandeliers to posters. There are other books available which cover Mucha's posters, or life drawings, exclusively. This book instead gives us a broad overview of Art Nouveau as a style.



2. This is a reproduction of Mucha's portfolio "Documents Decoratifs" which is a lovely selection of Mucha's work. It includes not only many nude women and flowers (which one would expect) but also designs for furniture, silverware and lots of jewellery. If your looking for a source of information on Mucha this is not it but if you just want to gaze lovingly at a wide selection of his work you will adore this book.



3. Hey it just does'nt get any better than this for me! The Man is just one of my favorites Artists. What can I say?



4. This is one of the books of Mucha; how can I complain? His distinctive art style, that nearly defined all of the known conception of Art Neuveau(curse my bad spelling), is on full display. The flowing designs of Mucha have stood the test of time. His art is loved by art-traditionalists and my punk-music loving buddies and proves true art is loved by all.



5. mucha was great....i laughed,i cried,i saw excessive yet tasteful amounts of nudity...lets hear it for the slav epics.....and his nudie girls....that crazy slavic painter....he studied at nyu....i think....with whistler?.....lots of nudies....worked from photos,loved photos....this book reflects muchas artwork by showing pictures of it....guns and roses.

5 comments about How to Draw Cartoons for Comic Strips (Christopher Hart Titles).

1. Christopher Hart has truly done an excellent job with this book. Filled to the rim with illustrations, techniques, explanations and inside information, if you've ever wanted to learn about humorous illustration or cartooning, put this on your list. You'll be glad you did. :o)



2. Great book. He displays how to cartoon men, women, children, elderly and many types of animals. He does it in an extremely visual way that even a child could follow along. This book is packed with 95% illustrations and 5% text. To me, that's a winner. The 5% text that is in there is invaluable. The print is nice and large and easy to read. I am very happy I bought this book. It is a keeper.



3. From the beginning of this book to the end, it is filled with (finally) basic, step-by-step instructions on drawing cartoon people, body parts, the "action line", body language and style. And then it starts all over again with animals! Mostly dogs, cats, and different fowl, it also includes less common animals, like beaver, porcupine, raccoon and many sea animals. Can't forget the great alligators and dragon. Finally, the book spends time on placing the characters, reference lines and specialty shots and the all-important "balloon". Another great one by C. Hart. I think I own most of his books and they are all worth great merit, better than the other books I've seen out there by far.



4. A few years ago, on a whim, I decided to start drawing. I didn't know where to begin so I bought this book. I really believed I couldn't draw. The techniques in this book were so easy to learn that soon I went from drawing stick figures to expressive cartoon characters. My confidence went up and I took on more complicated projects. Now, I work part-time doing illustrations and it all started here!



5. This is an excellent book for any beginning artist or anyone else wanting to learn cartooning. Chris Hart publishes some of the best books on art that I've ever seen. This book gives good details on drawing that is easy to follow and understand. All in all, this is one book that should be in every artist's library.

2 comments about Contemporary Color.

1. This book is packed full of useful information, and is laid out in an easy-to-read interesting way. I actually look forward to reading assignments in the class this textbook is for!



2. I found this to be an ecellent book on the subject of color and it's relationship to the art, graphic, and design world.
   I would have loved to have taken the course which uses this book as their study guide art the Art Institute of Tampa, but they only deal with Degree seeking students.
   You will find it very relative to the use of color in the Art, Graphic, and Design areas, especailly in the practical use of color in the real world.

5 comments about The R. Crumb Handbook.

1. R. Crumb just may well be the most honest observer of the American scene of our generation. Since the mid-60s he's been looking at us and himself and putting his findings on paper. His eye has shifted focus several times over the past 50 years: early, cute satire; greeting card stuff that frequently was too risque to make it into print; the zapped LSD-inspired hippie drawings that made him the "father of underground comix"; the sexual confessions that earned him the hatred of some feminists and got him blacklisted from libraries (see the librarian's review of this book); the social critic who deplores consumerism, agri-industry, mass media, the ratrace, and the worship of the Almighty Buck; the music afficionado who writes incredible stories about his favorite musicians and musical genre; the philosopher who speculates about life, sex, fear, fame, and death; and always the autobiographer, who plumbs and probes and fingers his own psyche.
   
   The R. Crumb Handbook is the latest chronological/autobiographical compilation of his work. It's a good companion volume to The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book, which came out a decade ago. Crumb apparently doesn't like putting these things together, and does so only when he needs some cash (the Coffee Table Art Book paid for putting central heating in his French house). But both books are fine introductions to Crumb's work for those who've just discovered him, and nice walks down memory lane for those who are longtime fans. The artwork is punctuated by short Crumb essays, as well as a few appropriate quotes from folks like James Kunstler, C.G. Jung, and Charles Bukowski. The Crumb essays are interesting, but not as detailed as those found in the Coffee Table Art Book. But the Handbook includes the fantastic CD of music recorded over a period of 30 years by Crumb and his music pals
   
   But there are some pleasant surprises in the hefty Handbook. There are several pages, for example, of "The Crumb Family," a strip co-authored by Crumb and Aline Crumb-Kominsky (pp. 218-229). It's absolutely hilarious, and exceedingly clever--which may be why the strip never made it to serialization. There are photos of Crumb-inspired tattoos--including one on a woman's firm tush--is it Aline's?--and of the life size statues of Devil Girl and Vulture Goddess Crumb sculpted in the 1990s. The Handbook also documents several European exhibitions of Crumb's work, including the one at the 1992 Angouleme comics Festival in France which featured a huge walk-in sized Crumb exploding head.
   
   For my money, though, the best of the latest stuff collected in the Handbook are the "philosophical reflections" on knowledge, personal identity, significance, and so on, with which Crumb filled his sketchbooks in the late 90s (pp. 370-390). They suggest a man who's beginning to feel his time running out and who wants to try to figure out a few things before the night closes in.
   
   One of the most touching--and revealing--illustrations in the Handbook is its final illustration in which Crumb lists the cartoonists and illustrators who've influenced him. At the very top of the list is his genius and tragic older brother, Charles Crumb, Jr.



2. A fascinating man talks about his life. Small format means the artwork is a little hard to read, tho.



3. Includes a great CD Sampler with some hard to find Cheap Suit Serenaders songs, along with some of R. Crumb's other bands. Worth the price for the disc alone, and you get a great book as a companion!



4. I'm not vouching for the viewpoints taken or the commentaries on our bizarre human condition and culture necessarily, but this thick book (with a great cd of original and funny music) with its outrageous take on everything sacred is an inspiring dig into an artist's convoluted (but somehow eerily solid) psyche. I first saw many of these strips and characters in underground comics, tabs, independent newspapers, etc. back when I was a teen in the 70's and always was amazed at the hard-hitting art and dialogue. IT IS A TRIP! Sometimes, when the right frame of mind is brought around, this book will have you laughing more than you can barely stand. Just flow with it and forget your rigid alter-ego at the coat check. This is theater for the insane (with strong metaphorical realism). TAKE IT FOR FOR WHAT IT IS! A WINDOW INTO THE MIND OF A TRUE ARTIST. Makes a great gift for the moral majority members of your local PTA.



5. Before I got this a few weeks ago, I didn't think much of Crumb in comparison to the other 60's underground cartoonists that I read of in a book called "rebel visions". But that tome contained skimpy explainations on the featured artists, and really only contained Crumb's more "commercial" (crappy) work. But this handbook, with extensive artwork, photos, and narration by Crumb himself is a different, and oddly uplifting critique of the media illusion, personal failure and triumphs, family values, and of being left handed-I know, I'm one of em'-yes, were all perverts, yes, were all useless people with a knack for genius, and yes, were all attracted to music, concepts, and culture that few people can possibly comprehend or appreciate. Read it for all the gory details! The CD is okay. The cartoons are hilarious.

5 comments about Designing Better Maps: A Guide for GIS Users.

1. This book addresses all major topics needed when considering what color to assign to a group of layers, which symbols and scales to use, how to annotate maps and how to complement maps with text boxes.
   
   It is well written so it's easy reading and does not require extensive background from other fields.
   
   Getting from here to there is simple enough by scanning the chapter index.
   
   Great reference for map designers, both beginners and experienced ones.



2. An excellent book, but a bit tedious. Gives the GIS user an excellent review of what makes a map visually useful. GIS users aren't necessarily the best cartographers and this can help them along



3. This book reviews the very basics of map design and hardly touches on cartographic representations. It is probably a good starting point for first timers to GIS and mapping, but for the average map maker/cartographer it is too rudimentary.



4. Since I am relatively new to the world of GIS Mapping, this book was an invaluable aid to designing more attractive maps. It's a beautifully laid-out book with lots of common-sense tips in it. Well worth the price!
   
   Linda Pierce
   Pray, Montana



5. If you analyze data and make maps, this is well worth the money.
   It helps if you use ArcGIS too....

No comments about Design Matters: Packaging 01: An Essential Primer for Today's Competitive Market (Design Matters).

5 comments about The Art of Halo.

1. My son wanted this book for a long time and loves to study the artwork. I like that it stimulates an interest in art. It shows kids theres more to the games than just the "play" factor.



2. This book clearly shows just how much time, energy, passion & love went into creating the entire world of Halo. The creation of the art work is simply stunning, if you enjoy glorious colour & unbelievable creative spirits, you owe it to yourself to get a copy of this book. Then as a added treat, check out on-line some of the HD trailers which are available, if your able, try to get copies on DVD & watch them on a large screen TV in full HD mode ... check your heart rate before & after ... if you don't have goose bumps & want to run out & buy a Xbox 360 & Halo 2 or 3 ... you may want to check your pulse. 5 stars out of 5 stars ... easy.



3. I was expecting this book to primarily be for displaying conceptual drawings and paintings created during the designing process of the games. There is some of that, but the book is mostly filled with images of the 'in game' 3d models used for the characters and still shots of the 3d environments. The actual conceptual drawings take a back seat. The paintings that are there are great, but why aren't there more?! Overall, I think a 3d modeler would enjoy this book more than a 2d artist.



4. This book was ok. I used it as a reference for building a replica armor set. Its got nice details and some good concept art. It only contains however images from halo 1 and halo 2. There are no halo 3 pictures, screen shots or artwork.



5. This has great artwork from the Halo Game Series. Very crisp and detailed - all on glossy print paper.

5 comments about Fashion Computing: Design Techniques And CAD.

1. This book was a huge disappointment. I am so lucky I purchased a different book to teach me Illustrator (Creative Fashion Design with Illustrator by Kevin Tallon). Tallons book actually has extensive step by step tutorials where Sandra Burke simply skims over her exercises.Many of her exercises don't even work corrently. One could never master Photoshop or Illustrator using this book.



2. Out of the 4 books that I have read so far teaching Adobe Illustrator this is the best - my graphics have improved immensely in the short time that I started using this book (and I'm only a third of the way through the book).
   
   The only downside is that with the update in Illustrator (CS 3) some of the instructions for Illustrator do not work and I have had to search through the Illustrator Help menus to download updated instructions.
   
   So the book needs a little updating, but generally I would recommend this book over others so far.



3. I have started using Illustrator software recently and this book have served a good support for flat sketching the garments for women,men and kidswear.Is also gives tips to prepare portfolio, but you already should know basics of how to use Illustrator programme. It is nicely illustrated book and one can get ideas. But again its a basic book and does not cover all the aspects of flat sketching.



4. Great book! Even if you are a complete beginner you will find this book an informative and useful resource. It gets you up and running quickly with really simple, step-by-step, illustrated techniques for fashion computing using current software.
   
   In my fashion design studio, we predominatly use CorelDraw, Illustrator and Photoshop, and found this book informative for each of these packages. It covers the basics - how to create flat drawings from vests, skirts, shirts, dresses to pants, and then moves on to producing mood and design boards, visualizing your design ideas using Photoshop. The section on creating a digital portfolio is also vital in todays digital world. Plus it covers womenswear, menswear and childrenswear.
   
   It is well illustrated with great examples of flats, illustrations and fashion presentations from illustrators and designers in the fashion industry and from top fashion schools and universities globally.



5. This book has great pictures of fashion illustrations and is helpful because it gives instructions for 3 different CAD platforms, but as far as giving explicite directions on "how to", I found it lacking in substance. It seems that the really great stuff in the book was still hand drawn,scanned in and manipulated a bit with Photoshop. If you are absolutely brand new to these programs and need help gettting started it might help you. For me, it will be more of a pretty book to look at once in a while rather than a reference for problem solving.

5 comments about Retro Graphics: A Visual Sourcebook to 100 Years of Graphic Design.

1. This is a very useful book on several levels. First, it covers in a succinct and clear manner the major design trends that have influenced a century of print design. Second - and even better - the book a first-rate "how-to-do-it" manual that dissects these designs and demonstrates how they can be an inspiration (or merely cloned if you're lazy) for contemporary graphic designers. Each major trend is explored through fonts, color choices, and tips on mimicking the graphics using software programs like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. A useful addition to your graphic design reference library.



2. Really nice book of historic graphic styles, and how-to's. Love this book. If you like retro, you'll like it.



3. This is a must have for anyone who needs a quick reference in graphic design history. While the book doesn't go into great detail in the explanation of the different movements and style it does provide a good reference for font styles, color palettes and important elements that makes the style unique. The book also includes a color coded time line at the beginning and each brief explanation is in chronological order.



4. I read some criticisms of this book by other reviewers stating that this book does not give any basic information on graphic design. I believe the title of the book describes exactly what this book was meant to provide, and in my opinion, it does just that. This is an overview of the various graphic design preferences throughout the decades, with color and layout choice examples from each time period. It was obviously not meant to be an extensive textbook on the history of graphic design, rather a sample book of the preferred styles throughout the 20th century, and basic information to recreate the "look" of a certain era.
   
   In this regard, I believe this book succeeds in what it set out to do, and I've found it to be well organized and attractive in its presentation.



5. I was looking forward to this book and after getting it, my first impression was not good. Then I sat down and read it. It is a great book to have, why?
   
   A lot of information and research went into the book but it is brief and to the point. Examples are very good. However, the real value of this book for me is font references, spot color, and simple techniques to mimic period posters. That alone is worth the purchase.
   
   However, the book is not a step-by-step tutorial on poster creation.

4 comments about Sea Life (Dover Pictura).

1. After lots of research looking for sealife images to do digital art work I finally came accross this book, it's great. All the images are included in a CD ROM along with the hard copy. High resolution (suit for professional use) vintage images of drawings, engravings and the like, color and BW, the selection is great, love each one of them, mostly fish but there's enough sea vegetation, and other creatures to choose from to create great under the sea compositions. A few years ago I was greatly inspired by Maggie Taylor's digital collage art and since then aimed to find the quality of vintage images she uses for her art and I found it in Pictura Series at least for the sealife group, I wish they published a bird book and one with domestic and forest animals like bunnies, beavers, cats, etc. I know if they do they'll have what I'm looking for, high quality, well selected images that will be a regular source of images to make great collages, digital art and much more.



2. This is the first in Dover's newest style of clipart books and using sea life imagery in this style is wonderful. The only negative issue on this book, is that I am convinced that some of the sea life, especially fish, are really more colorful than portrayed. Did the author use formalin-preserved specimens for his models? Nevertheless, the wide variety of ocean life pleased me and the images were beyond what I expected based on the other Dover clipart books I own. Congrats on a quality product.



3. I came across this book by chance since I have been looking for artwork with a sea life theme, but was unsuccessful in finding anything I liked in the stores. I bought the book based on the cover art although I had never seen the inside, I decided to take a chance and buy it. The book has over 280 high resolution color images which are in the style of vintage nature engravings and prints. Most of the illustrations are of fish, but other sea life as well such as squids, corals, anemones, eels, crabs, etc. The CD ROM is great and I have been able to print out high quality pictures that are suitable for framing. I'm more than pleased with the book and recommend it highly.



4. This book is full of drawings of fish and other sea life (but few sea shells). These are not photographs. The many, many fish are all colorful, and there are many that are funny due to having subtle facial expressions, or due to their other-worldly style. All print clearly. I've enjoyed using these CD images in making greeting cards, and in doing decoupage.