5 comments about Books, Boxes & Portfolios: Binding, Construct and Design, Step-By-Step.

1. Books, Boxes & Portfolios: Binding, Construct and Design, Step-By-Step
   Not bad as a reminder for teachers and those not fully educated as a bookbinder. Serves as a reasonable text book. Expected better, but has some good hints.



2. I have done several bookbinding and box-building projects, and have looked at a number of books on the subjects. This is the best introduction I have seen. I wish I had had it when starting out.
   The language is clear and effective. The illustrations (mostly drawings) are also clear and effective. There is a helpful listing of the tools needed. All are simple hand tools, and none are particularly expensive. The suggested materials are currently widely available. If you are thinking of doing a bookbinding project, and have no experience, this book is highly recommended.



3. Ridiculously poor illustrations largely consisting of simple line drawings that have the appearance of third generation photocopies.



4. The book I ordered was brand new and I saved so much from the retail price! The best part was that it qualified for free shipping and it came within 4 days!! What a surprise that was! I have to say that I am extremely delighted to use amazon and this seller.



5. Thorough and practical. Every hand bookbinder needs a copy of this classic work.

4 comments about Art, Skateboarding and Life (Book & 2 DVDs).

1. Raw art striaght from the sk8 life. This is a collection of what many skateboarders [who are actually artists] think about. Well worth exploring. Nicely wrapped.



2. One of the most creative individuals in Skateboarding. This book is a MUST HAVE for anybody who have ridden a skateboard. And there are 2 dvds as well, with classics from New Deal. (The only thing missingis the music)
   
   Thanx Andy!
   
   Øyvind K. Svendsen
   Norway



3. this book will take you hours and hours to get through. between the texts from Howell and guests such as dave kinsey, tony hawk and shepard fairey and the thousands of images there's just an amazing amount of skate culture crammed into one book.



4. This guy started out pretty cool, but then proceeded to market a cool culture that he was a part of to corporations so they could exploit kids with heart, exploit our skate culture, in turn he could make some dough. the definition of a sellout.

5 comments about J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator.

1. This important book reveals another dimension to Tolkien that remains obscured by his monumental storytelling. Tolkien was gifted with a many-sided creativity, as most artists are, and his visual creativity casts as vivid a vision of re-enchantment as his written work.



2. This book is much better than I thought it would be. Mostly I was curious to see more of Tolkien's art, but the text that goes along with it is wonderful. Christopher Tolkien asked the authors to write this book to showcase his father's art, and they do a wonderful job of describing the pictures, pointing out details that I missed, and putting them in context of when and where and why Tolkien drew them. Several versions of the same pictures are shown so you can see how Tolkien worked through a problem until he found the best final product. Plus the inspirations for some of the pictures are also shown, to show that Tolkien copied others sometimes, but in the end put his own mark on it. By copied, I don't mean plagarized. He drew his eagle from a book of birds to make sure he got it right, or was inspired by other artists particular works. Highly recommended if you are a Tolkien fan. If you are just into art and not a Tolkien fan, then I don't think this will interest you.



3. This book is a great way to collect some of Tolkien's best works of art and to get a glimpse behind the scenes of one of the greatest literary figures of the 20th century. Highly recommended.



4. Lleno de ilustraciones color, y algunas en blanco y negro. Me gusta porque es lo que Tolkien imaginó para sus obras... eso es lo que lo hace más hermoso. Además demuestra que Tolkien era un alma muy sensible, amante de la naturaleza, y esto se refleja no solo en sus libros sino también en sus dibujos. Me gustaría que estos dibujos estén incluidos en sus obras, no solo los dibujos de otros artistas. Hermoso, hermoso, para todos los admiradores de Tolkien.



5. This book features many of Tolkien's ink, watercolor, pencil, and colored pencil works. The detailed descriptions of each drawing include history, explanations, and dates. Quite a few maps are included, as well as illustrations for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It is wonderful to see how Tolkien imagined Middle Earth and its inhabitants. The colors he used are very earthy and lovely.
   
   My favorite drawing in this book is "End of the World" done in pencil and colored pencil on a sheet of notebook paper - you can actually see the lines of the paper. It is so simple; yet, the story it tells includes subtle intricacies and complexities similar to those in his writings. I also love the pencil and colored pencil drawing, "The Tree of Amalion," which obviously blooms with the flowers of Tolkien's imagination since they do not resemble traditional flowers. Finally, the hand drawn Christmas cards are beautiful mini-stories with dancing bears and penguins, and Father Christmas making deliveries.
   
   This book is truly exquisite, full of details and surprises for those of us who didn't know Tolkien was an extremely talented artist. It is a worthwhile purchase in my opinion.
   
   J.H. Sweet, author of The Fairy Chronicles

3 comments about Summer Moved on.

1. This collection of erotic male art by Michael Breyette is simply beautiful and a must have for your coffee table! He is truly a uniquely gifted artist and this comes to life in every page of "Summer Moved On.



2. I discovered Michael Breyettes work a few years ago. He quickly has become one of my favorite American artists. What is it about Michaels work that is so great. One word. Realism. Michael's art speaks volumes. Whether it's a glance or a stare, a day at the beach, a memorable encounter or a fantasy, Breyettes work stirs many emotions within you. I should say that those emotions are always pleasurable. What also comes through Michael's art is the man himself. I have yet to meet him, but have had many online dealings with him. He is a very personable, easy going guy. He answers his own emails. His "realism" shines through.
   Buy this book. You won't be disappointed.



3. This is an amazing collection of high quality male erotic art work. Michael's eye dor detail comes through in each of his pictures along with his deep appreciation for the male form.
   
   Each piece in the book is unique and shows the bredth of his imagination and talent.

1 comments about Art Directors Annual 86 (Art Directors Annual).

1. it is a very good book about graphic design and advertising. I love looking at it but as for the dvd, it is very poor quality. The contents in the dvd is no problem, but the quality of vision is not good.

3 comments about Logo Savvy: Top Brand Design Firms Share their Naming and Identity Strategies.

1. Pages of information of how they come with names, ideas, and the ways they went about it.



2. I wasn't that impressed with the work in this book. Most of the copy is written by the agencies responsible for submitting their work to the publisher. It's hard to take away anything from this book, but at least it's put together well and would look good in your library.



3. Shares sketches, timeframes, and team sizes for the various projects -- very helpful -- along with the implementation across media. Great work.

No comments about The Essence of Perfume.

2 comments about Old-Time Halloween Illustrations CD-ROM and Book (Dover Electronic Clip Art).

1. This CD/book combo is fantastic. It contains most of the popular old-time Halloween drawings you see in the books of collectible postcards. I haven't even tried doing anything with the CD yet, the book is presented so beautifully. I have no idea if the pictures can be sized on the computer for different uses, but I would even be willing to play up and down with a copier if I had to.



2. i found this book to be exactly what i was looking for. many of the illustrations are found in other books, but you have the added bonus of the included cd. this is perfect clip art to use for mixed media collage and artist trading cards (atc's). with the cd, you can use the images in digital photo applications as well. i'm very happy with this purchase

5 comments about Halloween: Vintage Holiday Graphics (Icons).

1. Page after page of excellent and nostalgic Halloween images. Good quality images, if you love Halloween, you will love this little book.



2. Great product for those who need excellent graphics for their art work. Highly recommend it.



3. I was expecting this book to not only show vintage graphics but also a description of each graphic, but to my dissappoitment it does not include any text. Also, the binding cuts off a lot of the pictures and makes it difficult to open completely flat.
   That being said, this is a wonderful book with interesting photos. I would definetly recommend this to someone looking for a picture book, but definetly not to someone who is looking for descriptions and origins of these fascinating graphics.
   This book includes pictures of children on halloween, postcards, and old advertisements from the 1900's-1960's.



4. This book is packed with great vintage illustrations from Halloweens past. As an artist who is heavily inspired buy Halloween imagery this book has been invaluable. I actually ended up wearing mine to pieces. But for the price it's really hard to complain. A little book glue and it's as good as new. This book is one of my favorite in my collection. Definitely worth the cheap price tag for anyone who is into this kind of thing.



5. I really enjoyed this book of vintage Halloween goodies and images - some I still have from the time I was a small child (I won't tell how long ago that was!!). A true enjoyment for the favorite party-time ever! Makes me want to say "Merry Halloween" to everyone - a commonly used title on the really old cards/images.

3 comments about Patterns for Costume Accessories: The Solution to Almost Any Costume Accessory Need.

1. Just received this book and glanced thru it. What I needed from a review was what exactly was in the book. Mind you I don't know how good the patterns are but it includes a number of hat patterns. Some of the usual- newsboy, chef, mob cap, but a nice coif, deerstalker, and beanie. Lots of neckwear from jabots and cravats to an Egyptian collar and a fischu. There are spat, gaiter, slipper and soft boot patterns. Many of the aprons and purses you can find in commercial pattern catalogues but are nice. You can also find the glove in a commerical pattern but this book also includes mittens and cavalier cuffs. Probably the best thing about this book is the baldric, sword belt, quiver and bow case pattern. Some patterns are difficult, others aren't but not having to bother figuring out even the simplest pattern can save time. Again I have not actually made anything from the book yet but it looks very promising! Especially since the authors have excellent resumes- Carnegie-Mellon, New York City Ballet, etc.



2. "Patterns for Costume Accessories: The Solution to Almost Any Costume Accessory Need" is a fabulous find! This is a MUST for everyone who does any kind of costume sewing, be it for a child's school play or a community theatre production, or even a professional production. I make costumes for a wide variety of theatres in my area. I design and build costumes for public and private schools, college and community theatres and some professional theatre work. I have always had a hard time finding just the right boot or bag or other accessory to complete the time period I was working with. This book is a tremdous time saver in that it includes patterns that can be used for children as well as adults. Just enlarge or reduce the pattern pieces (this can even be done on a copy machine to save time)to fit the actor's size. The directions for sewing are standard and are very easy to understand. It is so nice not to have to spend time creating patterns for accessories. This book is such a great find that I am giving some as gifts, so I won't have to lend mine out because I am sure I will be using this book for each production I work with.
   Deborah Scarlato



3. This is INVALUABLE. I opened it and breathed a sigh of relief. Solved all my needs on the show I was doing -- and will probably do the same for all the shows to come! A real life-saver for any costume designer and particularly those of us in the schools & community theatre world.