5 comments about Making Marks: Discovering the Ceramic Surface.

1. I purchased this book as a gift and it was absolutely perfect for an up and coming potter who has the building techniques down but would like to move to the next stage of creative pottery design.



2. Hi,
   I am the author of this book. The first review in the list of five gives a glowing report and yet rates only one star! I feel that this is a mistake. All the other reviews give the book five stars. This might be detrimentally affecting sales. I feel sure that the reviewer did not intend the single star rating with the review that he or she has given.
   
   Perhaps you can check this out. Thanks



3. Not only is this book filled with beautiful color photographs and illustrations, it's packed with practical information for both beginner and advanced potters. Even non-potters who have an interest in pottery will find it an excellant source for understanding the the technical and aesthetic basics of surface decoration. As a potter and a pottery teacher, I find myself going back to the book frequently for information and ideas.



4. Making Marks is an excellent reference book that both beginners and advanced potters can benefit from. It delves into all aspects of potting, and not only illustrates the results that can be achieved, it provides the "how to" for many of the processes. Any potter who has this book in their library will never run out of ideas for creating unique pieces.



5. This is an exciting book, it is not just about painting marks on surfaces. The list of options is quite comprehensive from liquid slips, clay colour modifications, carving, underglazes, slip-trailing, lustre-ware and of course impressions and incisions made by tools. Robin Hopper is a master of clay due to the years he has be absorbed by it. He has used good quality work by various potters to display the different forms of decoration.
   
   Surface decoration is always something you need to think in advance about before making the piece. You need to be clear what you want to see in the end, these choices will affect how smooth you want the surface to be and of course the decoration needs to be a custom-fit aesthetically for each piece. Discourse about these matters is found throughout the book.
   
   Glaze technology is discussed in this book, though not to the depth a total beginner would like - total knowledge could be gained in a technical course.
   
   This is one of those books that you can keep using as your understanding grows depending on where you are. Always interesting and inspiring to read about other surace decoration forms gaining knowledge all the way.
   
   This book would also be good as a guide in a set course, chapter by chapter you could do projects eg Chapt 1: Drawing, Chapt 2: Sign & Symbol, Chapt 3: Pattern & Space, Chapt 6: Marks of Slash, Scratch, Carve & Cut etc.
   
   All in all, a wonderful storehouse of so many ideas to have at hand !

No comments about Andreas Gursky.

3 comments about The Potter's Book of Glaze Recipes.

1. This Book is a great book for any beginner Potter. It has over 400 recipes for glazes and it also explains how to adjust the glaze ifyou have a problem. I love my Book and I know I will use it for a very long time.



2. Easy to use and keeps open while I work on recipes.Great size . Great pictures on nice paper.



3. I am thrilled with this new book I recently purchased, I have had Emmanual Cooper's other books on glazing and recipes - and found them most informative and the glazes pretty true to explanation
   I also have found that they are quite stable - we fire in the higher 1260.C upwards catagory and the sometimes glaze recipes unless worked out correctly can be very unstable and uninteresting.
   All in all a very worthwhile book and easy to use, a definate "MUST HAVE" for your collection

2 comments about Naked Clay: Ceramics Without Glaze.

1. This has to be the best book about naked clay around. It is filled with inspirational artists who have been very generous with sharing their working methods and knowledge. The photographs of the art work are fabulous and show good detail of the work. A must in any collection.



2. This book is quite a spiritual book, a holistical approach to clay, art and human beeings. I did love it! It shows people achieving his own voice in clay, out of glazes. A real treasure!

3 comments about Coloring Clay (Ceramics Handbooks).

1. the use artist's examples was a little much, but inspiring. more technical information would have been nice



2. An excellent book to get you started on colouring clay. Mixing stains and oxides in clay, percentages and some basic techniques.Gives info you dont get from the polymer books.



3. A quick read, but not much in-depth information. Although it is a little on the light side, this would be good auxiliary information and pictures to Jane Waller's Colour in Clay.

2 comments about The Big Book of Layouts (Big Book (Collins Design)).

1. I really liked the book. Excellent quality and very useful. The only problem is that it was damaged in the shipping. Maybe the way it was packed wasn't strong enough to protect the book...



2. Although it sounded like an interesting book, initially I bought it with high expectations; and it did not disappoint me at all. With bright pictures, crisp graphics, great layout is reassuring: I know I have a reliable source to go back to anytime I feel clueless!
   
   I would recommend this book to anyone stuck in a rut, looking for excitement and challenge.

5 comments about The Joseph Cornell Box: Found Objects, Magical Worlds.

1. I got this at the Getty Museum, Joseph Cornell being one of my favorite artists. I loved the selection of clipart which I made copies of & used in my own collages. The box itself,well,I just like having it on display on a shelf in my room. There is also a very nicely detailed book with background about the artist as well as ideas for making your own box,by using the one in the kit (or making your own,which I'll probably end up doing.) A unique introduction to an equally unique artist,that would make a great gift for artistic types &/or fans of Cornell's work.



2. I think the book/kit is beautifully put together. It's a wonderful way for children and adults to learn about Cornell's life and work, gaining a sense of clarity about an artist whose personal mythology could so easily be considered inaccessible.



3. One of my design students brought the box part of this set into class as a base for a prototype this evening... while an interesting artifact, the concept of it is a bit frightening. Reducing Cornell's -- or any other artist's -- vision into an ersatz how-to kit not only undermines the brilliance and significance of the work of the artist, but completely defeats the process of artistic self-discovery and exploration on the part of the student. While this box-set looks good at twenty-feet, a better route would be to read-up on Cornell and other self-taught artists in more robust texts (Howard Finster, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Jacques Henri Lartigue... all of whom have books on Amazon) and use this insight to forge one's own artistic path in life... one that derives inspiration from the artist themselves rather than from a how-to kit.



4. I wouldn't recommend this book necessarily to serious artists, but for a person beginning their first tentative steps toward collage and assemblage, this kit would be a good introduction. It includes a full-color book with lots of images and descriptions of Cornell's works and life. The kit itself provides materials for taking a first step toward creating found art. This would be particularly good for a young person as a way to introduce them to Cornell.



5. Interesting example of artists work but carboard box is flimsy and not as authentic as I expected. Looked better online.

5 comments about Prohibited: Book 3 (Prohibited).

1. Prohibited for a reason and so cool. Louis Royo is not only a great artist, but a great writer too.



2. Luis Royo is a gifted artist. He draws the sexiest picture of women that you'll ever see. His erotic imagery of women having sex with monster is a little disturbing, but what isn't in our society? His women are so realistic and life-like you can't help but be pulled into Luis Royo's twisted world of sex and art. This guy probably gets laid all the time....or never.



3. Everyone's favorite fantasy artist seems to have been going through some things lately. His last three books, of the Prohibited trilogy, have been skirting from fantasy to smut.

   We all know Royo is an excellent artist in his genre ( or even out of his genre), but the last three, and especially Prohibited 3, are pretty..uh..graphic. His ability is undeniable, but his subject matter in the Prohibited series makes me a tad uncomfortable. (...)




4. As a new Royo fan, I ordered all three of the Prohibited books at once, so I was quite surprised at the increasing level of graphic sex depicted as the book numbers progressed. I would love to say this book's art makes up for this, but most are watercolour-type sketches. I would not advise Royo fans not to buy it, but please understand that the penetrations are not hidden/implied as in the other books. New fans should consider Secrets & Malefic first b/c not many--if any--of these prints will be on posters. I keep it shelved and enjoy the rest of his other books, except Women (which is worse than this b/c it simply does not represent the mature Royo we love---merely the Royo as cover artist who evolved to whom we now admire), when I want to browse his art.



5. But if your like me you tend to leave books lying around and carrying them places, I would recommend not having this book around others who are not likeminded. This was quite a big shift from Prohibited 2. The book contains a story which is slighty diffrent from the last one in that is goes along with the pictures. The story however, are more explict than that of 1 or 2. The quality of the art is improved, there are no longer sketches, but there are also no longer pieces such as the "The Flight IV" of 2.

5 comments about Playboy: Redheads (Playboy).

1. This book, although small in size, is packed full of stunning beauties. It is fairly dated but the girls are all stunning and all but a few are natural redheads. An up to date version of this book would really put the icing on the cake, but whilst we wait for that, this book will certainly fuel a passion.
   
   The dvd to go with this series is an absolute must for any 'redophiles'. Both are recommended highly.



2. This book really isn't just another playboy, its more of an art book dedicated to red heads. If you've got a thing for red heads then I would say this book is a good choice. While not all of the girls are attractive some of the prettiest girls I have ever seen are in here. Its interesting to see the changes of women over the decades.



3. This mini-volume is one of three vintage photo collections issued by Playboy to celebrate any man's favorite hair color. PLAYBOY: REDHEADS is an homage to that relatively rare though undeniably beautiful and mysterious mutant strain, the true redhead.
   
   James Peterson, the Editor, must love redheads the most. He waxes absolutely rhapsodic about them in his introduction. Any man who appreciates the redhead will instantly understand.
   
   The book consists only of photos dating from 1953 to 1974. While many alluring redheads have appeared in Playboy's pages since then, by limiting the collection to The First Twenty Years, Peterson has no shrift with "bottle jobs," ignores the artificially-enhanced breast, and disdains the racing stripe sorority and the Baby Bare Generation. Thank heavens! The women portrayed herein are real women, some of them wearing Mrs. Cleaver's hairdo perhaps, and some of them more voluptuous and less toned than current tastes allow, but, still in all, untouched by surgically-gloved hands.
   
   Since this is a collection of vintage photographs, they range from 1950s stilted to 1970s freestyle, and it is interesting to see the magazine evolve, and our culture's perceptions of feminine beauty change.
   
   My only criticism is that there just isn't enough of it.
   
   PLAYBOY: REDHEADS is a great "stocking stuffer" book for any man with taste.



4. Whether it's a smoldering auburn, a fire engine red or a sweet strawberry blonde, red hair has captivated red-blooded men for centuries. The rarest and most beguiling of hair colors finally gets its due in this collection of fabulous full color photographs from PLAYBOY from the fifties, sixties and seventies. This sleek volume presents a host of scantily clad beauties each in her favorite element: frolicking poolside, preparing the perfect cocktail, starting a pillow fight. Elegantly designed with the discerning man in mind, REDHEADS captures the eye like only a REDHEAD can.



5. this review refers to the Brunettes edition of the 3-book Playboy series:Brunettes,Blondes and Redheads.
   the girls in these pages range from the late 50's to the early 70's.
   i am of the age that the girls from the mid-60's to early 70's are my favorite so this book was just for me and i should think other men who prefer girls from those days.
   Playboy girls are always so pretty. sweet smiles. nothing dirty or raw about them.
   the girls from this era had no use for implants which i don't even think were around then.
   back then, the girls were all natural. and the brunettes in this book are all natural and beautiful......and of course sexy.
   i highly recommend this book. and it's very reasonably priced too.

4 comments about A Glaze of Color: Creating Color and Design on Ceramics.

1. This is so far the best and most looked at book in my contemporary ceramics studio. It has been used many times by my customers who are looking for inspiration, patterns and techniques. There is an area that shows how the pottery is dipped in glaze and placed in the kiln....so it's really helpful to show cutomers what happens to their piece once they've left it in the studio.
   It's easy to read and great for all ages.



2. I am fairly new to ceramics and this book was a wonderful read. It explained had a lot of information regarding glazes and different techniques to using glazes. There were a lot of great pictures in the book to that gave me some good ideas for some of things that would be fun to make.



3. As an art teacher, I'm often looking for books that will benefit (inspire) my students. I highly recommend "A Glaze of Color" for artists, students and hobbyists who want a clear, step by step guide to the techniques used in hand-painted ceramics. This book is well written and has wonderful illustrations. I think that it is equally useful to those studing painting as well.



4. Over the past couple of decades I have edited art instruction books too numerous to count, including this one. I've been indifferent about many I've worked on that've found success anyway and enthusiastic about others that haven't necessarily found favor in the marketplace. So my personal preferences certainly haven't made me an authority about public reception or perception (or sales figures).
   
   I don't give praise lightly. But when I edit something that offers me truly useful and valuable information, that really makes me want to revisit my old practicing-artist self, I can't help but express my enthusiasm. And A Glaze of Color made me enthusiastic. It really inspired me to take up the craft of painting again, to just indulge myself in working with color again, no matter what the medium.
   
   So, discount my positive prejudice here if you must, but next time you're in a book store searching for some kind of artistic inspiration, for yourself or for your kids or for anyone, please look for Jane Davies's book A Glaze of Color, even just to thumb through it.
   
   (Hey, I'm a freelancer, so have no stake in encouraging profits for the publisher, author, or, least of all, myself.)