No comments about Human Nature: (Dub Version) Limited Edition.

1 comments about Christo: The Gates Postcard Book (Postcardbooks).

1. A wonderfully produced collection of postcards from the Gates project in New York. Some of his most interesting artworks, sketches and prepatory works for the development of this exciting environmental experience are included here in a convenient 3 x 5 size. A fine set of images at an unbeatable price. Get it!

No comments about Fetish.

1 comments about Woman & Dog: A Celebration of Their Unique Bond.

1. If you know a gal who loves dogs, this is the book. It is a sweet & touching volume with lovely illustrations. I bought several for gifts. I've never seen anything like it. It's a winner!

3 comments about Landscape: A Comprehensive Guide to Drawing and Painting Nature.

1. I have painted "plein air" for a number of years, first in pastel and now moving into oils. I was very glad to find this book of Richard McDaniels, which I have been voraciously reading over the last couple of weeks. His palette and brush strokes really speak to me, and his colors SING with clarity and beauty. I appreciate the many samples of his work included in the book, which inspire me to delve deeper into my own compositions and experiment with varying colors. He writes with a knowledgeable, carefully-thought-out and well-articulated manner, and is often surprisingly humorous in his prose. I have learned much by coming across this book - for example, being reminded how to approach the laying out of values in beginning a painting. This is essential, and something many people do not grasp! His many samples showing the various stages of a painting are informational and helpful.
   I have read the important "Carlsen's Guide to Landscape Painting" and Richard's book is a modern version of a classic- destined to become the Bible of Landscape Painting. We pay a modest sum for what we would've paid several hundred dollars for in a workshop, just by purchasing and reading this book. It is a must for any painter's personal library. Painting is a lifelong learning , and this book is many breaths of fresh air to help us along our way.



2. The best things about this book are the cover and frontis images. It covers everything about the rules of making art, but doesn't really inspire. Nothing in the text sings "Nature" to me, instead I felt that it had all been said before.



3. There is no doubt about it. This book is definetely comprehensive. It is also extremely well-organized and quite readible. I like the fact that the book can be used equally by a complete beginner or by an advanced painter. There is material to help a novice get started, yet the author (McDaniel) provides insightful guidance that will even help the experts.

   The demonstrations of different techniques are direct and easily understood, with clear examples and superb artwork. It is enlightening to follow the process of creating paintings and seeing the artist use such a wide variety of materials and techniques.

   The sections on composition and color are particularly informative, as is the discussion and helpful hints for painting on location and in the studio. He showed me a new way to see all the variety of shapes and color to be found in nature. The book is fun to read and has an easy, conversational style of writing that is relaxed, funnny and quite informative.

   If you are interested in fine art in general, or landscape painting in particular, this book should be on your shelf.

1 comments about Latex & Nudes.

1. This is a great book; small format but full of great and powerful photos. The outfits are amazing and the models, just out of this world.

5 comments about Sorceress: Mike Hoffman Sketchbook Vol 2.

1. 
   
   
   But why are the rear ends on his depictions of women so huge?
   
   Some even appear to have cellulite on them.



2. Hoffman's work is just a pale imitation of Frazetta's talent. Being myself an artist I cannot understand why people that is already established in the art field keep trying to copy somebody else's work. It is probably fine when you star your career but after a while the logical path is to follow your own style. As an artist doesn't he fell ashamed? I certainly would. I recommend you to get a Frazetta's books first.



3. I have just a couple of quick notes to add to the criticisms below. Under no circumstances buy the work of Hoffman unless you are fully equipped with the work of Frank Frazetta. The price differential between this collection of mostly black and white pencil studies and the stunning pen and ink, watercolor, and oil work of Frazetta is insignificant compared to the vastness of the talent differential!
   
   Hoffman captures Frazetta's anatomy (including the occasional mistakes!) without capturing the spirit of the work - but it's more than that. Frazetta himself was influenced by other artists, including Al Capp. Some of Frazetta's equipment and vehicles have a silver-age corniness to them. Hoffman's weapons, terrain, even monsters! - are cheesy fill-ins - just enough to act as props for his bare-naked ladies.
   
   After seeing Frazetta, I found it hard to accept even 'imitators' like Jeff Jones, Boris Vallejo, Barry Winsor-Smith et al. However those artists may have started with Frazetta - but they found their own way forward. Once you've exhausted their work, and classic illustrators like Allen St John, Virgil Finlay, and Joseph Clement Coll, try Hoffman - for contrast!



4. I bought this book realizing that Mr. Hoffman was imitating Frank Frazetta. Such imitation is not a bad thing in and of itself; some fine illustrators began their careers by putting their personal spin on Frazetta. Jeff Jones to name one. Mr. Hoffman has no personal spin; he's just a copyist. Again, not necassarily a bad thing if the imitator has sufficient talent to bring it off. Hoffman doesn't possess such talent. To call these drawings derivative ennobles them because they are blatant, pale simulacra of Frazetta. I compared Hoffman's drawings to those in "Illustrations Arcanum" a book of Frazetta's drawings and here's how Hoffman stands up: Mr. Frazetta's drawings of buxom women, brawny men, battle scenes and monstrous creatures are sure handed, confident, dynamic and well rendered; Hoffman's drawings of similar subjects are anemic, hesitant, dull and mediocre. Where Frazetta's line work is vigorous and varied, Hoffman's is limp and monotonous; where Frazetta employs a large range of values and punches the darks effectively in his modeling to give a high contrast effect, Hoffman's value range is limited and lacks any darks and possesses negligible contrast; Frazetta's figures look as if they've been caught in movement, Hoffman's figures are stiff as mannequins; finally, Frazetta's depictions of women exude sensuality, Hoffman's women are, at best, timid and completely devoid of any erotic appeal. Hoffman may be well schooled in Frazetta's subject, but he sadly misses the master's skill and spirit. An illustrator at the beginning of his career might be forgiven for this, but Hoffman has been working in the this field for a long time. He's not a second rate Frazetta, he's tenth rate joke. His biographical sketch boasts that he has many commissions for his work, proving H. L. Mencken's dictum that no one ever went broke underestimating the intellegence (or taste) of the American public. Purchasing this book makes me wonder if I'm not as smart as I thought. Don't repeat my mistake by buying this book. If you appreciate Frank Frazetta's work, this book will be a disappointment.



5. From the moment you open this book you'll see this guy is truly a second rate Frank Frazetta. Everything from his short, wonderfully shaped women to his lush, organic backgrounds to his primate like creature design just screams " i wanna be Frazetta."
   I do however, somewhat agree with one of the other reviews that this book makes for a reasonable figure study. Although I have to say that i find some of his proportions to be a bit off. (particularly with his men)
   All in all though, it still is worth a look.

No comments about Kent Rush: A Retrospective, 1970-1998.

4 comments about On the Couch, Vol. 2.

1. I remain an avid Bianchi fan, and this color photographic collection, Volume Two, goes one step further than Volume One. It is beautiful, but it is what some might call "pornographic," as Bianchi has taken his photography up another notch. The collection is definitely not child's fair or a coffee table book, but it is a mature adult look at gay male sexuality for the bedroom bookcase. All of Bianchi's fotos are stunning and highly charged, erotic visual treats. I loved the leather couch and Tom's decorating choices so much that I now own a couch just like in the book. Weird huh? Now I can psychologically enhance the fantasies Bianchi has created. If only the men came with the couch!



2. I found ON THE COUCH, VOL. 1. electrifying and visually satisfying. ON THE COUCH, VOL. 2, is as brilliant as Vol. 1. The pictures are stories, the models are real, and the sensuality of the work leaps from the pages. THIS, LIKE VOL.1 IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST HAVE!..It will be a wonderful addition to your collection.



3. I recently purchased this book from Amazon after seeing it at a book store. Awesome pictures that seem a bit more graphic than Vol.1. No complaints here on that. A good deal of photgraphs seem to center on a certain interest that caught my attention. Highly recommend both volumes sitting on the coffee table. Amazon has the best price too that I have found.



4. Tom Bianchi continues where he left off in ON THE COUCH, VOLUME 1, so much so that if you showed me a page from either book, I would be hard put to tell you from which volume the photograph came. The men remain god-like, and the photography again is perfect. Perhaps the artist will combine the two volumes into one lavish coffee table book sometime soon. Oh, we have some variety here-- a little bondage, some leather, and we go from a threesome in the previous edition to four in the floor here. The men this time around come from Brazil, Chicago, Canada, Australia and San Francisco; and at least one model makes a repeat appearance. There are some handsome men here. I recommend Darren of the Beautiful Feet for one.

   Mr. Bianchi states in his introduction that he wants gay men to be comfortable with their sexuality. He further says that this work FROM THE COUCH is his Sistine Chapel-- maybe a bit of a stretch--although this photographer is certainly not short on talent.

   For the artist's next book, I'd love to see a series on men who have B bodies or maybe a couple of C pluses thrown in for good measure. Something tells me that a lot of men occasionally would enjoy seeing pictures of men who look a little more like they do as opposed to so many gods from Mount Olympus. It's a little like having only chocolate truffles at every meal.

No comments about Royal Doulton Animals: A Charlton Standard Catalogue (4th Edition).