5 comments about The Ceramic Glaze Handbook: Materials, Techniques, Formulas.

1. The BEST book a beginner can get on glazing. Explains alot of the chemicals used in glazes and breaks it down for you (what they do etc). I would get this book before you get other glaze books.



2. Very informative for beginner even. Well explained and pleasant to read. Like it very much.



3. When I ordered the book, there was no reader's reviews. All three reviews appeared the next day after I ordered the book. I would not have purchased it if I had read those reviews. However, when the book arrived, I checked it against the corrections [website] and found that all but one error have been corrected (foot note for middle picture on page 118). There is no indication that the book in my hands is a second printing.

   This book is well illustrated and extremely well organized for easy comprehension. The pictures of the test tiles for major colorants laid out in a modified 2 x Y factorial design is extremely informative. The format of having one illustration by each formula is the most inspiring and useful way of presenting the formulae. Get this book and Hopper's the Ceramic Spectrum if you want to start formulating your own glazes.




4. Our ceramics instructor and I (perennial student) found this book in a local library and our class loves it. We participate in a potter's guild situation, not an academic fine arts class, so the clear explanations in this book by Burleson help cut through the haze of what glazes are made of, how to take care of them, and how to experiment with them. We can't wait to get started.



5. This is a decent book, but...there are a number of errors in it. Be sure and get the corrections from the publisher at:

   http://mercury.larkbooks.com/glaze/correct.pdf
   http://mercury.larkbooks.com/glaze/index.pdf

   Other than that, it is a good book on glaze materials, mixing, and application. Includes a variety of recipies for use at various cone temps.

   Updated info...the second printing has corrected the errors that I mentioned above.

No comments about Smut..

5 comments about Japanese Wood-Fired Ceramics.

1. A more appropriate title for this book might be: "Wood-firing by Marc Lancet and Masakazu Kusakabe" as it is mainly about them. Although it is thorough and informative, I was disappointed to see the narrow spectrum of artists represented in it.



2. This book covers most everything I wanted to know about Japanese Wood-Fired Ceramics. The only area I wish it had was more pictures of finished pieces. Technique and building kilns it covered thoroughly.



3. I found this book a useful tool in thinking about the way I woodfire. If a person is not a woodfire potter or avid collector of woodfired work it may not be for you. The is definately not a casual read.



4. First saw this book at the wood-fire conference held in Flagstaff, AZ in Oct,2006. The coauthor Marc Lancet delivered an address that was drawn in large measure from the book. After Jack Troy's classic on wood-fire this book sets a new standard. The wide variety of wood-fire surface effects are connected to the japanese names for those effects and what causes them. The sections covering plans for wood-fire kilns is excellent.



5. The visuals are amazing,from the finished work to the building of a kiln. It was picticularly helpful in deciding on what pieces of art work to put into a firing. The information on the hard work and the gradifacation that inspirers woodfire, helped me perpar for being part of an astonishing process.

No comments about Space, Site, Intervention: Situating Installation Art.

2 comments about High Sierra of California.

1. This book is stunning the woodblock prints are so beautiful they almost make you cry. We spend a lot of time in the sierras and this book shows the beauty of these mountains better than any photographs. Get the book
   look at the pictures then do your family a favor and go spend time in these incredible mountains.



2. hop up and down in your Teva sandals. Wade the great streams as they roar over round stones down from ancient peaks... dance the silver dance of the wild rainbow... but find a place in your ultralight backpack for this book. It deserves a place next to that bag of peanuts, your titanium cup; worth its weight in gold dust from the river, split pea soup from the pouch. Ancient shaman tales and woodcut journeys... yamabushi of the mind, and lots of white space for taking your own cryptic outerspace trailnotes...

No comments about Arnhold Collection of Meissen Porcelain, The: 1710-1750.

3 comments about The Collected Concept Art (Warhammer).

1. There is nothing special about this books. I know that when it comes to arts there are opinions as much are people on earth, but you have to trust me on that one.
   
   The book is somehow poor and most of the concepts are really weak ( as idea and drawing techniques ). If you are a casual fan of warhammer, maybe it's a good buy, but if you're an artist looking for a nice album with art you probably want to pass this book



2. I got to know the world of warhammer when I was 13, and yet after 14 years of search, they finally came up with something worthy to collect. This book is all about Warhammer game for PC, so basically it contains all the artworks from the game. The printing quality is nice, and it includes the comments from each concept artist, which gives you a little bit of what behind those great artworks. Some of the pictures dirty abit because it's original drawing, but overall they are simply nice to view. One thing that makes this product not really good, basically it contains the artwork from The GAme, ONLY. So for any of you who's looking for Art of Warhammer, the real art of Warhammer, then this book is not for you. You can consider buying the other ones , The Art Of Warhammer and the art of Warhammer 40 K.



3. The Collected Concept Art of Warhammer concerns the MMO game "Warhammer Online", that is currently under development.
   [...]
   
   Pro:
   Like most Black Library releases, the book quality is great, with brilliant color illustrations printed on heavy coated paper. The first part of the book breaks down certain points of the full 3D cinema intro and includes some commentary ([...]). The remainder of the book and its art is as excellent as you'd expect from a Warhammer related production and should please most any fan of GameWorkshop material. Again this is conceptual art, not the full pieces done for boxes or game books.
   
   Con or Other:
   More than half of the content focuses primarily on 'human' factions in the Warhammer universe; in this case the Sigmar Kingdom and the various forces of Chaos. This seems to be a trend for BL / GameWorkshop releases, which is a shame considering how much of Warhammer is neglected as a result. The remaining races average four or five pages each, some only one. The text is kept to a minimum, only a few short inductory paragraphs explaining each race as well as some short blurbs from the artists. Despite this being a concept art book do not look to it for words of wisdom or artistic process from the artists themselves. What is there sounds tacked on and in verbatim they almost all repeat that "...this particular race is my favorite, my work is done on a computer, and I love Warhammer."
   
   The one thing that sticks out, and this can be both a pro and con, is that much of what's in the book or similar can be seen on the game website itself for free. If your a fan this shouldn't deter you from enjoying the book. Skim it at a bookstore, get it at a low price or used, and add it to your collection. A collection which will likely grow as its a good bet more books related to this will be released as the game evolves.

5 comments about The Illustrated Star Wars Universe (Star Wars).

1. Take the artistic talents of acclaimed production artist Ralph McQuarrie and the writing skills of prolific author Kevin J. Anderson (The Jedi Academy Trilogy) and you get The Illustrated Star Wars Universe, a coffee table book that gives readers a glimpse of the various planets showcased in George Lucas' original Star Wars Trilogy (1977-83).

   Using McQuarrie's production sketches and paintings for A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and other Lucasfilm projects (including the Endor-based television specials of the mid-1980s plus preliminary sketches for the 1997 Special Edition updates), Anderson takes readers on a grand tour of the most important planets seen in the Luke Skywalker/Darth Vader half of the Star Wars Saga. Starting with Tatooine, the desert world that is the home world to both Anakin Skywalker and his son Luke and ending with Alderaan, the planet where Princess Leia was hidden from her father and was doomed to be destroyed by the Death Star, eight planets are described in individual chapters, each told not by one omniscient narrator but by eight different observers, each with his or her point of view and/or political agenda.

   For instance, while the chapter on Tatooine is an anthropologist's dispassionate and scientific report on the desert planet's hostile environment and its hardy inhabitants (ranging from the nomadic and hostile Tusken Raiders and scavenging Jawas to the resilient human moisture farmers and their homesteads), the description of Coruscant, the massive city-planet which was once the seat of power of the Old Republic and is the capital of Emperor Palpatine's Galactic Empire, is a pro-Imperial propaganda article authored by Pollus Hax, the Emperor's chief public relations expert and "spin doctor."

   Although much of the artwork featured in The Illustrated Star Wars Universe has been published elsewhere (either in the various Art of Star Wars books relating to the Classic Trilogy or in McQuarrie's Star Wars Portfolios), this combination of production paintings and Anderson's vivid and imaginative text works wonderfully and adds detail and background to both the movies and the post-Episode VI Expanded Universe novels, including Anderson's own JedI Academy trilogy and Darksaber.




2. Awesome Illustrations and enjoyable narratives to go along with them. Lots of fun.



3. Ralph is one of the Best Illustrators that i know.His work is very inspirating for me.If you are true fan of Star Wars you just need this book.Excellent printing on high quality paper.Don't wait and buy this piece of art.



4. This incredible book help you feel like all the Star Wars universe and its planets are real. You read the accounts of the "writers" and you think that they really exists.
   It helps to understand all the story and the beutiful pictures help to get into.
   A MUST book for a Star Wars fan.



5. This book really showcases the beautiful artwork of Ralph McQuarrie, who helped establish the look of the Star Wars films way back at the dawn of the story as we know it. In this book we see fascinating early visual drafts of things that we would later see in the movies. Most of it was impossibly fantastic to ever get filmed at the time but maybe we'll see some of it in the next two movies.

   The chapters on Alderan and Bespin are particular fascinating and beautiful.

5 comments about Entropia: A Collection of Unusually Rare Stamps.

1. This incredible book for me is a totally new
   way of illustrating a fairy tale.
   The description of this fantasy world using
   postcards is innovative and very interesting.
   I strongly suggest this book to all the
   art lovers.



2. As an artist of middle age, I sometimes think of my art as good and my growth as complete... that is, until I look at work like this.
   
   Suddenly I feel like a beginner again, with nothing to do but learn and get better at my art. Mr. Scheurer teaches this teacher how to teach better, just by the inspirational settings he creates and the drawings he does from deep in his imagination. There is a whole world residing in him that is too fanciful to describe. He is my new favorite artist.



3. Even though this book, at first glance, appears to be an art book, there is a very charming story woven into the "stamp" descriptions, as well. Each page features an illustration of a stamp from the imaginary realm of "Entropia" and a description of the event or history the stamp is commemorating. I read this book in two sittings, only because I had an appointment to keep that tore me away from such a beautiful book. Once finished, this book left me with a strong desire to read and see more of Christian Lorenz Scheurer's "Entropia".



4. Christian is one of my favorite artist. This new book is full of great stories and wonderful pictures! It's great for all ages.



5. Bought this book as a gift for a friend but then ended up keeping it for myself.
   The fantastic story and beautiful illustrations felt like a mix between Nick Bartock's Griffin and Sabine and Miyazaki's Spirited Away.
   This is most inspiring fantasy book I read this year!:)

1 comments about The Artist's Body (Themes & Movements).

1. THE ARTIST'S BODY is one of the finer compilations of an art form that drew attention from the press, museum curators, the public, the critics and fellow artists, probably more intensely focused than any other 'art movement' of the 20th Century. In this well documented and copiously illustrated volume the multiple authors contribute historical data, psychological responses and etiologies,and the works are all edited with skill and sensitivity by Tracey Warr and Amelia Jones. First published in 2000 in an expensive hardbound edition, the current release is now in affordable paperback form and belongs in the libraries of all who are interested in the trends and spectrum of contemporary art.
   
   The title of the book explains the content well. This is a collection of the works of artists who have turned their art inward and use their own bodies as the matrix for expression. Here are the 'crucifixion' of Chris Burden on a Volkswagen, the cutting and piercing of skin by artists who use their own body fluids as paint, performance art in which the artist publicly reveals body functions with attributes assigned to various organs that were never imagined before, the famous 'Piss Christ' of Andres Serrano, the transgender photographs of Lyle Ashton Harris and the explicit sexuality of Robert Mapplethorpe - in each of these the artist speaks to the audience about life expressions as acted out by or realized by the artist using the format of his/her body. And in many ways these at times disturbing images created are simply another form of self-portraiture.
   
   Amelia Jones' writing is cogent and non-judgmental and her survey begins with none other than Marcel Duchamp and examines most all of the artists who have participated in this movement up to the year 2000. Tracey Warr has gathered not only copious photographs and excerpts from videotapes to illustrate Jones' survey, but she has also added statements by the artists, responses from the critics, examinations by historians, and even details of public response to this medium.
   
   While many may view this book as shock material, closer examination and actual reading of the superb writing (with significant contributions by such luminaries as Lucy Lippard, Thomas McEvilley, George Bataille and Gilles Deleuze) will acquaint the novice of the true significance of this art form. Whether the human body is used as a surface, as a 'paint brush', as ritualistic mutilation reaching for meaning in a world that seems dulled to invention, in performance, or in using the body as an imprinter of image on various substrates, the need for this type of expression is as valid as any other form of the artists' invention. This is a challenging book, in some ways a disturbing book, but it is the finest volume to address this art movement as has been written. THE ARTIST'S BODY is a very important book and one that belongs in the library of all art lovers. Grady Harp, September 07