1 comments about Painted Worlds.

1. I bought this book for my granddaughter, Kristy Soza Ardizzone, who illustrated the cover for my Tween book, THE TOONIES INVADE SILICON VALLEY. I knew this fantastic collection would inspire her to greater heights in her own artistic creativity.
   
   Needless to say, she was moved and inspired by these masterful, unique paintings by renowned artist, Jim Warren.
   
   I, also, am deeply impressed by the aesthetic quality of each and every one of these magnificent paintings, especially the way Warren creates waterfalls from the cascading hair of beautiful women, the awesome cloud formations, intriguing figures rising from and merging with ocean waves etc.
   
   The cover is uttlerly fabulous, prompting me to buy this book. Yes, the cover drew me in, but the entire collection is just as rare. A fabulous collection that every artist should have.
   
   A gorgeous book you will treasure for years to come!
   
   SIDENOTE: You may have noticed that Amazon has made some changes to its website. If it looks the same to you right now, look out for a new format that will be rolling out gradually in the weeks to come. If you can see the changes, especially the review format, I'd like to know what you think. Please leave me a comment with your opinion.
   
   "Love the new look" or "Hate the new look" comments are perfectly acceptable.
   
   My e-mail address is at top of this review. Thank you for your time."

4 comments about The Buddha Scroll.

1. This is a great collectible book. The Buddha paintings are presented in one long sheet, but because the book has an accordian fold, it possible to view the entire scroll at once. Also, the fold makes it possible to display the book, if so desired. Printing is fantastic and very fine and clear. A great find!



2. The writer of the review calls this scroll, ***An exquisite 36-foot-long full-color Buddhist scroll*** but gives it no stars?

   Takeout that and the ranking is where it should be at 5 stars.

   My guess is the reviewer meant 5 stars anyway...




3. A very original way of binding to keep the idea of a scroll. The quality of the paper and images is very good. A book to be collected.



4. While not a textbook or a 'fieldguide' to Buddhist practice and belief, THE BUDDHA SCROLL is an amazing visual treat, a fantastic technical achievement and a delight to all those who enjoy the study of iconology. Image after image unfolds before the eyes revealing Buddhas,Bodhisattvas,Dieties and Notables from every school of Buddhism- from the most familliar (Avalokisteshvara) to the more obscure (White Leaf Buddha Mother). An eclectic collection of imagery with a fascinating history which is well expounded in the consise introduction... you get more than you would expect from the price.

4 comments about Vermeer: Colour Library (Phaidon Colour Library).

1. Martin Bailey in his opening paragaph says, 'Vermeer usually concentrates on just one or two figures caught in a silent moment of reflection. His interiors are set in elegant rooms , tastefully furnished and fastidiously arranged." Bailey believes that Vermeer may have enjoyed painting as an escape from the crowded life of the tavern he ran for a livelihood. Vermeer had married young fathered eleven children , and apparently died suddenly at the age of forty- three of stroke or heart- attack. He left behind many debts, for though he sold most of his works he did not produce a large number, and did not sell them at the highest prices. It would only be close to two hundred years after his death that Vermeer was understood to be more than a good local artist, and rather one of the great painters of all time.
   This volume contains color plates of each of his paintings. Bailey provides a short accompanying description of the picture. His analysis is helpful though not an extensive or deep one.
   It is nonetheless a great pleasure to look again at these silent, still pictures which seem often to suggest a world of peace, harmony, simplicity and beautiful order.



2. This slim volume on Vermeer contains all of his known paintings while excluding the well-known forgeries. Following a brief but informative introduction, each plate is presented in full colour, filling an entire page. A short description of each painting is provided on the opposite page, usually dealing with relevant history and technique but not providing over-much analysis.
   
   I would strongly recommend this book as an introduction to Vermeer's work. It provides background but does not attempt complicated analysis of the artist or his paintings, leaving the reader free to formulate his or her own ideas about what the artist is saying. The quality of the prints is excellent. I can not speak to the quality of the colour reproduction (as does another reviewer) because I do not have the originals for side-by-side comparison but paintings such as A View of Delft, or The Milkmaid are sharp and vibrant.
   
   While an art scholar might appreciate a more in-depth approach to this subject, I strongly recommend this to the casual reader or lover of art. For a very small price one can bask in the visual splendors of a master.



3. ISBN: 0894682199 may be a better choice, because it was highly prized and awarded like no other book about Vermeer. Colors here are rendered not very accurately. This book tends to show the light background in the upper left hand corner of the "Woman in Blue Reading a Letter" painting as yellow. In fact, that background is multicolored in a kind of pinkish summary tone. Similar problems have other pictures, though all Vermeer's paintings are reproduced as plates.



4. There have been several historically based novels, as well as Biographies of noted artists in the last year. A common complaint has often been the lack of illustrations in general, and the very few color plates in particular. Full color plates are extremely expensive, and are often scarce in a work for that reason alone. Major books on an artists works can be extremely expensive, and almost prohibitively so, when what is desired is a companion reference to another book.

   The volume I comment on here pertains to Vermeer as it makes books like "Girl With A Pearl Earring", "The Music Lesson", and "Girl In Hyacinth Blue" more enjoyable. This comment is not meant to detract from any of the works mentioned. These great reference works allow the reader to quickly find full color illustrations of the paintings mentioned in the books, together with additional information on the pieces themselves. These books add to the reading experience, they supplement, they do not replace.

   There are dozens of these available on a variety of Artists. Caravaggio is another painter who has been written about extensively, and the books, even when they did have color plates, only a fraction of what was referred to in the book was shown. Often illustrations are offered in black and white, and while better than nothing, they are barely that, for these artists chose color, and to appreciate/understand their work, color is a prerequisite.

   The alternative is either very expensive coffee table books, or handfuls of airline tickets to globe trot to the location of the works. The latter is certainly the best, but for just under $10.00, these are much more efficient.

1 comments about Honoring Our Ancestors: Stories and Paintings by Fourteen Artists.

1. Great variety of illustration styles. Interesting to see the image and prose choices the artists and writers selected to represent their cultures.

1 comments about Wisdom and Strength.

1. How can a work of art last so long? It is that art is stronger than evil.

No comments about Twentieth Century Watercolors.

3 comments about How Did You Paint That?: 100 Ways to Paint Flowers & Gardens : tips, inspiration and instruction in all mediums (How Did You Paint That?).

1. This book is ok for what it is, which is a collection of 100 paintings by different artists and a few tidbits they share. Inspirational, maybe to some. Instructional, not in the slightest. Tips... not that I saw, though I could have missed them.
   
   The book and paintings might offer some insight to those wanting to see what can be accomplished with the various mediums and palettes of colors. It might offer some exposure to differing styles. It's not going to teach much to most though. Still I find it well worth the (used) price I paid.



2. This is a good book to be used as a springboard for your own work. It has works in different mediums, each artist briefly describing how they came to their finished work; it is not meant to be a 'how-to'; rather, to stimulate and hopefully jumpstart your temporary artist's block. It is also good to read other artist's technical approach to a subject.



3. I have about any art book imaginable and ordered this from an Artist International Magazine sales pitch. It has 100 different artists with no more than 20 sentences describing their "technique". I would not recommend this book for much other than seeing different paintings of different artists. And I hadn't heard of any of the painters at that.

3 comments about Oil Painting Basics: An Artist's Guide to Mastering the Medium.

1. A well thought out oil painting primer with excellent graphics. Not a Paint by number type book, but has good practical advice on setting up composition and selecting a pallet. The paintings by the artist are shown through out the painting process. You can get good feel on how the color is laid to build up the painting. A nice addition to a painters library.



2. I ordered this book online because I like the style of the cover art. Flipping through it, I enjoy almost all of the paintings, many being flower landscapes. But the book gives very few tips beyond the pictures, and there are no true works-in-progress or step-by-step instructions. Sometimes the artist will include a picture of the first rough sketch, but otherwise the pictures are all of final paintings. The book might be good to give seasoned painters a little inspiration, but if you're looking for a how-to, this book isn't the one.



3. the mastery with which timothy easton paints made me want to learn from THIS book rather than several others. He appears to use brighter colors (especially greens) than the other painters with instruction books which drew me in. The book is fairly short though and the instruction sections are very brief. For a basics book, I would prefer one that started from square 1 (or even zero) whereas this book seems to jump ahead pretty quickly.
   I would say this book is a good companion to "All About Techniques in Oil" which gives more instruction. However, I continue to look at this book for the author's fabulous examples and use of vivid colors.

4 comments about Paintings in The National Gallery, London.

1. Context: I'm not an academic or a scholar; I'm a regular guy who likes visiting museums when I travel and I wanted to do a little researach before I left. This book worked well for my daughter and I to determine which parts of the museum deserved the most time (on a short trip) and to get a better understanding of the works. I'm not qualified to evaluate it from an academic perspective, but as a layman it was exactly what we needed.



2. I have numerous large books of this ("Paintings of the")type and this one has delighted me most. The many reproductions in this book are stunning - large, sharp and vivid is the rule rather than the exception. If you own the books on the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, and Hermitage you'll love this because it outshines them.
   
   Many thanks to the reviewer who mentioned that Bulfinch published this. I just noticed that Bulfinch also publishes Eisler's Masterworks in Berlin which also outshines the books above and is another favorite of mine. It's time to check my wishlist for Bulfinch publications and up their priority.



3. Excellent quality book. The pictures are very well presented and the texts are very precise.



4. Without question, a must-have for any serious art lover. The quality of the text and illustrations are first-rate as is expected from the arguably finest art book publisher of our time. As essential to any library as "Paintings in the Vatican" and "Paintings in the Uffizi and Pitti." Keep them coming, Bulfinch!

3 comments about The Joy of Watercolor.

1. I have had this book for over 20 years, and I keep going back to it. It is a delight to read because of the enthusiasm and exhuberance of its author for sketching and painting. He's inspirational, in other words. Also, many books teach compositional theories and methods, but this book contains an intuitive approach; and following it, the student learns composition by doing--getting out and sketching and coloring one's sketches. So design, or composition, is a major theme. He also majors on color, and again the method is learning by doing, by experimenting with mixing color, starting with a small palette of pigments and working up to a set of 40 different tubes (in the second book "More Joy of Watercolor," which of course is also good). But even though Millard's approach is experimental and intuitive, along the way he shares a whole host of vital principles for good painting and design and color use. In conclusion, Millard got me going in sketchbooks those many years ago, and I have learned best through the years by filling them with little color sketches. Highest recommendation.



2. This book is one of the main referance books in my library for watercolor. I only wish I could fine Volume 2.



3. This is an excellent book on watercolor that helps you teach yourself to paint. It is one of the few watercolor books that I have seen that uses brilliant color. The book concentrates of landscape and still life, which are the topics that most people will have ready access to and the author's method of having you keep a sketchbook and paint at least 15 minutes a day is a wonderful way to learn. His suggestion that you always include figures in your landscapes is also excellent as most people wish to avoid figure work. THIS BOOK GETS YOU PAINTING.