3 comments about The World Of Robert Bateman.

1. If you love wildlife and want to have a collection of photographs that are such good quality it's almost as if you are there in real time, buy any Robert Bateman book. You won't be disappointed. But you will be awed and amazed.
   Browse this link to see limited editions of his work. http://www.artandnature.com/bateman/a-z.html
   
   Amazing beauty in nature. And Bateman knows how to capture it for all time through the shutter and to the page.



2. This book, together with "The art of Robert Bateman" is one of the best wildlife art books ever published, and truly shows Bateman at his best. The later collections (especially the very last ones) don't even come close to the beauty of the paintings in these two books. In most paintings the animal is just one character, sometimes not even the main one, while the landscape and the surroundings (depicted in marvelous and maddening detail) almost always plays a central role. Here Bateman shows to be a master of the techniques he uses, and creates pictures of stunning beauty who truly come to life. Both books are highly highly recommended if you life "realistic" wildlife art.



3. Very nice artwork. I especially like the polar bear in the white-out.

No comments about John Alexander: A Retrospective (Museum of Fine Arts).

5 comments about Rackham's Color Illustrations for Wagner's "Ring".

1. I just started collecting fairy tale art like Dulac and Rackham. This book is a magnificent addition to my collection. The illustrations jump right out of the pages to tell the story. Both beauty and darkness are exquisite in this assembly of work. I now want to read the book. I also love lighter fairy tale art such as that of Nielson, but this darker approach to visually telling the tale is effective and wonderful.



2. Arthur Rackham is among the greatest illustrators of what has come to be called 'fantasy' literature. His renderings of scenes from Dickens, Barrie, Grahame, and even Shakespeare are often flawless and many have ultimately proved definitive.
   
   Here he tackles the daunting scope of Richard Wagner's vast operatic cycle DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN, and he is so successful that his images have become the model for most of its traditional stage design ever since they were exhibited in 1912 at the Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris. Yet Rackham achieves more than merely the giving of face and form to Wagner's characters and scenes. These illustrations capture a sense of space and height, light and darkness, beauty and tragedy, promise and doom which may be described as music to the eyes. C.S. Lewis first beheld them as a boy and later wrote, 'Pure "Northerness" engulfed me: a vision of huge, clear spaces hanging above the Atlantic in the endless twilight of Northern summer, remoteness, severity ...'
   
   For me, the most evocative image in this collection is from DIE WALKURE, Act II. In the foreground we see Brunnhilde anguishing over her orders from the just-departed Wotan. Helmet cast upon the ground, her face and posture effectively communicate distress and isolation; yet most remarkable is how Rackham echoes the Valkyrie's state of mind in the landscape beyond her. The falling hillside; the stark, scraggly saplings scattered into the distance; the shadowy silhouette of other mountains marking the far horizon; the low-hanging clouds; and the muted shades of grey, gold, and brown all convey an overwhelming sense of loneliness as cold and haunted as it is beautiful.



3. I'm swiftly becoming enamored of the old-time illustrators - Joseph Clement Coll, Charles Dana Gibson, N.C. Wyeth, Howard Pyle, and Alphonse Mucha to name but a few. I'm now happy to add Arthur Rackham to that list. As both a fan of illustration (fantasy, comic book, and otherwise), as well as a bit of a mythology buff, I was thrilled to see that Dover (whose name, in my opinion, always spells quality) had produced a volume of Rackham's illustrations of Wagner's Ring Cycle, which is itself based on a famed tale of Norse mythology. The illustrations, as the book notes, were first published in 1910 and 1911, respectively. They are uniformly beautiful, bringing the story to vibrant life. Rackham was clearly a skilled draftsman, and his work has that turn-of-the-century look that is very compelling (Gibson and Wyeth had a similar style).
   
   This book is printed on high-quality glossy paper and features wonderful illustrations of dwarves, heroes, valkyrie, gods, and others that Rackham captures with skill and aplomb. Each drawing is accompanied by a discription, helping to tie the illustrations together and explain the plot to those who might not be familiar with it.While the volume is quite slim (only 64 pages, plus 4 of introductor/background material) it is very much worthwhile. I hope you will pick it up and enjoy it.



4. This book is a delight for anybody who loves Richard Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" ("The Nibelung's Ring") operatic tetralogy. While I could have wished for just a little more detail in the captions - which could therefore have allowed the entire story of this cycle to be told (a few things consequently get missed - not really major, but wouldn't have hurt nevertheless!) - they are otherwise excellent; and the paintings themselves are not only outstanding art-pieces in themselves - they also are excellent visualisations of what Wagner was trying to do! They're also a wonderful corrective to the all-too-many "modernisations" that for some people like myself are hurting the visual aspect of a given opera's appreciation. [Often those "modernisations" are in bad taste, travesties of the composers' and librettists' intentions, and are either boring, shocking for mere shock value, or just plain BAD!!!!!]
   
   Most warmly recommended for both confirmed Rackham lovers as well as Wagner lovers AND for those who're just getting started with the process of getting to know Wagner's stupendous cycle!!! GET IT!!!!



5. All 64 Rackham's images for Wagner's Ring collected in one book is a grate thing to have if a Rackham lover. Reproduction of the images is not the best possible though. All in all, it is still a good book to have. Rackham is magical.

No comments about Woodblock Kuchi-E Prints: Reflections of Meiji Culture.

1 comments about The Art of John Yardley.

1. Ron Ranson has succeeded in writing yet another excellent book about an artist that he knows personally and admires. An introductory chapter details the artist's attempts to find his unique style and his final decision to give up a life long career as a banker to become a professional artist. The book is lavishly illustrated with full-page paintings and is a worthy precedent to the highly successful book written by John himself a few years later. The book is a "must buy" for any admirer of impressionistic painting.

1 comments about Divided Portraits: Identity and Disability.

1. Hilary Cooper is an obviously gifted, professionally accomplished, and artistically elegant portrait painter that has included among her subjects such celebrities as Matheissen, Salter, George Plimpton, Patti Hearst and former New York Mayor Ed Koch. When Hilary was in an accident that left her a quadriplegic for life she battled hard to regain enough use of her limbs to embark on making a series of portraits of people with disabilities in order to counter the perception that the disabled are somehow fundamentally different from everyone else. "Divided Portraits: Identity And Disability" is the result of her project. Enhanced with an introduction by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith and a particularly thoughtful essay by Roxana Robinson, "Divided Portraits" combines brief biographical sketches of Hilary's selected subjects along with her full color portraits of them. A very special book, "Divided Portraits" would make an excellent addition to academic library American Art History shelves, and an especially appropriate Memorial Fund collection for community libraries.

4 comments about The Oil Painter's Pocket Palette.

1. This little book would be invaluable except for the fact that the colors are from the Daler-Rowney range of oil paints, which is a student grade brand. Many of the colors are not even offered by the better paint manufacturers, or if they are it is under different names, and the author does not address this issue. I want to buy paints of much better quality, which makes using the book much less straight forward. Also, the author discusses color only, but not such important issues as the type of binder, concentration of pigment, etc. I feel that the book was written at least partly to push Daler-Rowney paints, and is meant to be used mainly by students and not professional artists.



2. I started in oil paints a couple years ago and found this book a great help. There are so many different color paints on the market this helped narrow down to the essentials. The mixes recommended for skin tones has been a nice springboard to jump from. Definately worth the money.



3. I do not own the book as yet but My Instructor at the College I attend loaned it to me as I was having a difficult time trying to mix the right colors of sand for my seascape painting. I was very pleased to experiment with the colors used in the book and was able to get the final results I was looking for.



4. I like the book. One (typical) page of this book shows color swatches of raw sienna mixed with 12 other colors. Each color mixture is tinted and tinted more. One would think that a skilled artist should have mastery of his/her colors --so that this book really isn't needed. Maybe so. On the other hand, it might be nice to buy two copies and mount the pages for easier reference.

3 comments about The Hudson River School: American Landscape Artists.

1. This is a large format book filled with paintings of several different famous landscape artists. Some paintings stretch to fill two pages and others are worked in at all different sizes. There is accompanying text to help you understand each artist and their role in this "Hudson Valley" artistic endeavor or community. Some of the paintings are reproduced very small and I would have liked to see them a bit larger, but overall this book is a great introduction to each of the artists and their work and an interesting overview of this school of artists. After seeing some of these paintings you'll definitely want to follow up on some of these artists and get a larger book on their works and life.



2. The Hudson River School of Artists included some of the World's greatest artists and their work can be found in this excellently produced book. This book is well written, well organized and shows off the treasures of the Hudson River Artists.
   It is perfect for your library, coffee table, and excellent as a gift to art students, history students, loved ones.
   Outstanding quality went in to this book.



3. I often give this book as a momento to people leaving their Hudson Valley homes. It has lovely pictures and an interesting text describing the history and importance of the Hudson River School of painting. In comparison to the Minks book- they are very similar except in cost.

2 comments about Peter Doig.

1. First of all, thanks to Amazon for an excellent service.. I live in Ecuador (South America) and don't have too much chances to get good contemporary art books. This book gives the opportunity to see many of Doig's first works and the recent ones. The buyer won't feel dissapointed. You can get to see the images on a good size, the color reproduction is acceptable. Doig's paintings does not only show a lot of his imagination but also an awesome technique. It is not boring at all to contemplate the million details he makes all over the canvas. Great use of the palette. Excellent resource for painters esentially because in this type of work you get to understand that you have to get over your fears or to make mistakes. Doig's paintings give you a real sense of freedom and the love of the artist for his job.
   
   To Amazon: I gave you my whole trust and you made a perfect job. Congratulations



2. Doig is really one of the best living artist, and this book really does him justice. The book includes older work as well as recent. Reproduction is excellent. I can not give a better recommendation.

5 comments about All About Techniques in Oil (All About Techniques).

1. This book really helped me put together an oil painting set. It helped me in which brushes to choose, which brushes aren't used often, techniques in oil painting, it even helps in picking out an easel. I also just loved how the book felt in my hands. Very soft cover, easy to read, and LOTS of pictures with descriptions.



2. I bought several book before this one looking for the information I wanted, and this book has been the best so far. It covers technical and practical information on oil painting supplies, paints, canvas and canvas prepping.

   This book is NOT a book on actual painting skills and techniques, (Shading, lighting, brush strokes, styles, etc...) This IS a great book on your artist tools, paints, brushes, and work prepping which is a subject that is not readily covered in most books, and I feel is just as important for a good painting.




3. A well written book with plenty of technical informations. I could do without the techniques described that have to do with (for instance) incorporating beads in the oil painting (quite tacky in my opinion).

   What it lacks is information on mixes such as including alkyd with regular oil painting or amulsion techniques, etc......




4. Although starters may find "new" things more often than professional artists when reading this book, I give this book a 5-star rating as a reference book. The book covers from material, tools, to brushstroke and other techniques in oil. In brief, readers can learn what to buy to prepare painting in oil, how to put material together (canvas, priming canvas, etc...), and how to achieve painting effects that help express ideas in oil.

   How much better someone's painting gets after using this book may vary from individual to individual, but this book is definitely a must-have for any oil artist.




5. I find it to be absolutely great start for me. I love art. I want to learn oils and I am very impatiant to actually start making interesting pieces. This book is very visual, easy to read and takes you straight to the point. I don't have to read chapter after chapter from the beginning - I can start reading from whichever topic is most needed for me right now and still get great advises without getting lost (being a beginner). Has a few interesting triks and intriquing technics. Very inspiring! Good basic reference. Great for beginners!