2 comments about Decorative Painting Techniques: Whisper Painting (Decorative Painting Techniques).

1. This book was so helpful. It shows how easy it can be to make my white walls have depth. Simple step-by-step guidelines that you can fallow or throw in some from other projects in the book. It was a great find.



2. I was disappointed in this book. The cover was better than what was inside. I expected some new techniques, but it was the same stuff as other books. I donated it to the local library.

No comments about Painting Animal Friends.

1 comments about First Steps Drawing and Painting Animals (First Step Series).

1. I purchased this book for my 13yr old granddaughter who loves animals and drawing and was getting frustrated because she couldn't draw the animals accurately. Her drawing is progressing really well with the helpful steps in this book. She is really pleased with it. I would recommend this book to any beginner wildlife artist.

1 comments about Tom Thomson: Trees.

1. Having read numerous travelogues of Japan in the past few years, I began to despair that each one felt that it had a need to carve out a specific niche in the realm of travel writing on Japan. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but it does lead to increasingly stranger ideas for armchair travel.

   As a result, I found it a nice touch that "Japan Diaries" is essentially a transcribed daily journal of two month-and-a-half to two-month trips taken to Japan across a ten-year stretch (1987 and 1997). Without being condescending or offering "the key" to understanding Japan (as far too many Japan travelogues try to do), this book offers a very readable, very day-to-day view of visiting and living in Japan - especially when you come to the country with minimal first-hand experience with Japan itself.

   However, if it doesn't offer an arrogant viewpoint it's also not the most insightful book on Japan, either. Not that the author doesn't work hard to give a good background on the various things she talks about - and to be very clear to lay out her own biases in everything she talks about - but she also occasionally fails to understand what's going on around her, such as the background reasons for why foreigners find it so hard to rent an apartment in Japan.

   On the whole, though, this is definitely light, interesting reading, perfect for a couple of days on the beach or a long airplane flight. Sherman does as good a job as anyone else I've read of making you feel like you were taking the trip with her. And when it comes down to it, isn't that what travel writing's really all about anyway?

2 comments about Crimes Of Style: Urban Graffiti and the Politics of Criminality.

1. Ferrell offers a major contribution to sociology, criminology, and to youth studies. This brief book not only offers insight and analysis of graffiti artists, it explores the ways in which power is negotiated and challenged. In the graffiti artists' use of space and in their definitions of beauty and neighborhood, they uncover the way power and meanings are manufactured. Ferrell's work is a powerful, clear, and engaging book; one which shows stunning new ways of seeing and studying 'crime.'



2. Crimes of Style is a journey into the burgeoning underground Denver Graffiti scene. Jeff Ferrel's participant observations of local taggers and writers gives a fascinating insight into a sometimes beautiful and sometimes offensive subculture of vandalism....or is it? The question of vandalism or art remains an underlying question throughout Ferrel's book. And the reader must decide for himself where the line between art and crime stands. Jeff Ferrel's work is divine inspiration to the fledgling sociologists like myself.

No comments about Painting with Acrylics (Step-by-Step Leisure Arts).

3 comments about Learning to Look at Paintings.

1. This book is written in a plain, clear style---it is a good reference book to look up anything about art. The chapters are short.



2. I enjoyed this book on the principles and elements of design. I think she selected exemplary pictures to illustrate her point. I especially enjoyed the chapter on "subject matter". The only drawback of this book was having to flip back and forth from the reading to the painting. Also, she talked about some of the paintings color combinations that were printed in black and white. In the paperback version some of the details of the paintings were lost because they were reproduced on a small scale. Overall, though I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about design elements.



3. Composition, space, form, tone, color, subject-matter, and other pictorial elements of the plastic arts are considered and their interrelationships explained in this handy introduction, with over ninety well-chosen illustrations, some in color.
   The author, an experienced art teacher, has also included illuminating essays on drawing and its purposes, looking at prints, a handy glossary of art terms, and references for further reading.
   Highly recommended as eminently suitable for an Introduction to Art course, and for anyone else interested in learning to see more in paintings.

   (The "score" rating is an unfortunately ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

1 comments about Painting Wildlife With John Seerey-Lester.

1. The layout of this book is clear and concise making it easy to follow. However, I did feel that the author relied on some known artistic knowledge of such things as tonal values, lighting, etc. As a beginner, I found there were many words and ideas that I did not understand which I floundered on. Nevertheless, in fairness the demonstrations were excellent and some of the best that I have seen. I liked the way the colours to each painting were shown which I found a great help. If you already have some wildlife painting experience then this book is ideal for furthering technique.

5 comments about Paint Red Hot Landscapes That Sell: A Sure-Fire Way to Stop Boring and Start Selling Everything You Paint in Oils.

1. Just the cover of this book will tell you that you don't want to go here....The author likes graphic, garrish, monochromatic, in-you-face imagery, but without any "payoff" or even an anything-interesting focal point...the center of the composition on this cover, IS the center of interest (definitely a do not do this to your own compositions!)...and uh, are those vines or telephone wires, or is there a tornado here etc as a subject? I just personally can't stand these "how-to" style of artist/stylist/authors and shlocky color artists of this genre. Get away from fine art and into scenic background painting-big and splashy for the local high school theatre arts group and stay away from your easel with this stuff!! A TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY UNLESS YOU'RE A HALF-BLIND COPYIST...Sorry Svob, it just stinks and that's my opinion...



2. mike svob's book is a great resource, he shares his style and ideas, so we too, can "Paint Red Hot Landscapes That Sell".



3. I am new to the art of painting. I've bought lots of books on the subject but none of them has given me the urge to paint like this one does. I saw a larger picture of this book on a differant website and the front cover spoke to me. I'm glad i listened.
   The way he simplifies the painting process is exactly what i've been looking for. If your a painter set in your ways this may not be for you but it's awesome for a beginer.
   If you don't like the art don't buy the book. If you like the cover you really should check out the art inside it's fantastic.



4. This was an example of not being able to look into the book prior to purchase. I would not have bought the book. Reds and Oranges just make me nervous and most of his paintings are filled with them. The paintings are dramatic, however most of them disturb me with their colors and I cannot paint that way. I suppose some of the advice is good that's why there are three stars. He is definitely a very talented artist but not for me.



5. I find this book disjointed and poorly written. The headlines are not followed through in the body of the pages. Perhaps someone who hasn't painted much would find it helpful, but Svob is mostly talking about compositional tricks. There are much better books on composition out there. If you like bright, garish colors, then this is the book for you. If you are weak in composition, then you might learn something too. Otherwise, I'd pass this book by. It does not deliver on the title, Paint Red Hot Landscapes that Sell.

3 comments about Tibetan Thangka Painting, New Edition: Methods & Materials.

1. If you are interested in learning how to create traditional Thangka paintings then this book is for you. I discussed Thangka painting methods and materials with Bhutan Thangka painters at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival this past summer and after purchasing this book I discovered that the methods and materials outlined in this text are aligned and equal to what I learned from my discussion with those who practice this art and create Thangka paintings. I was excited to find the methods and materials in writing. I had wished that the volume would be available in hardcover and wanted it to include an abundance of color plates because this book is a keeper for all serious painters. I recommend this volume for any artist whose has a goal to learn about and preserve a traditional painting art form.



2. This book starts with a survey of Tibet's artistic wealth, then immediately begins with the detailed methods needed to paint a thangka, from the canvas, to the brushes, to the pigments. In-depth discussion of proportions is included, and how they were established from varying traditions. Techniques for applying traditional pigments and the methods are covered, as well as how precious metals are applied. The book concludes with how a thangka is finished and framed in brocade. Four appendices cover differences in thangka traditions, where to get traditional tools, a selection of traditional symbols, and how to use modern materials for thangka painting.
   
   I had only two disappointments with the book: That there are no color illustrations, which would have been very nice for the photographs of thangkas and for shading techniques. In some places Tibetan words and names are presented only in Wylie transliteration, which is almost unreadable for most people. It is somewhat understandable, though, since there's no real standard way of phonetically transcribing Tibetan words.
   
   Overall, this book is an excellent introduction to the art of painting Tibetan thangkas.



3. Excellent book on Thangka painting methods and materials. What I found after reading this book is that there are many similarities in painting Greek Orthodox Icons and that reminded me of something else that I had read in a magazine on spiritual subjects, that in the early days of Christianity when there were monks in hermitages in the desert outside Egypt there was a Tibetan monk or priest that went there and met these Christian monks and when he saw how they were trying to meditate he taught them the correct way to do that (the Buddhist way) and this is the reason that Orthodox Christian meditation is very similar to Buddhist meditation. And there was also in the article a photograph of an Orthodox Monastery from the Holy Mountain of Athos and this Monastery looked exactly like another famous Monastery in Tibet as another photograph from Tibet was showing. So to the author of the article it was evident that there was contact even from very early times between these two religions. Greek religious icons are painted on wood but they like the Tibetans use colors in a powder form and they also use the gold color. And in general there are many similarities. But asides from all that this is a very good book on Tibetan Thangka painting and it is highly recommended.