3 comments about Bright & Beautiful Flowers in Watercolor.

1. Once again not a beginner's book and I am, quite a few step by step demo's but very intricate, you have to be at the advanced stage of painting for this book.



2. A BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN BOOK BY JEAN SPICER SHOWING EXQUISITELY COLORFUL ILLUSTRATIONS. MAKES A WONDERFUL GIFT FOR THAT BUDDING ARTIST FRIEND OR RELATION. I BOUGHT THIS FOR A DEAR FRIEND WHO LOVES COLOR. SHE WAS MOST PLEASED AND BEGAN PAINTING SOME OF THE EXAMPLES IMMEDIATELY.



3. this is a great watercolor how-to book. great demos and fabulous paintings. what a fabulous addition to my colection. any watercolorist would love this book!

2 comments about Celebrating Florida: Works of Art from the Vickers Collection (Florida Sesquicentennial).

1. This book delivers what it promises; it celebrates the labor of love that has resulted in the finest private collection of Florida art. Well produced and printed, Celebrating Florida catalogs the exhibition of the same title that the Daytona Beach Museum of Arts and Sciences had the foresight to curate. (I saw the exhibition there and was overwhelmed by the installation and the paintings.) The book's design concept, of utilizing informative essays, contextualizes the images for viewers to understand the necessities that inspired the artists while permitting the paintings to work their magic. The introductory essays set the stage for viewing period art and the interpretive entries accompanying each plate help viewers to consider the particular image. It is difficult for even a finely produced book to do justice to the exhibition that it archives, but author Gary Libby realized that the goal was not to compete with the show but instead to serve it. In deed, the book encourages dialog and a sense of personal exploration. Celebrating Florida is a first to demonstrate what many of us know, that the state really does have an artistic heritage and it opens the door for other surveys (like Mann's Art in Florida and Libby's Coast to Coast: The Contemporary Landscape in Florida). The Vickers have judicially amassed images of Florida which seep in to viewers' consciousness, defining Florida. Their passion elevates collecting to creativity. A must-have for Floridians and those interested in its past and meanings.



2. I find that it is no more than a catalogue of a private collector's paintings with no idea or history of the art, why it was created, and what it may mean in the realm of art. It is a good collection, but not on view for the public. It is more of a personal vanity press item.

No comments about Van Dyck: Paintings and Drawings (Monographs).

1 comments about The Enigma of Piero: Piero Della Francesca.

1. An immense pleasure! Carlo Ginsburg reminds us more than once that he is not an art historian, but an historian. As such, his approach to paintings such as Piero della Francesca's "Flagellation" which to our eyes are difficult if not unfathomable iconographically, is not bound to the orthodoxies of specialist methodology. If this sounds heady and dense, it is. This is not a book for the casual admirer of Renaissance painting because much of the suspense(and it is suspenseful) is reading the author's discrediting of other interpretations(these are often amusing), suggesting the roadmap he will take to circumvent the errors of the previous historians, then elegantly exhuming the necessary evidence and reasoning to produce-voila- a fresh, impressively founded exegisis before our very eyes. One marvels at the depth and breadth of cultural knowledge that is this historian's primary resource, and facility with archives. But there is another dimension to this book. As one reads, one understands that this is the work of contemporary humanist, and the source of his insights is perhaps this empathy, if not kinship with his subject, whether patron or artist.

2 comments about Watercolor Portrait Photography: The Art of Manipulating Polaroid SX-70 Images.

1. The book is valuable for the information it extends towards composition, lighting and subject and the examples are wonderful, however, I really wanted to know more about the manipulation of the SX-70 image itself. Do I push here or rub? When is outlining favorable or why scratch the image? These are all questions I still have.



2. Spark up the excitement in imaging again, do what your elemetary school teachers told you not to do and start drawing outside the lines for a totally cool and creative look. The finished product is often not what you envisioned at the start of the manipulation, and the journey is as much fun and the finished product. Helen does a great job of using this technique and describing the tools and techniques you may not intuitively discover. Images used for illustration in the book are beautiful, and again Helen includes other photographic artists to help show the way. Definately worth checking out.

No comments about Three Studies: Masolino and Masaccio, Caravaggio and His Forerunners, Carlo Braccesco.

No comments about Georg Baselitz: A Retrospective.

No comments about The Instant Artist: 40 Quick and Easy Projects that Teach You How to Draw and Paint.

1 comments about Impressionists on the Seine: A Celebration of Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party.

1. I would recomend this book to my classmates for the further studies

No comments about Giovanni Bellini.