5 comments about Watercolor Class: An Innovative Course in Transparent Watercolor (Practical Art Books).

1. I have taken classes with Michael Crespo while he was Dean of the Fine Art School at Louisiana State University. He is an excellent instructor and professional artist. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in watercolors. Since my education with Michael at LSU, I have become an art director working in Europe for magazines and newspapers. I used what he taught me in his classes to accomplish many of my illustrations for professional publications. Many of his art students published in this book have gone on to professional art careers all over the world, such as Regina Tuzzolino, who worked as a professor in New Zealand while her spouse was working on graphics for the Lord of the Rings film. Michael encourages his students and inspires them to continue his spirit of teaching artists. I highly encourage you to pick up this book and learn from the lessons provided. They are lots of fun and great for working quickly in the professional world as well as at home.



2. The title of this book is misleading it says its equal to 1 year of water color lessons. The book is divided in "days" of lessons but all that it does is explain water color techniques wich take about half a page then proceeds to show you examples of his students and explains each and every one of them in incredibly boring and painful detail. I already read about half of the bookand find it lacking as a learning guide. This book is only good as a compendium of Watercolor techniques and methods, if you skip all worthless reviews wich are about 3/4 parts of this book that is...



3. The book is based on art courses the author taught. Unfortunately, I don't think the author is a very good painter, so it is hard to take the lessons very seriously.

   The book has some worth, teaching you how to see shape, then shades, composition, and then executing paintings. It builds one lesson on another. But the bottom line is the paintings aren't anywhere near as good as Jan Kunz, or other well-known artists. So it is hard to take the author's advice.

   I am sorry I bought the book, and will probably sell it to someone else. But if you like the author's paintings, you will enjoy this book.

   What would I reccomend instead? 'Watercolor School' by Hazel Harrison, or "Painting Beautiful Watercolor from Photographs" by Jan Kunz.




4. As an addict of how-to art books, Michael's are the ones I return to constantly. Whether you're a beginner or a regular watercolourist you'll find all his advice useful; his assignments challenging. Best of all are the examples of his students' responses to the assignments, with Michael's appraisals and comments.So supportive always - he just makes you want to try it for yourself. Let's hope Michael Crespo's out-of-print books get to be republished; I'd love to see the one on oils...



5. Woody Allen said that "Ninety percent of success in life is just showing up." This is true for art skills too. Crespo has made this easy in this book. He helps us to realize that our efforts are art and that art should be fun.

   For example, Crespo's Day 1 of the second semester is an exercise encouraging artists to "begin again." He stated, "Remember: relax, love what you're doing, and don't take yourself too seriously. Let your critics do that" (p. 138).

   I am starting through this book for the second or third time. I don't know if I will ever be a famous artist, but now I know that I am an artist. Crespo's exercises help me find work to do and help me to focus on principles. Every exercise yields one or several paintings that I can display. Right now I am doing a series of 3 paintings. One in normal value, one in high key and one in low key. I am having a lot of fun.

   The exercises have really helped me improve over the years. Anyone can learn something from this book. But the best thing is that you can feel good about what you are doing. You always have plenty of critics; Crespo is someone who encourages you to suspend criticism and to enjoy creativity and growth.

3 comments about Old Master Portrait Drawings: 47 Works (Dover Art Library Series).

1. The book came in very good shape. The portrait drawings are beautiful, just what I was looking for.



2. Nice series of books, these Old Master Portrait Drawings from Dover Art Library. Good material if you want to study portrait drawing. Good reproductions of the drawings. No text, only a short introduction from the publisher and titles with the drawings. The drawings say it all.



3. As an art instructor I found this book to be a great resource for beginning students of portrait drawing. The variety of style and technique shown is excellent. A few of the portraits were less useful. An excellent value for the price.

5 comments about Developing Vision & Style: A Landscape Photography Masterclass (Light & Land series).

1. I've just finished reading Developing Vision and Style, and I'm not entirely sure what to make of it. The book's images are uniformly beautiful and reproduced very well, even in the paperback edition of the book I bought.
   
   After a dozen or two images, though, all that uniformity starts to grate. It seems to me that there is a certain sameness to many of the landscapes, and it shows up right on the front cover: rocks in the foreground, dramatic sky, optional body of water. The images that don't follow this formula stand out by comparison.
   
   This is a little odd in a book that is meant to be about developing vision and style. Although the authors and other contributors talk at length about their unique visions and styles, there isn't always a lot of uniqueness on display. I was also struck by how little insight was to be gained on the photographers' vision and style: very few were able to articulate what characterized their own work, never mind offer readers useful direction on developing theirs.
   
   The book is beautiful and the notes on how individual images were made are often interesting. The text is not nearly as interesting, though, and the title promises more than the authors deliver. I'll open it again, but I think I'll just look at the pictures...



2. Very good book, refreshing, gave me some ideas. Will have this permanently on my shelf as a reference.



3. I bought this book wanting to learn how good photographers go about developing a vision and a style. I would use that information to develop a vision I could articulate, rather than just stumble around with my current vision, "I take photographs with bright, vivid, happy colors that make people excited." (Boy, does that sound weak. Now you know why I need help.)
   
   I was very disappointed. Not a single photographer defined their vision or told how they developed their own vision, or, for that matter, gave any advice at all about what a vision is.
   
   I had hoped we would be given many different perspectives on "vision"...something like, "Here are the elements and factors that I feel go into making a vision." Given this kind of starting point, I could then add to the list of elements and refine them into my own, private, creation.
   
   Alas, the first paragraph on the back cover of the book really tells you what you will read about throughout the 156 pages:
   "Photographic vision means seeing, as opposed to merely looking."
   
   You hear this same theme repeated in a variety of ways by each of the contributors to the book. It is the closest any of them comes to defining "vision." I really learned very little in this book.
   
   The photos were terrific, but I didn't want to buy a picture book. I really hoped to gain insight into how I could go about deliberately developing a vision that I could explain to others.



4. The title "Developing Vision & Style: a Landscape Photography Masterclass" sounds like it might be an instructional manual. But it is not, at least not in any conventional sense. Instead it is a collection of beautiful landscape photographs, along with a number of opinions, some of them profound and a few sophomoric, about the meaning of vision and style.
   
   A substantial number of the pictures, although by no means a majority, were taken by the authors Joe Cornish, Charlie Waite and David Ward, who are numbered amongst Great Britain's most distinguished landscape photographers. The remaining pictures were submitted by "aspiring photographers" who were invited to submit their pictures. Most of the pictures are of the intimate landscape type rather than the grand view. It seemed to me that there were a great number of lovely pictures of wet rocks and rocky shores.
   
   The photographers were asked a number of questions like "what does vision mean to you"; and "how would you describe your vision"; and "what does style mean to you"; and "how would you describe your style"? Some of the answers are printed in proximity to the photographers' pictures.
   
   The editors claim that the book teaches by "encouraging students...to ask themselves critical questions and to take a fresh look at their personal vision, along with the style they select to express it."
   
   Perhaps this format would have been more effective if there had been some back and forth debate rather than just a collection of statements. It might also have been more like a true master class if the three authors had offered a critique of the vision and style of the participating photographers. Alas, the authors only comment on each others work, and then only to say how good it is.
   
   At the same time I realize that it would have been hard to get any photographer to agree to have his work published if it were to be the subject of a critique. I also recognize that while trying to define vision and style may be difficult for any photographer, trying to get photographers to agree on such a subject may be impossible. At the same time it may be useful for the individual photographer's development to come to his or her own definition of vision and style.
   
   In many ways, readers interested in this topic might do better to read Ward's book "Landscape Within: Insights and Inspirations for Photographers" in which Ward's discussions of vision and style are articulated in a better fashion. For those who want a book to help them to develop their vision and style more than just to define the terms, I recommend an old favorite, Freeman Patterson's "Photography and the Art of Seeing". Moreover, because I believe that understanding the landscape will help one develop one's vision and style. I recommend Niall Benvie's "Creative Landscape Photography (Creative Photography)".
   
   For the creative photographer, vision and style are important issues, even though they may never satisfactorily be defined. If this book can help the photographer toward a definition, it will have served a good purpose. If not, at least there are a lot of lovely pictures.



5. This book, Developing Vision and Style, as with a former book in the series, Working the Light, provide guidance on producing great photographs. There is no discussion of how to operate your camera, or which filter to use, just good images with interesting insights.
   
   This book is soemwhat different in format, as individual critiques by the authors is not present, as in the former book, but there is extended discussion by the authors and the individual photographers regrding vison, style.

5 comments about Watercolor Fairies: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating the Fairy World.

1. David Riche and Anna Franklin have created a stunning and glowing instructional manuscript for individuals who love to explore the fairy world. This book is ideal for artist of any level who aspires to explore how to create a picturesque and alluring work of art involving all facets of the fairy world. One may never have considered drawing gnomes, until paging through this elaborate and in-depth manuscript.
   
   This book would not only benefit a beginning artist but an artist perhaps who draws exceptionally well, yet wishes to explore working with watercolors, or vice versa. A beginning artist who buys this book could essentially create a wonderfully radiant picture from start to finish without even a prior knowledge of drawing or watercolor techniques.
   
   My daughter who is 14, has been drawing fairies for years, after she received this book for her birthday she was very excited to see all the exceptional designs inside the book. I also draw, although I had never had an interest in drawing fairies before, yet after looking through the book for quite awhile, I am quite fascinated and enchanted with the fairy world and am ready to explore my own possibilities of fairy artwork.
   
   The fairy world is so enchanting and radiant and to think I might be able to create my own little enchanting vision. I do not believe anyone who truly loves drawing or painting fairies will be disappointed if he or she buys this book.



2. This is a great book. It covers everything from sketching to color techniques. Another bonus is that there are several framable prints inside as well. Worth every penny.



3. A little simplistic for what I was hoping for but great for kids.



4. a fabulous and inspirational book. Full of beautiful illustrations.
   Highly recommended.



5. My students loved this book and begged for assignments to recreate the pages in advanced drawing and compositions class. Beautiful work! They are excited about drawing again.

5 comments about Hokusai.

1. It's a good book for a begginer, there are a few samples from each of all Hokusai's periods.



2. A well presented and thorough overview of Hokusai's work. Informative text and good reproductions of many of his works - as someone who has some surveys of Japanese prints this book brings a level of detail and perspective thatis hard to find. A very big book with an interesting section that links to european works influenced by Hokusai in the 19th century.



3. Looking at this collection really shows the diversity in Hokusai's long career. In one of the essays, the writter comments that Hokusai changes his style so much that his work looks like the work of a different artist. The breath of this volume helps the viewer see how creative and inventive this master is. What I like about Hokusai is that his personal life is just as interesting as his work. The essays included do a good job placing the differnent periods in context with the times and Hokusai's own massive body of work.



4. Excellent printing and selection, a great book for art reference or read.



5. There are two or three different collections of Hokusai's works in print this Fall (2003), and of them this is the best. The others are good, solid selections of his material, but this combines an encyclopedic sweep of nearly all of his available prints (including ones rarely seen, such as his erotic prints) with a superb color printing. I'd recommend this above all of the others, if you're looking for a complete catalog of his works.

4 comments about Renoir Landscapes: 1865-1883 (National Gallery Company).

1. If you like impressionist landscapes or Renoir, don't miss this book.
   
   Most people think of Monet as the ultimate French landscape painter, but long before Monet picked up a brush there was a superb tradition of French landscape painting, especially among the Barbizon school and in earlier treatments of classical themes. As you can see from that observation, Monet's brush tended to hide or erase a lot of other fine landscape art from the general memory. Perhaps no contemporary was as effectively overshadowed in the same landscape realm as was Pierre-Auguste Renoir's work from 1865-1883 when he, too, was an impressionist who produced many fine landscapes.
   
   In this catalog from the current show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, you'll see that Renoir did an astonishing variety of landscape paintings, each of which displays a different style. I am reminded of the early work of Picasso where he was able to adapt many different styles as easily as most people put on a new set of clothes. My estimation for Renoir as an innovator greatly rose from seeing this work.
   
   To put this innovation in context, this catalog displays many parallel works by other landscape artists. In addition, the catalog descriptions are pretty lengthy and build nicely on the introductory essays that explain how Renoir's classical training and inclination to stay in the studio rather than paint outdoors put him at a psychological and practical disadvantage in developing his landscape art. Landscape painting for Renoir was often a fun exercise rather than the source of planned works. But his landscapes were often quite popular, as when one landscape was accepted at the Salon while two figurative works were rejected. Abashed, Renoir withdrew the landscape rather than have his public image depend on this kind of work.
   
   You'll also learn about the challenges of finding a market for Renoir's landscapes which I thought was fascinating. It's hard to imagine such a great artist struggling to sell his innovative work, isn't it?
   
   Most agree that Renoir was one of the greatest figure painters. His landscapes often contain small figures. Many of his best works combine larger figures and the outdoors. Having seen this book, I was left wishing that he had done more to combine these two particular sides of his talent.
   
   Don't expect to see a lot of masterpieces in the book although there are some. Think of viewing this book as being more like seeing the studies for major works in many cases rather than major works themselves. I came away with a greater appreciation for how hard it is to make gorgeous impressionist landscapes.
   
   Let this book remind you to take a walk in some lovely outdoor place whenever you get a chance.



2. Renoir's landscapes are as lavish as his beautiful women in his portraits.
   This book is truly enjoyable.



3. This is fine book not only for Renoire lovers but painting devotees.
   
   
   However, I am a little disappointed that the book's illustrations were not much vivid. Pictures were generally too small to appreciate well. Besides some of Renoire's works of landscape which I expected to be in the book were missed such as 'Sentier dans les bois(1874)'.
   
   
   The book looks like coffee table one but it's contents is not easily readable in a short time. Contents is in detail and depth regarding it's subject.



4. This book accompanies an exhibition held at the National Gallery in London (which later will travel to the US) on a rarely studied aspect of Renoir's oeuvre. The period is limited between 1865 and 1883, which are the years when Renoir actually was an impressionist, competing with the likes of Monet and Pissaro to produce some of the most modern paintings of his time. Surprisingly enough it enables the reader to rediscover the artist through some of his best, though neglected, works. Some of the landscapes here are so loosely painted that they verge on abstraction (these landscapes sometimes remind me of Turner in this sense) and they show what a revolutionary painter Renoir was. Much more than any book on Renoir's often boring domestic scenes or nudes, this catalogue is definitely a must-have if you missed the exhibition.

2 comments about Robert Warren's Guide to Painting Water Scenes.

1. Very good instructions but I searched for acrylic books and did not check close enough as acrylics are mentioned but this book is strictly for oil painters. Also, no templates.



2. Robert Warren has outdone himself in composing this wonderful instructional book on oil painting-it is very well explained-this book is for intermediate to advance skill level.

4 comments about Painter's Guide to Color.

1. Not a beginner's book, this book was way over my head....but I am sure that once I improved it will make more sense to me and I will enjoy it....I know of a couple of advanced artist that swear by him, but I am truly just a beginner



2. I have not received my order of this product (6 copies of it!)The order was made and shipping for it was to take place on November 21st, 2007.
   I can no longer fine this order on my computer, but I want to be sure it is CANCELLED!
   Margaret York



3. this is stephen quiller's sequel to "color choices" with the addition of new information about neutral mixtures (Jean Dobie's "mouse power"), color value and intensity (saturation), color families, "mother color", and the latest version of quiller's color mixing wheel, one of the best available. but i was disappointed. the book suffers from a mechanical approach to color mixing or color families -- in some cases, the text of captions or whole sections is identical, with color keywords repeatedly changed. this edition deletes some of the best chapters in "color choices," such as the chapter on "finding your own vision," adding in its place a bizarre section on "color personalities" (each mixed color is associated with adjectives such as "noble" or "playful"). and quiller recommends a 28-paint (!) palette, which will create more confusion for a painter (especially a beginning painter) than all the mixing instructions can clear away. i suggest you browse this book before you buy it: "color choices" is better overall, and you can order quiller's revised color wheel from him directly, on a plastic card that is more durable than the tear-out version that comes with this book.



4. Visually Stimulating. Extremely informative in regard to mixing colors! I was so excited to find a book that had so much visual information about the color wheel. There are many examples to refer to and learn from. A must for any painter!

4 comments about The Art of Pastel Painting.

1. As a student of pastel who practices in spare time, I found this book to be both educational and inspirational. Flattman provides specifics on his "tools", his process for developing a picture and inspires with his beautiful drawings. I recommend this book for someone who has spent some time working in this medium as well as someone comfortable with drawing. I am inspired and excited by his ideas! That alone makes this book worth buying.



2. The art and technique of modern pastel is taught in a text which revises an original 1987 version to include the latest details on new technical advancements, plus new demonstrations and new paintings from the artist author, who was indicted into the Pastel society of America hall of Fame in 2006. From surface texture and lighting to basic painting and preservation concepts, The Art of Pastel Painting thus expands expertise and options and remains a standard, highly commended pick for any art library catering to amateur painters who would learn professional techniques.



3. Alan is a master pastel artist and also a master teacher. No fluff here - just page after of page of real tips from a guy who really knows how to communicate at all levels. This book will teach even the pros a few things yet this book is really easy to understand. It will be THE pastel reference for years to come. The color reproductions could have been better on some pages, but it really doesn't hurt the overall message. Sometimes I like a book that I can pick up, flip through, and learn something without much investment of time -- this books can work like that. But it is also a great book to read cover to cover because of the author's ability to keep you interested in the creation of pastel art. This book should be read by anyone who plans to use pastels. Alan also includes some good "money-saving" tips -- so much so that the book will easily pay for itself if you take his advise.



4. Besides drawing with the things, Flattman shows how to prepare your own papers, and even roll your own pastels! Wonderful for the incurable do it-yourselfer who wants custom ranges of colors, but you'll need a garage or basement space you can devote to the messy business (and you'll need a respirator, too, not just a dust mask). There are lots of finished works, but the how-to step-by-step stuff uses too few steps usually. You need to have a good background in drawing already, and experience with composition. Flattmann comes to pastel from watercolor, and never thinks you might not already be accomplished in another form of painting. Pastels were my *first* media, when I began lessons when I was six, so they are not "inherently advanced." I would recommend you use this in conjunction with Bet Borgeson's _Color Drawing Workshop_.

5 comments about Caravaggio: Colour Library.

1. I've seen nicer books coming in at several hundred dollars but for the ~$5 you really can't beat this one Plenty of beautiful full color plates this makes an excellent student edition and a reference book for home. If you're purchasing for an all out art reference library you should look into a different edition.



2. Someone made a reference in 1999 that this is an 80 page book. It is 127 pages and filled with quality color plates. The paper's a bit thin, but certainly adequate, as is the text. I have just finished reading 'The Lost Painting', and wanted to peruse some of the works discussed in the book (a fascinating read and/or listen with the audio book). Another reviewer noted this is as a wonderful book to begin a collection. The publisher, Phaidon, really puts out some fine materials. I own three of their publications now, one being '50 Self-Portraits' and another on Tadema. If you have an inclination to dwell awhile on the stunning legacy of Caravaggio, this should more than do the job.



3. This is a nice overview of the work of Caravaggio.. and the price is very good - I saw a similar collection (though it was hardcover) for nearly $100 - I am satisfied with this general overview for much cheaper. I think the colors are pretty good - and the artwork is, of course, timeless!



4. I have recently returned from the met and observed the great colour used by Caravaggio and was inspired to by the book. This contains a great of information and has great paintings on my favourite artist--Caravaggio. God bless



5. This book contains many beautiful full page photos of the works of Caravaggio. Each painting is accompanied with a brief explanation. References and comparisons are made to other famous works by great artistic masters. A great book to begin your art book collection!