5 comments about Artist's Photo Reference: Flowers.

1. This book is excellent for anyone painting flowers as the pictures are brilliant for reference.



2. I liked the book. It has lots of useful photos, and the author, being an artist himself, designed the book with the artist in mind, which I found wonderful. The only reason I did not give it a "perfect" score, is because I think there are some very common flowers "missing", such as hollyhocks, violets and a few others. But considering that there are hundreds of flowers, it is understandable that these flowers are not there.



3. At first glance, I was disappointed. I expected the photos to be somewhat more artistic. However, after sitting down and read it, the photos are very detailed, and that's why I wanted to order this book in the first place. It contains several photos in a page that shows the different views of a flower: close up of pedals, open & close etc - which I find very useful as a design reference. However, I must say I am not very impressed with the demonstration of the teaching, how to paint or photograph a flower. I think if the author is going to enclose this part in his book, it should be in detail, or else better off just leave it.



4. If you love to draw or paint flowers you will love this book. It's really nice reference book for those who don't have a garden with dozens of flowers year round to go pick or photograph when they want to create their next masterpiece.

   The book contains over 500 clear quality photos. There are about 50 different flowers in all. Each is show in several different perspectives from up close petals, to stems, in large bunches and even inside the flowers.

   As a bonus there are five beautiful step-by-step demonstrations on how to draw the flowers as well. The examples include Chrysanthemums in acrylic, Dahlias in pastel, Sunflowers & Orchids in colored pencil & Pansies in watercolor.




5. Gary Green has created a dream book for artists who specialize in flowers. Using many different angles and showing all stages of growth, he has compiled a fabulous reference for those of us who are unable to keep flowers on hand. My only question is, "When will he come out with his next book?"

No comments about Watercolors Made Easy: learn how to use watercolours with step-by-step techniques and projects to follow, in 150 colour photographs (Made Easy).

5 comments about Color Harmony in Your Paintings.

1. This book is an excellent intro to creating harmonious paintings. She explains some of the very difficult concepts of color harmony in a way that's very easy to understand. I've been a pro painter for almost 20 years now and I found this book to be very, very helpful. She has a great explanation of the Munsell Color Wheel that alone is worth the price of the book!



2. I had checked a number of painting books out of the library and was so impressed with this one that I purchased it. I didn't rate it 5 stars because I could imagine there being a more complete and sophisticated book. However, she appears to be a solid painter and she deals with more than just a couple of color wheels. She also offers up her manner of mixing colors. It's always nice to know how someone else approaches these matters.



3. Color and composition are the most important tools an artist can use to elicit a response from a viewer. But it is color we see first. Color either grabs the viewer with its expression of a mood or emotion or it does not. In "Color Harmony," artist and teacher, Margaret Kessler has given a great gift to those of us seeking help with this important subject.
   
   Kessler's well illustrated book shows how to use color to establish depth and form, create eye-pleasing contrasts, convey different times of the day and specific atmospheric conditions, and heighten the expressiveness and impact of a painting. She also emphasizes the importance of using the color wheel as we paint. It surprises her that many artists do not have the color wheel close at hand while painting. Color is just that important!
   
   "Color Harmony" is organized into six sections:
   
   1. The Basics of Color (properties, mixing, matching)
   2. Choosing a Color Scheme
   3. Discovering the Munsell Color Wheel
   4. Mastering the Contrasts of Color (varying value, temperature, and intensity)
   5. How Light and Atmosphere Affect Color (depth; variations with time of day and weather)
   6. Designing With Color (a full demonstration that ties all the principles together)
   
   This book can serve as a good guide for the new artist... and a refresher guide for those who are not so new.



4. I took a chance on ordering this book; it came today. Just glancing through it, I can tell it is worth every cent. I am quite baffled by the review of Mr. Minz.



5. There is a printing error on page 17. The colored circles should be labeled:
   COOL: Cad. Yel. Deep, Quinacridone Red, Ultra. Blue, T-Z White.
   WARM: Cad. Yel. Med., Grumbacher Red, Phthalo Blue, T-Z White with a touch of Lemon Yellow.
   Please spread the word and keep those brushes wet.
   Margaret Kessler

1 comments about Paint Watercolors Filled With Life and Energy.

1. "Successful paintings express feelings. I think paintings without emotion content aren't worth the paper. Clever technique alone has little lasting value. Superficial dash and sparkle fade pretty rapidly in interest." That's what the artist states and is ever so true, true to the feelings and true to his faith to art. I am always inspired by this artist, through what he says, through his paintings and how he started his watercolour painting at his fifty! The light, the emotions, the people, and the whole feel of the picture... the painting itself tells!! I have read this book for many times and every time I read like is the first time. If you love watercolour painting, you should not miss this book!

3 comments about Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period (Duke University Museum of Art).

1. As anyone who owns books on the ancient Maya will probably attest, they have a habit of becoming out of date rather rapidly; yesterday's Copan is today's Xukpi and yesterday's King 18-Rabbit is today's Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil. Don't get me wrong, I think this is a good thing. Unlike the vast body of scholarship that Egyptologists can only hope to add a sentence to here or a footnote to there, Mayanists are faced with a field where every turn of the spade yields material that is likely to keep them busy for decades. That is the exciting thing about Mayan studies; every year sees yet more exciting discoveries by both "dirt" archeologists and by "armchair" or more correctly "keyboard" scholars. Every new book on the Maya is welcome and if they are as well written and lavishly illustrated as this one, they are doubly welcome.



2. I've read much of what has been written about Mayan ceramics and can say with confidence that this is the best book on the subject ever written. The essays in it, by top professionals, discuss the forms and functions of the ceramics, the meaning of their calligraphy, their basic themes and the places particular styles of ceramics come from. Indeed, if you read it carefully and more than once, you too will be able to decipher the principal inscriptions even on pots that are not in the book. There are hundreds of full-color photographs of Mayan ceramic vases and plates in this book. These vases are decorated with pictures of formed the greatest Pre-Columbian civilization. These ceramics depict Mayan textile design, Mayan hair-dressing, Mayan head-dresses, Mayan ceramics (within the ceramic paintings), Mayan concepts of design and of the other worlds below this one. From them we learn of Mayan myth,Mayan ritual, Mayan daily life, and Mayan art. Leaving aside the great monumental art of sculpture and stucco that adorned major structures, leaving aside the structures themselves, and giving credit for a host of varieties of artistic representations ranging from the Tsimshian to the Moche... I think it is an absolute fact that the art that appears on Mayan ceramics is the best that America ever created prior to Columbus and arguably the best... period. This book discusses, describes, depicts and defends that incredible artistic legacy better than any other ever did.



3. This handsome book covers a wide range of Maya ceramic imagery, and is filled with stunning photographs. The imagery is also broken down by catagory, and is supplimented with explations of glyphs. The accessible text that explores the mythology, culture, iconography, and hieroglyphics on and related to the ceramics. The information is thorough without being overly specialized.

3 comments about Italian Frescoes: The Early Renaissance 1400-1470.

1. Stunning photography, well-written, comprehensive historical narrative, and a wide range of styles have made the Italian Frescoes series, now at four volumes, a magificent achievement. From the age Giotto to the advent of mannerism, these incredible books cover the great age of fresco in Italy as well as one could ever hope for. The full-page photos are of amazing quality and give close-up views of sections one could only see from dozens of feet below in many of the chapels, duomos, and palazzos where they are located.
   
   Of the four volumes, this is my personal favorite because it focuses on the true 'renaissance' of the fresco form - the decades when masters like Masolino and Masaccio were taking the advances of Giotto into an era of perspective and realism not seen before. "The Early Renaissance" includes works by these two often collarborators in addition to Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Castagno, Gozzoli, and other early masters who, although perhaps not as well known as the painters of the high Renaissance (spectacularly covered in the next volume in this series), were pushing the boundaries of the fresco toward the epic achievements that would appear in the first decades of the 16th century. As I've written in other reviews of these books - this is the best view you will ever have of these magnificent works short of seeing them in person. And actually, given the distances to ceilings, the available light, and the excellent chance and any of these works could be 'en restoro' for a decade or so, these photos might be better than a visit.
   
   The photography is museum quality and the introductory history and analysis of each of the 21 works covered here by Steffi Roettgen is informative and insightful without becoming laboriously dense in the way some art history books can. The sections on each fresco are accompanied by annotated illustrationa of their location within the structure containing them...a very useful tool to determine exactly which section of the painting each photo represents as well as the challenges the architecture imposed on the artist and his workshop.
   
   If you are interested in the few hundred years during which the fresco was a dominate form in Italy, this book, and the others in the Abbeville series, are ones that you will treasure forever. "The Early Renaissance" just happens to be my favorite of the four. It is worth every penny you will spend to purchase it.



2. This book is one of the most focused introductions to the vast (and often overwhelming) subject of Italian Renaissance frescoes. Ms. Roettgen has written a 2-volume, chronological study of the most famous, extant, complete fresco cycles. Her work starts in 1400, which is after Giotto, and it ends in 1521, before Michelangelo's birth. Neverthelees, she states that this time period was the Golden Age of the Italian fresco. She starts with the earliest cycles and works her way through so that you see the developmemt of realism, and most importantly, perspective in Western art. Perspective is important because it helped pave the way for optics, the camera oscura, and other scientific and technological developments which created the modern world we live in.
   She discusses each cycle as to its history and historical context, iconography (I had to look the word up), and technique. One of the best things about the text is Dr. Roettgen's great gossip about the artists. Fra Lippo Lippi's sex scandal with the Buti sisters at the nunnery makes the Renaissance more real and amusing.
   If you don't want to read the fascinating text, the photography is so clear and colorful you will feel like you have actually seen these stunning works of art. In truth, one can see the details of these works much better than the originals because these are so much closer.
   These 2 volumes will whet your appetite to learn more about this subject, but are good enough for you to have a huge knowledge and understanding of it on their own. I read these books before going on a trip to Italy, where I saw many of the cycles described. It made the whole trip so much more enjoyable to know what I was looking at.



3. This fine, large hardback is lush, made with thick paper. Inside, it details frescoes from around Italy in more or less chronological order, earliest-created first. Each chapter details one set of frescoes, giving extensive history and corroborating details along with art analysis of style, including reproductions of other art, then shows diagrams of where each piece of fresco it depicts comes from in the building in question. Then it gives the frescoes themselves, some in wide-shot, some in close-up detail.

   The frescoes are beautifully reproduced, in vibrant color, some so close up you can see brushstrokes. They depict people from all walks of life in Italy doing just about everything from praying to hunting to giving birth to you name it. Of particular interest to me were the Sienese hospital frescoes depicted therein -- the most complete I've ever seen anywhere.

   Personally, me, I got this for the beautiful costumes it depicts, and it hasn't steered me wrong. It really is an inspiration. But I think anybody interested in art history or in Renaissance art would adore having this magnificent work on his or her shelf. It's worth noting that there's another book in this set which looks to be of equally high quality.

2 comments about The Oil Painter's Bible: A Essential Reference for the Practicing Artist.

1. I recently spent a week at a folk art school in NC taking a week of oil painting classes for beginners. Returning home I went to my local library looking for something that I could relate to as well as my instructor and found The Oil Painter's Bible. It has so much information for the beginner that I ordered the book and refer to it every time I practice my painting. It is easy to follow and gives explanations that the novice can understand. Once I used it I knew that I had to have it for my permanent collection of books. Great book. Highly recommend it.



2. I just recently purchased the 'Oil Painter's Bible'. I have recently started an 'Introduction to Oil Painting' class. This is something I've always wanted to do - not knowing if I had any talent. I have surprised myself. This book was suggested to me by an artist friend and has proved to be a wonderful reference and guide to the wonders one can put on canvas. I highly recommend this book.

1 comments about Impressionism A&I (Art and Ideas).

1. James Rubin places Impressionism and the Impressionists at the heart of their times. He not only looks at Monet, Degas and Renoir, but also includes detailed studies of the movements lesser figures to give a clear picture of the diversity of the Impressionist school

2 comments about Paint Along with Jerry Yarnell Volume Seven - Painting Perspective (Paint Along with Jerry Yarnell).

1. His artwork is good. It is helpful in learning techniques to eventually graduate in doing your own work by just looking a scene or picture. All of his books are great, predictable, but great.



2. A very straght forward and very simple to understand book on perspective. Sure there are more complex and detailed books on this subject on the market, many of which are on my book shelf, but this one is great for beginners and intermediate painters. His video on perspective makes a nice companion to this book.

No comments about Ceramic Painter's Pattern Book.