Reviews (4)

Incredible
This book is very helpful if you are truly wishing to uncover secrets of what I would consider one of the masters of trompe l'oeil illusion.

An amazing artist shares his works.
This book is full of stunning photos of murals, renderings, and panels of the artists' portfolio. There is little text but with some imagination it is great reference material.

good reference material
When looking for a book on trompe l'oeil, an art which is in itself a difficult thing to master.If you are a novice, look for book reviews where they tell you that it is a step by step manual.Then you will have a foundation and a valuable starting point to begin your artistic journey.Books such as this are basically good for reference material, the artist here is showing off so to speak his works of art, which is okay but if he or she offers no help in the way of instruction all you have is a pretty picture book.An author like Roberta Gordon-Smith is a better bet for the beginner.Janet Shearer offers good advice for intermediate and above.If a person praises it up and down and is overwhelmed by the quality of the artists work, that's just it...they are simply overwhelmed.The book in and of itself may not be that helpful.So read those reviews and try to read between the lines so you won't throw away your hard earned money.Best Wishes,Rick ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Architecture    3. Architecture (Specific Aspects)    4. Art & Art Instruction    5. Decoration & Ornament    6. Decoration and ornament    7. General    8. History    9. Painting Of Specific Subjects    10. Techniques - General    11. Techniques - Painting - Specific Subjects    12. Trompe l'oeil    13. Art techniques & materials    14. Interior design    15. Painting & paintings   

Reviews (3)

Words Can nOT Describe.........
As a Parsons fashion design student I have found Nancy Riegelman's book to be very helpfull.Words can not describe the amount of inspiration and resourceful information that Colors of Modern Fashion holds.I fell in love with her books when 9 Heads first came out.My mind was blown away when I first caught glimps of her new book Colors of Modern Fashion.Apparently the rest of the world has caught on the this great book because I have seen it throughout my travels in London, Paris, New York, and LA.I have always dreamed of having the skills to make fashion figures.After using 9 Heads and Colors of Modern Fashion I can draw a fashion figure with effortless ease.The book takes you step by step from the basics of the 9 headed fashion figure to the detailed advanced rendering of clothes and fabrics. This book is very chic and stands a good investment for anyone who is interested in fashion.

Comprehensive and Exquisite
This book is perfect for anyone that is really interested in fashion and drawing.The diversity in chapters helped me to gain a better understanding of what it takes to skillfully draw. I have really been honing my skills, combining different techinques that are presented in the book and I am amazed at the complexities that using markers offers.Hands down, it is a strong book that encompasses all the skills needed in learning a subject, the writing accompanies the drawings with ease and excitement.I honestly can't wait for the next book!

Nancy has done it again!What a great book!
This is Nancy's 2nd book and is it ever great.The illustrations are marvelous.The techniques she discusses are easy to understand and use.I stayed up all night just looking at the beautiful drawings.This is definitely a must have for all illustrators and for people who love to draw. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Color Theory    4. Commercial - Fashion Design    5. Design - General    6. Techniques - Drawing    7. Art / Design / General    8. Fashion design   

Reviews (6)

Not what it could have been
This is an excellent tutorial in some respects.The instructions are step-by-step, and it is packed with illustrations.However, there is little attempt to address the theme behind the art, to establish the "rules of the form" as, say, Aidan Meehan's books have done for Celtic Art.Bill Holm's classic "Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form" remains the best bet in this field if you are interested in creating original designs in this style.If however, you just want to copy preformed designs and get a feel for the modern trends in this style, this is a good introductory choice.And I do mean modern trends.The other glaring insufficiency in this book is its lack of a classic feel.Many of the designs are not strictly traditional, and though some see this as a sign of vitality, I see it as a blemish on a grand tradition.

If "doing" without understanding is enough...
37 pages of curriculum instruction, 3 pages of history/meanings, 11 pages to teach you how to draw two ovoids one within the other... good beginnings.
This book is an excellent opening into NW Coastal art. It does not address the meanings or legends but mainly how designs are created and build up of elements. Lots of illustrations. Its an excellent reference for the carver or artist wanting to work with the designs (note: no carving techniques etc are discussed; just design but that is enough) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art / Study & Teaching    3. Indians of North America    4. Instruction and study    5. Native American Art    6. Northwest Coast of North Ameri    7. Northwest, Pacific    8. Study & Teaching   

Subjects:  1. 20th Century Art    2. Architecture    3. Art    4. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    5. General    6. Permanent Collection Catalogs    7. Techniques - Drawing    8. Techniques - Painting    9. Art / Criticism    10. Eastern Europe    11. History of art & design styles: from c 1900 -    12. Painting & paintings    13. Russia   

Reviews (1)

Taschen, Fat Possum, Criterion: These Guys Have All My Money
I don't have any particular interest in anatomy, although I do like to do a little of my own research when some body part is misbehaving.This massive book will certainly assist in the future...it has to be the gold-standard of anatomy books.And Taschen has done yet another magnificent job producing one of these major historic works.Folks, this book is staggering, in both size and quality.It is HUGE (perhaps four times the size of an average "coffee-table book") and heavy and beautifully produced: Cloth-bound cover, incredible paper quality, magnificent color reproduction...and enormous scope.Page after page of....well, blood and guts, assorted organs, skeletons, bones and skulls.
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Subjects:  1. Anatomy    2. Art    3. General    4. Health/Fitness    5. Medical / Nursing    6. Nursing - General    7. Reference    8. Drawing & drawings   

Reviews (12)

Portraits from life in 29 steps
I found it very practical. I felt almost like in a good live art class.
Terrible
I am a serious artist but I've only recently started to paint.Having minimal training in this subject and been frustrated by my current approach I decided to get this book to try to understand a different combination of colors in hopes of gaining confidence and speed.The author/artist is shamelessly promoting his production materials.I had hoped to replicate the colors with the descriptions of the Promix colors.For example, their premixed "halftone 2" is a combo of white, yellow ochre, cad. red lt...ect.But in attempting to mix these colors it is almost impossible to recreate with the colors as listed.I discover as I begin working that the Halftone 2 color on one page is different than the same color on the next...and this error in printing continues throughout the book. And if this is to be a true instructional book it fails because descriptions of what colors to use in certain areas are ommited through various steps.
Value is the Key to Portrait painting
The key value of the book I think is the explanation of the importance of Value and color mixing. The simplified explanation of the use of the Value scale is clear and the examples clarifies this clearly. Furthermore the basic characteristics of color--hue, value, intensity and temperature are well demonstrated with a clear guide to learning how to change and reduce intensity, value and temperature in painting aportrait. Also Sanden gives a convincing demonstration on building a portrait fron the foundation ------great book! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Study & Teaching    4. Subjects & Themes - Portraits    5. Techniques - General    6. Techniques - Painting - Specific Subjects    7. Art techniques & materials    8. Oils    9. Portraits in art   

Reviews (10)

Must have for freelance designers!
In starting out and gathering information it's hard to determine what books will be helpful. This is great. It is filled with tear out forms you can make copies of and use over and over. Great information. And the CD-ROM includes all the forms in pdf format, as well as Pagemaker and Quark XPress so that you can make changes to fonts and style, logo additions, and more, to suit your own home business.Files are compatible with Mac and IBMC platform, which is great for me being a designer working mostly on an IBM computer. Excellent book!

It's a $29.95 Lawyer!!
Our small graphic design firm had been relying on the legal forms and contracts from this book for about one year. Finally, we decided that perhaps we ought to visit with a lawyer to make sure we were doing it right...$560.00 later for an initial consultation, we realized that this $29.95 book was the best business investment we'd ever made! The lawyer confirmed that the contracts that we had been using were airtight and were great (he had a few other pointers...but, none worth $560.00). Buy it, you won't be sorry.
This book has EVERYTHING you need ... and then some.When you think you're not going to need one of the forms in this book, you later realize that YOU DO! As a freelance artist, using these forms made me feel as though clients noticed that they were dealing with a real professional.Absolutely a great investment. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Artists    4. Artists' contracts    5. Forms    6. Graphic Arts - General    7. Graphic arts    8. Legal status, laws, etc    9. Legal status, laws, etc.    10. Reference    11. Taxation    12. United States   

Reviews (19)

Reading Bettween the Lines
I find this book to be very good, but I do agree with other critics on this site that it is not for beginners. My approach to learning from this book has been to study each part of the painting process[which you do not see all of that and that is good]and read bettween the lines. Well that is the thinking part because this is not Bob Ross's "The Joy of Painting". I have only really studied the so-called Titian method in the book. Well to paint in that manner you best understand the difference bettween a valaturas and a glaze. The valaturas are painted on normally in the middle tones and highlights on the flesh, but as you paint towards the shadows you have to start working with a scrub so that the shadows to not get lost--This is the thinking part that the book does not teach. The mediums in the book seem rather dangerous to me, so I would recommend manufactured mediums because Joseph Shepperd admits in the book that no one really knows how the old masters painted. Consequently, I'd use a safe medium. I do not see Joseph Shepperd as being as good a painter as Titian, but in his own way he comes close. A person should Take the usage of this book seriously when they understand the blending of oil paints--Further, drawing well is a good foundation. I would recommend this book to advanced artists.

This -->IS<--- like some old masters
I read a review here from somebody who said this book is NOT the old masters, but that is not true.Ingres painted alot like this and I have seen many examples.I think this method would work great for people who paint realistic images of photos or realistic images in general but that doesn't mean it is any less of an old masters technique.On the other hand, if you are going to make a book about how to paint like "the old masters" it should include all the old masters, or be more specific.Many painters had different approaches, and "old masters" is a generic word.

Great reference for both the aspiring and accomplished portrait artist!!
This book not only makes a great reference book for the artist, but is a wonderful "coffee table" book in its own right.It is a fabulous addition to any library. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 17th-18th centuries    2. Art    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. Painting    5. Painting, Modern    6. Painting, Renaissance    7. Study & Teaching    8. Technique    9. Techniques - Oil Painting    10. Techniques - Painting    11. Art techniques & materials    12. Oils   

Reviews (8)

For the serious amateur doodler
Are you a serious amateur doodler?Want to take your idle doodling to the next level?Add some perspective and dimension. Dare to leave your next doodle behind for some one to find and marvel at. (go ahead and sign it so they can find you)
Why didn't I find this book sooner?
All of my adult life I've struggled with perspective drawing and I was determined to find a better way to teach my architecture students a method that didn't get hung up on technicalities. Using the exercises and examples provided in this book, my students' drawings skills have improved dramatically in one term. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has always wanted to learn the "mysteries" of perspective sketching.

Presented pain free
Drawing is the basis of making good art and perspective is the basis of good drawing.Phil Metzger presents the means for making perspectively correct drawings.Yes, it's without "pain" because the mathematics of perspective is not presented; but, to get it right the "pain" is in the practice.Where it should be. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Art Media (Specific Aspects)    4. Conceptual    5. Drawing    6. Perspective    7. Technique    8. Techniques - Drawing    9. Art techniques & materials   

Reviews (9)

The Best Drawing Book I've Seen
This is the book that really helped me!The other one I like is the old standard "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain."But for practical, usable exercises that will give you immediate results, this is definitely the book to have!Since I didn't have any of Hammond's previous books, there was no problem for me with repitition of material.I love that she is very specific in naming materials and explaining why she uses certain brands of materials vs. others.If you get only one drawing book, this should be it!

FOR BEGINNER OR REVIEW
THIS BOOK IS BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND ILLISTRATED. FOR THE BEGINNER IT IS EASY TO UNDERSTAND AND FUN TO LEARN.I RECOMMEND EVERYONE THAT WOULD LOVE TO DRAW TO GIVE THIS BOOK A TRY.

Wonderful
The book is quite awesome. I bought it just before I started taking a college art class and I find that it helps me more than the teacher does! I'm looking forward to buying more of Lee Hammond's books. I have already purchased her Lifelike Drawing and Drawing Realistic Pets: From Photographs, which are both equally awesome. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Pencil drawing    4. Study & Teaching    5. Technique    6. Techniques - Drawing    7. Techniques - General   

Reviews (12)

Another great reference for artists.
I bought the other facial expression book years ago and it was good and this one is just as good.From young to old and with focus on speach phonetics at the end of the book and also this book has a nice reference section with hats, masks, and sports gear.A great addition to my library.

It's really the best *right now*- get it while it's in-print...
This is currently the best and most cost-effective photo reference for heads, features, faces, expressions, angles, and different ethnicities, genders, and ages available today *in-print*. A great price & above-average quality- it's pretty easily worth getting.
An excellent reference!
'Facial Expressions' is an excellent reference book for artists who want to practise drawing and sketching the human face, enlivened by any number of evocative expressions. I am using it to improve my figure drawing, and to give the anthro characters I like to try and draw some life... it's great for that!
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Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Children's All Ages - Art    4. Photo Techniques    5. Photographic Techniques For Specific Conditions    6. Photography    7. Portraiture    8. Subjects & Themes - General    9. Subjects & Themes - Portraits    10. Techniques - General    11. Portraits in art   

Reviews (3)

Oh....my....gosh!
Oh...my...gosh!This is the book I have been waiting for my entire life! I have tried to learn to paint numerous times and always gave up in frustration.This book takes the mystery out of painting and makes it easy to understand.Thank you SO much!

The best book yet
This book offers an extremely organized and disciplined course in oil painting. All the bases are covered in even more detail than she has time to teach in her class. Just an excellent book for all artists of all abilities.

Color Mixing
This book is important for those of us that find color mixing in shadows particularly challenging.Also the section on mixing greens is most valuable. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Oil Painting    4. Painting    5. Technique    6. Techniques - Oil Painting    7. Oils   

Reviews (12)

Awsome Book
I love this book it is step by step. I made the first smiling chicken and he looked just like the pictures. Super book.

Gorgeous, but fantasy means trolls here
This book is gorgeous, with unique, detailed projects and explicit step-by-step directions.Just be forewaarned that it interprets fantasy to mean troll-like, so even Santa and the Easter bunny are trolls. I am therefore returning my copy, and just wanted to warn you what to expect.But it is an absolutely gorgeous, well-done book, and most people will love it.

Should be 10 stars!
Dinko Tilov is an amazing young man! His imaginative art has intrigued me for years and I have several of his pieces in my collection. His personal story is just as inspiring as his art. Now, he has written one of the best "how-to" books I have ever read. He has captured a perfect balance of presenting the required skills without making his students simply clones of his work. Quite remarkable for a young man who is in his early 20's. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art & Art Instruction    2. Crafts & Hobbies    3. Hobbies/Crafts    4. Polymer clay craft    5. Pottery & Ceramics    6. Sculpture    7. Art techniques & materials    8. Ceramics    9. Modelling (in clay, wax & other plastic materials)   

Reviews (4)

Companion to tape series by Robert B. Hale
I purchased the companion tape series from Jo-An Pictures Ltd in NYC (212-532-5003) several years ago. The book and tapes record the lectures given by Robert Beverly Hale at the Art Student's League in NYC. You may never find better instruction on artistic anatomy and drawing the human form! He was without doubt the greatest instructor of this subject! The tapes are almost like attending his classes! You must draw from life as well as study this material to master the subject. If you cannot afford the tapes, at least get this book! You will not find a better investment but you must also make the effort! A valid observation from his lectures: 'You can not draw a form, if you don't know it exists.' If you want to draw figures that will impress other artists, clients with medical training or other sophisticated viewers, then master the lessons in this book!
very comprehensive
I am currently in Figure drawing 2 and this book is a wonderful help. I have few figure drawing books that I feel compleatly happy with and this one is the best. It shows you how the masters worked with simple shapes, line, value, mass, and anatomy to represent the figure. It breaks up the chapters into body parts and each chapter deals with that specific part. By presenting works of master artists and disecting them you understand how the human form works and can be expressed. I would reccomend this book to anyone interested in drawing the figure, especially beginers.

A masterpiece of life drawing tuition
Mr Coyle has done great justice to his old mentor Robert Beverley HALE with this magnificent book. The lessons are based on Mr Hales teachings on the techniques and thinking of the great master drawers, and not only arethe examples all master works, but innovative use of coloured line overlaysmakes sometimes difficult concepts abundantly clear.The real point ofthis book, as with all R.B.Hale books, is that YOU can learn to think inthe same highly visually intelligent way as these greats of the past, andlearn to apply that thinking to your own creations. BRAVO Messrs Hale etCoyle! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Drawing Of Specific Subjects    4. Figure drawing    5. Study & Teaching    6. Technique    7. Techniques - Drawing    8. Techniques - Life Drawing    9. Art techniques & materials    10. Drawing & drawings   

Reviews (1)

An art educators delight.
Learning Through Art is a wonderful teacher tool to expose students to art and artists through fun filled reading, writing, and observational activities. Many students have never visited or explored a museum. Learning Through Art gives students a feeling they have been able to visit a museum to discover and learn about art, art history, and art of many cultures. I share this book with students at the beginning of every school year and they love the activities. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Art    3. Art - General    4. Art appreciation    5. Art, Modern    6. Children's 9-12 - Art & Art Instruction    7. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Nonfiction    8. Creative activities and seat work    9. Juvenile literature    10. New York    11. New York (State)    12. School & Education    13. Study & Teaching    14. Study and teaching    15. Art, fine art, decorative arts    16. Children's stationery & miscellaneous items    17. Hobbies, quizzes & games    18. Life Skills & Personal Awareness, General Studies   

Reviews (13)

classicartist materials
This is a classic for people who want to draw or paint the human figure. It is not so well illustrated, oddly, but the information is excellent.

A Classic for Drawing the Human Body
If you read knowledgable reviews for books on figure drawing, the two authors they consistantly recommend are Vanderpoel and Bridgman [Construction of Anatomy, to start].He begins with facial features: eyes, nose, ears, lips and chin, and then goes into the rest of the body. Each chapter is stand-alone, so if one part of the anatomy is giving you fits, just flip to those pages. I carry the book with me, along with my sketchpad.In fact I have to order another copy because my mother, an artist for decades,is taking my copy home with her.

Great book for beginners
This book is excellent for beginners I think. For more advanced artist it must be very good book for practice. Human figure drawing is broke down in couple parts - starts with eyes and all other facial features, than continues with torso, arms, legs and hands. Finally there are nice drawings of complete figure. This book will help you to understand how the face and body are constructed. I gave this book 5 stars because of the value of the information, but it has one disadvantage - pictures look like 10-th copy of another copy. I would probably appreciate more bigger pictures too. There is a lot of text to read in this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art & Art Instruction    2. Figure drawing    3. Techniques - Life Drawing    4. Art / Techniques    5. Art techniques & materials   

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Design - Textile & Costume    4. General    5. Reference    6. Costume    7. History of specific subjects   

Reviews (12)

Perfect for any designer, beginner or expert.
This guide walks you through the basics and uses examples every step of the way. Most books like to use concepts or discuss the actual methods of design where as this book actually gives you the information you need to go beyond concepts and well into the world of graphic design. This book is invaluable in terms of resourcefulness and useability on a day to day basis to anyone who has an interest / hand in graphic design. I also recommend the designers complete index, same author / publisher, as it is equally indispensable.

Great design book for all levels
I am a self-taught designer, as well as a entry-level graphics teacher so I have read many design books. This book is packed with content -- something that some design books are lacking. Plenty of exercises and explainations make this a great book for the classroom.

Good book for beginner
It's good book.
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Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Design - General    4. Graphic Arts - General    5. Graphic arts    6. Handbooks, manuals, etc    7. Reference   

Reviews (5)

Fair Book, But the Design!!
This book offers a rather general overview of graphic design, and does that job pretty well. The seven essentials referred to in the title are: research, typography, contrast, layout, the grid system, identity design and critique/analysis. The author does a good job giving the basics of each of these elements. The Seven Essentials IS essential
As a first-year design student, I found Goodman's book inspiring. A great reference tool that helps bring clarity and focus to the subject of design. Written in a friendly, insightful manner, the book includes excellent examples of all forms of graphic design from famous to not-so-famous designers. I've used it as a supplement to my required reading.

Interesting, but flawed
A so-so introduction to design principles, marred by a misleading typography chapter. Simply put, Ms. Goodman's use of terminology is often wrong: for example, she uses the term Modern as a label for all sans-serifs, then classifies Bodoni as a Transitional; she calls Optima and Gill Sans Grotesques �" they're not �", and, most galling, she manages to get the definitions of "font" and "typeface" exactly backwards. Mere details? Perhaps, but one can easily make the argument that typography is about details. As far as the rest of the book is concerned, though it has some nice examples, the layout makes it difficult to use as a reference, and the text fails to provide much of a historical context. It is also almost exclusively American. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Graphic Arts - General    4. Graphic design (Typography)    5. Techniques - General    6. Graphic design   

Reviews (16)

interaction of color by josef albers
excellent revised/expanded edition of the classic albers theory/anti-theory of color. the classic that most art schools continue to base their color courses on, this edition has more reproductions from the original collectors hand silkscreened edition and is nearly twice the number of pages.

Classic approach to color
Albers is a color genius, and although I personally incorporate several color theorists into my decision making in color or color theory practices. Albers has an easy approach to understanding color.

Almost worthless without the original color plates
As another reviewer states the original had 150 color plates this version has only 8 in mine. The visual phenomena are so complex that without the plates you can't possibly accurately understand what the book is talking about. Sure you could make you own examples, but if you did, you would NOT be sure, given the complex examples, that you understood what the author was talking about. Instead you will have a false understanding or incomplete understanding that will make you look foolish. The publisher is cashing in on the author's previous great work without really republishing it. This is the lowest I've ever rated a book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Color Theory    4. General    5. Graphic Arts - Use of Color    6. Photography    7. Art / Design / General    8. Individual artists    9. Theory of art