5 comments about Facial Expressions: A Visual Reference for Artists.

1. This book was just what it stated, however, I was looking for a book of instruction for the photos included. The book was returned.



2. I purchased this book to use as a reference for sculpting faces on dolls. The book shows different angles of the expressions and that was what I needed. Unfortunately what I did not need was an entire book filled with goofy expressions that you'd never even see on a human face!! There was no romantic expressions or serene, contented, laughing mildly at something mildly funny expressions. Just over the top, completely over exaggerated mutated faces! If you need some serious or normal faces, Don't buy this book.



3. It's a great idea, but as a comic artist I could have used a lot more younger models. The models transition to old age groups too rapidly. I would love to see a 'volume II' that included more children and teens, and perhaps some additional models in the age groups that were included, but in different racial choices.
   
   Even so, it is well done, very useful, and six months after I bought it, already getting a little dirty from all the use it has gotten (too much eraser dust in the air!) Thumbs up.



4. This book contains black and white headshots of people showing different emotions. It starts with younger adults and moves through the ages. Each person is shown from different points of view of the same emotion. The personality types are varied too. Not just glamour girls and boys, average Americans of different ethnicities. As an illustrator this is a big help.



5. If you are a sculptor looking for some good references to work with, try the better [albeit more expensive] Virtual Poser series. This book is not for 3D work!!
   
   This book doesn't have a lot of competition. There aren't many authors or artists which compile images like this just to use as references. I was looking for something just like this and I was happy to find it however there are some improvements which could be made to make this book even better. I would have liked color photographs instead of the B/W, maybe releasing 2 editions of this series would be a good idea [but I am probably dreaming]. I would definitely pay the extra $ for a color edition if it were a hardcover. It would have also been nice to feature better Illustrations with higher caliber real-life examples in the samples after each model's set of images. Overall, this book is what it says and works for what it says it works for. Simple expressions on varying faces with different ethnicities and ages. The further you get in the book, the better the models used get. I'd recommend this for any 2D artist who needs to get a hold of small library of facial expressions for animation, illustration or just general drawing work. This is not a good choice for 3D artists as most images only provide a frontal view of the subject.

5 comments about Ish.

1. Here is a picture book that speaks to "the courage to create." Beautifully illustrated, Ish tells of Ramon, the boy with the gift of art. Reading the story, we realize that we all have a little of Ramon with us: the creative soul that wishes to bring forth a vision. And this is why we feel for Ramon when his brother makes an insensitive comment about his art. For us, it may not be a brother: it may be a thoughtless teacher, a cranky adult, or even some part of us that doubts our creative side. Whatever the source, an insensitive remark can cause us to wish to shut down our own wonderful creativity. But fortunately, there is another force that encourages us to keep going, and in this wonderful story, this positive energy is embodied in Ramon's little sister Marisol. How can we fail to cheer for Ramon's courage to create, in spite of the difficulties and doubts? Ramon is a great hero, and this book is a true source of inspiration for children and adults.



2. If you have ever felt like less than a great artist this book is for you. Learn to embrace your inner "ish" as this simple book explains that art isn't about being a great artist, but rather to create art to enjoy the process and fun of it!



3. What a beautiful book for children. Gives them the encouragement to try - even if its not quite right - gives them confidence to draw whatever they want - I love the definition of 'ish'. A must for children.



4. this was a cute book about a little boy who loves to draw, and he draws quite a bit. one day his brother looks at his drawings and says that it doesn't look like what he was trying to draw. the boy looks at it again and agrees with his brother and he gets mad. i forget if he keeps drawing or not, but at one point he crumples up his 'last drawing' in frustration and swears to never draw again. his sister grabs the drawing and runs to her room. he chases her and when he goes in her room he sees all of his drawings. he asks why she kept them as they don't look anything like what they're supposed to. she replies 'well it looks vase-ish'. he looks around and agrees that it does look vase- ish. and continues drawing.
   the guy's drawings don't have to be perfect. he draws because he loves it, not because he wants to make perfect pictures. it's sweet.



5. Although it's a children's book, it is truly a book for all ages. If you have ever limited yourself because of an internal or external critic, you will find solace and liberation in this book's simple yet profound message.
   
   A gem.

5 comments about The Principles of Uncertainty.

1. i very much enjoy the book, and there was very fast delivery-unfortunately the mail left the box in the rain, so the cover got damp, but beautiful book!



2. This is one of the most brilliant books in existance. It has weight to it, and the art & words are thought-provoking & insightful. Most of it feels tinged with a slight melancholy-- that could be just me-- but it doesn't hurt the book by a long shot. If anything, it deepens it. I'm glad i was finally able to buy it, after reading it again & again in bookstores. Definitely recommend this book.



3. This is such a beautiful, unique book. Each time you see a picture or read a section, you think and then think again something altogether different. This is a book not to read, but to experience. Thank you Mrs. Kalman.



4. This isn't really a book for reading, it's a book that you'll dip in and out of, reading the humorous and sometimes touching vignettes at your whim - much like the blog that spawned this book. Some of the illustrations are better than others - I particularly like the historical portraits and full-colour pages. Nonetheless it's a beautiful illustrated book and a sweet gift for someone.



5. This book holds a permanent place on my coffee table. It is a wonderfully illustrated and observed year in a life. Page by page, it offers captivating visual and written poetry of the everyday, as well as ruminations on "the big picture."

5 comments about Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists.

1. Este libro es un compendio básico de las herramientas de procesing, lo interesante de este texto es que las herramientas vienen contextualizadas con entrevistas o ejemplos de trabajos realizados por artistas.Recomiendo este libro a aquellos que se estén iniciando en la programación con fines artísticos.
   
   Marcos Chilet.
   Diseño, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile



2. Processing is a great language for anybody who wants to create graphical applications or visualizations without messing with complex graphics libraries. This is the definitive reference to the language, with much more detail than you get from the web documentation. It'll help you get up and running writing visual apps in no time.



3. As a high school physics teacher with a lot of advanced students, I've been trying to work a bit of computer programming into the course over the last few years. I always wanted to do graphics programming with the students in order to help them visualize and simulate systems, because the pictures produced are a lot prettier and more rewarding than just the formulas on their own, but the languages I tried were just too difficult to teach from scratch in the time we had. Processing seems to be just what I'm looking for: it's free so the kids can download it themselves, and it really doesn't take much to produce stunning graphics. Now I would NOT recommend the book to someone with no programming experience at all - the emphasis of the book is clearly (and rightly) on how to get up to speed making images, not on what a variable is. That said, this book is a terrific resource for me; anyone with a basic programming course under their belt ought to have no trouble making sense of Processing's syntax, and the power of the language is phenomenal. The authors have done a fine job of both explaining the use of the Processing language, and showing off what it can do with all the examples. Processing is letting me do what I always wanted to do with a computer - make stunning graphics from mathematical information - at a level high school students can understand. If you are at all interested in Processing, download the free software and go here next.



4. I have been watching the development of processing and the processing community for a few years but until now haven't explored it much.
   I create live visuals for musical performances - mostly within the chiptunes music scene (people using game console hardware to create new music). Originally I did all of my work with PureData, GEM and other libraries but then decided to move to performing with handhelds, writing code for the GP2X and Gameboy Advance (because unlike newer machines, the GBA has video out).
   
   For an upcoming project, I decided that I wanted to create a web "playable" version of the software that I have created for the gp2x (where the visuals react to the joystick, button presses, etc) - enter Processing!
   I decided that Processing would be the best tool for this job because it is easy to deliver on the web, has functions for interactivity (key presses, mouse actions, etc), and is open source which is important to me.
   
   After looking at the Processing.org website, I decided that while there is a good reference there, a book might be nice. I was pleased to find the book "Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists" written by the creators of Processing, Casey Reas and Ben Fry and thought that no matter how useful it would be, it was good to support the developers of the project.
   
   The pleasant surprise was that book is great!
   I was expecting something like an extended reference book but it is much more than that. For one, this is a book that teaches programming concepts regardless of the language used to implement them. Although I have previous programming experience, I know that I could give this book to someone with no previous experience and they would be able to follow along and not only learn Processing, but learn programming. Sure, you can learn programming by reading C (or name your favorite language here) tutorials, writing text to the screen, reading and writing to files, etc. but ... I think that for some people it's much more exciting and motivating to see cool things happen, shapes moving, colors changing, etc. when they type in commands, learn about functions, conditionals, objects and so on. This book does that.
   
   Another interesting thing about the book is that periodically there are interviews with visual artists who create with software - and not all with processing but with various types of software. I liked these and could imagine seeing more (or just new ones) in future editions of the book or online. I'll admit that I only use open source software so I am biased, but could imagine seeing more mention of Pd (Pure Data) as alternative to Max/Jitter.
   
   [...]
   
   Overall, the book is very well written and enjoyable to read even when you aren't in front of a computer (I read much while traveling) - the authors make reference to many pioneers of computing, visualization, motion graphics, film, etc. and I had fun looking up those whose works I wasn't familiar with. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in creating visuals with computers.



5. So far (hey!, its a big book, and dense material) this is an excellent book covering the basics of processing. I plan on spending some quality time with this on my vacation.
   
   I hope to post some video on it later, as well as some examples of programs I make on my blog.
   
   Tim

5 comments about Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists.

1. By asking several artist's the same question, it shows there is no "right" way. Everyone comes to their art with their own style. Great idea's to jump start the muse. The imagery was beautiful.



2. I know a couple artists that submitted their work to this book and I was happy to see them included!
   I think any book that helps people with inspiration is great.
   
   I do think this book is a bit fluffy. At least for me. I was hoping for something different maybe. Something meatier ~ Thanks



3. Living the Creative Life is challenging me to look at creativity in many new ways. The approach taken from the viewpoint of many different artists in many different media shows the versitality of our innate creative spirit. The idea that all humans are creative if they allow that part of the whole person to flourish is not new to me, but the way this author discusses the creative spirit is fresh. The book is beautiful to look at and I love the format -- small size, lovely illustrations and great ideas for jump starting creativity.



4. It is hard to imagine anyone could read this book without stopping multiple times to experiment with some form of art explorations of their own. The author makes it seem natural and oh so inviting. The only drawback is the small print on busy pages. It is sometimes difficult to read the suggestions.



5. You can't but be inspired after reading this wondrous book! I will admit first hand, I personally have no intention (nor the talent), to ever become a world class artist by any means. I do have passion to create however, and this book along with another I received around the same time, Your Home A Living Canvas: Create Stunning Faux Finishes & Murals with Paint, by Curtis Heuser, have almost convinced me to rethink my day job. How rewarding (and envious), it sounds from all these talented souls, to be devoted and fortunate enough to get to spend their time without a doubt, doing what they love. Not to say it is without effort, but the pure joy and love for expression, explodes off the pages and simply can not be denied in both of these glorious titles.
   
   Unlike the various first hand artistic testimonials featured throughout "THE CREATIVE LIFE..." - "YOUR HOME..." follows just one decorative artist's amazing creative journey, leading to the publishing of his extroidinary first book which documents the rebirth of his ordinary historic home, through must see mural and faux painting techniques and decoration. In addition, Heuser's book is full of beautiful before, during and after photography, and inspiring how to do the same for your own home-projects. There are similarities in both of these titles however, as the reader will discover and can almost touch the often unexplicable creative passion in the hearts and spirits of these diversely talented artistans.
   
   There appears a special kinship between the artists and authors of both these books - as each are driven by the undeniable desire to express themselves through a wide range of interesting art mediums. I want to personally "Thank" both authors for so eloquently and unselfishly sharing their work and individual views on creativity with us! Both books offer rare insight and are worthy of our every penny! ENJOY!!!!

5 comments about Gathering Blue.

1. In this post-apocalyptic society, culture has regressed to a primitive form, with art and advanced technology being almost completely lost. This scenario seems more believable than the advanced, utopian society of The Giver; Lowry presents the savagery of human nature when it needs to survive. The few artists here are the rational, creative opposite of that instinct (while also being enslaved to it).
   
   Despite being written for young readers, Lowry does not talk down to her audience or point out the blatantly obvious, as so many writers in this genre do. I've always appreciated her writing for that, and this holds up to her standard. The characters are solid, sometimes even truly shocking in their capabilities for cruelty. I enjoyed the symbolism she hints at with gathering, literally, "blue"-- the color of peace and calm that is gone from their particular village.
   
   I do have one nitpick: the ending. While the story builds up to an ominously dangerous scenario for the main characters, it then ends, and on an oddly optimistic note. I understand the sequel, Messenger, picks up a few years after this book ends; now I have no choice but to read it! Instead of making Gathering Blue self-contained, as The Giver is, Lowry leaves the bulk of the resolution to the next book. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but the sudden (and a little too cheery) ending threw me off.



2. Gathering Blue, like The Giver, delves into a recurring theme found in humanity - power and control and the consequences thereof. Once humans moved beyond hunter and gatherer and created complex societies, a hierarchical class structure also developed - the Haves and the Have Nots. Lowery delves into this class structure by blatantly pointing out how power, in the hands of the few, shape society to their liking - at a cost. Both Gathering Blue and The Giver illuminate this aspect of human society irregardless of time period or setting; it is yet present today in the USA as it was in the Middle Ages. I believe this is one theme, Lowery may want the reader to think about.



3. "`Can you make blue?' she asked.
   But Annabella frowned. `You need the woad,' she said. `Gather fresh leaves from first year's growth of woad. And soft rainwater, that makes the blue.' She shook her head. `I have nought. Others do, but they be far away.'
   `Who be others?' Matt asked.
   The old woman didn't answer the boy. She pointed toward the far edge of her garden, where the woods began and there seemed to be a narrow overgrown path. Then she turned toward her hut. Kira heard her speak in a low voice. `I ne'er could make it,' she was saying. `But some have blue yonder.'"
   
   When Kira's mother dies of sickness Kira is left all alone to die because of her crippled leg. Then unexpectedly the Council of Guardians grants Kira a place as The Weaver. While working to repair the Singer's robe Kira works with the old dyer Annabella, and learns that they have no woad to make blue. While living at the Council Edifice Kira finds out many secrets, about the Council, herself, places yonder, and their future. As she ventures into ideas she'd never even dreamed of her role becomes clearer. She must change the future to save the town from the Council, and help gather blue.
   Gathering Blue fits right along with The Giver. In both worlds there are secrets hidden from the town, and the main characters uncover the secrets. They also both try to save the town and make the townspeople stronger. The leaders of the towns rule the people and leave the people clueless. Gathering Blue has deeper emotions, and is better than The Giver. If you like The Giver you will definitely enjoy reading Gathering Blue.
   In Gathering Blue there are more complex characters. The main character Kira is filled with adventure and suspicion. This makes the book interesting and makes the reader want to read on. Matt is her little friend that follows her everywhere, and he matures during the book, to understand Kira more. Jamison is Kira's defender, who is a suspicious and very uncertain character. Thomas is very serious, and is knowledgeable. He helps Kira unravel the secrets of the council.
   In the end, Louis Lowry leaves you to imagine what happens to Kira next. I was disappointed that it was another cliffhanger ending. The book could have used a little more resolution, like The Giver. I was so frustrated when I didn't get to find out if Kira actually succeeded in her mission or not. I'll always be wondering what happened. Read the book Gathering Blue and see what you think will happen to Kira after all. Happy reading!



4. This book was interesting and a parrallel to The Giver, being a primitice society while The Giver presented a futuristic society. This is a worthwhile book like I said, but I read it because I was told it was a "companion" to The Giver, which is my favorite book. If you are looking to find out what happens to Jonas and Gabe by reading this book you won't find an answer! The conclusions of the characters from both The Giver and Gathering Blue are given in the third companion, The Messenger.



5. I found this somewhat slow to start. About 70 pages in it seemed more interesting. I continued reading because this has fairly decent reviews and I've read Lois Lowry's 'Gossamer' which I really liked.
   
   I have mixed reviews on this book. I did NOT enjoy reading this book. I thought the writing was well enough that I did like the characters and cared for them. I was bothered by how people are treated in this society especially the children. I felt a sense of urgency to continue to read to make sure the kids and the main characters turned out ok. With that said, I never found much relief. I don't understand why people are saying this has a happy ending. I wouldn't say this has a happy ending. Also, I thought the ending left you with so many questions...Why did she stay? Why not go and take her friends with her? Why didn't she tell anyone the truth about the dyer's death?
   
   I can understand how some people would like this type of book. I prefer a book with a happy ending, an uplifting moral/message or clean love story. None of that was found in this book.

5 comments about The HDRI Handbook: High Dynamic Range Imaging for Photographers and CG Artists +DVD.

1. I bought two HDR books at the same time. This was by far the better book. Yes, it did cost more, but has been well worth it. The DVD has some useful information. Besides that they list other useful WEB sites in their text. Well written and knowledgeable. Not a rehash of known information.



2. The principle was so obvious to me, and yet as soon I finished the study of this book, I realized just how limited my prior knowledge was. Apparently I did not knew about existing image standards, tools and about a fundamental importance of HDR (high dynamic range) imaging for digital photography as a superior way of preserving images.
   
   Foreword is by one of the top gurus in the discipline and author of several graphical file formats, Greg Ward.
   
   Author starts with explaining the basic concepts of dynamic range, EV (exposure value) and specifics of human perception of light and shape. This sounds like a platitude, but in fact the chapter is very educational and to the point. Reader can quickly understand the limitation of the contemporary digital imaging based on integer numbers. I had no idea that HDR tools and files use in fact floating point numbers, utilize exponents to cover the vast dynamic range, while occupying still the same number of bits per pixel.
   
   In chapter 2 author goes through the numerous file formats invented to hold graphical information, beginning with Kodak's Cineon, Portable Float Map, Float Tiff, Radiance, LogLuv, Open EXR (devised by Florian Kainz at Industrial Light and Magic,) High Dynamic Range Jpeg, Fjpeg, and several more. I was not aware of the most of them. Tabular summary at the end provide a perfect and compact summary.
   
   He summarizes than properties of the diverse HDRI tools, of which I knew of Photomatix, but the rest was widely unknown to me. One group of programs contain generic image viewers with HDR capability, like HDRView, exrdisplay, JahPlayer. Even Irfanview can apparently interpret two HDR formats: radiance and TIFF LogLuv. Later Bloch compares features of HDR file generators and tone mappers: HDRshop, Picturenaut, PhotoSphere, Photomatix and FDRTools. This is the most comprehensive enumeration of HDR software which I saw so far. Of course, he also talks about full image editors and compares their features to Photoshop CS.
   
   Chapter 3 is devoted to capturing HDR images. Bloch explains limitation of contemporary CCD and CMOS sensors, talks about future prospects. He explains how to use bracketing in ordinary digital cameras to gain series of images covering the wide dynamic range. Foremost he reminds to use the same aperture to preserve identical depth of field in each shot. Sounds so obvious, and yet before I red this book, I made series of images violating this principle. Expectedly I gained poor results, which I than attributed to an "immature HDR software." If fact, I was not ready. Bloch follows with a description of a series of workflows using dedicated tools, like HDRshop, Photomatix, Picturenaut, and compares them to a fully manual process in Photoshop. Very educational.
   
   Next chapter describes tone mapping: Once the HDR image is in place, its vast dynamic range must be mapped into the Low Dynamic Range (LDR) of the display, screen or paper alike. The process has many variables and an element of artistic freedom. Here again Bloch compares several automatic tools with a manual process in Photoshop. Some of the example images are simply stunning. The chapter has several sections written by other photographers presenting their selected HDR images.
   
   As a bonus follows a chapter about shooting of HDR panoramas, a combination of two dimensional series of images for each part of the scene, and for each part of the dynamic range. Fascinating are all the gadgets and contraptions being used to generate the surreal projections and circular panoramas.
   
   To sum up Bloch speaks about trick photography combined with CGI (Computer Graphics Images.) This is of course just a short introduction in context of HDR, and yet very informative.
   
   For me this is one of most educational books in photography which I ever read, and do I press the shutter button for over 30 years. Do yourself a favor: grab it and read it and foremost: Experiment with HDR!



3. This is an excellent book provided you know what you are getting. It is a genuine handbook, by which I mean it has loads of information about the theory of HDRI, capturing pictures and software used to create the final version. If all you want is a how-to-do-it there are cheaper and frankly less complex books out there. I recommend the Complete Guide to High Dynamic Range Digital Photography by Ferrell McCollough as a quite well-done book that is all most people will need. That having been said, the Bloch is essential for the underlying ideas and is particularly strong on HDRI panoramic photography. Also somewhat more complete and useful than other books on comparing various software programs for combining pictures. Well written and clear. One major advantage of the Bloch book is that it has a CD with versions of the major software packages (all available as free trial downloads as well)and more importantly it also contains the pictures used throughout the book as illustrations so that one can practice HDRI creation and compare one's own results with those by Bloch. HDRI is not especially difficult, but it takes a certain amount of practice and patience -- the CD helps to solve the practice part of the process. For patience you're on your own.



4. This is a great book in the development of HDR technology..I am sure "The next generation of cameras will have this built into their processors -- it is going to be that big". If you are serious about enjoying and developing your photography skills this is the now and future..And it requires real skills to get a masters in HDR results.. and if you want to take away the luck factor and know you are getting a great shot simply buy this book...



5. HDR (high dynamic range) images are starting to take the photography world by storm (at the time of this writing, the HDR Flickr group has over 18,000 members). If you ask a room full of people what HDR is, you get a wide range of answers, and typically they are all partly correct. Simply put however, HDR imaging is the process of creating an image that encompasses a wide range of exposure values. This allows the resultant image to be nearly all encompassing in every detail. HDR Imaging has, until very recently, been the purvey of Hollywood graphic and special effects artists. "The HDRI Handbook" by Christian Bloch helps bring this exciting arena to everyone else.
   
   The first part of the book gives a much needed overview of what HDRI really is. It also delves into current camera technology, describes present-day limiting factors, and outlines where the industry is headed (hold on to your hats!). From there the author provides an overview of HDRI tools - quite current as the book was published in November of 2007 - and gives an unbiased review of each.
   
   At this point, you delve right into the steps needed to capture a quality series of images from which you can generate an HDR image. This is not for the faint of heart - you need to know your camera well. In the off chance you don't know your camera that well, this section helps you learn more. It certainly taught me a couple things.
   
   Also covered are such critical subjects as image cleanup, croppung and framing, and other adjustments that are but the first step of creating the HDR image. From here you move on to critical sections on Tone Mapping and shooting Panoramic HDR images. The book wraps up with a section for using HDR images in CG (computer generated) graphics.
   
   It should be noted that all tutorials in the book assume the use of Photoshop CS3. However, features of other tools, such as FDR Tools and Artizen, are covered quite well. Numerous example images are on the accompanying DVD, along with sample versions of the latest HDR programs. In addition, there is a companion website to keep the reader up to speed on this fast emerging area of imaging.
   
   "The HDRI Handbook" is a must read for anyone who wants to dabble in HDR imaging. Written by a recognized expert in the field, this book carefully and cleanly details everything you need to know to generate quality HDR images that will make you the envy of your photographer friends. The examples in the book are stunning, and the techniques presented will give you confidence for when you start to compile your own High Dynamic Range image library.

5 comments about The Kill Artist.

1. In the murky world of Islamic terror, Tariq is one of the few people that Israel actually fears. This book is set against the backdrop of the Middle East peace talks and the possibility that Tariq needs to be stopped before he does something terrible to derail the process. I had thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Unlikely Spy" and this book was "un-put-downable". The contrast of the quiet art restorer's life in Cornwall with the action-packed lifestyle of the man chosen to put down Tariq is incredible. His character is given enough pain through the loss of a wife and child a decade earlier. All-in-all a terrific book!



2. Silva writes a past-paced, ferocious opening to his Gabriel Allon series of books with this excellent thriller. He goes a step beyond other thriller writers -- including Le Carre -- with compelling action and authentic characters. He paints his assassins as humans with "issues" stemming from their bloody occupation. Silva is not reluctant to get into issues of morality, especially the endless bitterness between Jew and Palestinian. And always, his plots spin and turn and what you think is real isn't always...but sometimes it is. Once you start this book, you'll not set it down easily (I'm writing this at 4:30 a.m., if that gives you a clue...) All in all, a very good read.



3. Sorry, folks. I wanted to like it. I gave it a chance. But it just goes on and on and on ... hardly a page-turner! Too much like Tom Clancy's later books!



4. Let me start by saying that I did not finish the book. I made it about 2/3s of the way through before I put it down. It was not that the book was boring; the story about terrorism and counterterrorism was somewhat compelling. The problem was with the characterizations, especially of the protagonist, Gabrielle Allon. I read this book based on a recommendation of the author by an online pundit. I think I know why he recommended the author; his worldview, at least as it comes across in his blog, is pragmatic. This is a pragmatic book. There were no "good guys" in this book; there were no heroes. The message of this book is that to beat the "bad guys" we have to become like them; we have to become "bad guys" as well. This is a thoroughly pragmatic worldview, and it left me feeling "slimed". Perhaps if I had finished it I would have discovered something uplifting. But life is too short sometimes, and I have other books to read.



5. Reading your first Daniel Silva book will compel you to buy another and another.......which I have done.

5 comments about Fabric Art Workshop: Exploring Techniques & Materials for Fabric Artists and Quilters.

1. This is a wonderful book if you are experienced in multiple methods of working with fabrics and fibers. It gives short, concise, information on techniques, and lets you 'run with it' on your own. I needed to research a method of working with fiber that I had used before, quite some time ago, and had forgotten the exact method for the process. This book quickly brought me up to speed, giving me an excellent reminder of how to start. I was then able to work through what I had done before to achieve my results. It also gave me the basics on a method I had thought about, but never knew how it was done (fabric beads). In a couple of short paragraphs I had the process down and was able to experiment at will.
   
   If you aren't an experienced fabric worker, or like to be given clear, step-by-step instructions on methods and examples of what you can actually do with different methods, may I suggest Art Quilt Workbook, by Waterston?
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Art-Quilt-Workbook-Techniques-Creativity/dp/157120377X/ref=pd_bbs_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213469647&sr=8-6
   
   It is very clearly written, gives good, clear instructions, and examples of projects you can try. It is an excellent choice for a beginner's book.
   
   Good luck, and have FUN!!!



2. This is a great textbook for budding art quilters. There's a new technique every 2 or 3 pages. I'm planning to work through it one technique at a time. It provides enough information to get you started with each technique and gives you some ideas for what to do with your creation. I definitiely recommend it for people intersted in exploring art quilting techniques.



3. If you like a clean house or a hot meal or clean clothes, don't, I repeat, DON'T buy this book. I received this book from Amazon, opened it up and started to read it. I was so innocent then. Then the book grabbed me and off I went on projects. I bought supplies, came home and started making samples. Vacuum? Dust? Oh, those can wait,--there is another project to try! The projects are fun, they are easy and the results are fabulous. If you want to try some fabric painting and dyeing in various forms, for example, this is your book, and that is just a small portion. Grab the book, be prepared to forget everything around you exists, and have fun!



4. I was very pleased with this book. It's creative techniques and clear instructions will be refered to often as I attempt art quilts.



5. This book has so many different techniques, it's delicious! I have most of the products to start in my own stash and purchased a few more. It's enough to keep me busy without boredom. 5 stars!!

5 comments about The Dot (Irma S and James H Black Honor for Excellence in Children's Literature (Awards)).

1. How do you teach a child confidence?
   You could put their work on the refrigerator, frame it, or talk about it with others. In this story the teacher frames a small dot drawn by a child who claims she is unable to draw. The little girl is also asked to sign her work, which emphasizes value.
   
   Society values signatures. We want the signed book, the signed football pendant, the autograph, etc. because we perceive it is more valuable. Children can relate to signatures. Children understand signatures mean something (whether it is a report card that needs signing, an illness note for school, or the need to sign a "take home" folder). Thus, immediately the little girl realizes when asked to sign her work that her dot, her creation, is also valuable.
   
   This wonderful story teaches children about trying, about at least starting, at least making an effort, and then seeing where that start can take you... This lesson is taught through art in this storybook but reminded me of what we were always told in writing, "Write, just start.... "
   
   Henry Ford said, "If you think you can... or if you think you can't... you're right." This simple story illustrates a message of positive "can do" type thinking.
   
   I also especially like that the little girl passes on what she learns at the end of the story by asking a little boy to sign his work. Setting a good example and passing on your knowledge to help others is a lesson for all children!



2. This is one of the greatest kids books ever! Especially for my son, who always thinks he has to be perfect. This book shows kids that everyone has their own talents; it might not be what you thought was perfect, but it can still be beautiful and amazing, unique and yours. I hope this book gives more children the courage to do their own thing and express themselves.



3. I love how this book helps kids make their mark. I use this book in my class rooms and it goes great with my little ones who are just learning how to make art for the first time.



4. Simple, yet profound. Many lessons can be learned from this story. The Dot is encouraging and uplifting and I recommend it to everyone.



5. This is a great children's book. I have read a few of this author's books and I like this one the best.