5 comments about Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting.

1. Schwabsky manages to pull together precise & intelligent critical essays of an enlightening array of painters from all over the world. The selection of images from each artist's oeuvre is generous. Big names like Currin and Ghada Amer appear alongside lesser-knowns with little academic biases. The only beef, really, I have with this wonderful volume of contemporary painters is the miniscule sizing of the actual text. Tedious to acknowledge, but the problem is actually distracting. This may be natural hierarchization, but the text size is 6 or 8, at the most. Have plenty of focused light nearby when turning pages & enjoy!



2. Vitamin P arrived on my doorstep before its scheduled date in perfect condition! Its a fantastic source on contemporary painting filled with large coloured illutrations of the artworks.



3. For painters this is an excellent book in looking at contemporary painting inspiration or even just some of the issues. As I am taking a contemporary painting course this book on the side helps me when I need further information or perhaps a better explanation (if the artist is indeed in the book)



4. A wonderful selection of contemporary painting today which display a variety of interesting painting solutions.



5. I purchased this very interesting and unique book as a review for
   a grad student. It was well-received, but I regret that it had small type.

1 comments about Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design.

1. I just received my book a few days ago and have already torn through it. It has a great balance of informative backgrounds about the artists involved with the companion documentary, soon to be released, and amazing visuals of the artists' work. I also really enjoyed the essays added throughout. I was especially excited to see one by Betsy Greer. I feel I have some knowledge about the artists' work that I would not have had if the book was not released. It also gives some insight on how the "New Wave of Craft" snowballed into what it is today. The timeline at the beginning of the book is also very illuminating.

3 comments about The Art Spirit.

1. This book is recommended reading by my art teacher...I have only just started reading it, but it appears to be really interesting so far.



2. The Art Spirit is a classic. No artist should ever be without a copy. This book invites reading time and time again. It brings us back to the principles. The value of things. Right thinking. Relationships. As a practicing artist, I can think of few books that have meant so much.



3. I first read about this book while reading "Lynch on Lynch" about the artist David Lynch.He mentioned that "The Art Spirit" opened his eyes to what art could be,and I figured "hey,if he got something out of it I'll bet that I could too!" Then a few weeks ago my Art Appreciation class instructor mentioned that it was top-notch reading(he's involved with the biggest art museum in Minneapolis)--then I knew I had to pick this book up.It's amazing reading and contains great ideas you won't soon forget!

5 comments about DragonArt.

1. Jessica's book is the only other dragon drawing book I would recommend other than my own:
   
   Drawing Dragons: Learn How to Create Fantastic Fire-Breathing Dragons
   
   Although I do find her artwork very cartoony, some of it is undeniably striking and she obviously is a very talented artist. The instructions are easy to follow and she has a fun and homourous tone to the way she writes. I have purchased pretty much every dragon drawing book out there to see how it compares to mine and this is the only purchase I am actually happy with.
   
   If you like this book, you should definitely check out her newest one on Fantasy Characters as well.



2. I was extrememly pleased with this book. I love to draw, but i'm not that great. It does an excellent job explaining things to you and helping you understand why to draw things the way they show you. I think I was pretty successful at drawing some of the images in the book. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn how to draw such amazing creatures.



3. Ok, so i got this from barnes and nobles a few months a ago and so far it has been really great to use. It offers great tips for beginners and its layed out in an easy to understand kind of format which i really enjoyed. though i really like the colors and pictures in the book, the step by step how to's weren't all that great as they are really detailed and might not be great for someone who is new to drawing really intricate and detailed pictures. but all in all its a great book and well worth the 20$ i paid for it and it would make a great gift for someone really into dragons,mythical creatures, and drawing! :)



4. Was swayed to buy this book by the reviews... Amazon offers several! Well done ~ does a fairly good job of explaining the basics, and the step-by-step was helpful to me. Not geared for the very young, though... would suggest from the 10-12yr. range & up.



5. I got this for my nephew 2006. He likes it and has been drawing pictures of Dragons. He is thirteen.

5 comments about Universe of Stone: A Biography of Chartres Cathedral.

1. I've taught an interdisciplinary course entitled "Cathedrals and Other Great Churches of Medieval Europe" a dozen times (twice in England), had Malcolm Miller as a guest lecturer (and tour guide at Chartres in one of my three visits there) and Peter Gibson of the York Minster Stained Glass Workshop as a guest lecturer (and tour guide at York Minster twice), visited more than a hundred medieval and renaissance great churches, and read at least parts of more than half of the books and articles listed in the seven-page bibliography of this book, and, in my judgment, no other book comes close to this one in providing real insight into understanding the great medieval churches. For my course, I used a reader I developed comprising excerpts from dozens of different books to give my students the breadth of ideas, opinions and knowledge needed to understand these great churches. Like many other compilations it suffered from wide variations in the "voices" of the various authors and from unevenness in coverage of the diverse subjects that students needed to grasp the significance of these monuments. I dreamed that some day I would have the time and energy to assemble a coherent anthology -- maybe one with a title like: "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Medieval Churches . . ." but, alas, retirement reared its ugly head and the motivation to do so disappeared. Now, however, Philip Ball has fulfilled my dream, and although he has done so in the context of a single great church, much of what he has written is applicable to most of them. His book makes me wish I hadn't retired so I could use it as a text. Not every reader will understand all of the nuances of the many subjects Ball covers in this book, but every reader with any interest in medieval churches will find this wonderfully well-written book to be not only a fascinating read but also a great addition to his or her library.



2. While I've read many books on Romanesque and Gothic architecture, and have visited Chartres, I've always been frustrated by the lack of information available about the actual people who created the monuments. What a pleasure to finally find a book that focuses both on the intellectual movements that fueled the Gothic age, and the clergy and builders who were instrumental in the creative process.
   
   While the book is excellent and well-written, I refrained from giving it five stars only because I think a reader would benefit from additional sources highlighting architectural details and comparisons with other cathedrals.



3. The author sets the bar high: a book that describes the design and building of the cathedral at Chartres while putting it into the context of medieval philosophy, theology, technology, science, politics and economy. In theory a laudable goal, but in practice a muddle. This reader was alternately bogged down in overly-long and involved chapters discussing the differences between scholastic Platonists and Aristotelians and disappointed that there wasn't more about the cathedral itself. Ball is a journalist who has obviously done his homework -- there's an extensive, multi-page bibliography and he quotes from dozens of experts -- but in the end this feels like a well-written overview of other people's writings on the subject, rather than an original look by a writer with any strong convictions himself. About halfway through this book I had the nagging thought I would have done better by re-reading Thomas Cahill's lively "Mysteries of the Middle Ages" and my nephew's illustrated copy of David Macaulay's "Cathedral." There's no shortage of wonderful books on Chartres and the building of the cathedrals and the curious reader should consider them seriously before investing in this book.



4. Why would someone write a biography of a BUILDING? Well, if you've ever been to Chartres Cathedral about 45 miles south-west of Paris, you'd know why. Chartres continues to provoke us with its emotive power, and its place in the history of Gothic architecture is firmly secured at "page 1" in our texts. That's why it was so exciting when we found out that there was a new treatment of Chartres being released this summer, and many reviewers, including those at The Economist and The Financial Times, took time to present the book to their reading audiences worldwide.
   
   Ball's treatise on Chartres is a truly wonderful additional to the evolving library of Gothic. As a person who is familiar with the literature, I can easily say that his work here will make possible the introduction of this topic to an entirely new generation of people who are captivated by this most evocative of art forms. Ball has done what can be classified as nothing less than a superb job of collating, digesting, and then restating in clear, meaningful words the voluminous amount of material that is available on the subject. And this is no small task: the topic is the subject of attention of everyone from mechanical engineers, masonry experts, art historians, medieval historians, and even education historians. Most of these works are undeniably fascinating and tremendously enjoyable to read. But you will find yourself having to put on your "engineer's hat" to read Heyman's The Stone Skeleton: Structural Engineering of Masonry Architecture, then put on your "art historian's hat" to read Coldstream's Medieval Architecture (Oxford History of Art), and your "photographer's hat" to read Schultz's Great Cathedrals. There are dozens and dozens more books still on the open market just like these, and they all play an important role in helping us further understanding this fascinating topic. But Ball's book deftly summarizes and explicates many of the major themes of this content, and allows us to absorb it all in one text. I must confess that the book exceeded any expectations I had, and I am thoroughly impressed.
   
   Ball's book covers far more than the physical elements of Chartres cathedral. We peer into the world of medieval scholasticism and Platonic thought in the cathedral schools of the 12th century to investigate what role, if any, such thought had on the development of the Gothic style. We read about Chartres' predecessor building, St. Denis basilica, just north of Paris, and the impact Suger had on this form there, and consider the potential linkages between these structures. We also take a quick course on medieval construction techniques, and listen to some of the hypotheses which engineering architects have devised to explain how such buildings could be constructed without electricity or power tools. We see how stained glass was manufactured, why the blue windows of Chartres are so unusual, and even hypothesize that "Chartres blue" may have been imported from other glass foundries outside of France. We also review the varying theories of the sequence of Chartres' construction that may explain its physical irregularities (for example, was the building constructed from east-to-west, or from west-to-east, and why are there "mismatches" between sections of the structure?).
   
   There is much, much more. But all along the way, we are provided a wonderful, comprehensive introduction to the times, history, and settings of that "vulgar style called 'Gothic,'" which is regarded as one of the pinnacles of architectural and artistic achievement. If you are a Gothic enthusiast, get this book to enjoy and savor, the first new book on the subject in some time. But also buy a copy for a friend. There is probably no better way to introduce Chartres cathedral and Gothic architecture to a new generation of enthusiasts.



5. Philip Ball's "Universe of Stone: A Biograpahy of Chartres Cathedral" seeks to explore and explain the philosophical roots of a society and culture that produced Chartres Cathedral, an archtypical masterpiece of Gothic architecture. Balls himself admits the hurdles he faced: "Arguably, then, it is a foolhardy eneavour to say anything about 'why' Chartres Cathedral was built, which in the end what this book attempts to do. But to my mind, it is only by confronting that question that we can fully experience what this most extraordinary, most inspiring building has to offer."
   
   Ball is inevitably limited in his efforts by the lack of extensive detailed records from that distant era, as well as by the profound differences in our perceptions of the world than those held by people of the 11th and 12th centuries.
   
   The first half of "Universe of Stone" is especially challenging to the reader as the author lays out the background to the medieval mind: Aristotle and Plato and Augustine and Bernard of Clairvaux and Peter Abelard and the rise of Neo-Platonist philosophy with its emphasis on rational order. The pace of the book's narrative picks up when practical matters of design and finance and construction are considered, with the author citing records of numerous other Gothic building projects to explain what must have happened at Chartres. Along the way, Ball addresses and discards many popular myths, such as the design of the Cathedral incorporating mystical knowledge and that cathedral-building was a manifestation of popular civic enthusiasm.
   
   The attentive reader of "Universe of Stone" will be rewarded with a better understanding of the medieval mind as well as the practical realities of constructing such marvelous buildings.

5 comments about The Horus Heresy: Collected Visions.

1. Fantastic fantasy. SEE how the Warhammer saga all began. As I make my way through the Warhammer series, I have tried to visualize the images of what I"m reading about. I feel quite inadaquate after reading this book. I HIGHLY recommend the purchase of this book, above and beyond the incredible savings of four volumes for the price of one.



2. I'm not much for reviews, so I'll keep this short. This is a very good coffee table book for us open GW nerds. The art quality is in most cases very good and it's peppered with little bits of canon and lore that still have me flipping through it occasionally to learn a bit, even a month after purchasing it.
   
   What it is not is a collection of the Horus Heresy series of books, which is what I personally thought when I ordered it. Despite this, I'm happy about the purchase and don't regret it.



3. All I can say is wow. Over 400 pages, almost every one jam-packed with fantastic Warhammer artwork, and a very in-depth story as well. If you like Warhammer 40K and don't order this, the first time you see a copy you'll kick yourself. As of now it is almost 40% off the list price, and for that price it's practically a steal.



4. I'd seen the individual books that comprise this set come out over the years and regretted not picking them up. Once I saw this one on Amazon for about 30% off, I jumped. It's everything a fan-boy could dream of. If you're thinking of doing a pre-heresy army or just want the background on a current marine chapter this is the book to buy. Not only is it artwork, but it's also history of the game. It explains a lot of things going on in the current age of the Imperium. By all means, if you're reading the Horus Heresy novels, pick this up. It actually puts faces to many of the named characters.
   
   Worth every penny.



5. This book completes me! Its a must have if you love 40k. Lots of pictures and lots of literature; puts all the pieces together for pre-heresy and heresy period, well a lot of the pieces. Whenever I am introducing someone to the 40k world I first show them the book.

5 comments about Letterhead and Logo Design 9.

1. i'm a graphic designer student and I needed a book that shows me some logos and letterhead...
   
   This is a goob book, nothing amazing though, but very cool that shows a lot of good stuff (nothing outdated)
   
   I liked it a lot (not my favorite) and in it saw stuff that gave me good inspiration...



2. I bought this book for the letterhead samples as I recently purchases Tres Logos but after reviewing this book, I like the format examples and that they gave the name of the company and of the designers. This book definitely gave me inspiration, it is well organized and shows a wide variety. Only down fall for me was when they showed business cards they didn't always show the front and back. Usually just one side. I would recommend this book to anyone.



3. There is no doubt this book contains some beautiful and smart logos. I just wish more information would have been given about the clients. In fact, some of the best logos in the book are in the introduction, designed by the author, and here a very brief desciption of the client is given (such as "Logo to identify certified vegan foods"). But this stops once the heart of the book begins. To be fully appreciated, a logo needs to have context, and none is given in this book except for the client's name (such as "VIP Industries" - who?).
   Nevertheless, definitely worth buying.



4. I was hasty about getting this book vs. some of the newer logo books out there. I read all of these reviews and everyone keeps saying how it will stir up inspiration. I have to agree. I bought this in hopes that it would help inspire me for a logo project I was working on. Sure enough, it did. Regardless of being a little bit dated, it has a lot really interesting ideas.



5. I thumbed through and read this book in about an hour last night, and saw some annoying typos, so it seems the proofing stage might have been skipped... but regardless, I was inspired by what I saw in there, for sure, and can only hope and pray that I'm good enough to be in that book someday. (And by the way, if I ever get in, you are FREE to spell my name however you please.) ;) I'd recommend this book.

5 comments about Gardner's Art Through the Ages, Volume II (Chapters 19-34).

1. Book received in good condition and complete with all additional material. It was hard to find this edition complete with CD.



2. I ordered this book for a college class. It was shipped right on time and in perfect condition. I was very impressed. Couldn't beat the price either, it was a lot less expensive than the college bookstore.



3. This book is a good starting point for those trying to learn about art history. It's used in many colleges and is well written. - Noga Rosenthal



4. I bought this text for my art history class, and I must say that the parts of the book about European art are great, but it fails with regards to its treatment of Asian, African and Native American Art. If I were a member of any of the above-mentioned groups, I would be greatly offended, because it just flies through those chapters, with a very Western way of looking at things...sad! The other sections are amazing, but this way of looking non-european art is common and I should be used to it by now! Since my course is based around this text, I must say that I am disappointed by my course too!



5. The book came quick and in new condition with a supplement and DVD that I was not even expecting. Over all, this is and great book with amazing picture and descriptions.

5 comments about The Watercolorists Essential Notebook.

1. This is really a must-have. Very detailed in a clear and direct language. Excellent for every level of watercolor painters!



2. -I last painted with watercolors when they were in paintbox form -40 years ago in high school art.This book has been a valuable tool in getting me up to speed on present day brushes,paints and techniques.I
   am very pleased with the results I have been able to achieve in
   just a few months time.This book is a definite buy for newbies or as a
   refresher.



3. This has some great step-by-step lessons for creating different effects in a landscape watercolor. The only criticism I have of it is the drab coloring in many of the examples.



4. Let's just say calling me an amateur would be an understatement. I bought this book in high hopes of entering the world of watercolor. It hit the nail right on the head.
   
   The text is informative and precise without being overwhelming. Enough different information and very comprehensive. Although perhaps lacking in the texture/details department. Overall the best of the 3 other books I bought. This one may be the best beginner to intermediate book out there!
   
   The only drawback was the fact it doesn't say in the description that it is for tube watercolors, as I want to use pans...but still I think most techniques will work either way.



5. This is a really great book on watercolor. It is full of wonderful tips and explanations of how to achieve many simple to advanced effects. It also explains why certain colors are better to mix with others for the results you want. It is also amazingly readable. I set it by my reading chair and I am drawn to pick it up and read just for interest. I am learning so much. FYI- I have lots of knowledge about art, but am a beginning to intermediate watercolorist.

5 comments about Color: A Natural History of the Palette.

1. I took for granted all the colors and dyes in our everyday lives -- yet these seemingly simple colors each have a history, a point of origin, a story: these tales are fascinating. (I will never be able look at blue jeans with the same complacence again.) And this is a great travelogue too: Finlay travels the world to search out the colors....



2. This book was recommended to me by a customer in my shop, following a discussion of art and textiles from Indonesia, Central Asia and the Middle East. I found it to be an informative read. It presented a lot of information on the history and anthropology of colors, providing perspectives that I found to be interesting. In some places the author's style was somewhat off-putting which detracted somewhat from the content. That aside, I recommend the book and have in fact suggested it to several artists who have visited my shop, Interesting Stuff.



3. I use some of the fun facts from this book in the oil painting class I teach. A very entertaining and educational travelogue. I really enjoyed how the author tied different narrative threads together.



4. Part travelogue, part history and part study of the origins and source of pigments, "Color" is always informative and engaging. There is no book quite like this. For the painter, amateur or professional, the book will provide inspiration and a new way to look at and think about color. For the non-artist, it is an eye-opening essay into this exciting world. You'll want to rush out and buy a paint set afterwards.



5. Color: A Natural History of the Palette
   
   This book was highly recommended by a potter on an online listserve for potters. I found this book very interesting because of the travels by the author to find the areas that the materials used in color originated. It told me of the history of the area/country where the materials came from, as well as the methods used to develop the colors, and the people who used the colors. She talked about people continuing to use a color (the painter Turner) even though he knew the color would not last, as well a people continuing to use a color that would affect their health (lead as part of the process) because that's the only way to get that color, which continues to this day.