5 comments about How to Draw and Paint Fairies: From Finding Inspiration to Capturing Diaphanous Detail, a Step-by-Step Guide to Fairy Art.

1. This book was certainly helpful. I especially liked the easy to draw faces. This book is great for people with intermediate drawing skills. If you only have very basic drawing skills, you will probably find it challenging, but with a bit of practice you should master drawing fairies.



2. This little book offers a surprising amount of material, not only to a new artist wanting to learn how to get started but also to artists with more experience seeking to refresh their knowledge of the basics and to expand their imaginations. Even non-artists would enjoy the illustrations, especially the collection of fairy paintings by a variety of fantasy artists at the end of the book. Beginners can follow the step-by-step instructions, and everyone can enjoy the Linda Ravenscroft illustrations throughout the book.



3. I was looking for a drawing guide for my daughter's 11th birthday and was hoping this book would be the key. We flipped through it at the craft store and it looked like a great instructional guide. The only hesitation I have and reason I did not purchase the book is the last few pages. There are some ill-clad fairies exposing more than I want my daughter to be drawing or her younger brothers to be seeing. I know it is common to have fairies naked even, so I was grateful there was only a few pages of what I would consider suggestive fairies. But, I wanted to share this review for other "carefully modest" parents who would rather not expose their children.



4. The best How to draw Fairies book for beginners available.
   Filled with valuable drawing and paint tips, along with beautiful fairy prints for inspiration.



5. This book was not only wonderful to look at, it was very instructive also. A fantastic way to spend a rainy day!

5 comments about Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees: A Life of Contemporary Artist Robert Irwin.

1. Robert Irwin has lived his life as both a solitary creator and unrelenting seeker to the same consummate degree that only Dante Alighieri, Agnes Martin, Meister Eckhart, Lao Tsu, and a handful of others have sought. If you haven't heard of him, you should read this anyway. Remember, it even took Bach two centuries to get his proper due. Regardless, this book changed a lot for me. I am forever grateful.
   
   Weschler's prose is Irwin's lighting. His book good as this biography junkie has ever read, and he does it in only 203 pages. As I write this, you can buy this book used for the price of a Domino's pizza - that's all i'm saying.



2. If you're an artist, you need this book. Even if you don't like Irwin's work (or never heard of him.) Remarkably, this biography of the most minimal of minimal artists contains no abstruse language, no mysteriously self-important pronouncements, nor even a single reference to any French esthetic theorist. Not only is this written in clean, straightforward prose; you can hardly put it down. It also raises critical, fascinating questions about the nature of art, and of the way we see. I've recommended this book to several people. It's never what they expect. They've always thanked me.



3. *
   
   I am fascinated by the creative process. I am fascinated by physical manifestations born from the spark of an idea. I am fascinated by the complex psychology, rigorous philosophy and simple backbone evinced by those devotees of method. And I am blown-away by Robert Irwin.
   
   My first contact with Robert Irwin's work came in graduate school when a few friends and I drove from Philadelphia to Manhattan to visit the Dia Center for the Arts. There on an upper floor I encountered a truly shocking, yet subduing, experience. Irwin had taken over the entire level and divided into rooms demarcated with translucent scrim. I walked slowly, from space to space, enclosed but not, silent in presence yet bursting with internal applause, and in awe. I marveled at the solidity of light that slid through the Dia's industrial steel windows, tracing its way across two layers of the thin white fabric and gently landing on the concrete floor. My eyes were tickled by the subtlety of color emanating from the vertical fluorescent lights wrapped in gels. There must have been thirty others there at the same time, meandering like ghosts whitened by one, two, three layers of scrim, yet the space was absolutely quiet. This was the first time that I truly understood the word ?perception.? It came in a space filled with exacted simplicity.
   
   Since then I have tried to follow Irwin's work, both past and present, only to find that it is rarely photographed, as the medium cannot do the work justice. However, Lawrence Weschler's biography on the artist is a tremendous piece of writing that will give you much more appreciation for Irwin than any catalog ever could. Weschler spent years interviewing the artist, tracking down collaborators and researching the works. He exhibits an amazing understanding of Irwin's intentions and adds much needed commentary to keep the story straight while tracing the complex and highly personal evolution of the man and his art. From descriptions of Irwin's self-imposed eight month exile in Ibiza, to his two year long rigorous exercise (and again, exile) to create what amounted to twenty lines, Weschler gives us an in depth look at the zen-like disposition of the artist in his search for the perceptual (and hence, not conceptual). Irwin's diligence and rigor will stupefy even those most devoted to their process, and discussion of his material experimentation will act to spur imaginations. Robert Irwin supplies the majority of storytelling, however, and lets the reader in on often humorous tales of the art world from the point of view of a very personable and highly influential artist.
   
   In short, I highly recommend that anyone devoted to design, be it fine art or architecture, read this book. I also recommend that you travel to San Diego to see the first major exhibition of Irwin?s work since 1993, "Robert Irwin: Primaries and Secondaries" at the MCASD through February 23rd.
   
   Note: The installation at the Dia Center was reviewed thoroughly, with an included history of the artist?s work, in an article entitled "Robert Irwin?s Doors of Perception" by Carol Diehl in Art in America magazine, December, 1999, findarticles.com



4. This is simply the best book about art I have ever read. Like other reviewers, I can say that this book permanently altered the way I see the world (and art). Irwin did it and he still does it.



5. I picked up this book in 1984 because it was on a reading list for an Art History class I was taking at Oberlin College. I stayed up all night in the library that night. I couldn't put it down. My mind has never been the same.
   
   I still often think of it,tell stories from it and give it as a gift. I always say "skip the first chapter-it gets much better." If I remember right, the book begins with a description of Irwin's perfectionism when cleaning the engine of his car. I figure that will bore my friends.
   
   I tell my students about Irwin's many years attempt to make the perfect line, to his wife's chagrin and his painting the back side of his paintings because it matters to him. They like the story of the riots that occured in South America due to the disorientation of his discs-concave and convex-the viewers couldn't tell where the wall started and the disc stopped. I have given the book as a graduation present.
   
   I thought about this book at the mechanic the other day. My engine is very, very dirty.
   
   I will never forget,forgetting. Great book.

5 comments about David Hicks: Designer.

1. This book is hard to put down. When you do, you'll want to pick it up again. It is so interesting. He is a fab designer, very candid. His style is so comfortable while being exciting. This book will be read over and over. I love modern, although this book is for anyone who was ever afraid to try a fresh approach. It is one of my best coffee table reads. Val, from Mo.



2. A great book for those wanting to recreate timeless interior design.
   Fascinating insight into his life. Good balance of editorial and images. Given the pinacle of his career was the late 1960's / 1970's, some of the photos will appeal to those in the current 1960's 1970's retro style. However saying that, there are aspects of all the images that could be used and adapted for both modern and classical room styles.



3. I loved the cover, wish I could of seen inside photos. I am a designer and love to learn from books of all eras. This one however left me with lessons on what not to do, rather than models for success and beauty. So if you hope to see beautiful interior work on grand villas, palaces etc, buy Roomscapes by Renzo Mongiardino instead. The photos are stunners of a full life's in such places, and the text he wrote is so insightful in how to diagnose the problems of a room and how to listen to a room that it is worth the most to me in my design library. I always go back to it for inspiration and guidance. The Hicks book is a celebrity bio that shows how you can get paid a lot of money by installing interiors that shock most and cow nay sayers by their boldness. But that doesn't make it beautiful.



4. I waited an extremely long time for this book to be delivered. I have to say that is was worth the wait. This gives a great look at at great designer from a perspective of someone who probably knew him better than anyone. The photos are great and his designs are still very relevant today (probably more than ever). I recommend this book to any fan of Hicks or a fan of high end 70's modern design.



5. Amazon needs to get their act together. This book is great - but I would order it somewhere else. I ordered these books to give as holiday gifts and they came without the dust covers. I had to go ahead and give them anyway, but Amazon can't seem to locate any covers for them. They shipped 3 more books to me but they didn't have covers either. It has just been impossible to get in touch with anyone there that can help and I can't seem to talk to anyone other than a phone operator in India to help with the issue.

2 comments about Information Design Workbook: Graphic approaches, solutions, and inspiration plus 20 case studies.

1. Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R19WB24ZB8YXSL Infographic artists or graphic designers who create designs to communicate ideas to people should like this book.
   
   The summary on the preface accurately describes this book and I'll quote it here.
   
   This book:
   - Leads you through the mindset and kind of thinking that support good information design.
   - Gives you an overview of the type of processes and tools you can use to create effective information design.
   - Shows real-world examples of successful products
   - Presents interviews with some of the premier practitioners working in the field today.
   
   
   
   This book talks about high level concepts to give an overview to information design. The first four chapters explains the need for effective design and provides lots of examples where they are used, and how helpful they are. Some examples include direct mail, litigation graphics, etc. Interviewees relates on what works and what doesn't through their own experience.
   
   There are several tools include to help designers. They include personas and scenario simulation, research and testing and even mundane stuff like using plain language. Of course not all might relate to everyone. I'm a newspaper artist and I don't do testing for every graphic that I produce. But they do give results for tests conducted, which can be applied to different fields.
   
   One chapter is devoted to design principles with examples from all medium.
   
   The last five chapters are the case studies. Each touches on a different medium and each comes with 6 real life success stories. That's 30 set of experience from the industry you can learn from.
   
   I'll like to conclude that this book practices what it preaches. The information on the pages is laid out nicely and easy to absorb.
   
   Here's the table of contents:
   Preface - Approaching information design from a user-centric point of view
   1. About information design. What is it? Who is doing it? Why is it important?
   2. Process: Discovery. A step-by-step look at the research and discovery process
   3. Process: Prototypes and Testing. How user research and testing help to ensure successful design
   4. Design Toolkit: Visual devices to help communicate information
   5. Printed Matter Case Studies. Magazines, packaging and corporate communications
   6. Information Graphics Case Studies. Maps, charts, and diagrams
   7. Interactive Case Studies. Websites and other screen-based projects
   8. Enviromental Case Studies. Wayfinding and exhibits
   9. Experimental Case Studies. Information design that pushes the envelope.



2. Kim Baer knows what she is talking about. Her vast and varied client list makes her the de facto expert in the ID field. I have had the pleasure of working directly with her co-author Jill Vacarra, and the two of them make a dynamic team - exceptionally well able to explain and illustrate the concepts they are chronicling - both for the professional and the student of graphic design. BRAVO!

3 comments about Maison--Christian Liaigre.

1. Everyone should have this on their coffee table. Superior design and broad range of ideas for all nationalities.



2. Christian Liagre is an artist beyond the usual confines of space filling. He always considers the architecture and site before anything else. And even though his work is immediately recognizable, he never repeats himself- there is nothing formulaic.
   
   Nothing ever screams money. The finishes, the light, the mix are always beautiful and comfortable.
   
   So while I got the book hoping to see a substansial review of his work, I was dissappointed in the chopiness and lack of ability to "see" the house and rooms shown. The designers work saves the book, because it is so complex and interesting. Poor choices in views and cutting off of vistas and lack of detail make the book fail.



3. Christian Liaigre. If the name is unfamiliar, the French designer's style-or at least a popularized version of it-is ubiquitous. His palette of warm browns, rich creams, and calmly varied neutrals is the color scheme of a thousand-and-one stylish hotel lobbies, and his sexy low-slung furnishings have been copied for mass consumption by furniture makers worldwide. Yet, if you think you know the man by the knock-offs, you've got another thought coming.
   
   Herbert Ypma's sumptuous MAISON: CHRISTIAN LIAIGRE is here to set the record straight. Weighing in at 256-pages, and featuring 550 color and black & white illustrations, the book quite eloquently makes a case for Liaigre as "possibly the most important-certainly the most copied-designer of our time."
   
   Author Ypma--he of Thames & Hudson's stylish Hip Hotel and World Design series--co-designed the lavish volume with frequent collaborator, Maggi Smith, and the book features the pair's now signature blend of breathtaking one- and two-page spreads of interiors and landscapes, punctuated by checkerboard layouts of myriad architectural details and textures.
   
   These design elements have never been employed more effectively as in this book, and they convey the quiet majestic sweep of a room or garden on one page, while focusing on the smallest of details on the next, all combining to present a vivid and comprehensive representation of each Liaigre's diverse residential projects.
   
   Ypma, a worldly and witty writer, as well as a sensitive and skilled photographer, is responsible for all of the shots documenting eight of Liaigre's recent domestic design projects featured herein. This lends the book a pictorial consistency rare in design literature, and affords the author/photographer opportunity to focus on the formal integrity and quiet constancy of Liaigre's design ethos, as well as its diversity and adaptability. After reading this book, you'll never again think of Liaigre as a "minimalist."
   
   The photos, layout and text quietly conspire to transport the reader from a sunny beach house in Galicia, to a picturesque Bavarian retreat in Tegnersee, to an unconventional pied-a-terre in the quintessentially bohemian Montparnasse district of Paris, as well as to other intriguingly beautiful rooms in other intriguingly beautiful places.
   
   The book is unconventional in many ways: it doesn't attempt a career-long survey of its subject's oeuvre, and neither does it focus on his celebrated commercial projects. It lists no honors, awards, timeline or bio. Moreover, it contains not a single photo of Liaigre. Yet, the book and its richly evocative photos and amusing and insightful text offer as sophisticated and sensitive a portrait as its subject could ever hope for.
   
   In a neat twist on Matisse's aesthetic of "luxe, calme, volupte," Ypma expresses the "luxe, calme, moderne" quality of the work of this quietest and most authoritative of contemporary designers.

3 comments about Visual Merchandising: Windows and In-Store Displays for Retail.

1. Well written, great photography & illustrations. The text is approached logically with clear explanations of practical, real information that can be applied immediately. A 'must have' for anyone entering the Visual Merchandising field or for retailers needing to 'up their game' or train staff. Gave me a good understanding of how the visual merchandising field is structured, who does what, how to layout a retail space correctly and guidelines & approaches for creating effective displays. Great book.



2. Then this one is for you! Teaches a descriptive, realistic view on a visual designer and the work that goes with it - not by experience - but i have learned so much from it.



3. At last a book that that not only explains the concept of visual merchandising, but also demonstrates how to implement the various techniques that help promote retail sales.
   
   The book is divided in to easy to read chapters from window displays to in-store layouts and even covers a brief history of window displays. This book is a MUST for retailers, it covers areas of visual merchandising that are often forgotten- ambience, signage, window props, colour and mannequins.
   
   I found the section on store design particularly interesting.
   
   From fashion to home the book has been clearly well researched.
   
   The generous amount of images have been sourced from the worlds influential retailers (Japan, Paris, Hong Kong, USA and UK to name a few) and the illustrations are a useful tool to help explain the principles of visual merchandising.

No comments about Bernini and the Birth of Baroque Portrait Sculpture.

5 comments about Virtual Pose 3: The Ultimate Visual Reference Series for Drawing the Human Figure.

1. There are way too many light sources at the same intensity.
   The fill completely obfuscates the forms -- sure, nice
   picture, but for any student of anatomy or the body,
   fill in this case, is useless. Sure, if one just wants to make a
   'still life' from these pics, then ok, lighting is adequate.
   But if one desires to really study the figure via surface and
   anatomy, well, one is better off hiring a model, and referring
   to a good anatomy book.
   
   The quicktime angles help and offer better understanding,
   so the product by-design is helpful. The photography simply
   misses completely. Hint to producers: Pay attention to lighting,
   and decrement fill to key way more. The fill is counterproductive,
   as in a lot of cases, it obfuscates form -- for those who are in this to
   study the human form, rather than simply produce replicas of an image.
   
   My summary: The ability to rotate a pose makes this product
   incredibly valuable. It would have been more valuable if the photography
   had a bit more respect with regard to the communication of form,
   as we really have to rely on rotation rather than the communicative
   potential of lighting. That was an opportunity squandered -- to produce a
   stellar product, given the price point.



2. Chakkour offers a valuable resource. Many aspiring artists (maybe I'm not an artist, but I aspire) have limited contact with models, but understand how important it is to have ready access to simple and precise figure imagery. References like VP3 are a godsend for us. They inspire us with the many possibilities that inhere in the human form, and provide exact reference for our imperfect efforts.
   
   This collection works very well in one way. Each model poses on a turntable; while holding that pose, s/he is photographed from many angles. With just a little interpolation, one can interpolate any angle in between, laterally, even if it doesn't cover the up/down axis.
   
   But, as with any book, it contains the author's vision - not mine. Perhaps your vision can adapt to the pose, perhaps your pose can adapt to the vision. Some poses simply baffle. I expect a pose book to try to cover many of the moods a body can express, and p.41 worked well for a recent project, but not all that well. The pose on p.40 simply baffles me, though. This is a pose book. The authors imagined some situation in which that pose could make sense, so the student could take the body's physical facts and build a story around them. So, just what story did the pose on p.40 inspire? I'm lost.
   
   Also, I had trouble with the retouched photos. A few times, a model and angle would combine to expose something indelicate, like an excretory orifice. Fat-fingered blurring saved us from many of those troubling details. C'MON GUYS. I don't have any special fascination with naughty bits - but they're there. I find the Barbie doll plastering-over of normal anatomy jarring and disturbing. That little touch doesn't affect the pose or the general flow of a body. It does affect my ability to accept the image as real, though. It's not that I actually want all those little details of the human condition. Instead, it conjures horrible surgery when I see them missing.
   
   On the positive side, these 70 poses gain value from their multiple viewing angles. On the negative, the editors bowdlerize even nude figures. And, on top of it all, the pose that I really wanted never appeared. I tried to adapt one from the book - it came pretty close, actually. Just not close enough.
   
   -- wiredweird



3. The 360 degree rotating is great, some poses could be more interesting, some are too similar to each other. The women modeling are pretty much the same, same bone structure, similar weight, skin color, ethnicity and age. There is only one young male model, and one older male model. That part was really disappointing. And what it bother me the most was the background color. in all the pictures is the same, white!. A darker color, gray or black on any other color for that matter would be great! the fact that all the models are REALLY white becomes obnoxious. At certain points the background blends with their sking color, making it hard to differentiate one from the other. With a different background the model would "pop-out", and the artist's eyes would easily focus on his/her subject.



4. i really love using this book (and the CD). i want to mention that i have a Mac with an operating system that isn't updated (OS 10.2), and i purposely got Virtual Pose 3 because i assumed (rightly) that a more recent version of these books would come with a CD-ROM that's not compatible with my operating system. so thankfully i CAN use this CD, which is the best part of this book.
   
   in my opinion, the book itself would be improved by 3 things:
   
   1. more dramatic lighting (although i believe the author has addressed his reasoning for this)
   
   2. a spiral binding (easier use for drawing from the book itself)
   
   3. larger pictures (at least some)
   
   i do like the models in this book very much, and the poses are great. i'm a bit of a beginner, and i only get to go to a life drawing once a month or so, so this is a great resource for me to just do lots and lots of gesture drawing, along with some more detailed work.



5. I am going to be critical, but I'd like to open with saying that this was a really cool and thoughful project for someone to come up with and offer to the artist.
   
   I get quite a chuckle at all the people who are angry about there being airbrushed vulvas and anuses. In your usual life drawing class you are not going to have the model eyeballing you with their privates. Its not like there is a shortage of vulvas and anuses online if that's what you want to draw. And any artist who has developed true capability with the human form can use the suggested form shadow as a base from which to draw a glorious sphincter and beautiful floral labia to make any viewer blush. Until then get over yourselves. The models, used to having a choice of what they want to show the students; are entitled to keep four square inches of themselves private from the world.
   
   Virtual Pose 3 is a good step up form Virtual Pose 2. And I appreciate the creativity of the poses and opportunity to see a pose from all sides. However I am still disappointed that these poses aren't lit properly to describe the form. Generally they are top lit so in standing poses you get some minor indication of core shadow and somewhat overly bright reflections on the skin on they upper torso,and everything below is pure ambient light and this obliterates form. While some poses are better with lighting than others; on the whole, the lighting is uninteresting and lifeless Virtual pose could take some cues on how to light their models by checking out an artistic soft porn site like Met Art. But hey, I suppose you are going to often be faced with the difficult challenge of illustrating people in ambient light. So Virtual Pose 3 will give you a real work out as you figure out how to describe form with even lighting all over!
   
   I'd like to see a Virtual Pose V or VI, but with artistic form light. As with Muybridge what a cool thing to attempt.But it won't be the ultimate reference series for the artist until the lighting loses its sterility.

No comments about Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art (Spectrum (Underwood Books)).

No comments about Graffiti Planet: The Best Graffiti from Around the World.