5 comments about Mark Kistler's Imagination Station: Learn How to Drawn in 3-D with Public Television's Favorite Drawing Teacher.

1. While aimed at kids, this is a great place to start at any age. If you have been looking at other drawing books, and the books you have seen before only make it harder, your search is over. Mark makes it easy for anyone at any age to get basic drawing skills, the building blocks you need to get started. He teaches the skills that other books make seem complex, without the stress or making it go over your head. His way of teaching is simply the easiest method a person can have to start drawing. And if the books are good, his old show on PBS and his videos are even better. Mark makes drawing so fun kids beg to use the book again and again. He does not start by intimidating you with the completed project, in fact you don't always know what you are drawing until you are done. He takes you one line, circle, or square at a time and before you know it you have a fun drawing. I also reccommend you try the books from Ed Emberly, or check my lists on Amazon for kids that want to learn to draw, or be a cartoonist or animator.



2. I bought this book to relearn how to draw properly. While the book is directed at a young audience, adults-at-heart like me will benefit from the drawing principles such as foreshortening, placement, size, overlapping, shading and shadowing, contour and horizon (plus 1 and 2 point perspectives). My disappointments were that a few later lessons repeat previous lessons and that it uses blank pages after each lesson for you to practice on. I suggest you use a separate sheet of paper to do this so you can pass this book to your kids and their kids and so on and so forth. Despite these, I still rate it 5 stars.

   I can now draw simple everyday objects both as cartoons and as realistically as I can. They're not professional quality yet, the book recommends daily practice until they are and that's exactly what I'm doing.

   This isn't the only book you should buy though if you want to draw artistically. In my case, I'd like to draw comics-style characters and objects so I can move on to animating them later. I got Tom Alvarez's "How to Create Action, Fantasy and Adventure Comics" (separately reviewed) which is also an excellent how-to book.




3. Mark Kistler's books are EXCELLENT for anyone who want to learn to draw. The layout of the book is fun easy to follow. Although it is geared toward children it is appropriate for a beginner adult. It starts with simple concepts and gradually builds on what you've already learned. Anyone at any age will be impressed by what you will be drawing in a short amount of time. I bought this book for my children and was so impressed , I started drawing myself. My children love this book and so do I.



4. Mark Kistler's books are wonderful, entertaining books that canteach anyone (of any age) how to draw! I bought his books for my sons,and I quickly became a devoted fan and an avid drawing maniac myself! The book is packed with pages of fun drawings, as well as 'story starters' in which kids are asked to complete the story. Mark's enthusiasm for drawing and story-telling just bubbles up out of the pages of this book. As a mom, I appreciate his encouragement for kids to watch less tv, say NO to violent video games and drugs, and to expand their brain power by getting involved in art. This book is a 'must have' for all teachers and parents who would like to see their kids motivated to express their creativity and feel good about their drawing ability.



5. If you think you stink at drawing, think again! Mark Kistler shows you how, step by step, to draw pictures that really look like something and tell a story besides!

5 comments about How To Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style Volume 2 (How to Draw Manga).

1. Volume 1 is for beginners so don't think just because you can draw a face this volume would be a breeze in the park. Vol 2 of Manga Sketch is spectacular for those who basically got proportions down but can now have visual on different perspective such as top down, and bottom up.It also explains a bit about styilization by changing proportions and shading. Is something for artist who have gone farther along and it helps me create concept greatly.
   
   Please please if you are a beginner do not get this. You will just rate the book 2 stars because you can not draw yet in other areas to be able to use the techniques.I cannot stress that enough. It is not a tutorial persey and more of a reference books that explain things here are there veru vauguely.
   
   All in all if you can already draw a full figure quite good than this book will help you on figure placement. Movement, and even a tiny part on shading. And if you are willing to look at almost every figure you can compile yourself a nice set of expression.
   
   5 stars



2. This is perhaps one of the bests manga drawing books I have ever used. Not ideal for someone just starting out, however if you have a little bit of experience this book can really take you to the next level.



3. basic drawing book. deals mostly with proportion of figures.
   would recommend How to Draw Chibi by Ben Dunn.
   much more info and drawing examples.



4. I have been using the manga style for 25 years, yet i found this book a very welcome addition to my library of over 200 reference books. Using it with the sister volume #1 is simply a delight. The book is well presented and extremely clear for the beginner and the professional. I have recommended it and the sister volume #1 to many beginning to professional manga artists.



5. This book is basically a follow up to the first volume, but in this book they show you examples of drawing proportions on chibi characters as well as standard size characters. I really enjoyed the contents of this book. This whole book teaches you the correct head to body ratio when drawing your characters as well as their chibi counter part. Not only does Hikaru show you these examples, he also put in some facial expressions and action poses (for both chibi and standard size characters). Like I said in my title, this book is basically a big rough draft sketch book that's full of helpful images. I would definitely recommend getting this book, especially if you liked the first volume. This book advertises just what the title suggests, nothing more nothing less. If you are looking for something more than what the title suggest, then you will be sorely disappointed. I truly believe that one would benefit from this book tremendously and their art style will improve drastically. So if you are a big fan of chibi drawing, get this book! You won't be disappointed!

3 comments about Martin Puryear.

1. An excellent work with great photos and text. A beautiful book that could be enjoyed by anyone interested in expertly crafted contemporary art.



2. Martin Puryear, like Louise Bourgeois , defies categories and this makes him a challenge for anyone organizing an exhibition or a book for that matter. His workmanship is outstanding and this tends to lead viewer astray into thinking that fine finish is really what he is after. His thought provoking sculptures appear so simple, yet they are both artistically and techinically complex. This book is an outstanding example of what can be done when those producing the book understand the work of the artist they are trying to disaplay.



3. Being at the opening of this show at moma was an amazingly wonderful and magical evening. Went to the very exciting opening of this show in NYC and it was truly uplifting to my soul, a very inspired exhibit!!
   
   Emotional content mixed with organic elements of expression. Amazing accomplishment. He is a 30 year ago Art school friend of my friend.
   
   For me it was like a immensely large tree [the art show] growing in the middle of a cement Jungle [NYC]. Signs of life, expression, that are giving me hope .
   
   I Highly recommend this show, and while I agree that moma may not be the best place to show his work, the contrast to that place was so striking that his work seemed very alive and sprouting right through the dullness.
   
   I like this quote from a review:
   Unlike other sculptors his age who emerged in the post-minimalist era, he values what he can make with his hands. His efforts are not just conceptual but physical. As critic Michael Brenson once observed, ''Puryear has the ability to make sculpture that is known by the body before it is articulated by the mind."

5 comments about Digital Art Studio: Techniques for Combining Inkjet Printing with Traditional Art Materials.

1. Very worthwhile item for artists seeking an outlet for digital work that is close to natural media. Techniques are not for the faint of heart -- many complex steps in some cases. But it provides a clear-eyed look at printer, ink, and media choices. I'd give it a BUY rating.



2. This book is a little disappointing in that it promises more than it delivers. Some of the techniques described are supported by enough practical 'how to' information to be of use to people wanting to try the processes, but others are not.



3. This is an AMAZING resource for any artist interested in transferring methods.
   ESPECIALLY when you purchase the DVD that goes along with it. I recommend you do.



4. I bought this book about a year ago, and have found it very useful. Useful in re-thinking what printmaking is and can be, useful in fairly good details on some quite interesting techniques. This isn't for the beginner I don't think but as I have my own etching press and a good printer with a straight thru path it opened up a world of new possibilities to me.
   
   Pros: A huge variety of processes. Lots of illustrations of working with the materials.
   
   Con: Some processes do require access to expensive equipment, but with some imagination this isn't as limiting as first appears. Some references and specific equipment is dated, most OK.
   
   I've seen criticism of their art - but that's not even relevant, art is about PROCESS, and the biggest positive about this book is that it is all about process. One page alone started me down a road of exploration that has lasted 10 months now - and I don't see the end. Four years of graduate art school didn't excite me this much. [...]



5. This is an amazing book. I love all the techniques she shares & the gorgeous pictures throughout. I am very pleased. I have also purchased the DVD & can't wait for that to arrive.

5 comments about Fruits.

1. I got this book after seeing the live exhibition of the same name in Sydney years ago and I just adored it!
   Even if you don't like the particular styles shown in the book, it is just such a different and creative take on fashion!
   I find the styles inspirational, happy and fun!
   It is also interesting to see how the styles have morphed from different eras in history and from certain sub-cultures both native and foreign to Japan.
   After seeing this book, studying it and just absorbing it madly, I developed a hankering for all things lolita, and have been wearing the fasahion on and off for about 3 years now.



2. I used to see this book all the time at the nearby music store, and one day I received it as a gift. I'm not going to suggest that everyone should dress like the people in this book, but I will say that I loved how they were able to put together something different and interesting, completely unlike what I've seen here in the U.S. Even the most outrageous outfits I've seen at clubs in LA can't hold a candle to what's in this book. Very creative stuff here.



3. This is an interesting book. The author/photographer documents street fashion in the Harajuku district of Japan. Each page is a photo of an individual and a brief description of their outfit. If you are into this style of fashion, this is a book worth owning. The only short-coming is that the descriptions are printed in colored ink and sometimes get lost in the background color of the photographs.



4. My high school art class, Costume Design, LOVE this book. It's fun to see teenagers in another culture taking western fashion and personalizing it. Every time I pick up the book I see something new. We've only had the book a couple of weeks and it is already dog-eared.



5. Great book, made my girlfriend quite happy. She is very into Japanese street fashion and this book just captivated her, she looked through it about 20 times the day i gave it to her.

4 comments about Maison--Christian Liaigre.

1. This is a fantastic introduction to Chrstian Liagre's work.
   A beautiful book , consice, elegant with fantastic pictures.
   As an architect the only thing I miss are architectural drawings, but the book is simply beautiful.



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



3. 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.



4. 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.

No comments about Marlene Dumas: Measuring Your Own Grave.

4 comments about Mies Van Der Rohe: 1886-1969 (Basic Architecture Series).

1. it' nice to have it in your colection or a travelling pack. you can starts to explore his works and get a idea about him. its ideal for the students, but if your looking for more minimalist details and plans you better find a another.



2. this books introduce lots of important works of Mies Van Der Rohe
   If you're his fan or like the art works of the Bauhaus
   this book is a good option to know the artist



3. I wish I had more floor plans and pictures and also more buildings.
   Not bad though for the price.



4. Mies Van Der Rohe is one of the father's of Modern Architecture. He began his career in Germany before the Great War and ended it in the United States in the late 1960's. Not only did he design some of the most iconic buildings and furniture of the Twentieth Century, Mies was also a teacher who deeply influenced generations of architects. We see his influence in cities throughout the world.
   
   The volumes in Taschen's Basic Architecture Series are a must for anyone interested in the history of architecture. At $9.99 a volume, they are an affordable and attractive introduction to the works of the most influential architects of the past century. The sole hesitation I have with this volume is Claire Zimmerman's writing style. She writes in a flowery academic style that is off putting. However, at $9.99 a volume, you cannot go wrong. Recommended.

5 comments about Drawing Cutting Edge Comics.

1. Normally I don't but into "how to draw" books. Drawing skill comes with practice, not by reading. I heard this was a good one so broke down and bought it (with a few others) they all collect dust on my shelf.



2. Let me start out with how much I like Danger Girls! Christopher Hart is one of my favorite American comic book artist of all times! The different views of heads, hands, and feet are very helpful! The one, two, and three point perspective section of the book is very cool! I love this one!



3. The clear examples make the starting drawings easy to start. The book as a whole is a little more advanced for me as I am only a beginner, but will come in very handy once I get in more practice.



4. Although Hart's talented, his book will not improve beginners' skills because he does not fully develop each section. Cutting Edge needs to be twice its size to cover its topics. A person can spend years getting anatomy down. I had hoped for more step-by-step methods to his style, but Hart jumps from A to Z, expecting the reader to understand the huge gap inbetween. Get drawing experience before reading this, or you'll be disappointed.



5. Awesome book you can learn alot from this book even if you are a beginner

5 comments about Michelangelo (XL Series).

1. Excellent pictures of the frescoes, inadequate coverage of sculptures. This book is unrivaled for the sheer size of its reproductions. It is so huge that it is a bit difficult to read--one has to rest it on a table. Not suitable for reading in bed, to say the least. But the quality of the printing and colors in the main part of the book is first class. Its coverage is especially fine on the paintings. It comprehensively covers the Sistine Chapel with huge-size foldout prints of every fresco. There are fine close-ups of important areas, which are an amazing 2/3 of life size. One can examine these fresco details from a foot away--never before possible--instead of from 60 feet away with a craned neck. This can be breathtaking.
   
   The sculpture photos are excellent too, but not numerous. I had been expecting several photos of each sculpture from various angles. Bacchus, Pieta, and David are well shown in multiple views but this is not the case for most works.
   
   The text is on the whole very well written and illuminating.
   
   The authors have extreme views on authenticity. This leads them to exclude very important sculptures because, it appears, the authors consider them unproven to be authentic. For example, the Santo Spirito wooden crucifix is shown only small, poor quality, and in black and white. (A far better, color, picture, can be found, free, in Wikipedia.) Even the Madonna and Child bas-relief that is his first work, the one selected to adorn the cover of the 1,000 euro ($1,500) La Dotta Mano book, and, worst of all, the four Slave sculptures, some of his most iconic works, are also relegated to poor quality black-and-whites at back of the book, as all are judged suspect by these authors. Drawings, however, if of doubful authenticity, or even known to be copies, escape this rigorous exclusion. So we have too many drawings and missing sculptures.
   
   Some paintings receive the same relegation: the Manchester Madonna (which is clearly at least in part by Michelangelo) is hardly visible in a tiny, dark, picture, as is the Entombment (which I must agree is of doubtful authenticity).
   
   A book claiming to be comprehensive should have more detailed and thorough illustrations of questioned works than this. Opinions change over the years and some of these will doubtless be accepted in the future. In some cases it seems that the authors are among a minority who dispute authenticity.
   
   The book has a very large number of drawings, but the coarser paper in that section of the book, and the low contrast and low resolution and small size (even in this monster book) of their printing, makes them hard to see clearly. This section is in sharp contrast to the wonderful beauty of the fresco reproductions in the first section of this book. It would have been better to show fewer drawings at a larger size, and illustrate the sculptures properly.
   
   Nevertheless, this is a truly outstanding book for the frescoes, and the photos of the sculptures that are shown and the text are excellent too. Worth its price.



2. this book is extraordinary for the paintings; the drawings are documented, but its print quality is rather low, even the quality of paper they are printed on is inferior... and THIS IS A VERY DISAPPOINTING BOOK FOR THE SCULPTURES



3. Wonderful inside and out. No further commentes are necessary: by all means, buy it !!



4. This massive book is stronger on the paintings than on the sculptures. And after all, Michelangelo is one of the greatest (to me the greatest) sculptors of all time. Still, this impressive book is certainly worth purchasing. Try to find a copy of the William E. Wallace book published in 1998 to enjoy magnificent plates on the sulptures. You might still find copies online from remainder booksellers.



5. I received this book yesterday, and it is certainly a monumental work, weighing close to 20 pounds and superbly produced. But potential buyers should be aware that while this book is labeled as a definitive, complete guide to Michelangelo's work, its real focus are the paintings and drawings. There is probably no better book for the Sistine Chapel ceiling and the Last Judgment, with scores of extraordinary closeups of every part of each painting. The foldout of the creation of Adam is a joy to behold. Readers may or may not like the fact that probably 40% of the book is on Michelangelo's drawings, given that these are mostly preliminary sketches for sculptures or paintings, as opposed to complete drawings in their own right, as in the case of Leonardo Da Vinci. The book also covers Michelangelo's architecture very well.
   But obviously many readers will buy this book because they want to see Michelangelo's sculptures, and this book is surprisingly, disappointingly weak in this area. Of course, the David gets its due and there is also good coverage of the Vatican Pieta and, oddly, the Bacchus. But many of the other sculptures, such as the Moses and the Risen Christ, get only one large and one small picture, despite the fact that the book, at over 700 pages, has space to spare. By contrast, the "Complete Michelangelo" by William Wallace provides multiple views of each and every piece of sculpture.
   But most incredible, indeed inexplicable, of all, is that this book (unlike Wallace, or any other Michelangelo book that I know of) fails to provide any large pictures at all of what are, next to the David, the most iconic and powerful of Michelangelo's sculptures: his four "prisoners" in Florence. Having seen these in person, I can easily understand why artists for centuries have looked in awe at these amazing "unfinished" sculptures which show figures struggling to emerge from the marble-which is exactly what Michelangelo felt he was doing when he took his chisel to the rock. How on earth, in a book of this size and ambition, can the omission of these sculptures be explained? Indeed, no explanation is provided, and the only illustration of these four sculptures, which have so influenced modern art, is four tiny, poor quality pictures in the second section of the book that is a complete catalog of all of Michelangelo's sculptures. By contrast, the Wallace book has a four page foldout that shows the four sculptures next to each other.
   In short, this book is fantastic for the paintings and drawings and a very disappointing missed opportunity for the sculptures. One can only wistfully imagine what would have been if the sculptures had been photographed as carefully and as thoroughly as the Sistine Chapel paintings. By all means get this book--and overall I am glad that I did, despite its high cost--but adjust your expectations and don't expect that this one book will suffice to fully cover all of Michelangelo's genius.