4 comments about Lift Off: Air Vehicle Sketches & Renderings from the Drawthrough Collection (Air Vehicle Sketches).

1. This is the other half of complimentary book "Start your engines"
   
   Scott Robertson's unique vehicle designs are applied to things that fly in this book.
   
   You will see the process of firstly small quick rough sketches until he finds a shape and then develops the most liked shapes further. The next step goes into more detailed sketches with full vanishing points laid out.
   The final art is then revealed in amazing detail and believability.
   
   If you are learning about concept and design pick this up now, also look at the tutorial videos and other books.
   
   http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw_0_8?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=scott+robertson&x=0&y=0&sprefix=scott+ro



2. I'm no 3d master, but when I wanted to get back into it I was looking for some inspiration. This book didn't let me down. It's filled with mind-bending stuff from really talented people.



3. Scott Robertson is an educator as well as a designer. That shows in this book, editorially, since he reveals early thumbnail, development sketches and final renderings. If you want to see a designer's process laid bare, here's a helpful resource. Don't forget Scott's Gnomon DVDs, as they further expose his process and techniques.



4. For those craving more futuristic design books, the Robertson works are highly desirable. He's no Syd Mead or Ron Cobb, but his works are slick, and well-rendered. A note of caution however; he is a much better artist of ground vehicles than aircraft. Most of his air vehicles are obviously derived from passenger car sketches, sans wheels. If you have the funds for both of Robertson's books, great. If you can only buy one of them, buy his book on ground vehicles.

4 comments about Structura: The Art of Sparth.

1. If you are interested in concept art, this compact book is like a master's class in how to represent ideas with freshness, clarity, and good design. I keep it next to my computer at work for inspiration, and if you are a concept artist you should too.



2. Sparth is one of the greatest concept artists, and this is a great book of his work.



3. I've been a huge fan of Sparth's work for years and have awaited the arrival of this book for almost as long. Sparth's work is warm and highly creative and his influence over a generation of digital fantasy artists is only beginning to be seen as his style is frequently imitated. It's certainly a great book and a must-own, especially for a concept art book at this price.
   
   My only disappointment is is the format size (which is why I still give this 5 stars, as I don't think this is the fault of the artist). These works deserve a much larger format than the medium/smallish 9 x 9 inches. Also, and this probably has more to do with who owns the image licenses than anything, there is a bit of "sameness", a slight lack of variety, about some of the work that's not apparent when viewing his website.
   
   Still, a great book by any standard and an essential addition to any fantasy/sci-fi/art lover's book collection.



4. Sparth brings a humanity to concept art and design. At this price, everyone interested in Movie and Games production should have this densely creative book in their library. The french designers are poignantly different from american designers, a gap which I appreciate and honor.
   
   The work shown in this volume is mostly painted environments and vehicles. A couple pages of charcoal sketches and some plein-air digital work. It also has a good amount of robots and characters.

4 comments about Bent, Bound And Stitched: Collage, Cards And Jewelry With A Twist.

1. Having been a longtime admirer of Josie's work and creativity, the book Bent, Bound and Stitched is a perfect compilation of instructions and ideas to take your skills to the next level. The uses of wire and sewing are inventive without being intimidating; the book is gorgeous and a source of real inspiration! It totally makes you want to "try this at home".
   
   The instructions are very clear and easy to follow, with great photos that demonstrate exactly what is described in the text. What a pleasure to have a book that encourages you to make the projects and teaches new techniques you can apply to your own ideas. It's eye candy with beautiful visuals, and fun to read with Josie's insights and writing style.
   
   A new favorite how-to for your art and craft collection!



2. Great illustrations along with very good directions. The only problem that I can see is that I must
   go out and purchase several items (mostly at the hardware store) to properly complete some projects.
   Without a doubt, I will purchase other books by "Josie".



3. If you're looking for something new to add to your collages and artwork then you'll want to check out this book. The author shows you how to take a piece of wire, add a few bends and twists to create wonderful motifs and embellishments that you can use on everything from collages and cards to journal pages and just about anything else you can think of. Clear step-by-step instructions and photographs insure that even if you've never worked with wire before you'll have no trouble creating the projects in this book.



4. I was a big fan of the author's first book, "Collage Lost and Found", and I had the second on preorder from the minute I heard about it.
   
   Sequels can be tricky. I kind of expected this one to fall a little flatter than the first, since the first was so good.
   
   But I was wrong. Gleefully *wrong*.
   
   Where the first book was more about collage (go figure), this book has you use those skills you've already learned to go further -- making objects with wire and metal and collagebits, learning new techniques and building on what you know thusfar. The projects are more than just pretty little geegaws, too -- they're useful and gorgeous with lots of ideas for taking what you learn and running with it to create your own works of art.
   
   It took me almost three hours just to flip through the book, because I kept having to stop and try things she'd presented (wire letters! scribble-filled wire hearts with attached book text!). And really, any book that can not only inspire, but motivate me to get up out of the chair and *make something* is well-worth the price. I can tell this will be one book that I *use* instead of just *own*.

No comments about Confrontational Ceramics.

5 comments about Canvas Remix: Techniques For Creating Mixed-Media Accessories.

1. Alisa's book really inspired me. Just starting a canvas of my own was so much fun and all of her different techniques expanded what I thought was even possible! I've always wanted to give a personal touch to something like a clutch and my first finished product has inspired me to try so much more. All my friends have complimented the clutch and want me to make them one.



2. I really love this book! It is full of vibrant photos and straightforward techniques that are simple enough for youngsters but totally fun for adults! Alisa Burke has taken a unique approach to creating within one medium-not an easy task- and has come up with all kinds of techniques and projects that the everyday person, without drawing or painting skills can actually accomplish. She also has come up with projects that are easy to duplicate and at the same time can serve as inspiration for creating with your own personal twist! As a quilter and fabric artist I am inspired by Canvas Remix and can't wait to get started on my own canvas creations!!



3. Only saw a couple of projects that were something I would wear or use and I am a funky chic . Beginner techniques .



4. This would be a good book for a beginner experimenting with canvas. For those who have some experience using surface design on canvas you might want to try another book with more more advanced techniques.



5. Alisa Burke has finally produced a book which assumes that the reader is ready for some creative freedom, thus inspiring with ideas and techniques without the need for step by step, copy-cat instructions. This is not a book for those with no idea where to start - this is a book for those who are or wish to be creative and just need the inspiration to let it flow!!
   
   Canvas Remix has given me the passion to pursue some ideas I wasn't sure I was ready to attempt, and to be comfortable with the results one way or another - no rules to say you cant try a project again! It's wild, its fun and it's free-thinking. Be ready to look inside yourself and let your creative diva out!

5 comments about Naked Girls Smoking Weed: Best of 420 Girls.

1. For entertainment purposes this is the best book ever. Hot girl.. good bud.. what else could you ask for?!?!
   
   This is a tastefully done book.. well worth the money.. and what a conversation piece!!



2. You really need to see this if you are into good weed and hot women! Some nice pipes and other devices too. Pack it up!



3. I got this with the misguided expectation of receiving a coffee-table book (you know, those big books with high quality pictures for people to check out while they're sitting at your coffee table) with striking photographs of beautiful women & buds.
   
   Instead, I got a book with postcard-sized pages and little photos that weren't really striking or even interesting at all.
   
   I'm pro-legalization, love naked girls, and enjoy books, but this book didn't do it for me. It was too expensive for a paperback-sized volume with mediocre pictures of marginally attractive girls holding pipes or with hemp leaves around their necks. Ho-hum.



4. This book is cool to show off. The girls aren't that great but they are real stoners so that's cool!! My brother enjoyed it.



5. This book is very tasteful. Thus they put two of my favorite Taboo's together Pot and naked girls. THe book is beautifully illustrated and pt together. All in all a great buy.

5 comments about Une Semaine De Bonte: A Surrealistic Novel in Collage.

1. great drawings of big author, worth the have it, but I saw originals in Vienna and must say that I was bit disappointed when I saw the drawings in the book. I think that they are not to good scanned. Originals have very thin lines and in the book that lines are not so thin, so much detail because of that is lost. Second, on original drawings some parts are sticked, and you see that in different shades of paper. And in the book all is on white paper so you cant know which part is collage. Hope that was helpful



2. I've never seen a book as random as this. Whether you view it from start to finish, or from finish to start, it makes just as much sense either way. The page you view next has little or nothing to do with the page you have just viewed. It's actually quite fun.
   
   Take for example page 10. You see a guy with a mustache staring at an open mouthed monster with a panther head and human body, standing on some steps, carrying a lantern, and wearing some type of backpack along with a cross shaped medal. Then on page 11, you see neither one of these figures, and instead see a similar monster with a panther head and human body also with a backpack, but this monster is calmly smoking a pipe, and stirring what appears to be some spaghetti-shaped substance on top of the headless body of a topless woman mannequin. In both pictures the panther shaped monster has a backpack and a lantern, but you REALLY have to use your imagination if you are to believe they're the same character since they don't look the same and are standing in completely different backgrounds while engaging themselves in completely different scenarios.
   
   It should be noted that the picture on page 11 definitely isn't the only picture featuring nudity. Like most surrealist works, this book has its fair share of the stuff. I don't know what kind of a maturity rating you'd give the book as a whole, but it definitely isn't for kids. Which is kind of a shame, because I think kids would really like all the weird creatures that fill up a good half of this work.
   
   I mean, we've got monsters with lion heads, bird heads, Easter Island rock heads, and, well, that's pretty much it for the heads, but there's dragons and other monstery stuff too. Then there's all kinds of random, non-monster sights to see, that feature your classic dark humor. I particularly like this picture where some guy is dropping a bat on the ground from a tray, and another one where a guy is just lying face down on the floor like he's dead while a woman's in the room combing her hair like nothing's wrong.
   
   My dreams are a lot like the pictures in this book. Not so much that they feature strange creatures, but that they're nothing more than a string of random, isolated scenes that rarely follow any kind of story. Or perhaps each is a story that never stays around long enough to develop any kind of coherency. Each of these Semaine De Bonte pictures looks like it can be a part of a story, but it's up to the viewer to come up with some kind of way that the snapshot picture he or she is seeing could have happened.
   
   I'd recommend this book to anybody over 18. It's definitely an interesting, unusual item to have in your own personal library and also a golden opportunity to re-live the long gone European surrealistic fad of the early 20th century.



3. My best friend interested me in this book in high school and before amazon.com it was hard to come buy in the small town that we lived where the only art that exists is 'impressionist' paintings of moored boats and whatever you can find at wal-mart in the home decor section.
   
   This is the epitome of black and white, balance and the finest collection of surrealism I think that you can get into a book. Dover does it justice with clear prints and an excellent binding. I've had my copy for years and it's been everywhere with me through several moves and colleges. And the price is quite reasonble. Guaranteed to make you get some of Dovers clip art so you can experiment on your own.



4. This is an incredible piece of work, absolutely integral to any collection of anyone who has an interest in the Dadaists or Surrealists. Ernst's intuitive juxtapositions create an intirely seperate and complete logical (or illogical, depending) world of lurid mysticism and dread. Though not without a sense of humor. If you like this, also check out (if you've not already) the work of Joseph Cornell and the writings of Lautremont.



5. This is probably the best of Ernst's collage novels. Certainly it is a good bargan at this price; moreover, the others (The Hundred Headless Woman and A Young Woman Dreams of Taking the Veil) are virtually unavailable anyway.
   
   Earnst's collage novels are now more of historical interest than anything: that is to say, they represent quite a remarkable event in cultural history as evidence of Modernism, Surrealism, Expressionism, etc. However--that said--they're not quite as spectacular as some other reviewers might otherwise lead you to believe. The collages are not really as shocking as they perhaps once were, and the Dadaist poetry is rather inane and trivial: the worst that could be said of any art--just consult Wilde!
   
   The large oil canvases of R.-F.-G. Magritte are inestimably more significant, worthy, important, and great as original works of art, and as historical artifacts of Modernism and the Surreal.

1 comments about Tactile: High Touch Visuals.

1. Blurs the boundaries between fine art, graphic design, and product design. If you make "things" then this book will prove inspirational for any artistic endeavor.

5 comments about Creative Collage Techniques.

1. I'm speaking as someone who knows zilch about collage -- or close enough to zilch that it doesn't matter. Which means I'm extremely impressed by the way the authors clearly explained techniques and concepts in a manner that didn't confuse the ignorant (me) while informing both beginners and experts. I'm guessing they DO inform experts just because of the wide range of information. The result is that I feel I really begin to understand the basic concepts without being overwhelmed. My only problem is to choose which fun methods to try first. There is certainly an exhaustive array of options. I can't speak for more experienced people but, for beginners, I can't imagine a book being more helpful than this one.



2. I have dabbled with collage and assemblage and want to do more. What I mainly want is info on supplies and technique, rather than an overview of what other artists are doing in the field, or a history of the art, or coaching to overcome fear of doing art. I took six collage and altered book books out of the library. This one worked best for me. The information about what supplies, adhesives, and papers/boards to use was well organized, clear and simple. Each technique was presented in a straightforward, step by step way accompanied by examples. This book had more techniques in it that seemed like ones I would want to work with than some of the other books - I'm not at a stage where I want to build a complicated studio setup or use photocopiers and photography a whole lot in my artwork, but I appreciate knowing about techniques that are a little more advanced than gluing paper down.



3. This book was actually a text book for a college class. As a not very artistic person, I found some of the projects to be a bit intimidating. However, the explanations were very helpful. The pictures are beautiful. I found the descriptions of the elements of design very helpful.



4. *****
   I have been reading collage books in order to get ready for a collage class I'm taking next month; while all the ones I've read have their strong points, this book is truly the "Bible" of collage---it contains the widest and most in-depth information of all of the books I've read. It covers so many topics, and for a beginner, enables me to see just what can be done with collage. As I become more experienced, though, I am certain that I will refer to it again and again.
   
   Ever type of collage conceivable to me is covered here, with step by step instruction. It is written in an instructional (as opposed to entertaining) style, and is definitely a reference book, but one that I think every collage artist should have.
   
   If you are wanting to learn more about collage and can only afford one book, this one is it. It covers many different styles, so unlike other books, if your style is not the same as the author's, you might be left out---no chance of that with this book.
   
   Highly recommended.
   *****



5. This book does offer specific projects and yet leaves an open-ended aspect for artist innovation and personal touch. There are a lot of methods explored and so this text is a great one in addition to the works of others in this genre. The greatest part about this book is that contemporary collage artists are featured and this gives the reader a connection with his/her peers. There is no "art history" and "these are the famous collage artists" feel to this book: it is 100% TODAY people who are creating collage art. This aspect makes the world of collage feel approachable and in the here and now.

5 comments about The Stained Glass Garden: Projects & Patterns.

1. This book has wonderful projects and very detailed and easy to understand instructions. I enjoy making items for my garden and this book has helped me create beautiful glass items to display and enjoy. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys working with stained glass and gardening.



2. This is one of my favorite stained glass books! It has great projects for beginners and more experienced stained glass crafters. The instructions are detailed and the photos are very helpful, also.



3. I bought this item for my mother, who is a stained glass enthusiast that put aside her craft when my brother and I were children (children and shards of glass don't mix very well, apparently). Recently, I've encouraged my mother to resume her interest. Since she is also interested in gardening, "The Stained Glass Garden: Projects & Patterns" was a perfect fit. Among the projects detailed in this book are lanterns, a bird feeder, and a sprinkler. The instructions are clear, and the projects are interesting. I would recommend this item for other stained glass enthusiasts!



4. This book has all kinds of information, from basic tools, materials and procedures used, to instructions for making your own light table to work on. Includes patterns from simpler plant stakes and candle holders, to really extravagant lawn sprinklers. Awesome book, good for beginners and the more experienced. Don't know why they chose that cover photo, it is nowhere near the best or prettiest project in the book.



5. The patterns are artistic, the instructions clear, and the results truly do look great in the garden.