5 comments about Drawing and Painting with Colored Pencil: Basic Techniques for Mastering Traditional and Watersoluble Colored Pencils.

1. This is one of the "keepers". Kristy has done an excellent job here in not only instruction, but in very informative tips and techniques. Saves the new artist allot of time in getting right to the point and avoiding common mistakes. Kristy's book is highly recommended and I'd have given it more than 5 stars if I could have!



2. Drawing And Painting With Colored Pencilery good reference book, I was very happy



3. There are many other books available on this subject and they are all better than this one. There is nothing to be gained from reading this book. Forget it!



4. The illustrations for the techniques are Kutch's own colored pencil artwork. Her flowers are stunning and if I ever achieve a drawing on the level of her poppies or the morning glories, I'll be very happy.
   Unfortunately, I struggled with some of the directions, bogging down over the art terms and special tools that I don't yet have. I think I'd benefit from rereading this book after I experiment more and stock in some of the supplies (special papers, ball burnisher, citrus thinner, etc.).
   The techniques are shown in 5 or 6 steps with the illustration progressing as she describes the colors used. Most of the examples are flowers or fruit, but a few landscapes round it out.
   The first 49 pages deal with regular colored pencils, then the rest of the book goes on to watercolor pencils and the techniques for those.



5. This is a wonderful book, don't get me wrong, however I expected it to relate more to colored pencils by themselves. The first section does, then it goes on to a much larger section on watersoluble pencils and the final section is devoted to using them in tandem. If you are interested in using them in tandem then by all means, this book should be on your shelf! The text is precise and easy to follow, the artwork is wonderful, to say the least.

5 comments about The Ultimate Airbrush Handbook (Crafts Highlights).

1. It's chock full of different tutorial types. From model building to fingernail airbrushing. It has become VERY useful.



2. This book does a great job of going over almost all the facets of starting and airbrushing. One of the most complete books I've seen.



3. I gave this book to my husband along with a new airbrush & it's been a great help to him, includes info that even the airbrush didn't company give.



4. The "Ultimate Airbrush Handbook" is exactly what it's title says is! No hyperbole in the title. It covers all aspects of airbrushing, useful to everyone, including newbies like myself. Well worth the money spent!



5. Excellent. As the title states the "ultimate". Should be the first book purchased, borrowed or stolen for the enthusiast.

5 comments about Putting People in Your Paintings.

1. Thought this was a wonderful book. Just what I was looking for ie. impressionistic images of figures in watercolour. The demos are clear and easy to follow. Her paintings are full of light and she sets everything out very clearly. More helpful than a DVD. Highly recommended.



2. After years of avoiding attempting to paint figures, I am now able to put people into my paintings successfully. Laurels book is beautifully written and well laid out, which makes it easy to use. She manages to communicate the techniques and instill confidence, so a big thank you!



3. This book is written by a professional portrait painter. She is fabulous in her approach to watercolor portraits but I believe not that helpful to the beginner like myself. The hardest thing to do is to put figures into a landscape or seascape and this book has the information but assumes you are comfortable painting faces and figures in the first place.
   Should you already feel comfortable drawing and painting faces and figures, by all means buy this book.
   The beginner should look elsewhere to realizing the concept and instruction of figure placement.
   There are many videos on the market like Don Andrews - "Painting Figurs in the Landscape" - and Tony Van Hasselt - "Fun with Figures" -that do the job for tyros like us.



4. This book is mainly about watercolor painting. There is a lot of focus on how to simplify the complex, and determining values. It is an absolutely wonderful book to develop skills at value sketches and seeing the light and shadows. It is filled to the brim with valuable information, and it is also filled with stunning artwork by the author.
   The teaching style and organization of the material taught is great.
   
   The author/ artist has a talent for simplifying complex information. She also teaches the reader/ student artist how to take a complex scene that you want to paint and learn the methods of simplifying it. Some of this simplicity is based on exercises of being trained to see light and shadow and values. It is a unique book--I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning to paint. It is not a basic beginner's how-to book, but can be very helpful to all levels of painters--especially in developing better skills at value sketches, and emphasizing light and shadow in your work.
   
   The author's artwork is very inspiring. Her demonstrations are very clear and well-organized. The exercises are exceptionally well-taught, with illustrations that help you understand easily. She teaches you how to take black and white photos of a scene and make value sketches and interpret the light and shadow. The author explains that "figures are patterns of light and shadow". She demonstrates how this light and shadow is then used to put people in paintings, find a center of focus, set mood with color schemes, triads for fleshtones, etc..
   
   I love the author's methods of explaining the painting process: An example is:
   A demonstration on watercolor washes are taught in a simplified way called "watercolor laundry method"--basically, as in household laundry, learning to separate lights and darks, (i.e. painting lights first, letting it dry (hairdryer), then doing the darks. She then demonstrates how a series of washes over each other builds up the shadows and creates light.
   
   This book definitely deserves 5 stars--it is one of the best watercolor teaching books that I own! It simplifies the difficult.



5. The author gives good instruction on how to add figures to watercolor, using her own work as examples. The instructions go from basic palettes to value sketches and show demonstrations.
   
   The author's style is quick and loose. This will seem less intimidating to beginners, who could be easily frustrated when they can't achieve some of the luminous and detailed results of a master.
   
   The author's palette has great suggestions, such as transparent red oxide and yellow oxide, which are transparent versions of palette standards like Venetian Red and Yellow Ochre. But she does recommend alizarin crimson, which today is easily replaced by quinacridone rose or violet and which is less likely to fade. A quibble, but I feel alizarin crimson is better replaced by the quinacridone pigments these days. She shows mixing variation with red-yellow-blue, using manganese blue, but you should be aware this will be manganese hue.
   
   The most valuable part of the book for beginners might be how to do value sketches, using black and white photos or rendering in digital software to see the darks and lights. She shows how dark shadows behind figures can be manipulated to add life and light to the painting--washing in a mix of brighter colors that still have the same value as the deep shadow, but are livelier and more pleasing to the eye.
   
   The best paintings are the ones of Hart's father and his peach orchard. The peaches glow and the shadows on the face and under boxes and barrows are interesting. Her style is not tight and photographic, but it gets the message across beautifully. Any beginner who wants to try portraits and figures can benefit from this book.

3 comments about Patterns of Intention: On the Historical Explanation of Pictures.

1. This book is so conspicuosly intelligent, and its exercises in criticism so involving, that it is a great pleasure to read. Baxandall begins by developing a scheme for the explanation of concrete historical objects in general.

   He takes the Forth bridge in Scotland. Baxandall, more than it makes it beautiful, he shows you that it really is beautiful. But wait, there's more. He takes Picasso's Kahweiler and shows it to you as beautiful, and damn well you believe it.

   Baxandall shows us how to interpret art.

   But he claims modesty: he is a historian, he says, and is only offering one method of many to think about pictures. I think this is the only place where he has gone wrong. After going through his method of understanding art, you will know there are no others. All the other ones are wrong. Baxandall is right.

   If you want to be someone who talks about art intelligently, buy this book and you will be able to talk of art in the only way you should




2. This book is a genuinely informative and at times engrossing view into the making and understanding of pictures. However, it reads (not surprisingly) like a textbook; it is brilliant and thought-provoking in some parts but dryly monotonous in others. (The bridge-building bit stands out as particularly tedious.) The points Baxandall makes via this tediousness are no less brilliant, but their lustre is lost beneath layers of dull, yawn-worthy prose. Baxandall's stylistic shortcomings should not scare away anyone with a passionate interest in the study of Art and its interpretation. But for the layman in search of a clear and down-to-earth discussion of how to look at pictures, this is probably a book to avoid.



3. Through three well-chosen case studies, Baxandall examines the question of artistic intention: how the constraints of the culture, the artistic medium, and the intended use of a work of art shape the process of its creation. Particularly penetrating is his "excursus on influence", in which he argues that participants in an artistic tradition shape and change how their predecessors are understood. This is an ingenious and satisfying book: I read it twice for two different college classes, and expect to read it again and continue to profit from it.

5 comments about Color Choices: Making Color Sense Out of Color Theory.

1. This is an excellent book on color, very indepth and very clear. I've learned things from this book that I didn't know. I recommend it to anyone who loves color and uses it in their work or art.



2. Stephen Quiller's books,(I have his book on using Acrylics as well) are definitly the most helpful to me as I am attempting to take up painting again after a long hiatus. His color wheel is fabulous as are his suggestions on mixing results for different pigments, suggestions on setting up one's pallette, what colors are available in various named brands, etc. on and on. All of this information is for water based media, so if that is what you need, it is all here! One may or may not like his style of painting---it is semi-abstract with elements of realism that makes it appear more commercially appealing I suspect, but his color info is dead on! One definitely does not wind up with mud when following his suggestions.



3. Great book presenting a complex theory in understandable fashion! Quiller is an expert in the theory of color.



4. Stephen Quiller is a real master of color harmony. I warmly recommend his book. He teaches not only the color theory, but also demonstrates how it works in practice with his own work. Quiller shows how to mix colors in real life and how to find out the complementaries. His color wheel adds the commercial names of hues that one finds in shops, which is quite handy.
   
   Quiller will teach you not to use the "real" surface color of the objects, but to search for feelings and the atmosphere of the ambient. The leaves may be, say, violet and the sky yellow, if that is how you see them.
   
   One thing Quiller misses to point out is additive color mixing like it was used by pointillists. When colors mix in the eye the rules of harmony are somewhat different.
   
   If you are sceptical about brave color mixtures I recommend you to first have a look at Quiller's art at his internet pages.



5. This book is worth buying for Quiller's color wheel. It is by far the best and most practical I have ever seen. It makes paint mixing very easy. Throw out your color mixing cook books and buy this one.

2 comments about Jerry Yarnell's Landscape Painting Secrets.

1. This is an excellent reference book for beginners or advanced painters. The soft cover book is well written with illustrated steps that are easy to follow. This is a helpful addition to a painting reference library.



2. This book gives detailed instructions for painting basic landscape elements in an easy-to-use format. Yarnell's use of a limited palette along with a short supply list make his techniques not only attainable but affordable.

5 comments about Pro Paint/body Hp1394.

1. I was looking for a book that explained some of the basic restoration/repair principles for a novice. This book does just that. I did not give it 5 stars for two reasons - one is that black and white photos do not really show clearly the points intended. Also, one of the chapters introductions suggests that an explanation of paint technology had already been explained in a previous chapter, but in fact it is in a future chapter. This shows poor proof reading. Nevertheless, I would recommend this book to anybody wanting to learn the basics of automobile body repair and finishing.



2. Disappointed at best. Bought three books on the subject on Amazon at the same time. Believe it or not this was the best of the three. Gave up on the books and got more information from a paint shop guy. The picture on the cover of the 69 Camaro has nothing to do with the book (Yes, I have a 69 Camaro). It caught my eye and the author got my money. I read the other reviews and either they didn't buy the book and read it or something is funny.



3. While this book doesn't go very in-depth, it does cover many subjects of paint and body including some rust repair (not a lot though). Good if you are trying to learn, enough to get started.



4. i am very new to the body work scene, it actually happened on accident. i got asked to do it at my new job. i just fix rust holes in junky BMW's in Germany, but i wanted to make my work look like it is supposed to be there. i havent read the entire book yet, but what i have read has been very helpful. the work i have produced is not perfect, but the tips i have gained from this book have made big improvements in the end. a little (by my standards anyway) amount of body filler makes the jobs turn out pretty good, but i am still playing around with the right mixture for the filler. a few more gallons of it, and i might be on the right track. but hey, the people around me are enjoying the contact buzz. wear a respirator as described in the book!
   This book has been a big help for me.



5. After going through many books on car painting, this is without a doubt the best. Easy to find topics, very readable. If you are just going to read 1 book, this is it!

5 comments about Expressive Portraits: Creative Methods for Painting People.

1. Expressive Portraits is inspirational and provides valuable information.
   The strong visual images coupled with the clear use of text were informative and helpful.



2. This is by far the best watercolor book out there. I've learned so much from it. I love the color pallette Jean recommended in her book. I highly recommend this book to all levels watercolorist. Thank you Jean for sharing your talent and knowledge with us.



3. I have had the pleasure of taking classes with Jean and feel that the book admirably projects her lessons. I especially like her information on using different medias. She has given me the courage to break all rules and experiment for myself. I think it is a very good book on painting portraits and a good addition to an artist's library.



4. What an amazing artist. I love her contemporary take on portraiture. I'm hoping to adapt her techniques to acrylics or oils on board and/or canvas, rather than watercolor and gouache on paper. She does use some acrylics however, and overall I give this a thumbs-up. Very inspiring!



5. This is a nice inspiring book. I just don't give it 5 stars because i was expecting to find skin color recipes and the step by step demonstrations are not too specific to follow them.

1 comments about Textiles: Concepts And Principles.

1. plz give me some information about any books of textiles technology

5 comments about The Chinese Brush Painting Bible: Over 200 Motifs with Step-By-Step Illustrated Instructions.

1. This book is for the beginning art student and not much use for anyone who has a basic knowledge of Asian brush painting. The word "Bible" in the title is misleading as most other books on the subject are far superior.



2. This is an excellent guidebook for anyone studying or interested in Chinese Brush Painting. My only quibble is that there are not enough examples for each of the suggested compositions.



3. This is a great instructional book for anyone wanting to learn to paint in the Chinese brush painting style. There are 200 motifs with step by step instructions. I love it!



4. This truly is the Chinese brush painting Bible; an awesome tutorial and guide to learning this art.



5. I was looking for a book on Chinese brush paintings that not only showed you how to to the painting technique, but also had a lot of different design motifs. well this is the book. It is a step-by-step book and has over 200 motifs that are beautifully illustrated. It shows you the finished painted motif and the steps to achieve it and each page has a sidebar of the paint colors you will need that not only tell you the color in words, such as pink, but has a small circle of the paint color too (great for a beginner) as well as the brushes that you will need for that particular motif.
   
   The best feature of the book is that it is spiral bound, so that it opens flat and stays flat while you are referring to it. It is a small book height (about the height of a hardback novel), but loaded with great illustrations and beautifully laid out.