Painting-the

I haven't painted since childhood and was shocked at the cost of canvas and "traditional" painting media. I happened upon this book, obtained some rocks from a friend's pasture and have been painting rocks ever since! We don't have the smooth river rocks in our local streams, so I go to a local rock yard to get them which yielded some excellent customers for my creations! I've had more fun painting in 3-D. The illustrations and directions are EXCELLENT! Anyone can do this with these great books!

I never painted before and this past month I've painted eight rocks with results just like the photos in the book. I always knew that I had a talent for art, but never nurtured it because quite frankly, drawing or painting on two dimensional paper was very boring to me. However, this method is more interesting and fun. You paint on a three dimensional surface, rocks, that are free for the taking, and you can produce colorful, interesting, fun, and permanent pieces of art so quickly and easily. The minute I saw this book, it clicked for me, and I knew I had to give it a try. If you ever had aspirations to make art, but never did, try painting rocks with the help of this book. You just might surprise yourself with the results.

I can't wait for more books from this author! Painting Flowers On Rocks is an awesome book! This book goes through different flowers, such as roses, tulips, primroses, petunias, etc. It demonstrates how steps are done to create the painting, with wonderful colored photos and simple instructions.

I was very surprised that it really is easy. I started out painting tulips on slate and they weren't looking like much of anything. When I finished I was astonished to see a great looking painting in front of me. The tulips looked REAL.

I really do like this book. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys flowers. If you are new to painting, this is the book to start with. The wording is so easy to understand! These rocks, and this book would make a great gift for anyone. Along with my real flowers, this summer I think I am going to have a section for a rock garden!

Wonderful book!!! I collect watercolors and have one of Skip's. His is clearly my favorite of all of my many watercolors, aside from one by my son. I was especially excited to find and to read Skip's book. What a great teacher he is! The book is clear and easy to follow and apply. Incidentally, I have it as one of my coffee-table books, and find myself regularly re-thumbing through it. Many of its illustrations are very pleasing to the eye, and capture the essence of points he makes so well in the text. Oh, to have just a small fraction of his watercolor talent!!!!

Whether you're a painter who has worked for years, or a 'newbie' you will appreciate and be inspired by Skip Lawrence's fresh and candid approach to more powerful painting via the tools of light and shadow. This is not a 'paint-like-I-do" guide, it's an intelligent conversation with examples of his and other terrific artists, to show how color and light and design all work together to create compelling and meaningful art that truly expresses your vision as an artist. This is a most essential and useful addition to any painter's resources, and it's valuable for both watercolorists and painters of other media as well.

This book is much different than the usual technique books because it clearly stays with one goal - light. Everything in the book is organised around achieving the perception of light and shadow in your paintings. It is a wonderfully elegant and logical approach.

I took classes from Peggy years ago. I had forgotten some of her techniqes and ordered this book...reading it is like being back in class. She goes through her amazing process step by step with color photographs and clear instruction. This is a valuable watercolor technique book, don't pass it up if you are serious about making some eye popping wildlife paintings.
Thank you Peggy!

I received this book for Christmas and was very impressed. It has so much information and great pictures. I am a self taught beginning water color painter. Very well written book that I could understand. I just hope she comes out with more.

Buy this book and save yourself thousands of dollars literally. As a student of Peggy at the Art Institute of Chicago I know. I paid tons of money to go to art school. Almost everything I learned from Peggy you can learn from this book. Plus it is an excellent showcase of her artwork. One of the best draftsman you'll ever see. Stop reading this and go buy it.

Este libro nos ayuda a regresar al origen del poder de la creatividad con una sencillez inigualable y liberadora. Yo soy pintora y me ha ayudado a liberarme de conceptos preestablecidos acerca de lo que DEBE ser o no el arte, y por supuesto me ayudo a encontrar mi postura de felicidad al elaborar mi trabajo haciendolo libre de espectativas de otros.

La creatividad como una energia libre de conceptos preestablecidos es parte de lo que se debe aprender a desarrollar. Este libro nos ayuda y enseña como hacerlo. Mediante preguntas que nos ayudan a liberar nuestra cretividad y poder creador para usarlo en todos los aspectos de nuestras vidas. Punto cero nos lleva al punto de creación.

Point Zero is a wonderfully clear and insightful explanation of the creative process and how to tap into it. Creative blocks are defined and undone with a simple questioning process which applieas to the joy of painting and living. Cassou's stories from her own experiences of paintting for process for hours on end and her spiritual unfoldment from that process are inspiring. Highly recommended for artist and non-artist alke, those who are seeking an opening in their creative process.

I'm in agreement with everyone else, that 1.) Robert Mcginnis is the best paperback book illustrator ever (perhaps rivaled only by Frank Frazetta); and 2.) This is the best collection of Mcginnis art available in book form. There's only one flaw in the whole thing: it never says what medium the artist uses (I found out it's egg tempera). If you love to gaze at beautiful paintings of every genre subject, or if you are yourself a painter or commercial artist, this belongs on your bookshelf. I've had it for years, and never tire of looking at it. A classic.

I had never even heard of Robert McGinnis until I was linked to this page by the editors' names (the Fenners) who I know from their affiliation with science fiction art. The reviews were so favorable that I decided to gamble on this book without any other familiarity with McGinnis. I usually lose on these impulsive gambles. Not this time. Suffice it to say this book is a total prize, it's just filled cover to cover with extreme beauty.

I am particularly impressed with this man's diversity of talent...he does great "pin up" type art of beautiful women, and then he does these embracing outdoor scenes which are almost within the genre of "Marlboro" commercials and then there are other pieces which are evocative of Norman Rockwell and Maxfield Parrish. Each painting is fantastic and to me represents a dinstinct aspect of the best phenomena in Earthly life. However, there is even a little sci-fi art in here, so not all his fantastic visions are necessarily Earth-bound!

I love unexpected treasure!

Is there anything Robert McGinnis CAN'T paint? His movie posters are instantly recognizable to millions who've never heard of him, but his landscapes and magazine illustrations -- his western art in particular -- are his real masterpieces. The reproductions are sumptuous and the editors have given us a wide-ranging sampling of the artist's prodigious output. The price is so good it looks like a misprint, but it's not. Kudos to Underwood Books for making material like this available in such a beautiful volume at what is truly a bargain price!

Karlyn has created a book for everyone from
beginners to the advanced. This book if filled
with valuable techniques to inspire any artist
to grow with their own creativity. It is filled
with beautiful watercolors and instrutions to
follow...very detailed and well demonstrated.
It is a must for any library.

This book makes a wonderful addition to my art library. I'm new to watercolor and need all the help I can get. This book is a winner for students of the media.

Karlyn's passion for watercolor is apparent throughout this book. She teaches you how to get the energy flowing in your artwork and develop your own personal style. Her book truly makes the process "fun and free!"

I have read many books aboout glass painting but none as helpful as this one.

The directions are simple and well-illustrated and the lists of materials are very complete.

I am one of those artistically challenged people....this book gave me ideas to use that do not require the ability to draw. I was so motivated when I got it and have tried many of the techniques....incredible.

Thanks, Moira and Lynda...your book is JUST what I needed to release my creativity!

I have never painted glass before, in fact, Ive never really done any crafts, Im a complete newbie to this whole thing, and this is the first book I bought on glass painting. I can say, I just got it yesterday,and it was so motivating, I already finished my first project today! The instructions are easy to understand, the authors give great tips, and the projects that are included are simple but they dont look simplistic when their done.I cant wait to try the other projects, you dont have to any prior experience to doing glass painting, just an interest and desire to try something new!

This is one of the most amazing books I've ever read! Thought you were no good at art? This simple guide will teach you the basic steps to becoming a professional. Find out more about this. It could even help you make a living!

Exquisite paintings of wildlife make this book worthwhile in itself, but Kalon Baughan also supplies fascinating insights into how he paints. Though most of us can only dream of painting animals that capture the animal's soul, there are many useful hints and techniques that even rank amateurs can use.

How to review this book is a problem. It is simply the best book on the subject that I have ever seen. It goes through the usual informative sections on animal anatomy and several step-by-step demonstrations and details. It is here where this book stands out, in the detail of the demonstrations. From detail information on the underpainting technique to detailing, drybrushing and using washes it covers everything in an easy to understand manner. If you want to paint wildlife and have not had an expensive course in a high quality art school then this is the book that you want to buy.

I was at the Texas Woodcarver's Guild Spring Roundup in Fredericsburg, TX, recently and saw a copy of this book. As a woodcarver I would rate this book as excellent. The book has excellent detailed pictures of faces of various animals. As a carver, I must pay attention to exact details such as hair color and texture, eye size and color, ears details, and all facets of wildlife characteristics. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn wildlife details for painting, carving, or general knowledge.

Within minites of receiving this book, my son(6)was cutting out shapes & gluing them together.... with enthusiasm! I always thought all kids love art, but it took this book to get my son interested. The only reason it didn't get 5 stars is the book binding was very poor. The binding (very loosely with only 4 strings) was falling apart after only one use. This is a book for kids, but I was the one using the stencils (I drew the shapes & kids cut them out). I shudder to think what shape the book would be in if I had turned them loose on it! Also, the book would probably hold up better if the stencil detatched from the book (a little pocket for storage in the flap would have been a good idea).

I keep having to order copies of this book! My grandchildren enjoy it so much that I end up sending my current copy home with one them. The many animal pictures keep them busy for hours. Now that they all have a copy I can order one to use in my classroom. The clear directions for preparing materials present excellent oportunities for me to teach fractions. The sequenced step-by-step pictures allow for exact duplication, but munipulation of the pieces encourages creativity. The original PICTURE PIE is good too, but I found this book to be more popular with the little people.

I bought this book a few weeks ago and have really ejoyed it. I just cut out a lot of the shapes, grab a couple of glue sticks, get my kids and they have hours of fun. The shapes and directions make it so easy for my kids (ages 4 & 6) to be successful in their art endevors. This is a good book to have in your collection if you work with kids at school, in your church or just have a child/children in your home.

As other reviewers have mentioned, this book has many wonderful reproductions, including a lot of "extreme close-ups" (if you'll allow me to lift an expression from the movie "Wayne's World"!). The close-ups are great...you can see details of how Velazquez achieved certain effects- such as concentrated spots of pigment to represent the glitter of jewelery, or applying a transparent black "wash" over the white pages in a "book", to give the impression of writing in a book. Additionally, Professor Brown provides a nice biographical sketch of Velazquez in the first 20 pages of the book, and he writes very well indeed. The commentary that accompanies the plates contains a lot of fascinating historical information- we learn a lot about the "court" of Philip IV, the roles of dwarves and jesters, etc. The author goes into the symbolism included in the paintings- for example, the importance of showing the king in control of a horse (which implies he is a good ruler as well as a good horseman). One of the most fascinating plates is the portrait of Mariana of Austria, who was Philip's second wife. Professor Brown explains that Philip's first wife, and his only son, had died and the king needed to remarry and produce a male heir. Unfortunately, Mariana was Philip's niece. As you might expect, the only surviving male heir of their marriage, Charles II, proved incapable of ruling and also of having any children of his own. With his death, the Habsburg dynasty of Spain came to an end. But the physical act of painting the picture also ties into this sad story. Velazquez was a very "economical" painter (some might say lazy). He wasn't very productive, and he also didn't like to waste canvasses that he had worked on! In this case, he had started a canvas of Philip IV. The physical resemblance between Philip and his niece was so great that the artist was able to paint Mariana's face over Philip's. In close-up, Professor Brown even shows how you can see where Velazquez covered up the area on the upper lip which had contained the king's mustache! Many of the plates have similar interesting bits of information contained in the accompanying text. I felt that the book only deserved 4 stars rather than 5 for two reasons- after awhile, some of the technical information becomes boring for the lay reader....too many descriptions of the various pigments used in the "ground" layer of each painting and of the sizes of the additional strips of canvas added to the paintings, for example. The second reason is that Professor Brown is a little too free with the word "genius". He claims that Velazquez was capable of doing things that other major artists weren't able to accomplish. I'm not qualified to say whether or not Velazquez was a genius but, in general, I think the word is overused. The author fails to explain WHY Velazquez was a genius, and what exactly he could do that other important artists couldn't. Still, this is a fine book, with a very nice mixture of beautiful reproductions and lively, informative text.

The book consists in essence of two parts: The first 20 pages cover briefly Velazquez's life, career, techniques, and materials. The rest of the book comments on the artist's works.

Concisely, the author discusses the artist's choice on (painting) supports, pigments and colors, and composition and execution, as a prelude for in-depth discussions of the artist's works that follow.

Common art appreciaters will enjoy beautiful paintings (of in general not-very-beautiful people) in which face expressions and body language are deploited ingeniusly by the artist to convey drunkeness, retardation, sovereignty, self-importance, etc...

As for readers who are artists, an in-depth discussion on each painting reveals (with the aid of radiograph) techniques and procedures Velazquez used to create his work. In essence, a majority of Velazquez paintings were prepared with a layer of flake white as foundation. Over the underpainting, the artist applied pigments of different homogeneity and thickness to render desired effects. In addition, close-up pictures of painting details allow readers to understand better the secrets of creating luminosity in the paintings of this painter.

Perhaps as interesting is that mistakes and corrections made by Velazquez in his masterpieces are also unveiled, indicating the fact that although ingenius, the artist did have certain "imperfections" in his art maneuver.

This very fine book on the painter Velazquez is full of historical details, details of the master's painting techniques, and many photographic details of his masterpieces. The several close-up detail reproductions of each painting in the book show the artist's brush strokes and the weave of the canvas as the text describes the pigments used. This extraordinary art book deserves close examination.