Painting-the Books

This book is a reprint of an 1882 publication, illustrated by William Kirby. I'm amazed at the accuracy of the illustrations. I'm further amazed that these butterflies and moths look the same now as 126 years ago. Lepodopteraphiles, I highly recommend you add Kirby's book to your collection. BTW the price is righteous.
Robert Lord Zimlich

It's not got a lot of pages, but there's a lot of good ideas crammed into this book! The photos are excellent, too! It'll get the wheels turning, that's for sure... :o) I've spent a lot of time at Home Depot and other stores looking through painting books looking for ideas, but I borrowed this book from a friend of mine, and now I've finally tracked it down for myself here on the Web. Can't wait to get my own copy and do the faux mosaic in the kitchen, some combing in a kid's room, and some plastic wrap in a bath room. Also some striping in my family room -- tone on tone though, using satin and flat with the same color (six inch stripes). Can't wait!

This is a great book one of America's great muralists. His artwork is beautifully reproduced and shows how current these murals are today. I wish they would have shown more of the murals he did at Fisk.

As serendipitous as a wildflower in the garden, the ideas behind the recipes take you in directions you might not have thought of. But once you read them, you know that they will work brilliantly. This is a REAL cook's book. It's a beautiful book. And it's also an utterly simple cookbook.

walking through his colourful style in all portraits the reality is swept away and the eccentric personas survive

This book is Wm. Seitz's dissertation.It is well researched . One of the important sources is Robert Motherwell. An interesting chart that he wrote is included in the book.Some people will argue with the inclusion of Mark Tobey.He developed isolated from the New york painters. He did exhibit in the same years as the development of A.E. un-folded in New York.He was abstract earlier than many of the painters in this book. He was into Oriental aesthetics earlier than some of the others.He went so far as spending time in a Zen monastery.Motherwell and Reinhardt were both into Eastern art and thought.Seitz wrote the catalogue for the Tobey show at MOMA. Much of the book is devoted to the philosophy and aesthetics of the Abstract Expressionist.It is amply illustrated with the work of Hoffman,Tomlin,Baziotes,Motherwell,DeKooning,Gottleib,Pollock. Franz Kline ,John Marin are listed as sources in the back of the book.It is organized and written on a high academic level. It would easily qualify as THE TEXT on Abstract Expressionism. [...].Other books have appeared on the movement, but in terms of scholarship and depth this book will not be surpassed.You will read it and re-read it.As Motherwell in his chart of influences at the top is Mondrian who he lists as a moral guide.Several of these artists:Reinhard, Rothko,Motherwell underscore an interest in ethics in their writings.The authors Seitz,Ashton, Motherwell attempt to give clarity to a difficult subject.

Isn't technology great. For my trip to Italy I purchaed a MP3 player to use on my flight. I saw this product on Amazon and boy, was I impressed. The content was superb, the narrative excellent and the background music an added bonus. Was it great to go around a musuem without having to continually refer to a book. If you are going to Venice, you must buy this product.

The photographs in this book are stunning. It's hard to believe that what appear to be abstract paintings are actually cleverly framed photos of painted walls in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, but they are -- and they're gorgeous! This book is for anyone interested in abstract color photography.

Susan Adams Bentley's reference book remains the most comprehensive, easy to follow book of it's kind. Susan covers the essential skills for decorative and fabric painters, including: supplies, color conversion charts (cross-referencing manufacturers), surface preparation, transfering patterns, basic brush strokes, techniques and more. This book is a "must have" for beginner to advanced painters and teachers. Tera Lee Gemmil- Mugrage, Moderator of ToleNet (The Tole and Decorative Painter's internet mailing list)

The cover of this title is enticing enough to get my attention... the luxurious looking floral art on the front cover of `The Acrylic Painter's A-Z of Flowers' looks fabulous.

The first part of this book `Materials, Methods and Making Pictures' covers exactly these topics... and very clearly. Some of the topics covered in this section include how to sketch the various flower shapes (bell-shaped, trumpet-shaped, star-shaped, etc), basic colour theory, lighting and posing flowers, painting with an old/new brush. I liked the way the information was presented in that it provides a lot of information in a concise way that is easy to understand. It is also easy to find what you are looking for.

The instructions for painting the 40 flowers are also easy to understand and follow. For example, if you wanted to paint a begonia you would look to the contents where all the flowers are alphabetically listed. The begonia is on page 54. On this page there is a diagram showing all the various parts of this flower (in case you are not familiar with it), the palette you will need, and special details you will need to pay attention to. Most importantly there is a sequenced list of instructions on how to approach the begonia.

The painting reproductions are of an excellent quality and size, giving you a good idea of how Sundell's techniques work and the type of results you should be aspiring to using her style of painting. Of course, everyone has their own art style - but this book will give you the techniques you need to develop this.

I would recommend `The Acrylic Painter's A-Z of Flowers' to the artist who wants to specialize in floral art, or as the perfect gift for the aspiring artist friend who has everything! This title could be used by the beginning artist but would probably be better for those with at least some experience working with acrylics.