Painting-the

Different artists depict flowers differently and not all of them appeal to my eye. I am very much attracted to Sharon Hinckley's painting style. I am a fan of the bright colors of Gauguin and the vivid up-close and personal semi-abstract flowers of Georgia O'Keefe, and although they both mostly worked in oils, I think Hinckley has merged elements of both of their styles with her own and produced some wonderful watercolor painting.

Watercolor painting is more difficult than oil painting because you can't really paint over your mistakes without making a mess. Hinckly not only explains how to create flowers step by step (beginning with a discussion of the appropriate supplies and an explanation of color), she shows the reader how to make what she describes as "leaf soup" which forms the basis of the foliage in her watercolors. Hinckly says while many would-be artists can create flowers, most have difficulty with the stuff that grows with flowers, i.e. leaves, stems, and bark. One photo shows Hickley's palette, "leaf soup" mixture.

There are many books on the market offering instruction on "how to" draw-paint flowers, but if you are fond of the "colorist" approach to painting, you may find it hard to beat the techniques described in WATERCOLOR BASICS, PAINTING FLOWERS.

Ms. Hinckley's book Watercolor Basics: Painting Flowers is a delight to read. At first glance her paintings seem to have been created so effortlessly they can be intimidating (how can I ever paint this well! ). But only for a moment. Her writing is so warm and friendly, and the techniques presented so clearly and sometimes whimsically (check out the painting at the bottom of page 29--one of my favorites) that you've absorbed a host of tricks and tips before you know it. From valuable advice on materials, organization, palette arrangement and mixing strategies to step-by-step demonstrations that culminate in truly breathtaking results (Calla Lilies, pages 118-121, is my absolute favorite for its depth and richness) I have never had an instruction book offer so much helpful information while being such an enjoyable read.

Sharon's watercolor illustrations are beautiful, as are her paintings. I love the vibrant colors. Why not learn from the best?

I love this book. I will never be at a loss for words, titles or sayings again. Great for a scrapbooker, card maker or even a general crafter.
The best thing about all these books is there is a lot of content so, you will never run out of creative ideas ... all you need is your imagination and a Heartwarming Expressions Book.

C.

Another great book from the Crafty Secrets series of Heartwarming Expressions! This one seems to have even more cute little doodles along with the sayings which I love. I also think Book 3 has some "deeper" material in it and more for scrapbookers. This book is organized into different topics like "Life's Like that", "Photo Quips", "Profound Proverbs", "Memory Lane" (perfect for scrapbookers) and more. You can copy graphics and sayings right from the book (the owners thankfully give you permission to do so for personal use) or you can trace them using a light box onto your scrapbook page itself. Or just use this book as a reference for ideas for titles and sayings for your scrapbooking. A great booster for journaling ideas. There are also full border pages to copy and use as backgrounds, stationary or pre-designed layout pages. I especially like the pages about "creative possibilities" which give ideas on how to use the sayings and graphics in the book.

(...)

...And another "wonderful" 500 Heartwarming Expressions! This Third edition in the series is yet another GREAT addition to your crafting library. I am a avid scrapbooker and have found that by just thumbing through the themes.. I can not only find the perfect "saying" or title for a page that I am working on, but I find ideas and inspiration for future pages and even other "crafty projects"!

Bev Doolittle's definitive collection (you don't need anything else of hers if you have this one) is a glorious compendium of richly detailed full-color reproductions of her paintings. The optical tricks alone are worth the book's price tag, and the minuteness and authenticity of Doolittle's details rival the paintings of Frank C. McCarthy (another favorite of mine). Anyone who loves illustrations of horses, American Indians, or both cannot call their collection complete without this title.

Those unfamiliar with Bev Doolittle's work miss the opportunity to discover a true artist's blending combination of technical skill, and understanding of nature, and a love for her work which leaps from every page. She beautifully weaves nature, man, and its animals in a mystical manner. A wonderful choice for anyone who appreciates great talent. Also a wonderful experience for children in examining and finding the hidden so intricately involved.

I think it is the most astonishing book I have ever rea

Drew Lamm's book, Bittersweet, is a joy to read. Beautiful, poetic images and a story that hits home. I loved this book and I can't wait to pass it on to my students.

Drew Lamm is a marvelously poetic writer with a special gift for making deep, subtle feelings easily accessible to the reader. Bittersweet offers honest, positive insights about a teenage girl's struggle with the very serious subject of grief. In a harsh and noisy world that conditions people, especially young people, to "turn off" inside, Ms. Lamm's book is a special treasure. I'm recommending it to all my friends with teens, and it's going to the top of my Christmas gift list. I predict that Ms. Lamm is on her way to becoming one of our recognized authors. Can't wait to see what she does next!

It's such a good book. You get feelings inside when you read it that make you feel good about who you are or that you'd like to feel good. Watching Taylor go through her life, makes me see my life as having more possibilities than I thought before I started reading this book. This book opens up the way you think about things, makes you think you could live in a better or more interesting way. I love it.

Ok, I love women and I love tattoos. While my "woman" history is nobody's business but my own, I can say that I got my first tattoo at age 52 (8 years ago--you do the math) and now have a body full. Early on in my tat career, I devoured every book and mag I could find, looking for ideas (some would say "validation") and, frankly,got tired of the semi-salacious boob shots. I KNEW there was more to it than that (not that I mind boob shots, but that's another review)and this book really tells the story. While every woman under 40, and a good many over 50, that I meet has ink somewhere on her body these days, this book discusses the historical precedents in interesting and informative ways. It won't convert a "tattoo hater", and it won't be even remotely interesting to someone who isn't fascinated by tats, but those of us who are decorated MUST have this one in the library, betweenThe Tattooed Woman and Masters of Tattoo.

As a relatively newly tattooed woman, I have embraced the culture and am looking to learn more about it. This book showed me what it was like for women with tattoos through the ages. The book is extremely well written and researched and the photos are fabulous. If you are a woman who has tattoos or is thinking about getting one, I highly recommend this book. I work in an extremely conservative environment and was brought up to believe tattoos are evil and dirty, so I struggled with my decision to get my tattoos, but this book not only made me feel more comfortable with my decision, it helped me with new ideas for my backpiece :)

As a heavily tattooed woman, I am constantly searching out the archives for great books regarding the subject. I've read some pathetically boooooring books in my day, but not only was this book exciting, but incredibly accurate as well. I particularly enjoyed the vintage photos of the earliest women to experience the needle...I am a first-hand example of familiarity with the stigma attached to beautiful women with beautiful tats, I can't even imagine the stigma held in the early 1900's...A great read for females AS WELL AS MALES just looking to brush up on some inkin' history or seeking out a career in the industry...

I have had this book for approximately 4 years, and it is one that I keep going back to time and time again. High quality art, with wonderful and interesting insite and commentary, this is a must for fans of contemporary art, or for artists themselves.

Highly recommended.

I am Ric Ordway a Contemporary Artist in the Phoenix Scottsdale, Arizona area. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in art and color techniques. I was lucky enough to receive this book as a gift. The author clearly explains color and it's many facets in Contemporary Art. Color In Contemporary Painting by Charles LeClair has helped me explore and expand as an artist.

In Arizona my work is getting recognized with a few awards from organizations such as Phoenix Artlink. I had just received a couple of rejections in submitting my art when I received this book. When I opened it up I could not put it down. I was inspired by the pictures of famous original contemporary art and in depth descriptions and information about the artists and painting style. Information and examples of art from Howard Buchwalk, Fritz Bultman, Hannah Wilke, Frank Galluszka and Jasper Johns were all inspiring. Many famous paintings reminded me of some of my own work. It has inspired me!

Within one day of reading the book I'm painting again. I have at least 15 submission opportunities here in Arizona and nationally. I also started posting my art on the internet at my website ricordway com. Color In Contemporary Painting is one of my most important books in my library.

I would suggest this book for new artists and those who are looking for inspiration in their own work. I feel it should be in any contemporary artists library. If your interest is just art, it is a wonderful coffee table book. For the creative individual, it is inspirational and provides a greater understanding on what contemporary art is.

"Color in Contemporary Painting: Integrating Practice and Theory", while not a traditional art technique book, is still an invaluable reference for practicing artists as well as those interested in contemporary art. Full of high quality reproductions from a wide variety of artists, one can simply skim the book as a source of ideas and things to try without even reading the text. However, the text is very clear, helpful, and readable as it describes the artists' styles, approaches, and use of color. There is no mumbo-jumbo and even the most "art critical" discussions of the artworks are in plain English.

The book is organized into 11 sections, the first few of which are introductory and include a perfunctory and adequate description of color theory. LeClair then proceeds through Albers & optical art, color & structure, figure/ground & space, color harmony, gesture, light, expressionism, and what the author calls "advanced color games." Since the book was written in 1991, a few of the discussions about what is "hot" in the contemporary art scene may be out of date as of 2003, yet the book is still relevant and most of the artists discussed are still important today. Perhaps the only thing missing is that there is only an occasional mention of actual pigments used by the painters. A thorough 2-page index makes looking up aritsts, subjects, or painting titles easy. Highly recommended.

This coffee table book is the perfect gift! I bought it for all of my family members. The artist's paintings are exquisite. I know everyone else enjoys it as much as I do.

The artwork displayed in the book "The Creativity of Jonathan Knight, A Visual Dialogue" presents pieces of everyday life at the most delicate moments. The paintings, colorful but soft, offer a refreshing look at nature, still life, and the natural beauty of humans through the artist's eyes. A consistent variety of breathtaking images keep you thumbing through the pages. It is definitely a book to keep on the coffee table when entertaining guests, especially those who appreciate quality artwork.

I would just like to comment on the creativity of Jonathan Knight, He has a talent like no other, there's a sense of awe in each piece, I personally enjoyed "The little flute player", and "Each day I pray", the detail in the miniature's are superb! Not only is he talented in oils, but pastels, water colors, etc. I feel each piece says something personal about the artist,there's also a story behind each one! I would love to own each piece represented in the book, for now I'm happy to be a collector of the Visual Dialogue, this book is a must for all art lovers! BRAVO!

Warning! This is not a specifically Heathen runebook. Nevertheless, once you get past that I think you just might like it anyway. First of all, there's the artwork. Brian Froud is the author/illustrator of the well-known and much admired books Faeries and Good Faeries/Bad Faeries. He also collaborated on the films "The Dark Crystal" and "Labyrinth," both of which are favorites of mine. He is a very fine artist, and does particularly well with fantasy, mythological and folklore subjects. When my nephew, who is now twenty, first started learning to read I gave him Faeries to show him there was something out there besides the Southern Baptist fundamentalism he was getting in Sunday School. It worked. He now wears a hammer and is engaged to a young woman who is studying Heathenry, runework, and galdr with me.

The runelore in this book is overall fairly good. Berk stays reasonably close to the historical meanings of the Runes in most cases. The staves are clearly drawn and are the Elder Futhark forms with the occasional use of Anglo-Saxon variants. On the down side, however, he does not present them in the Futhark order and presents the Runes as a sort of code substituting for the letters of the Roman alphabet.

The premise of the book is fascinating. Each Rune has its own section and is treated as a gateway into some aspect of the Elfish realm. Each section consists of a "Charm" to open that Rune's gate, a "Telling" or story, and a "Gift" or lesson from that Rune. This could all be seen as a sort of journeywork, and I have at times used Runes as an accessory for my own journey and Seiðrwork. I have also journeyed to visit areas in the Spae-Realms associated with individual Runes as an internal aspect of my own runework.

It is by no means outside of Heathen belief to think of Elves having access to and using Runes. Hávamál 143 in the Poetic Edda states that after Oðin won the Runes on Yggdrasil, he shared them with representatives of various classes of wights. Among the Alfar, Dáin received the Runes and then presumably passed them on to others of his kind.

Berk makes it clear that the Elfish take on the Runes is not identical to that of human beings. Since each Heathen runester will quite normally develop his or her own slightly different understanding of the Runes, that could certainly be the case when non-human wights work with them.

The lore in The Runes of Elfland is reasonably coherent. Much Heathen religious lore and folklore are included. The bits and pieces brought in from elsewhere are Celtic and occasionally Greco-Roman, which are traditions which were long in contact with Germanic Heathenism and have elements in common, both from borrowing back and forth and from a common Indo-European heritage. Thus, they "clash" far less with our lore than most others would.

Each Rune is accompanied by a lovely drawing of a "faery" or if you will, Alf posed in the stoður of that particular Rune. Obviously, the author and/or illustrator have read enough of contemporary Heathen runework to be aware of the stoðar. This, for me at least, increases the book's credibility somewhat, which is a good thing since Froud mentions that he considers Ralph Blum's Runebook to be very wise. It may be that, but it isn't much of a runebook in the narrower sense of the word "Rune" (a stave of the Futhark as opposed to a "mystery" in a broader sense). Blum also encouraged him to create artwork inspired by the Runes. At least Blum did one good thing; the resulting works are beautiful!

For the adult Heathen reader, I recommend this book for its artwork. The Heathen who is also a runester and/or a seiðhr and spae worker will find much to stimulate the imagination, to open possible new fields of exploration and new working techniques. These would particularly include initiating contact with Alfar, Landwights and Huldfok. These of course should be checked with and informed by lore studies and due caution should be exercised. Such workings and relationships are not always safe, especially to the ill-informed or inexperienced!

For the young Heathen, Froud's art will also be appealing, as will Berk's stories. There are little messages all through the book written in Runes, and since a transliteration key is also included in it, The Runes of Elfland could be a really fun way to teach runic literacy to a young Heathen.

Unlike many of the books I review, this one is in print and readily available at a reasonable price. If you note and move on from the non-Heathen bits of the book, I think you will enjoy it as much as I did!

What can I say? On one page I held my breath. On another, I lost it. One page left me in tears, the longing and the recognition were so poignant. When I went to look for that page again, I couldn't find it, like the gold under the rainbow. It will happen to you. At some point you'll discover the page that haunts your dreams, describes your world, or makes you smile.

Ari Berk's exquisitely informed text and Froud's always extraordinary pictures combine to open the world you know is there but have forgotten how to see. The runes, charms, and stories delineate the bargains, the sorrows, and the treasures of the journey.

Get this book. Get copies for your friends. If you've ever heard the voices under your bed and wanted to know their names, or wept at a sunset for no reason, or considered walking through the door at the back of the wardrobe, just in case--get this book. They're playing your song.

In the Age of Technology, it is a testament to myth's eternal power to inspire that a book like "The Runes of Elfland" by Brian Froud and Dr. Ari Berk has come into being. At once whimsical, passionate, solemn, and joyful, each page is a gift, a fresh breeze that blows across the mind and takes the reader to a special place uncorrupted by that which is easily acquired and jealously owned.

Myth and runes are owned by no one; they are tools by which we can escape into the unexplored corners of our minds, and one could want for no better guides than Froud and Berk. The point and counterpoint of the work is exquisitely displayed as you turn each page and presents something certain to affect everyone who looks at the book, if even for a moment.

As always, there is darkness and sensuality in even the most innocent picture, as Froud's faeries peer out from the corners of the pages, yet even the most sinister picture has some measure of beauty. Berk's words are soaring poetry, written with a deft touch that presents a deep scholarship in mythic conventions without being pretentious or pontifical.

While the book claims to be nothing more than, as Berk says, "a process of seeing, listening, and remembering," this is expert and elegant storytelling that respects the reader and the material. In fact, it is even more because through these words and images, we gain (or re-gain) the power to appreciate not only the "landscapes in [our] memory," but the land itself. No matter your spiritual orientation, there is something to be gained and cherished from the journey you take each time you open this wonderful book.

Those of you who know Robert Taylor's art work will know what to expect from this book. Those of you don't, then you will be treated to some superb sketches and paintings which mainly focus on World War 2 aviation scences. Taylor has an excellent eye for detail and realism and researchs his subject(s) to ensure that his paintings are more than just realistic, they are factual. In this book he talks about how some of his paintings were done, along with comments from some of his subjects such as Adolf Galland, Townsend, Johnnie Johnson etc. The book includes 24 of his paintings, including some of my favourites "Dambusters","JG-52", "Victory over Dunkirk" all of which are on good quality paper. This is a quality book which displays the master's work and the master at work and highly recommended, although some may find the price a little prohibitive.

If you don't have the money to buy an original painting of Robert Taylor, but you want to see his works, this book is absolutly fantastic.
You can look to the prints for hours, using your fantasy how it was/is to be a combat pilot.
But, do not not expect it to be a book with a lot of prints.
This is just a selection of one of the most beautiful prints.
This is really a book you can look in from time to time and turn yourself into another fasinating world.

This is to clarify the actual status of Taylor's Vol. 1-4 volumes of terrific aviation art.

All volumes are still available through several aviation art dealers. ( NW Aviation Art/Leisure Galleries) I do not know why Amazon lists many of these as out of print. They are NOT!

The new Volume 4 is out as of Sept. 2000.

Wish Amazon stocked them all.

Maybe I am wrong, but, unlike all the reviews here that give this book a 5 start rating... I woudl give it 4 or even 3 stars.
I bought this book just because of the reviews I read here, and now Im not going to trust them as much as I did before.

Some people say about step by step articles, hmm, yea, ONE or two, really boring ones. I expected to see something like Thom Taylors book " How to draw cars like a pro " which is excellent. But this book is very boring to read, Im a little bit dissapointed about it. Well, I will have to search for more books to find what i expected to find here.

If I knew this book was 1st published in 1983, I wouldnt have bought it. My mistake. Also, I dont want to sound mean, but most of the reviews here about this book are not exaclty correct.

Service was great and the book was awesome. Answered every question I had and taught me things I never thought of.

This is an excellent book for any airbrush artist from beginning to advanced. The author does a great job of covering the technical aspects of airbrushing in understandable terms.

The book starts out by detailing all the features of the airbrush, helping you choose which one to buy & then describing how to clean it. What kind of mediums to use with each type of paper is then explained in depth.

Next, actual use of the airbrush, including many practice exercises, are given. How to transfer drawings, construct curves for making masks, and use both color and other painting techniques is demonstrated.

There are not really any step-by-step projects per se, but there is a section on airbrushing the human face in both color and in b/w. A beautiful full-color gallery in the back is a nice bonus.