Painting-the

I love art history and I got some old prints of these paintings. However, I wanted to learn more about them. After much time and research I finally came across this book. It helped me out more then any other resource. I fell in love with it when I read it. It answered all my questions I had about the paintings, like why they are displayed together even though they were painted by different artists? or, Who was bluleboy and pinkie? The book also touches on other paintings by the same artists, which I found helpful and made me want to learn more. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves art, or art-history. It would be a good source for art-history teachers too!

Best of Watercolor 2 continues to maintain the high standard set in the original edition. Ms Schlemm has collected a group of award-winning, and truly quality art works from a diverse group of artists. Anyone who enjoys the medium of watercolor will love this beautiful collection.

Shadows, when done properly, show off any subject matter. The artists whose works are in this book were chosen from over 4,000 entries, and represent some of the best watercolor artists in the country. The authors have done a superb job of gather and displaying them in a wonderful venue.

Part 2 brings us more of the same brilliant wildlife paintings as those featured in Part 1. For my money, this second version has the winning edge because it is richer in African wildlife subjects (I am an African artist!), with some incredible work that captures the essence of the animal in a host of creative ways.

Like the first volume, there are a couple of paintings that are ghastly, but they are in the minority. Paintings are grouped into chapters, with similar headings to the first volume: viz. "Develop a unique design concept", "Convey a particular mood", Grab your viewer with tension", "Bedazzle your subject with light", "Express an animal's character", "Take a different viewpoint", Capture a moment in time with action", " Embellish your painting with colour", "Depict an expressive pose or behaviour", and "Feature the habitat or environment". The reader thus has a critical departure-point from which to view the works. The effect of this is a heightened involvement with some of the best wildlife paintings in the world.

If you can afford both books, add them both to your collection. If you have to make a choice, I would recommend this one. Even with a few lemons, it's still great.

Co-published with the Yale University Press, Gloria Groom's Beyond The Easel: Decorative Painting By Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis, And Roussel, 1890-1930 is an exhibition catalog which is profusely illustrated with both color and black-and-white reproductions. With an informative essay by Nicholas Watson, and additional contributions to the text by Jennifer Paoletti and Therese Barruel, Beyond The Easel is a magnificent, very highly recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library art history collections.

very, very practical and easy to understand exercises for the beginners. original examples and easy to learn. a must

Jose Parramon puts together a fantastic compilation for the artist who wants to teach himself at his own pace; and does it at a very reasonable price. This is an easy to read, easy to understand guide to all the techniques you need to put what you feel on canvas! The title is an exact description of what you will find inside. After several semesters of art class, I had plateau'ed, feeling I was missing alot technically. Within five minutes of opening Mr. Parramon's book, my eyes open to what all my instructors had been struggling to teach to us in class. Since reading this book and following the exercises within, I have held five exhibitions in France and sold every time. I also began to receive commissions and plenty of requests from friends and family alike. Now I'm teaching my children what I've learned in Mr. Parramon's book. No matter what subject matter you prefer, Jose Parramon can help you render it better. Thanks to Mr. Parramon, I've sold paintings on many different subjects: from children to horses, seascapes to mountain views, St. Tropez to Mont St. Michel, snowy rivers to farmers' fields. The key to progressing in any endeavor is practice. Each chapter in The Big Book of Oil Painting contains many worthwhile exercises for you to do. I learned how to apply the color wheel to make my subjects stand out from the background. And how to make that background complement the subject. I learned how to analyze a composition to create the biggest impact on what I was trying to express with my brushes. I also learned how to make the colors in my shadows realistic, not flat gray, as I had always made them before. Finally, I learned to limit my palette to only what was necessary; making better use of the basics instead of floundering with so many exotic tubes of rare colors. Mr. Parramon also shows you how to stretch your own canvas, find the right medium, and set up your studio. He shows you how to paint 'en plein air' and studio alike. Also, he includes many different subject materials as examples; from still life to the Italian countryside; nudes to port cities. Its very complete with all you'll need to get you on your feet. You will see all the photo's and color plates you'll need; one for every example, technique, or exercise. Its a book I highly recommend to get you on your feet or to have as a studio reference. A great value at Amazon's price! Marvin Walworth Oil Painting Hobbyist

This is a wonderful reference book for the watercolor painter. It contains all kinds of useful information to help you understand the medium and improve your knowledge and skills.

The first 40 pages provide a great history of watercolor painting, so often overlooked in the overall scheme of art history. Then all the aspects of setting up a work area and studio are covered followed by a very thorough materials and tools section. There are example pictures and descriptions of everything from easels to paper and brushes to paint. There is also a paper stretching demo and a watercolor color chart.

A section on the principles of drawing follows. This includes instructions on making simple shapes, creating perspective, Plato's rule, golden sections, drawing a quick sketch and more. Then various watercolor techniques such as creating washes, erasing with a dry brush and achieving texture with salt and turpentine are covered. Next, there are two chapters on color theory and mixing explaining warm, cool and broken colors as well as color schemes and values. A nice demo of painting a watercolor with three colors is included.

The last chapters deal with techniques, skills and actually beginning the painting process. Here you find information and advice on painting the human figure, skies, clouds, trees, landscapes, illustrations and seascapes. There are no real projects here and no reference photos. Rather the focus is on general advice for painting various subjects with example demonstrations. A helpful glossary is included in the back. This is certainly one of the most thorough, useful and entertaining books I have seen for the beginning watercolorist.

This book is a large format - approximately 12" x 12" - heavily illustrated book in the genre commonly called "coffee table books". It goes beyond most such books, though, in having text that is even more compelling than the illustrations.

The book includes chapters on each of today's large predatory cats - puma, jaguar, leopard, lion, tiger, cheetah, snow leopard, and clouded leopard. Each chapter includes many illustrations by Guy Coheleach; most are full color paintings, though there are also many black and white sketches.

The paintings are detailed and beautiful, but I found Nancy Neff's text to be even more valuable. Each chapter provides information on the physical characteristics, fossil history, and behavior of the species, along with information on its current status and how it got there; in addition to the pictorial illustrations, there are very nice diagrams that illustrate the text. In addition, there is a table at the beginning of every chapter giving some relevant statistics, along with a map showing the current and historical distribution of the species and its subspecies. I particularly liked the fact that much of the information is presented in a consistent way across all the species, so I can, for example, compare the length of a jaguar to that of a tiger without fearing that this information might have been omitted for one or the other species.

The 244 page text, also includes excellent introductory chapters covering general topics such as the evolutionary history of the cats. At the end of the book, there's a brief explanation of biological nomenclature, and a glossary, bibliography, and index, as befits a scholarly work. This book may eventually be displaced from your coffee table, but it will remain a treasured reference on your bookshelf for a long time.

Good sharp, clear rendering of Audubon's 435 Birds. The images appear to be photo offsets of the original Havell prints, including small flaws like spots and tears. No page or image numbers. You have to pencil in your own by using the excellent table of contents at the back of the book. Solid, high quality binding. Excellent addition to any birdwatcher's library.