Book Description

Arts organizations across the country are actively expanding their efforts to increase public participation in their programs. This report presents the findings of a RAND study sponsored by the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds that looks at the process by which individuals become involved in the arts and attempts to identify ways in which arts institutions can most effectively influence this process. The report presents a behavioral model that identifies the main factors influencing individual decisions about the arts, based on site visits to institutions that have been particularly successful in attracting participants to their programs and in-depth interviews with the directors of more than 100 institutions that have received grants from the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds and the Knight Foundation to encourage greater involvement in the arts. The model and a set of guidelines to help institutions approach the task of participation building constitute a framework that can assist in devising participation-building approaches that fit with an institution's overall purpose and mission, its available resources, and the community environment in which it operates--in other words, a framework that will enable arts institutions to take an integrative approach to building participation in the arts. ... Read more

Book Description

Decode the mysterious symbolism that can make even the most familiar paintings elusive!

Discover the refreshingly new approach to art appreciation in Art. Using detailed annotation of 45 works from the world's greatest artists, Art provides a deeper understanding and richer enjoyment of the masterpieces of painting.

Great Art Made Accessible. This fascinating book takes an original approach to interpreting the lost language of art, using annotation to highlight everything you need to know to appreciate the world's favorite paintings, from Botticelli's The Birth of Venus to Picasso's Guernica. Art explains the artist's techniques and intentions and clarifies the meaning of obscure subjects, decoding the mysterious symbolism that can make even the most familiar painting elusive.

Art is like a gallery full of the world's most spectacular paintings, including the devotional icons of the Gothic period and early Renaissance and the awe-inspiring achievements of the High Renaissance. It shows the splendor of the Baroque and Rococo, and scrutinizes the drama of the Neoclassicists and the Romantics. The enchantment of the Impressionist school and the complexities of the Cubist movement are also revealed in glowing color. Biographical notes on the artist place each work in its true personal and historical context.

The book's generous size and faithful color reproduction allow every painting to be displayed accurately and in detail. At last, art lovers can truly enter the world of their favorite paintings. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Good book
My Mother is really into art and I bought this for her b-day. When I got it I looked through it and it was very informational and had some really cool facts and pictures about art.

If you only invest in 1 book to learn about art, this is it.
This book is a great introduction or review for adults or teens. Using famous works of art, in color sure beats the first art appreciation book I read in college which had drawings and black and white grainy photos. Even with a degree in art history, I found this book a great refresher.

this is a terrific book
This is both fun and informative. Though the language may be pitched at a relatively easy level, there is nothing condescending about it. It is deeply informed, and even the professor will learn from it. Buy it without hesitation if you wish to learn about great paintings.

Book For All Ages and A Great Author
I am only 13 years old and I have this book and I thought it was great. It really did explain art. I saw things that I actually wouldn't notice if I was explaining the picture. It was an interesting book and I enjoyed looking at it. It made me understand the pictures and made art funner and more interestig than it used to be. It was very interesting and I hope you buy this book.

A new appreciation for art
In all my years in school I never knew annotated art existed. If I had, art would have become a passion of mine a long time ago. Cummings's book provides such a detailed analytical look at art and explains why these paintings were so extraordinary for their time and teaches you to look beyond your first impression to what the artist had in mind, as well as what you yourself get out of it. Not only does he do this with words, but more importantly, he does it with highlighted areas of the painting and gives historical insight to it. I love art and appreciate it so much more now. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

True to it's title
So many self education books for artists claim to be definitive, comprehensive, or the only book you'll ever need. I don't know if this is the only book you'll need, but it is a cheaper alternative to paying tuition at an art college. And, unlike many how-to books (and some art colleges), Rob Howard gives very specific and detailed instructions. He's light on the motivational inspiration and heavy on technique. Afterall, a working illustrator (the book's target) doesn't need to get in touch with the inner artist, but rather needs tools to get the inner art out onto the client's desk.

Additionally, Rob Howard is quite talented. Often times people with Howard's gifts are so busy with paying customers that they don't have time to put together such a quality book. Every illustration is professional quality and an inspiration in itself!
The book is packed with photos and illustrations. He lists by name and sometimes manufacturer exactly what materials you need. Covers topics from Prismacolor pencils on Denril to Friskets and masking to pastels, acrylics and airbrushing....etc.

It's only weakness is that it's due for an update. First published in '92 before the internet explosion and before Adobe Photoshop and Synthetik Studio Artist became powerful enough computer based tools, this book focuses entirely on natural media. Just the same, an illustrator looking to set him or herself appart from the pack might want to set aside the software and use the proven techniques in this book!

One important flaw in this book.
While great for someone getting their feet wet in illustration, probably the most indispensible reference he mentions, "The Fairburn Visual Reference System", is impossible to find. Please e-mail me if you know where I can get the books.

Good Book For Aspiring Artists

More info about his book, along with a useful reading list for aspiring artists of the comic genre, available at Amazon.com, is available for your perusal at: ... Read more

Book Description

Each bird species is shown in a large primary photo, with additionalphotos showing a variety of angles and poses; close-ups of feathers, feet and otherdetails; and the bird in its natural habitat.

Key information on habitat, feeding, physical characteristics and other helpful facts areincluded to help artists create accurate works of art. Four step-by-step demonstrationsshow how to use reference photos to paint beautiful birds.

Bart Rulon is a successful wildlife artist, as well as an experienced photographer whoseprimary interest is experiencing his subjects in the wild.His work has been shown inmany of the finest exhibitions, museums and galleries displaying wildlife and landscapeart in the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Japan and England. Rulon lives and works on WhidbeyIsland in Washington State's Puget Sound. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Artist Photo Reference: Birds
I recommend this book to any bird artist or anyone who just likes birds in general.The variety of birds covered is good and the number of photos is excellent!The text is very informative, especially the information on number of tail, and wing feathers. ... Read more

Book Description

Dazzling in their bold use of color and wide range of designs, Art Nouveau tiles are enjoying a resurgence in popularity. These international tile designs encompassed striking decorative elements to be used in residences and public buildings. High fired, these tiles retain their original color and beauty despite over one hundred years of use. This book, designed for both the beginning collector and the long time lover of tiles, includes full color examples of over 600 designs. A very useful and beautiful collectors guide, it provides information about many major tile manufacturers. It is arranged by company and design and contains a guide to market prices, as well as suggestions and tips for tile collectors.Filling a gap in the tile books currently available, this volume provides both the largest collection of single Art Nouveau images published to date, and a concise introduction to the field of tiles. A bibliography contains research sources for more detailed study and information regarding organizations devoted to tile preservation and collection.This is the perfect choice for any lover of ceramic surfaces and those who appreciate and enjoy color and design. It will undoubtedly be instrumental in not only introducing many to the beauty of Art Nouveau design, but also expanding their interest in collecting this amazing art form. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A disappointment
Incomplete and cursory. Photographic image quality so-so. Amateurish.

Art Nouveau Tiles C. 1890 - 1914
Sometimes you need a good source, with photographs, for identifying the many, many art nouveau tiles out there. THIS BOOK DOES THAT!!!! Over the years I have collected some art nouveau tiles and, with the aid of this book --- IN MINUTES --- I was able to identify all of them. As a bonus a current value for each tile is also provided. For the serious tile collector Art Nouveau Tiles by Sandra Fowler and Wendy Harvey is a MUST!!!!

Art Nouveau tile C. 1890-1914
I was disappointed with the quality of this book. All the photos are either digital or downloaded from the web. There is a great variety of beautiful tiles but the images themselves are really grainy. ... Read more

Book Description

One of the most comprehensive guides of its kind, the National Directory of Art Internships has again expanded its listings of entry/intern/fellowship opportunities for artists seeking experience in every art form produced in the U.S.A.Whether you're interested in Art/Design, Theatre Production, Music, Dance, Film or Arts Management, this Directory cites over 1,200 host organizations and more than twenty-five hundred internships across the country, in businesses and institutions who offer a wide variety of internship options for you to choose from in pursuing your arts vocation through the year 2000.And this year we have included in our listings the career field of journalism.Use this publication as a resource guide to make that bridge from emergence to paid professionalism. ... Read more

Book Description

This pocket-sized guide to quick and accurate color mixing is an essential reference for artists of all media. Inside are 2,460 printed color mixes from 12 standard artist paints. Each page features the range you can get from any two of these colors.

Artists can seek out the color they desire, identify the hues they need to mix and then instantly reproduce the color on their palette. They'll also find invaluable information about every color including the strength, transparency and handling qualities of the colors used to attain it.

The book's compact and convenient design lets artists take it anywhere, capturing the color inspiration as it hits them. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A great book for beginning artists
A great book for beginning artists like myself. It helps me everyday to plan my colors. Using this book I feel more confident in finding the right colors. While I am learning to get a feeling for mixing colors, being able to do it intuitively, I can rely on the swatches in the book to give me the right hints.
I use this book in two ways with all my paintings.
First, before I start painting, I plan the colors with the book: I make combinations of colors before actually mixing them. What will be the darks, the lights, the cools, and the warms.
Then later, when I want to make a color that I need and I don't know how to do it, I can simply look up the nearest color in the swatches and find out how to get there.
So, thanks Michael, great job. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Fantastic guide to all kinds of collage, inspirational
This is a fantastic book on creating a wide variety of great collage projects. It covers numerous collage techniques including using paper, mixed-media, fabric, decoupage, photomontage, computer art, found and three-dimensional objects. The beautiful galleries after each collage type are sure to inspire you.

In addition to the collage techniques you also get the basics of papermaking, papier mache, marbling and batik as well as painting and dyeing fabric. There are step-by-step instructions accompanied by demonstrating photos for all the techniques and projects. Don't expect to make exact replicas of the projects since your sources and materials will vary. Rather, the author expects you will follow her assembling directions to create a unique masterpiece of your own.

Some of the sixteen projects include a gorgeous butterfly lampshade, a painted paper fruit bowl collage, a clock decorated with magazine scraps and nature objects, and a sewn fabric book cover. Another great project is an easy to make yet sophisticated looking Japanese box covered with scraps of yuzen or chiyogami papers.

This book filled with fresh and interesting ideas is sure to help you create gorgeous collage artwork.

A delight - I'm so glad I bought this book!
I wanted to explore collage as an aspect of other paper crafts I'm trying to learn. I picked this one first and I really like it. Many other collage books are meant for people narrowly focused on collage who see beauty in their collages ..... that is truly not obvious to other people - so esoteric it appeals to a very narrow audience. The Crafter's Complete Guide to Collage is different. It's visually attractive. The samples of collages have much broader appeal. The excellent how-to photographs are tremendously helpful and NOT intimidating. It opened my mind up to more than paper possibilities - it discusses collages of paper, found objects, mixed media, fabric, multi-dimensional, decoupage, photomontage, even computer collage. Its a treat - I think you'd enjoy this book! ... Read more

Book Description

In this superb guidebook, a master of figure drawing shows readers in precise detail how to render human anatomy convincingly. Over 460 illustrations reveal the structure of the body by presenting careful, knowledgeable articulation of the muscles and bones lying beneath the skin.
... Read more

Reviews (6)

Not bad as a starting place!
I found that the range of poses and angles for noses, eyes and the mouth were very useful. I also thought that it was a lot less like a medical book than some, which from my point of view was good. The charcoal/chalk images are fine for gaining an idea of where you want to go, but they do lack detail. I think this book is an ideal reference book but should be used in conjunction with others.

Excellent for students!
If you find Bridgeman a little too loose, Peck not fully clear, and others a little too medically oriented ... this might be the anatomy book for you. I have either bought or borrowed EVERY drawing book there is, and for anatomy this is the best thing out there for me. The companion text - "Drawing The Living Figure" - is also indespensable for the different views of exterior appearance built by the interior structure. Though there is always the possibility they're not your cup of tea, for most students these two are perfect and will teach you everything you need to know about artistic anatomy without costing an arm and a leg.

Wonderful Reference and workboook
If you are interested in drawing the human form this book, in my humble opinion, is not only a wonderful place to start, but also an excellent reference and workbook to practice drawing from. It covers Arm, hand, leg, foot, torso, neck, head, and builds up each part from bone to full surface anatomy from several views and several positions (flexed, relaxed, turned in or out, etc.).
The complete figure is covered in the last chapter.
A bargin at twice the price!

Very Gooood
First of all you can't beat the price of the figure drawing book. All around its shows examples of the figure, bone structure, and even muscle and vein structure.

Some of the drawings are not the best but they are simple and easy to draw and get a feel for the figure.

One thing I really like about this book is that is has a great deal of drawing of different mouth poses for differnt emotions it also has differnt types of ears and noses which is really good to refer to if you don't have someone standing in fron of you. It has all of you typical figure drawing stuff like the torso, the head, hands and feet and so on. It has great drawings of bones and the skeleton.

I would recomend buying a second book with more body poses and use this more for a reference. But for the price its worth it.

Terrible waste of money
This book will not give you any help into the mechanical workings of the human body. The illustrations are weakly done in white chalk giving almost no basis of form. I would now recommend spending the extra money for a medical anatomy book breaking down all the muscles and bones for you. I am still astonished this is a reprint from the 70's, they should have just let it go out of print and never brought there mistake back to life. ... Read more

Book Description

Even the most talented graphic designer won’t get far without savvy business and promotional skills. In the demanding realm of client and project management, any number of things can go wrong—resulting in lost clients, botched projects, even tarnished reputations.

Now graphic designers in all disciplines can access valuable professional advice previously available only through expensive and time-consuming workshops and conferences. The book takes readers step-by-step through the entire design process—from landing a client to managing workflow and in-house dynamics to fueling creativity and perfecting a final project. Through insightful text and illustrative photos, the book highlights proven systems and procedures that successful designers have used to produce quality work and happy clients—every time.

Straightforward and practical, this invaluable book allows designers to learn from the masters right in their own studios. ... Read more

Book Description

Tracing Robert Bechtle's career from his earliest paintings of the 1960s to the present day, this is the definitive book on one of the founders and foremost practitioners of American Photorealism. Created in close collaboration with the artist, Robert Bechtle will accompany the distinguished painter's first retrospective exhibition. Lavish plates feature reproductions of approximately ninety of Bechtle's most significant artworks, from large-scale oil paintings to intimate watercolors and drawings. These magnificent illustrations portray the range of the San Francisco-based painter's iconic imagery of California--the rows of palm trees, stucco houses, and the ubiquitous automobiles that spurred suburban expansion--as well as his lesser-known but equally compelling family scenes and stark interiors. Bechtle's preference for wide, empty spaces; his flat, sun-bleached palette; and his detached mode of recording random details impart a singular sense of alienation to his subjects. His deadpan paintings capture the essence of the postwar American experience, in which California often serves as the testing ground for the realization of national dreams. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

America's Overlooked Photo Realist
This book by Janet Bishop was published in conjunction with the first major retrospective of Robert Bechtle, a San Francisco Bay Area photo realist in his 70s. Until recently, Bechtle, who paints street scenes and rows of tract houses, was known only to Bay Area collectors and critics.Now, because of this exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art which then travels to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Bechtle is receiving deserving national exposure.Bechtle, like the rest of the photo realists, such as Richard Estes, Chuck Close and Ralph Goings, believes that by painting exactly what a photograph reveals, he is painting the truest and most accurate form of realism, because he is removing the artist and the artist's emotions and feelings from his paintings.But what this book so aptly suggests is that even photographers, who use the camera to capture a scene, infuse the subject with their identity:the photographer chooses the subject, crops the photograph in a certain manner, decides whether the photograph will be in color or black and white, and how the subject will be juxtaposed with other images.This is exactly what Bechtle does in his paintings.One can't help but think that his choice of lower middle class suburban streets and houses is a comment on the banality of existence and American consumerism.Bishop does a first-rate job in this book, selecting paintings from Bechtle's entire career, which spans four decades.Moreover, Bishop includes excellent commentaries from critics with different and interesting perspectives.A fine effort. ... Read more

Book Description

In this unique and appealing volume, award-winning book designer Richard Hendel and eight other talented book designers on both sides of the Atlantic discuss the challenges of their work in trade and scholarly publishing. Through their detailed descriptions of the creative process of book design, illustrated with many examples, we learn how designers discover the most effective visual presentation of words. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Excellent
Thoughtful and thorough, and offering no easy answers, this book forces one to think for herself. On a par with Hochuli's 'Design of Books'.

A new classic -- a great find.
This is a new breed of book design; but it is bred out of classicism. Being involved in an antiquarian artform during the dawn of computer technology poses many problems. One of them is the disappearance of really well designed books. So, in an attempt to preserve The Book's integrity, I searched for new guidance on this ancient art. This book ended my search. Rather than quibble with new design trends, resist new technology, or morosely revisit bygone eras, Hendel see these as "points of departure" and sticks to the real issue -- the design of books. The result is not a strict set of rules for book design, rather, it is a fluid and applicable philosophy of design for the many types of books we find today. "The challenge," says Hendel, "isn't to create something different or pretty or clever but to discover how best to serve the author's words." This book is informative, enlightening and filled with lovely samples from distinguished designers. A very beautiful book. Writers will enjoy learning how designers make well-thought creative decisions about the spaces that words flow into.

Book Designers on Book Design
When Henry David Thoreau made a complete list of each and every possession he had at Walden Pond, he curiously omitted one thing: He forgot the pencil that enabled him to make the list. Successful book design, says Richard Hendel, often goes as unnoticed and unappreciated as Thoreau's pencil. It is, as Beatrice Warde once said, a transparent goblet, so that (writes Hendel) "the very invisibility of its design is to its credit." Hendel should know, having worked for many years as a highly regarded book designer, most recently with the University of North Carolina Press. Thankfully, this is not a prosaic instructional manual--"it is a book about how books are designed," he cautions, "not a book about how to design books"--but a medley of honest reflections about how book designers see, think, and feel. Written by the author and eight other American and British designers, it is illustrated by 110 black and white examples, among them several pieces by Iowa-born designer Merle Armitage and the University of Nebraska's Richard Eckersley, two of the century's most inventive (yet unheralded) book designers. With surprising candor, the text asks: How do book designers get their ideas? What do they worry about? How did they approach a particular book? And what difference does it all make? After all, confides Hendel, prize-winning book designs are largely unappreciated, cost more to produce, and are rarely available in bookstores. "There isn't any correlation between what books look like and how they sell," he laments. "Design seems to make no difference." Of particular interest is a section about the design of this book, which led us to wonder how well it will sell, whether bookstores will carry it, and (hopefully, because it has much to offer) the extent to which it might inspire other, younger book designers. (Copyright by Roy R. Behrens from Ballast Quarterly Review, Vol. 14, No. 4, Summer 1999.) ... Read more

Book Description

Some of the most innovative art of the past decade has been created far outside conventional galleries and museums. In a parking garage in Oakland, California; on a pleasure boat on the Lake of Zurich in Switzerland; at a public market in Chiang Mai, Thailand-artists operating at the intersection of art and cultural activism have been developing new forms of collaboration with diverse audiences and communities. Their projects have addressed such issues as political conflict in Northern Ireland, gang violence on Chicago's West Side, and the problems of sex workers in Switzerland. Provocative, accessible, and engaging, this book, one of the first full-length studies on the topic, situates these socially conscious projects historically, relates them to key issues in contemporary art and art theory, and offers a unique critical framework for understanding them.Grant Kester discusses a disparate network of artists and collectives-including The Art of Change, Helen and Newton Harrison, Littoral, Suzanne Lacy, Stephen Willats, and WochenKlausur-united by a desire to create new forms of understanding through creative dialogue that crosses boundaries of race, religion, and culture. Kester traces the origins of these works in the conceptual art and feminist performance art of the 1960s and 1970s and draws from the writings of Mikhail Bakhtin, Jürgen Habermas, and others as he explores the ways in which these artists corroborate and challenge many of the key principles of avant-garde art and art theory. Illustrations: 32 b/w photographs ... Read more

Book Description

Vivienne Westwood is a global fashion icon whose career has spanned three decades. This book, published to accompany the first retrospective of her work, at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, highlights one woman's creative journey from the early days of punk to the establishment of her own fashion house.

Westwood has been an influence on the worlds of art, music, and fashion since the early 1970s. One of the first designers to create subversive fashion-clothes that disseminated political messages-she later found inspiration in history and literature, producing clothes that are witty, original, and technically accomplished.

The book's 200 photographs-a mix of ad campaigns, fashion shoots, catwalk shots, and archival images, many rarely seen or long forgotten-chart the evolution of Westwood's work from outfits worn by the Sex Pistols to more recent creations for Sarah Jessica Parker, Cameron Diaz, and artist Tracy Emin. The pictures, selected by Westwood herself, together with Claire Wilcox's perceptive text, show why this fascinating designer has a cult following around the world. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

If you think a dollar bill is most interesting for the cup of coffee it can buy, think again. . . .

Elements of the dollar's complex graphic design date back to the Founding Fathers, and most of us are unaware of its deeper meanings. Now an expert on arcane symbolism uncovers the fascinating secret meanings behind the design of the money we use every day.

In The Secret Symbols of the Dollar Bill, David Ovason explores the visual complexity and magic behind the world's most influential currency. Ovason contends that some of the Great Seal's symbols represent the principles of the young republic and that their origins were obscured over time. The dollar bill was more than just currency for our country -- it was structured in such a way to demonstrate the nation's place in the world and the classical roots of its fight for freedom.

Presented in a simple format and written with Ovason's trademark lively style, the book invites readers to take up a dollar bill and set off on a visual adventure. Readers will encounter dazzling explanations of the dollar bill's secret contents, from the symbols derived from the Great Seal through the extraordinary strands of numerology interwoven into its structure to surprising hidden alignments.

David Ovason is a recognized authority in the field of arcane symbolism. His research into the dollar bill reveals hidden biblical and classical references, as well as symbols derived from such societies as the Rosicrucians and Freemasons, both of which engage in esoteric thought. So reach into your wallet and prepare for a history lesson unlike any other.

Reviews (1)

Excellent Information, Bad Interpretation
This book delves into the secret symbolism that is hidden in plain sight in the common, ubiquitous dollar bill. The author has definitely done his homework. I appreciated being able to glean information about the hidden occultism that is embedded in the modern dollar bill.

There are a few problems with the book, however. One is that instead of being a solid, fluid text, the book is broken into numbered, brief sections.

The more pressing problem, however, is that the book does not truly describe accurately the meaning of many of these symbols. The author brushes over occult meanings, attributing almost everything to Christianity, which is most certainly not the case. The author sort of plays down the occultism inherent in the dollar bill, and explains everything with euphemism rather than truth. I finished the book quickly and was quite disappointed with the conclusions presented in the book, which I feel were designed to misguide the reader rather than inform them. ... Read more