Artists Books

Wyeth, Pyle and the others captivate my imagination and this book captures their mastery. Strongly recommended!

This book covers very well some of the most important people in American History. N.C. Wyeth,Howard Pyle, Dean Cornwell,Harvey Dunn, Frank Schoonover and Philip Goodwin have illustrated the turn of the 1800's to 1900's with the same spirited passion that bred our great country. It's this great passion that is given to the pictures that they created that seperates their work from photographs which are just taken. Looking at the Illustrations shows you that Pyle was successful in creating an American art which will always be a foundation for Illustrators to follow.

Visions Of Adventure surveys the arts of N.C. Wyeth and the Brandywine artists, providing a lavish display packed with color plates and paintings by Pyle, Wyeth, Dunn, and others. Histories and backgrounds of each featured work accompany the fold-out and full-page illustrations and make for an excellent review. Highly recommended.

Incredible collection of paintings and the stories that go along with them. Colorful with spectacular detail of the famous paintings of a time gone by. Amazing how the author was able to put together a collection of this magnitude. A must have for anyone who appreciates art. It is perfect as a gift to that special person you care about.

i m french so i say it with my word : c'est trés beau !

The early chapters on handling paint and the brush seems to really get to the point. The section on "moisture control" really is a must read for anyone still struggling with this aspect of watercolor painting. I recommend this book all the time to anyone who asks about good reading material. Too bad it is out of print. A must for the watercolorist library!

This is a great book that addresses problems that I haven't seen addressed in other books. He is also encouraging to the painter who may not feel they have a lot of talent but still want to paint. He feels that all people with the desire can do it. I got the book from the library, and loved it so much I purchased it. I've heard his videos are great too.

This is one of the best books teaching watercolor painting. I've bought many. He stresses that the journey (learning) is more important than the goal (being a great painter). He's an excellent teacher and his step by step illustrations are some of the best. A great help to me.

After reading at least 30 watercolor instructions books, this one goes to the top of my list. Couch covers everything from the basics (from equipment to how you actually get paint on to the paper) to the essential guidelines of design and composition. These (sometimes boring) subjects are covered in an easily-digestible, easily-usable manner, making it exciting to get to your next painting and apply what you have read. The book includes a really good description of how the painter is a "shape maker, symbol collector and entertainer" and numerous step-by-step examples of painting basic landscape components (trees, sky, rocks, water). The book is upbeat with a wonderful sense of play and humor running through it -- plus the reader is given dozens of examples of Tony Couch's own marvelous watercolor paintings, as well as examples from eight other superb watercolorists. The gallery of paintings alone is worth the price of the book (which, by the way, is about 30 pages longer than most watercolor instruction books -- so you really get your money's worth!)

I can not believe that Amazon does not carry Tony Couch's books.
He is an awesome teacher that gets his points across to the novice.
His advise is easy to follow and he uses his colour in a pure and simple way

This book surpassed my expectations! It could be seen as a documentary but transcends being pigeonholed in that way. It is, among other things, a breathtaking work of Art. The images have a crisp presence; at the same time there is a dreamlike undercurrent. The reproduction quality of the images is superb; they can hardly be distinguished from original silver prints! I also like the humble attitude of the Artist towards the people he portrays. Indeed, a masterpiece!

This book brought back vivid and fond memories of the time I lived in Papua New Guinea in 1960 -1962. The use of black and white photography was especially effective in capturing the essense of simplicity that represents the people. If you truly wish to see human spirit at it's best, visit New Guinea. If you can't - buy this book!

This remarkable book first caught my attention at the Australian Museum in Sydney one hot summer day. I was preparing my own expedition to Papua New Guinea in order to write a book on the rarely visited island provinces. I would be doing my own photography. As I leafed through these breathtaking portraits I experienced that shiver at the base of the neck that invariably indicates one is in the presence of great art. Only later came the gut-wrenching realisation that I would never be able to achieve such consummate skill myself (even with my old Nikon F2 and all the best old lenses).
Rainier has a passionate eye for composition, atmosphere and the eloquent possibilities of black and white texture. As you read the detailed and often poetic text accompanying the photographs, you will also find that Chris overcame incredible disasters in conquering this inhospitable environment to bring us these images. In the massive heat and humidity of Papua New Guinea, photographic equipment performs all sorts of horrible tricks at vital moments. Everything seems wet and clammy all the time. His canoe overturned and he lost all his valuable equipment and somehow replaced it to continue his expedition. To even get yourself into the remote areas where some were taken is an achievement in itself and then to emerge from the jungle with high art.......what can one say?
These photographs cross that difficult invisible line that separates art and photography.....very few have the genuis.....Brassai, Cartier Bresson, Eugene Atget and Salgado.....yes, these are Chris Rainier's peers. The images have the immortal immobility of an ancient and inaccessible past recaptured. The quality and sheer size of the prints is superb. All this lead me to convince my publishers to put one of his pictures on the jacket of my own Papua New Guinea book and one of my own more decorative photographs on the back.......a suitable place for this photographic Salieri. Sales are better than expected.
Buy his book as a tribute to a great photographic artist and in the process truly enrich your own cultural horizons.

A stunning exhibiton of humankind. A masterpiece that's worth, without any doubt, spending $40.

Carlos Costa

I was first exposed to Rainer's work in Smithsonian Magazine (Oct. 97). I strongly urge anyone who has a desire to evolve toward embracing and celebrating the essential oneness of all humanity--from urban jungles to remote small-scale societies--to buy this book. As a documentary filmmaker researching shamanic rituals around the planet, I would hire him in a heartbeat to capture the beauty of the world's cultures with his otherworldly gifts of lighting, detail and penetrating the souls of the subject and the viewer. Mr. Rainer, do you shoot 16mm film? If you (or any of your representitives) read this, please contact me at pjoshua@makani.k12.hi.us. Many thanks.

A bluntly honest book of the last decade of De Kooning and his paintings. The author's analysis tells of the decline of De Kooning's mental facualities and how others coaxed him into continuing his painting, to the point of choosing the colors or his palette and drawing the design on the canvas. It reports that his work of the late 80's might stretch the credibility of his own creative integrity.
His paintings during the early 80's challenge our previous concepts of De Kooning's paintings and the book helps expand our appreciation of this gentle giant of art. The book is sad but a also a reaffirmation of the contributions of a genius at any age.

Gorgeous photographs and reproductions of de Kooning's last paintings make this by far the most compelling book on the artist and his period. Anyone who thinks de Kooning died with a whimper should consider this book: it eviscerates the idea that the artist's last works were weak and empty. Over fifteen paintings may be seen in a tumultuous new style executed after his last known paintings, attesting to de Kooning's artistic genius triumphing over speculation and theory.

Unlike most artist biographies which are written by curators, scholars or critics (who often force the reader to conform to their predisposed ideas) this book lets DeKooning speak for himself. DeKooning is not exploited or demeaned as in many kiss and tell books, instead what is revealed is an insightful portrait written by a close friend and confidant.

The text spans DeKooning's lifetime and is chock full of new information. Having read this book I now understand and know more about DeKooning, his art, his friends, and his milieu.

The photographs are equally enthralling. Portraits of the artist, photographs of him working, photographs of the studio, and photographs of the finished paintings all reveal an individual in his artistic prime. Most extraordinary are the ravishing color photographs of the late 1980's paintings-paintings that have been dismissed by many art historians and critics as the work of an "ailing artist". Anyone who sees these photographs (reproduced here for the first time) surely will be as moved by their beauty and intensity as I was.

On the whole, this exemplary achievement deserves a place in the library of all who appreciate art.

Among the most original documents on any artist in history, this compressed volume is multidimensional in its richness and authenticity. In the form of stories culled from conversations the author had with Willem and Elaine de Kooning, the book emerges as a de Kooning autobiography and a compelling synthesis of one of the great periods in twentieth-century American art.

From the opening lines, the reader is irresistibly drawn into de Kooning's life as he hides in a ship and steals away from Holland to America, befriends numerous artists in New York such as Arshile Gorky, Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, and John Cage, struggles to evolve his own style of painting, and ultimately contributes to the evolution of abstract expressionism as one of its major figures. In addition, vivid footnotes offer thumbnails on the Cedar Bar, WPA, New York cafeterias, the Club, Black Mountain College, de Kooning's family, floor plans of de Kooning's East Hampton studio, and numerous other subjects. Astonishingly, nearly all of the information is new - untainted by historical interpretation - with hundreds of facts corrected in the artist's own words and substantiated by the author's meticulous research. The result is an encounter with de Kooning himself.

While the book's title refers to the de Koonings reminiscing, it also alludes to the nearly one hundred photographs taken by the author in de Kooning's studio. Brilliantly composed, each of the images is a surprise, and the chemistry between Lieber and de Kooning is immediate, complex, and richly-hued. There are deeply-moving portraits, charming vignettes, discerning studio views, studies of the artist at work, and - remarkably - nearly two dozen of de Kooning's last paintings in a bold, new, complex style, previously hidden from the world.

This isn't just a book about Willem de Kooning, it IS de Kooning - still the best book on him and his milieu!

I wanted to carve some wood spirits for walking sticks. I had some 1.25 inch dowels to practice with. I checked this book out of the local library, and was able to carve a decent wood spirit on my first try. The "practice" wood spirits ended up looking good enough to finsish and keep for display, even though I had never carved anything before. So if you are a new carver, or even an experienced one, this book will give you plenty of patterns, illustrations, and descriptive text to make wood spirits. I will be buying a copy soon so that I can keep it on hand.

I wish I could give this book a 5 star rating. I have now purchased 6 wood carving books, and this one actually gives readers many adorable patterns in large sizes and the permission to reproduce them. It then takes the novice through the steps from drafting on paper, roughing out, and then finalizing and sanding. The high quality of the color plates and the size and detail of the patterns makes this a must have for carvers. The designs are those that will appeal to young and old. Loved the dwarf faces!

Awesome, three great carvers: Chris Pye, Shawn Cipa, and the queen of design Lora S. Irish get together to make this very informative book. Well worth twice the full price.

I'm not skilled at woodcarving, but I have to tell you...these patterns are so clear, so easy to follow, that they lend themselves to nearly any medium! Clay, lost wax casting models, needlework, woodburning decorations, painting inspirations, even stained glass, which is my business. Bravo, Lora Irish! Thank you for sharing!

If you are into wood spirits, spirit canes, or green men this is the book for you. Lots of patterns, good instructions.

I buy way too many art, drawing and how to books. Too many because a lot of the books just have terribly cramped or uptight art in them. This is not one of them. Often books either have good technical information but the art looks bad; or the art is really good but the instruction goes from a sketch to the final painting in one and a half sentence. This is one of the books where instruction as well as the quality of the art are both interesting.

If you like pen/ink/wash sketches or if you've been doing a lot of pen sketching and you want to add some washes, this book will give you lots of examples and progress shots, mostly of environments, buildings, sheds, nature, streets. The implementations of the pen/wash method are varied and are shown to you by various artists (roughly 15 artists - each having roughly 6 pages to show their method), and my guess is you will find some that will suit you, or that you can use as a base for for your own way of doing things.

Educational as well as inspirational. 5 stars.

Learn new watercolor & sketching skills by creating small versions with this super book of clearly diagramed steps, by a variety of artists around the world. From realism to quick sketches, this wonderful book is loaded with great ideas and examples. A must have for any sketchbook artist!

This is both a great coffee table book and a great guide for artists. This is not a book of step by step instruction for drawing or painting objects. Instead, each chapter is given to a different artist to explain their materials and methods in pen and watercolor sketching.

I appreciated the way each artist listed the materials that make up their sketch kit, from the type of pen to the paper, usually accompanied by a photograph of the whole thing. The artist then goes on to explain their approach, accompanied by numerous illustrations and pictures. There are so many different approaches covered here that you are sure to find some inspiration for your own work.

The works displayed in this book are outstanding. While some artists here use the sketch to prepare for a painting, many have the sketch as a final goal. I personally get much more enjoyment out of looking at sketches than at finished works.

If you use a sketchbook, watercolors or pens i can't recommend this highly enough.

Maybe I am missing something, but the real price of the book is $27.99 and I know I didn't even pay that for it. Now I see it's gone down a lttle, from over $100 to $99.00. It's a good book, but not worth these prices! That is why the 4 star review. If it were selling at a realistic price, I'd give it the 5 stars too..

Reasons why I highly recommend this book...
* Lots of inspiration for different techniques to try
* Lists of art supplies the artists prefer is very helpful
* The artists are actually very good, unlike some books
* The book itself is nicely designed
* I have a fascination with other artists' sketchbooks
* It's my new favorite book

The surprise about this book is the number of quotes from women artists themselves, not just from the l9th and 20th century, but from earlier centuries too. In the l6th century Sophonisba Anguissola's father thanks Michaelangelo for helping improve his daughter's drawing. In the l7th century, Artemisia Gentileschi says "I will show my lord, what a woman artist can do." In the l8th century, Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun recalls her technique for making the most of the looks of the women she painted. The author shows how for 500 years women have made up a sigificant minority of the community of working artists. The book is lavishly illustrated with rarely seen images of women artists at work and of the paintings and sculptures they produced. This book would make a wonderful present!

The surprise about this book is the number of quotes from women artists themselves, not just from the l9th and 20th century, but from earlier centuries too. In the l6th century Sophonisba Anguissola's father thanks Michaelangelo for helping improve his daughter's drawing. In the l7th century, Artemisia Gentileschi says "I will show my lord, what a woman artist can do." In the l8th century, Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun recalls her technique for making the most of the looks of the women she painted. The author shows how for 500 years women have made up a sigificant minority of the community of working artists. The book is lavishly illustrated with rarely seen images of women artists at work and of the paintings and sculptures they produced. This book would make a wonderful present!

The New York reviewer makes a good point but it's not ALL quotes.The book is also pretty informative about the career options open to women in the past and how they made use of them. The author takes a level-headed view and makes you feel admiring of the way women have been getting on with the job of being artists for hundreds of years. There's some stimulating pages at the end about the role of feminism as well.

The New York reviewer makes a good point but it's not ALL quotes.The book is also pretty informative about the career options open to women in the past and how they made use of them. The author takes a level-headed view and makes you feel admiring of the way women have been getting on with the job of being artists for hundreds of years. There's some stimulating pages at the end about the role of feminism as well.

The surprise about this book is the number of quotes from women artists themselves, not just from the l9th and 20th century, but from earlier centuries too. In the l6th century Sophonisba Anguissola's father thanks Michaelangelo for helping improve his daughter's drawing. In the l7th century, Artemisia Gentileschi says "I will show my lord, what a woman artist can do." In the l8th century, Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun recalls her technique for making the most of the looks of the women she painted. The author shows how for 500 years women have made up a sigificant minority of the community of working artists. The book is lavishly illustrated with rarely seen images of women artists at work and of the paintings and sculptures they produced. This book would make a wonderful present!

William Joyce's energetic cover is the first thing that grabs your attention is the, and that energy continues through out the whole book. Joyce talks about his childhood and how he stared drawing. He also describes the books he has written. I enjoyed reading this book because it was different. The text changes on each page and does not go straight across the page, but instead it sometimes went around in circles or up and down. The illustrations were great as well. He creates a great enthusiasm for the arts, and it makes you want to go right out and start drawing. Another interesting part about this book was that Joyce explained how he decorated is house on Halloween, and it was amazing.

Readers will find this a pleasant excursion into the thought process and creative impulses that go into Joyce's imaginative art. Joyce describes how the people and objects from his childhood and adult life can find their way into pictures, and what sort of transformation they undergo as they become part of a story. I really enjoyed the photos and illustrations, and it was very interesting to get a peek into the way this artist works. I recommend this high-quality, beautifully illustrated book for both kids and adults who enjoy the work of William Joyce, and also for those who are interested in reading about art, the making of children's books, and biographies about artists.

William Joyce is one of the most creative, imaginative, and joyful author/illustrators in children's literature. Don't do yourself a disservice and write Joyce off as just for kids. His books are an absolute delight. It is fitting, then, that this book is a very unscholarly and very clever look at his work. Joyce not only explains how he got the ideas for such great books as "The Leaf Men" or "Bentley & Egg" but offers a glimpse at his home life. I would definitely like to visit his house on any major holiday! This book is both accessible to kids and entertaining for grown ups. Delight yourself and buy it today.

This self-portrait of William Joyce comes across so whimsical and fantastical, children will want to read it again and again. It's especially inspiring for children with creative spirits or ones with large imaginations. Joyce's sweet innoncence delicately provides a fun-loving world any child or adult would enjoy. The illustrations and text make me want to transform my home into the same wonderful playland Joyce's children enjoy. He explains his day and how he's inspired to illustrate and write. Any question a little one could possibly ask, he answers in this book. He also gives insight to what he was feeling on certain books he wrote too. I especially enjoyed hearing about what emotions and things in his life inspired what books.

This book is wonderful and delightful, in the literal senses of those words. Every page is filled to capacity with things that will amaze and fascinate: an abundance of previously unpublished illustrations by Joyce, details of the creation of his books, and photographs of his astonishingly elaborate holiday celebrations (that will make you want nothing in the world more than to be his friend and neighbor). My only complaint is about the book's brevity--I would have liked a hundred more pages of this. That, however, is an adult's complaint; a young reader will probably find the book to be just the right length.

There are only three stars shown on the background of the "Stars and Stripes" cover of E. J. Bird's World War II Journal, but I'd rate this a five star book.

It's hard to put this book down. One section leads so seamlessly into the next that before you realize what's happened, it's two a.m. And there hasn't been one shot fired yet! I cheated. I looked at the author's incredible drawings before I read a word. I knew he saw action in the Pacific, but I found the story of how the army trained one reluctant soldier every bit as interesting as the incidents of combat.

It's hard to put this book down. One section leads so seamlessly into the next that before you realize what's happened, it's two a.m. And there hasn't been one shot fired yet! I cheated. I looked at the author's incredible drawings before I read a word. I knew he saw action in the Pacific, but I found the story of how the army trained one reluctant soldier every bit as interesting as the incidents of combat.

World War II Journals Of E. J. Bird holds almost thirty color illustrations to spice the journals of Bird, who participated in the war and who reflected on its meaning and military life in general. Bird's art and stories provide a different view of the war than the official war artist portrays and make a fine supplement to collections on World War II experiences.

I picked up E.J. Bird's "World War II Journals" because I thought it looked like a "fun" coffee table art book. I say "fun" because the cover shows two swing dancers (in the 40s they called it jitterbug) and they both have attitude with a capital A. It was the art that hooked me first. Minimalist line drawings of soldiers working and at leisure, intricate sketches of a city at war, spilling soldiers and sailors and busty women at every corner, and beautiful watercolors (made it turns out with a five color dimestore watercolor set!) of an island at war, its people displaced and suffering. After a very few minutes with the book I discovered that not only can Bird draw, he can write too. This isn't the typical scared-young-kid-thrust-into-a-war-to-become-a-hero type of book. It's the story of a 31 year old draftee who had exactly what he wanted in civilian life and wasn't pleased about the army changing it. Reflections of a man at least ten years older than most of the other authors of such first person accounts makes a readable and sometimes humorous story, and his maturity enables the author to portray the quiet suffering of the native Okinawins. A good read.

This is the bargain of the year. Wonderful full-color plates and extremely interesting biographies of the writer/artists.

I had seen a brief review of the book on t.v. prior to the holidays & ordered it for a friend of mine who is an avid reader & also dabbles in painting. He positively LOVED it, and this is a man who is not easy to please.....He said the book was insightful & gave glimpses into the other artistic side of writers....

This book is truly a treasure! Every page unveils little known talents and secrets of literary artists whose talents as painters, sculptors, and so on are every bit as fascinating as their written work. What is even more special is that the artists include such an immense variety of men and women from various periods of history. It is not a book to be read page-by-page, but like the greatest culinary delights from truffles to the purest chocolates, it needs to be savored in small, rich, fulfilling portions. I expect to see The Writer's Brush published in other languages, if that, indeed, has not already begun.

I just got this book, and it is one of the best literary compendia I have ever seen or read. I love learning more about some of my favorite writers and was surprised at how talented some were - some I never knew painted - and it was strange to see how some of the art would have been what you expect, and some wasn't. For example I am a huge Dostoyevsky fan and his drawings looked a little ragged and strange and dark like his characters. I didn't know he drew in the margins of his manuscripts. At over 400 pages I will probably spend the next 10 years taking this book down from the shelf to read the quick bio and look again at the art of a writer who comes up in conversation around our house or who I am reading...Really beautiful and inspiring book.

The Writer's Brush is a remarkable achievement. It's a unique work that is simultaneously a very interesting read and a valuable resource. The collection of artwork is a window into the oft unknown alternate lives of many of our best known writers. It is fascinating to see the artwork of Joseph Conrad, Winston Churchill, Emily Bronte and Kurt Vonnegut, Kipling, Ibsen and Ionesco... who knew that their talents transcended the page to the canvas. I am also enjoying learning about authors that I didn't recognize and then seeking our their writings. Bravo.