Design Books

With a strong example-to-paragraph of information ratio, this this title is readable and well presented: highly reccomended. But I'll hold back on a 10 only because the authors only skimmed the most important aspect of HTML layout: tables. While this book *was* just a starter, as the "...24 Hours" claims, I am still struggling to learn how tables function. Still it's, very well-written, enjoyable, topical (covering what you need to know), and organized, giving you a good taste so all those lines of Hypertext Markup start becoming legible.

This is, without a doubt, the best book on the market for learning beginner's HTML.

This book helped me out so much when I just started out. I was 13, and had just gotten the internet and I realized that even the average person had a web page, so I looked at the source code and realized that it is not that hard. I wanted to expand my knowledge, so I bought this book, and it helped so much. It has definetly helped me as a resource when writing my pages now. I reccommend this book to anyone just starting out.

I bought 2 other HTML books before I found this one. This book was really awesome. It was easy to read and understand. I learnt a lot.

Dick Oliver is the best author!! You will really get a lot out of this book even if you are a beginner!

As a beginning scrapbooker, I bought this book after seeing it at the library. This book takes you step by step through the process of creating scrapbook pages that are original, easy and fun. It is full of information on all aspects of scrapbooking - supply selection, money saving ideas and artistic guidance. The ideas in this book can also be applied to cardmaking. There are so many ideas and techniques filling this book that I know I will use it for years to come.

Although I have been scrapping for a few years, I found this to be a valuable resource. Don't be fooled by the title... it's not just for beginners. The format of the book is simple with what I call "idea launch pads". The book gets you started when you feel stumped!

I own many books on scrapbooking techniques and this is by far the best!
It is very detailed in it's explanation. A must if you are new to scrapbooking and a great addition to your techniques if you are an experienced scrapbooker.

A scrapbook is an album of diverse photos, family documents, special papers or clippings, and other kinds of mementos with special meaning for the scrapbook maker. Knowledgeably co-authored by scrapbooking experts Rebecca Ludens and Jennifer Schmidt, Teach Yourself Visually Scrapbooking is an innovative, informative, and thoroughly "user friendly", how-to guide to the decorative art and pastime of making a customized scrapbook. Presenting a thoroughly entertaining and instructive compendium of usable information, Teach Yourself Visually Scrapbooking informs the aspiring scrapbooker how to go about a desired scrapbooking project with each technique or skill authoritatively detailed through step-by-step instructions, along with in-depth tips throughout, and profusely illustrated with insightful pictures, diagrams, colored photos, and so much more. An ideal introduction to scrapbooking for the novice and with much of value for even the more experienced scrapbook enthusiast, Teach Yourself Visually Scrapbooking is very strongly recommended an invaluable aide and informational resource.

If you are just starting the whole scrapbook phenominon this book is awesome. If you are on into your new love hobby of scrapping you may want to pass on this book. It starts from the very basic of things. If you are just looking for layouts this book has some pretty good ones.

A must have for anyone with any interest in sculturing the human body. The style is very easy to follow, with near piont by point tips. The technique allow you to move into other media such as the culinary arts of chocholate and butter molding.

This bookalong with the other Bruno Lucchesi take pride of place in my library and are constantly used as a "workshop" manual

How do you compliment a master? There is none except "thank you."

In a real sense Bruno is a man that should have been born in another time. His sensitivity to the human figure and his love for fired earth is the stuff of a true Renaissance man. He captures the imagination and brings life out of clay.

What is most inspiring aspect of this Italian born sculptor is love to teach and share his skills, tips and tricks with other aspiring sculptors around the world. Sculptors like me. No studio library is complete with out all of his books and tapes.

Bruno works with slabs of clay smashed on the floor and then quickly forms them into layers of mass that are shaped into the maquette. His attention to proportion makes him the artist that others have sought to imitate, and none can completely duplicate.

The first time I browsed the book, I was blown away by the beauty of Bruno's work.
The second time, I was disappointed because of the limited explanation and technical descriptions.
But once I understood what this book was really about, I loved it.
It really is a documentary of Lucchesi at work. You can witness him working. The book is very visual.
You will not learn sculpturing, but you will get the chance to see an accomplished sculptor and his creation.
The book does not tell the why's, you can see the how's.

My copy is now really filthy, with stains of terracota all over it. I keep it by my working bench, and quite frequently, in the middle of my work, I open it to see how Bruno does it.

My recommendation is to buy this book in addition to "From Clay to Bronze " of Lagland.

I'm a student working in wax, but the most important concepts in this book are definitely cross media; it was a good buy. I mainly use the book as a reference tool and posing guide -- it is a great problem solver. There can't be many issues in posing or proportioning that a beginner won't find help for somewhere in this book. Ms. Malmstrom has such a talent for photographing sculpture that you almost feel like you have the actual piece in front of you. And Mr. Lucchesi's work... it's tough to imagine a day so bad that his sculpture can't make you feel more at peace.

This is a super book, very informative and easy to follow. It answered many questions I had, and introduced many new (to me) ideas.

I was very happy to find Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics, on Amazon. I obtained a used copy, in good condition, at a very reasonable price, and received it very quickly also. I have found that Amazon is a very good place to find offbeat and specialized or technical books, and especially to be able to obtain gently used copies at very good prices. I do wish the shipping cost less, however.

Not only educational, but inspiring. I not only learned about each artist and what when on during their time of certain artworks, but I was able to get inside their head. The words of the artist's in their letters were captivating. I was caught up in the reading. I especially enjoyed Matisse and Kandinsky. Kandinsky is very spiritual about his writing and gives a deep explanation of colors. Anyway, it is a great read. It was required for my history course, but I enjoyed it. Not very many in my class could understand what they were reading. I guess you not only need intellect, but sophistication. I liked it!

How often had I looked at a painting of Van Gough and wondered what exactly was this great man thinking when he conceived and painted such a picture. Now by reading thru this excellent book, I can claw into the mind of artists themselves.

The beauty of this book is that so many letters, reviews, interviews etc. about/by so many artists are conveniently gathered in one place. On the whole, there isn't anything in here that you can't find elsewhere, such as in biographies of the individual artists. For example the letters contained in the opening section on "Post-Impressionism" from both Cezanne and Van Gogh are included in just about every biography on them.

The over-riding reason for buying this book is that so many are collected together. So, even for an artist that you might not like enough to go out and buy their biography, atleast you get an insight in to their thoughts/motives etc. In some cases this may spark your interest in a previously less favoured artist and appreciate their works from a new perspective.

Chipp covers all the main "isms" of modern art from Post-Impressionism (Cezanne) onwards. Each movement opens with a treatise detailing the main theories/artists/concepts/techniques that made it unique. This is followed by a comprehensive selection of articles/letters/interviews etc. concerning the main players i.e. the section of Expressionism includes writings from Nolde, Kandinsky, Kokoschka, Kirchner, Marc, Klee and Beckmann. One of my favourite pieces is by Stuart Davis. He's responding to a critic's recent review..."in your review you speak of your enthusiasm for my work and call me a "swell American painter". This attitude on your part I heartily approve, but you further state that my style is French and that if Picasso had never lived I would have had to think out a style of my own. Now is that nice Mr. McBride?" and off Davis goes in his defence. Superb.

Rather than reading about these various "isms" via the well meaning but often biased views of a expert art historian, here you get the views from the artists themselves.

For any art historians dealing with the modern art period this book has to be essential. And for general appreciators of art, as well as artists themselves, this book contains a wealth of information, and pays dividends to both intense study or just random browsing.

Since it's first publication in 1968 this book has formed the foundation of any respectable art library. I just checked the bibliography of more recent books on art history - this book is referenced extensively. In my opinion, if anyone is looking for an interesting and enjoyable introduction to the world of "Modern Art" they could do a lot worse than start here. And given the way that any one "ism" owes it's existence to the "isms" that came before it*, this almost reads like a novel.

*Regardless of Dali's utterances about Surrealism being a unique movement, unfounded by anything that came before, just go and have a look at the works of Hieronymous Bosch to see that wasn't the case.

Recommended!

I just wanted to respond to the person before me. It sounds like contemporary art is way over your head. Please do not waist our time with long reviews about things you clearly do not understand.

The debut monograph of photography artist Thomas Allen, Uncovered: Photographs by Thomas Allen presents surprisingly lascivious images from pulp paperbacks of bygone decades, constructed into humorous and witty scenes (utilizing no digital aftereffects at all!). For example, in "Thirst" a sexy woman reaches her hand toward a man with a bottle on an adjacent volume, while in "Teeter" a man losing his balance is about to hit a precariously stacked set of paperbacks. A board book with a die-cut cover, Uncovered lets its twenty-seven four-color images speak largely for themselves. A treat for anyone who fondly remembers the trashy novel covers of yesteryear, featuring a wealth of creativity and re-imagining of bygone themes.

What a treat to get a book, open it and immediately be grabbed by the contents. 'Uncovered' did that for me. Mr Allen has been scouring pulp paperbacks for years it seems, his fight photo 'Red' was done in 2002 and used by designer Chip Kidd for the cover of James Elroy's 'Blood on the Moon'.

The twenty-eight photos in the book actually turn out to be a varied selection, a sort of template for Allen to go and explore other print media besides pulp paperbacks from past decades. 'Swell' shows a galleon tossed on the wave pages of an encyclopedia, the delightful 'Uplift' has two children on a swing or 'Migrate' with two birds having flown from a spread but leaving their shape so you can see the text on the previous and next page.

The book's production is rather intriguing. The thick cardboard like pages, round corners on two sides and a sepia tinting for an aged look on some pages are suggestive of children's books from yesteryear but the violent and suggestive nature to many of the photos seem at odds with fun and frolics of children's playbooks. The cover is brilliant though. The sexy blond is actually on page three, her shape has been die-cut from the cover.

'Uncovered' will delight anyone who opens its pages. It all looks so obvious yet it was Thomas Allen who seems to be the first person to realize the creative potential of the cut cover tableaux.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

I really liked the approach the artist took in preparing this book- it was really interesting! Turned out to be a great gift, but the cardboard pages make this book deceptively skimpy. Still quite enjoyable, especially to see that child-like expression of glee on that pulp fiction fan in everyone's life.

I always knew that someday, if I flew long enough, I'd read a worthwhile article in one of those dreadful inflight magazines they stick in the pocket of the seat ahead of you next to the sick bad. My eureka moment came in December when I read United's latest issue of "Spirit" (I think it was) and an srtist called Thomas Allen was featured in quite a slick spread. I must have been exclaiming over it out loud, for later on i found out that not only had I gone ahead and ordered a copy from Amazon, but my wife did too, thinking that aha at last she had found a good Christmas present for hard-to-shop-for me.

Some of you may be wondering by now is the book worth it, or is Allen a one trick pony? I have no idea how he does the things he does with a razor blade and a steady stack of old, sometimes crumpled up paperbacks, but they say a documentary is coming and will soon be on public TV to show the artist at work. You can see in UNCOVERED how, in an effort to keep the sliced out cover image at least minimally attached to the book itself (what a curious, seemingly irrational restraint), he has been known to carve out a single line--one here shows a line of smoke mounting moodily from an unfiltered cigarette, so slim and tenuous you wouldn't think anyone could get in that narrowly.

Are they suggestive? And how! It's an Oulipean art practice, born of subtraction, that nevertheless extends itself into eros and beyond. The campy aspects of the original covers seem to dissolve under the application of all that rigor and man meets woman, woman meets woman, man meets man, and undresses right quick, just the way the Lord meant it to happen. The sensual just pops right out, almost like a physiological reaction. Just as his name, "Thomas Allen," seems to have been leached of personality, UNCOVERED clarifies the intents and purposes of one of America's favorite guilty pleasures, pulp fiction of the 40s, 50s, 60s. Wish I could see the Dallas exhibition of Allen's work at Light and Sie (the gallery has a nice slide show so you can sort of see the dimensions of his work and mind).

Wow! I'm between pays, but one look at this ripe book, and I dished over
whatever they asked. A babyboomer who found Dell Mapbacks all over the
house---and have since collected a few of the best-----
I had that instant feeling of "fullfillment" as I turned every page.
The essence of time/place perfectly realized.
Could Thomas Allen's accomplishment here be loosely called "RETRO" ?
It's totally transformed, and playful, yet retains the originality
and period flavor of that long-ago-era. And yet still modern. A winner.
(But I agree with those critics who expect the original artists to be
prominently credited.)

As others have said, this is so much more than a coloring book. I have a serious illness that really limits me and the time that I spent coloring these added so much to my days plus the fact that I could then display them so that I could look at them over and over. I have a wall that I displayed them on along with other stained glass designs that I love to look at. It is definitely a great book to add to any collection.

I use watercolor in these books. I've made some beautiful suncatchers with "my" artwork from this book.

I love stained glass. I think the stained glass coloring books are fantastic. This one has so many wonderfull designs in it. Glad to have added it to my collection.

This coloring book is so beautiful, you might be afraid to color on it. The artwork is wonderful and detailed, and it's a great book for older children and adults.

The book presents 16 color images on its covers.
The patterns on 16 pages are translucent black and
white patterns suitable for enlarging 300-800%.
The "coloring book" misnomer disguises the books use
for serious stained glass makers.

This book was purchased as a humorous gift for a family member, but I am seriously considering purchasing another copy for myself and displaying it prominently on my bookshelf. It is fascinating to me to see how other cultures differ from ours in this most basic function. The photos are great as well. I've never thought of toilets as artistic before, but this book may have changed my opinion.

Informative, enlightening and fun. There is a point when you'll say,"I'd like to see that", and you never thought you'd ever say that about a toilet. Any book that can do that is worth a read, maybe even while you're on the throne.

"Toilets of the World" is a quick read, funny, and informative on an otherwise senstive subject. You will know what to expect when you need to go to the "toilet" (or lack of what you would consider a toilet) in different countries. Some are full service appliances and others make you want to run. If you travel around the globe, you'll want to read this book first.

When I think of entertaining reading material, I rarely think of toilets. "Toilets of the World," however, is an amusing homage to the endeavor of excretion. Divided by continents, this book examines the most unusual of all toilets from the world over, from the fantastically complex (I would not want to, for instance, use the toilet on a submarine lest I inadvertently configure the valves incorrectly and release "a high-pressure explosion of sewage throughout the submarine at a force of 225 pounds per square inch") to mere holes in the dirt. Part and parcel of this book explains not only the physical structure of these toilets, but also the local customs of different cultures. The lack of toilet paper use in Turkey and India (the left hand substitutes...) is a key example of cultural toilet use differences beyond the obvious squat versus sit elimination methods.

There are many unusual toilets in this book, but for my money, the toilets of Asia take the cake, especially the urinals in the Lemina Building in Tokyo, which electronically sense when a man approaches, then burst into music and move the urinal vigorously hoping the man can accurately track the target, all the while taunting him with disparaging remarks and engaging in flash photography. There is an equally frightening experience awaiting the women in the same building which results in a bad case of claustrophobia, and features not only a giant mechanical geisha kissing the unsuspecting victim on the knees, but also a light show, fake thunder, and a hideous androgynous mechanical freak appearing from a secret compartment with the toilet paper. I guess it beats a hole in the ground.

Five stars for making peristalsis an interesting cultural journey, a feat I had hardly imagined possible.

There are some really bizarre toilets out there in the world. Some even scary!! Interesting and fun. We keep it on the back of the toilet in our guest bathroom. Makes for some fun conversation.

I have bought more than a Dozen Mexican Design Books already. And none can compare to the Traditional Mexican Style Exteriors and its Companion Book Mexican Style Interiors by Donna McMenamin.

It is a wonderful book! You will not need any other book if you are planning on redecorationg your house. But, even if you will not decorate your house, this Book(s) are a worthy read. The Pictures are wonderful. Giving detail to what is really Mexican.

I am a landscape designer in central Florida, and I am always looking for inspiration for specialty projects. The photos in this book are outstanding! The text is well-written and interesting!

If you are building a Spanish home and we are, then this book will provide you with a wealth of ideas about what to do beyond the 'box of the casa.' Filled with brilliant photographs of terraces, swimming pools, fountains, outdoor rooms, columns, entrances, furnishings, use of paint, etc. you will refer to this book over and over again as you design and continue to decorate your dream home.

The photography is excellent and the ideas abound. It is a book that's fun to thumb through and colorful. I enjoyed it! It's sister publication is just as good.

Every time I re-do a room or make a home decor purchase these days, I'm looking for things to make my house look more Mexican. This book, and its companion volume "Traditional Mexican Style Interiors" are wonderful reference books for anyone looking to copy that style.

If you're just a fan of Mexican style, or have been to Mexico and want to have a way to go back without leaving your easy chair, this book is fun to read and magnificent to look at. Although it emphasizes exteriors (facades, architecture, etc.) there are photos of gardens, courtyards, and plenty of other spaces that you could create on your own property, even on a very modest budget, and without knocking the house down and starting over.

For the watercolor artist, this is an excellent starting place for basic color properties and their application.

I am not yet all the way through this book because there is so much to absorb. It is really packed with great information on the reactions/interactions of common watercolor paints, both by brand and color groups and characteristics. I've been painting with watercolor for about 5 years and have read a lot of books on this same subject. This author has brought it all together for me. I'd highly recommend it. The pullout color wheel is on my easel for easy reference

This is a wonderful book! And an absolute must-read for all who are truly interested in turning out great watercolors. Before this book, some of watercolors would turn out so great, and others just dull, and I thought it was due to experience and practice. He revealed the secret. And now I have a lot more confidence in what colors to use on my paintings and control over its results.

Jim Kosvanec also has a great writing style that will keep you reading on. After each section, you will be aching to go out there and try it out.

This book is definitely staying in my library.

Ohhh, so that's why that color mix only went to a gray scale instead of black! Kosvanec gives great tips on the juicy wash; now my $300 worth of paints actually have color. Well worth the price. Be sure to read this book; don't just look at the pretty pictures. I'm still laughing about the quote, "If tube greens were people, I'd beat them up."

Kosvanec's book title may not capture your attention, but his book certainly caught mine. He is thorough, clear in his presentation and has a firm grasp on watercolour. His watercolour wheel could become a standard and the one issue I have with the book is that this wheel is not a perforated pull-out. This would have made the book better than 5 stars because you could have a wheel hung up for reference and keep the book intact.

Helpful, step by step explanations, including real life pictures showing what we are trying to accomplish with the mural painting.

I love to paint, and really enjoy this book. I keep it close by when I get stuck or don't know what to look for. or do next. when I am painting. This is a keeper for my acrylic library.

This is an excellent book for learning techniques for painting both sky and sea. Insightful for the beginner with tips about what qualities and subject matter make a Trompe L'Oeil painting both believable and timeless.

For the lover of sky and sea, this is an excellent book! It inspires the creative mind to create beautiful murals. Her explanation/instructions of cloud shapes will improve the quality of your mural work instantly. She explains the use of color with step by step photos. Also I like the perspective on beach scenes...such as, 'this is a view of a palm tree from below', thus helping you to paint murals on walls or ceilings creating a realistic effect. If you are interested in painting ceiling murals with clouds, this is definitely the book to buy. I would say it leans towards the intermediate plus student but a beginner would enjoy it also...urging him to become better!

This book is an excellent how to for the mural artist in training. The authors explain composition as well as technique. Illustrations are to the point. It is an excellent teaching book.