Airbrush Books

Should this book be titled The New Scratchboard? It really is'nt what I would say scratchboard is about, although it has plenty of nice color artwork done on claybord it only has 20 pages on scratchbord and thats using the authors technique of value scratching not high contract scratchboard that I like. (personally I dont think his stuff is that great) If you looking for a book on scratchboard dont get this. Buy Mastering the Art of Scratchboard. If your looking for a book on claybord then be my guest and buy it.

I bought this book online, without having physically seen it before. For this reason my first impression was not the best. In fact, at first glance it didn't appear to contain any scratchboard work at all. Scratchboard, to me, is high-contrast black ink and white clay, with the possibility of color after the black and white has been rendered. You won't find this book geared to my definition. Chapters 3 and 4 contain the majority of the "black and white" pieces. Chapter 3 is small and deals pre-inked clay surfaces (like Clayboard Black). It has a few examples of the traditional scratchboard look, but most of them have color added. Chapter 4 is larger and deals with applying india ink to the white clay surface. I have to admit, there are some really nice pieces in this chapter, but rather than looking like scratchboard, they tend to look more like ink and wash. My favorite is the one mentioned in the main review, with four ravens dancing on a fallen totem pole. Very nice.

A careful look does reveal some nice "traditional" scratchboard pieces done on Essdee Scraperboard, but they are few. This book is not about working with Essdee Scraperboard, it is about working with Claybord. Strangely enough, there are pieces that have no scratching at all, including some excellent contributions by Stephen Quiller. I think the book is poorly titled. It should be called Claybord: Clay-Surface Techniques and Materials for Today's Artist. It was written by the inventor of Claybord, and is essentially an instruction manual on how to work with a variety of media on Claybord. I don't have a problem with a book on Claybord. Some might even argue that Claybord IS the new scratchboard. Fine, why not put Claybord in the title? I just think the title should be descriptive of the book's contents.

Since the overview of the contents is explained in the main review I won't go into too much depth. Charles Ewing explains his own development as an artist, his discovery of scratchboard, and the needs that drove him to create a new product (Claybord). He never claims to be a traditional "scratchboarder" and in fact, he says "By traditional scratchboard standards, I was far from being labeled a purist then, and I'm afraid the little purity I had has further degenerated in the intervening years". This book is about very untraditional methods. He does go through a history of using scratches for making art, the development of scratchboard, and an explanation of clay as a surface for making art. He goes on to demonstrate at least some of what is possible with a clay surface. The techniques are well explained and the writing flows well. This is a "picture" book so I have to admit I haven't read it word for word.

Basically, if you lose the expectation that you are going to learn about traditional scratchboard this is a pretty nice book. If enjoy experimentation and the exploration of media and surfaces, you will be happy with what you find. On the other hand, if you are looking for traditional scratchboard instruction you would be much happier with Ruth Lozner's excellent book, Scratchboard for Illustration. It's now out of print so good luck finding it.

I must admit that, after I recived my book,I thumbed through and was amazed at the artistic renditions that I saw on the pages. I was excited to delve into The New Scrathcboard and learn the techniques and practices that helped to produce such fine work.

When I actually started to digest the content, I soon realized that this book was not really about my favorite method(scratchboard), but more about the medium Clayboard. I have always thougth of scratchboard as a type of art or technique rather than a medium on which different artistic styles can be practiced.

There is actually very little emphasis on scratching in this book, other than the acknowledgement that scratching brings out the light details on various pieces. While impressive, the content does not instruct to the level that I was hoping.

The message of the book can be summarized very simply..
"If you paint in oils, try this on Clayboard. If you paint with watercolor, try it on Clayboard.If you use pastels, try it on Clayboard. If you use most any medium, try it on Clayboard, which by the way, can be coated or uncoated with India inked and scratched away to reveal highlights."

Overall, the book is very colorful and inspiring. It may get the juices flowing to try new methods on Clayboard, but it does not live up to it's title. I would rename the book "The Versatility of Clayboard".

This is a wonderful book for experienced painters with that want to expand their horizons or for anyone who wants background information on clay-surface techniques. It shows how a wide range of painting and drawing techniques can be used in conjunction with scratchboard techniques to create a stunning array of results on these very versatile surfaces.

The book starts out with background information on clay-coated surfaces including history, and the types of surfaces and their characteristics. It then covers application and scratching tools. A basic vocabulary and an overview of various mediums that can be used on them are also here.

Several sections highlighting different surfaces and mediums follow. These include ink-coated clay surface, India ink on white clay, color medium on white clay and printmaking with the clay surface. Each section includes at least one demonstration of a work in progress from start to finish. The printmaking chapter is the largest and includes eight demos. These demonstrations are meant to showcase a general technique rather than create an identical copy of the work.

My favorite part of the book is the beautiful artwork throughout. I may even buy a second copy to cut out and frame some of this vast array of gorgeous art. Captions for each piece include artist, title, size and a basic description of techniques used. My favorite is "Madame Butterfly", a whimsical piece that combines acrylic airbrush with scratching techniques. I also loved the many black and white wildlife images.

There is a great material resource directory and a helpful index in the back. I admit I have not really tried any of the techniques shown here. I think they are a bit above me as a beginning artist. I would definitely buy the book again though just for the example images and the inspiration they provide to encourage me to develop my own skills.

This book is awesome in not only covering the little known subject of scratchboard art; but in the quality of artwork, and the highly informative and lovely presentation. A must for anybody who loves to draw and is curious to try the new changes in scratchboard as a professional art panel. Enough info & inspiration for a long time. Good for both beginner and advanced artists.

I checked out about 40 airbrush books from the library and this book was by far the best of them all. I was excited about this book from the moment I opened it. It gives an understanding of the art through step by step instructions, techniques, and stokes. The prodjects can be easily accomplished with a little practice and time. After gaining an understanding of simple of strokes and airbrush control, you can make some great T-shirts! This book is PERFECT for the begining airbrush artist. If you have an interest in airbrushing, this is the perfect book to find out what it's all about.

This book is one of the poorest examples of a step-by-step book I've seen. I happen to be one of the artists included in the portfolio section of the book. The artist who wrote the book is a pen and ink cartoonist, and obviously knows little about the use of an airbrush. The pictures of his work are laughable, and the text is cryptic and confusing, containing much misinformation. The only reason to buy this book is for the portfolio section, which contains many pictures of high quality t-shirt artwork. I am embarassed to have my artwork in such a book.

Out of all the books on this subject this was the best.detailed & very helpfull.

Have you ever flipped through a airbrush book or been to the Airbrush T-shirt shop and thought how amazingly talented these artists must be. Well I have. I always wondered how much talent and decades of experience these people been through to create such amazing images. This book is excellent for anyone. From the person that sketches pictures in their notebook during a boring lecture to the person who wished he/she can draw like that guy. I am the guy who wished he could draw. This book teaches the basic rules you need to know to start airbrushing in a simple step-by-step manner and includes descriptive color illustrations. It is possible to become a airbrush artist and this book is a great way to start you off. It's easier than you think. All you have to do is follow the simple rules and have the patience and time to practice. Kai Chen

Airbrush Artist's Pocket Palette

As a beginner I found this book to be inadequate for my needs. There are 63 pages of nicely spiral bound(book lies flat) examples of various effects. That is to say... 63 pages of coloful rectangles with some comments about how to achieve a particular effect. It's sort of like reading the ingredients for a recipe but not telling you how to mix the ingredients or cook it.

I imagine that this book has some use to an experienced airbrusher but I suspect that once you have the experience the book is not very useful and is merely a nice 63 page of pretty rectangles.

This was not a good book for me.

The Airbrush Artist's Pocket Palette is filled with wonderful techniques to create hundreds of effects and textures. I would not know how to create hair, skin, wood, metallic surfaces, stone or highlights with my airbrush without this book.

You will need to have some knowledge about color palettes and airbrushes to fully understand the techniques descibed in the book.

The book also contains several pieces of completed artwork. The techniques they used to create the paintings are described with the corresponding painting.

I have enjoyed this book since the day I bought it.

This is simply a collection of Hajime Sorayama's work. High quality postcards. Would be a shame to actually post one. Missing from the card, is a title to the painting. If you want to frame these, I think that could work. This is more for the collector. I received exactly what I wanted. -Kevin

This book contains beautiful and intruiguing pictures, which are quite similar to the art of Olivia De Berardinis. However, Sorayama is a bit more detached from his subjects. Be warned that this is a collection of post-card sized pictures, not a full-sized art book.

Timothy Remus and Wolfgang Publications have taken the successful formula used by Nikko Press (Airbrush Action) to provide tips and methods used by Stripers as an instructional "how to" very similar to the "Pinstriping Masters" (1 & 2). With 11 artists such as Robert Pradke and lots of useful tips, it is a very good book despite the fact that this book has less than half the artist's available as in the "Masters" series. Priced thru Amazon at just below the cost of Pinstriping Masters, it is still a reasonable buy. Pinstriping Masters 2 was not available thru Amazon, but I was able get it thru Coast Airbrush. If this book (Advanced Pinstripe Art) had the quantity of artists as the Masters series, it would have definitely gotten 5 stars, and in my opinion, it is still worthy of any collection.

I have been a great fan of Rockport Publishings work in the area of ideas in design and sharing them in the form of books. Designers can really learn from each other in the way that Rockport and Knapp lay it all out. Good Work!

I picked up this book when I first purchased my airbrush. I was able to read through this book and immediately create a stencil and use my airbrush for wonderful backgrounds. The colorful photos and easy-to-understand directions make this a need-to-have beginners handbook.

At eight chapters in nineteen pages, this is a very slim little volume. That turns out to be a virtue in this booklet intended for the absolute beginner in airbrushing. Having purchased but never actually used an airbrush, I had a number of concerns about proper handling and, especially, cleaning. This book systematically and with no wasted words addressed all my initial questions. The chapters include choosing, cleaning and handling an airbrush; recognizing common paint problems and how to correct them, the varieties of paint and the proper thinners for each, and solvent safety issues--including some solid advice on proper installation of your spray booth. The final few pages illustrate the airbrushing of a Liberty ship model, with some very useful tips on dealing with small parts. Overall, an excellent and efficient introduction to the subject and an entirely worthwhile purchase.

After seventeen years of being an airbrush artist, I've seen lots of airbrushing books come and go. And I'm here to tell you I really like this book, it has good basic "How-To's" and is easy to follow without a loss of important information. I recommend this one for most anyone serious about learning airbrushing.

Easy Airbrush Projects for Crafters & Decorative Painters lives up to its title. The projects are easy to follow and offer insights into special airbrushing techniques. The instructions are clear and concise and the artwork is fantastic. Both beginning and advanced airbrushers will find something of interest here.