Illustration Books

Jane Butler-Biggs and editor Alison Daniels? We should bless their very socks and shoes, for in writing The Feng Shui Directory, they have given us a book that shines like a beacon out of the musty, dusty, teetering pile of current Feng Shui titles. Everytime I dip into this book, it starts my synapses zinging!
The Feng Shui Directory helps us to change our attitiudes, not just our furniture. It shows us how to PAY ATTENTION, giving us the skills to recognise how our homes affect us, and, reciprocally, how our behaviour and thinking affect our homes.
Consider the chapter on prosperity. It begins with several thought-provoking questions to ask ourselves regarding
abundance. It goes on to offer solutions for long-term patterns of poverty, a ritual to promote abundance and several methods to to invite sucess into our lives. With a wonderful assortment of practical techniques to apply all over the house and garden, it even informs us how many changes to make at a given time, how fast to do them and how to tell if youve gone a bit overboard boosting your wood energy!
The Feng Shui Directory is a really supportive book, written with much compassion, humour and crystal clear common-
sense. As a Feng Shui practitioner, I recommend this book to those clients, who, in the true spirit of transformation, really wish to explore the art behind the placement.
It 's a great book!

Excelent book of fheng shiu, easy, dinamic, well organice, interesting. The perfect book to underestand this ancient art of well living as a beginner.

The Feng Shui Directory is a great way to start Feng Shiu and learn more about it. Much more than a guide to interior decorating or an ancient scheme of superstitions, Feng Shui is presented along with all the psychological and scientific benefits.

This book isn't organized - like other books of it's sort - by the rooms in your home. Instead, chapters like "Family" or "Love and Realtionships" describe how to use Feng Shiu to change different areas of your life. Feng Shiu is presented as a way of thinking and getting in touch with yourself, not as a guide to rearranging furniture.

The authors take a minimalistic approach - change slowly, over time, and feel things out. You won't be told where the table must go, but how to tap into your intuition and figure out (within the guidelines of Feng Shui) where you might best place it.

The entire book is in full color, and the illustrations and "Quick Fixes" sections are a great addition. This book is probably too general for the experienced Feng Shui-er seeking to improve specific areas of his/her life, but overall it's a definite thumbs up.

This book is fabulous. I have purchased many feng shui books and this ranks as one of the best. It does a better job than any other book relating psychological issues to feng shui. It is very well laid out and easy to read in sections, or at one time. Much more thought provoking about how your life relates to your environment than the others. No trite cures here. It would be good to read a more basic feng shui book before this one so you understand the bagua etc. This book does not cover that, it seems to assume that you know the basics. A real winner. I have ordered more for friends.

Fortune: The Art Of Covering Business is a compendium of cover art drawn from past issues of Fortune magazine in celebration of its 70th anniversary. These covers are reproduced in full color and span the magazine from 1930 to 1950. Informatively enhanced with a Foreword by John Huey and an Historical Essay by Daniel Okrent, Fortune: The Art Of Covering Business is a welcome celebration drawing from a spectrum of artistic talents who provided visual symbols of America's burgeoning industrial society on the cover of one of the nation's most influential and prestigious magazines.

Henry Luce, the cofounder of Time Magazine, decided to launch Fortune after the market crash in 1929. He priced it at a dollar a copy (about ten dollars in today's currency value), and set out to make it the best possible magazine.

In the publisher's eyes (as taken from an advertising brochure), American business "has importance -- even majesty -- so the magazine . . . will look and feel important -- even majestic." " . . . [E]very page will be a work of art." Luce went on to say, "[T]he new magazine will be as beautiful as exists in the United States. If possible, the undisputed most beautiful."

Early staff members often later became famous poets and authors (such as Archibald MacLeish and James Agee) who worked just enough to earn a living, and then went back to their poetry. Luce found it easier to teach poets about business than to teach those who knew about business how to write.

The essays contain many rewarding stories. One of the best is how Thomas Maitland Cleland designed the first cover by sketching it upside down on a tablecloth in a speakeasy for the editor, Parker Lloyd-Smith. The original tablecloth, complete with drawing, is still mountained in the Time-Life building.

Some of the famous cover artists included Diego Rivera and Fernande Leger. In those days, the cover was independent of the stories in the issue. The cover was simply to attract attention and to encourage thought. If you remember early Saturday Evening Post covers by Norman Rockwell, you will get the idea.

By 1948, the vision changed. Luce wanted Fortune professionalized. The new concept was for "a magazine with a mission . . . to assist in the successful development of American business enterprise at home and abroad." By 1950, the artful covers were gone.

Now I must admit here that I found the covers displayed to be primarily of interest as reflecting social attitudes toward business. So I found these images to be like Monet's Gare St. Lazare, except without the appeal of Monet's technique. Frankly, the art did not move me or appeal to me except for one Leger cover. Perhaps the art will speak more to you. I graded the book down one star accordingly.

A value to me in this book was stopping to think about how much business has changed in the last 71 years, since Fortune was founded. That was "before Social Security, . . . the sitdown strikes of the thirties, . . . the creation of the SEC." " . . . [D]isclosure requirements for public companies were virtually nonexistent." As a result, companies didn't tell anybody anything. So it was a pretty bold idea to write about business. Contrast that with out information overload of data about every possible business and economic angle. What a difference!

How much time do you spend obtaining business information now? How can that be reduced while increasing your effectiveness? Perhaps, like the Fortune art, you can get an overview that will connect with what needs to be done . . . and found a great American business in the process like Fortune Magazine did.

When was the last time a bunch of 20-somethings started a new business that featured art and majesty, as Luce and his colleagues did? Aren't we overdue for some quality again?

Take in the big picture!

The history of business can be seen through the covers of Fortune magazine. One can see how business has changed from 1930 to 1950 month by month. The art work is excellent and is a historcial reference of economic and industrial changes in North America and the world. There is some interesting reading, as well.

Fortune magazine, for many years, had the luxury of using eye-catching graphics on its covers unrelated to the contents inside. This rather unusual arrangement was because most copies were on subscription to the folks who ran the nation's business and any newsstand sales were a bonus. The fact that it did not have to use its cover to compete with other magazines for sales allowed the various Art Editors to go for great illustrations from the leading graphic artists of the day.

All the covers from the first issue in February 1930 to December 1950 are shown in this lovely designed and printed book, either one to a page or four to a page (I felt the four to a page ones could have been a little bigger) and each year starts on a page with a few news items and some stats about business. The magazine's owner Henry Luce chose Tom Cleland to art edit the first issue and he came up with a rather ugly format for the covers, a double frame devise, the logo was in one and the illustration in another, I think this heavy framing design rather spoils the early covers and fortunately by 1942 it was dropped.

Daniel Okrent explains in his short introduction that cover artists were chosen for their creativity, some of the best graphic artists commissioned included Fred Ludekens, Erik Nitsche, A M Cassandre, Joseph Binder, George Gusti, John Atherton and Lester Beal. Although artists from the fine arts were also used, such as Ben Shahn, Fernand Leger, Charles Sheeler and Diego Rivera I don't think these covers work as well because their work is not suited to the constraints of commercial graphics.

By 1950 Fortune, now a very successful business monthly and making Henry Luce even richer, changed its editorial focus into a magazine that Luce said should "...assist in the successful development of American business enterprise at home and abroad." Covers now had to work harder as other business weeklies and monthlies all competed for the CEO's time and the luxury of a stunning cover image for its own sake had gone. This lovely book shows you the best of Fortune covers.

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

This book with the cd contains numerous pictures of santa so if you are looking for different types of santa's, you will love this book. If you're looking for the spiritual side of Christmas--Mary, baby Jesus and the Three Wise Men, then you will be very disappointed. The color of the pictures are great. There are also a lot of children but very few angels. For Victorian lovers for sure!

Dover Publications has done it again!! I love the old-fashioned christmas images. Also, the colors are "Outstanding". I would recommend the books and cd's to anyone.

These images are super Victorian style Christmas images. Perfect for your web site, web graphics or at home personal projects. Worth every penny!

These Dover book/CD ROMs are a graphic designers delight. It's so hard to find good quality graphics that are royalty free, and not end up spending a fortune. Dover has a good selection of royal free images that are presented in a book and are on CD ROM.

The images in the CD ROM is in full colour and so dazzling. 362 large images in TIFF format. Sharp images ready to use. Great for Paint Shop PRO. You don't have to scan, the images are there. You don't have to install some program. Just open them from you CR Rom Drive

360 traditional copyright-free images from Victorian-era publications. So many Santa Claus, Christmas trees, and good old Christmas scenes! All images are included in CD-ROM in TIFF format. I love the image Santa reading Christmas Catalog and I edited it and added to my Christmas Shop web.

The sheer momentum of the author's imagination and consummate skill in delivering the visual evidence was a big surprise. This book is a must-have for those whose vision of the future soars beyond the predictable Trekoidal Sword and Sandal stereotypes. Kofoed mixes wild fantasy into a look at what might be reality in the next Millennia or two.

Great fun for adults and for kids!

Karl's book Galactic Geographic takes you on a daring voyage into uncharted realms never before imagined. You really believe that this is a book from the future, and not just from the content (no spoilers here)! This is a book that will appear on my coffee table and all my friends will get a copy - because these are NOT the Star Trekian worlds - They are Kofoed's. For those that love _real_ science fiction, I recommend this book.

This book seems to me to be one of the most imaginative and beautiful works of science fiction published in the last decade. A must for anyone's collection.

This is a stunningly beautiful and mind-expanding foray into speculation about life on other worlds, packaged as a remarkable artifact. Imagine having your friends drop by and notice this interesting book on your table, that turns out to be a coffee-table book from the future! An absolute treat!

The Galactic Geographic series originally ran in Heavy Metal magazine years ago, and is currently running there again. It was created by my favorite off-world artist, Karl Kofoed, who paints images of alien worlds so dynamic and tactile that you can only assume they were painted on location!

Don't pass this one up!

This is one book that needs, desparately, to be reprinted. It is the most amazing story and quite ably presented by the author. It is the true story of the inhabitants of Floreana, or Charles Island as it was also known in the late 1920's early 1930's. This tiny little island in the Galapagos group, off the coast of Equador was home to a small community of idealists who shifted there to start a new life - and it also became the centre of an odd and unsolved mystery.

The start of the book was not entirely satisfactory. If I hadn't been encouraged to continue then I might not have persisted in reading it. The book centres around two German idealists (Dore and Frecerich), who escape from unhappy marriages and make an 'ideal' home on the island where they can live close to the earth and philosophise. Later another German couple and their child (the Wittmers) settle in another part of Floreana. This first half of the book which is their life is interesting but not compelling. It is when the Baroness, a sort of mystic with Imperial intentions, settles on the island with her small entourage of devoted male followers, that things get interesting. From about half way through the book you can see that things on the island are deteriorating towards some kind of disaster. The Baroness seems to be deliberately provoking the others. Food is being stolen, mail tampered with and the Baroness's imperial intentions start to overwhelm them all.

The relationships on the island and the final mystery are unravelled by Traherne through thorough reading of books and resources from the various characters involved or who had visited the island. Treherne seems to have done a pretty good job in unravelling the tangle web of concealments about just what might have happened on the island during the drought in the summer of 1934 and it makes wonderful reading.

To even reveal the mystery would be to spoil the book as it becomes quite complex with other deaths involved as well. This is very well worth reading - kind of Lord of the Flies for adults and - as with all true stories - the truth is far stranger than fiction.

I am Ecuadorian ( Quito ) and I have heard some of versions of this history, even by the most prominent Ecuadorian newspaper, but nothing compares as the certanty of Mr. John Treherne, book.
This book gives you an oportunity as break, you Imagine Global crisis of 1929, Nazi Germany, lots of pain and hatred everywhere
but at the end, love make a miracle in real life again.
By other hand, if you have heard of a place on earth where: is a treassured by nature and "fauna", yes that is Galapagos Island where you can find: amazing nature ( mountains and sea ), and sea lions swiming trought your legs, yes that is Galapos At Ecuador!! Mi pais!!

No fiction writer would dare to invent such a story. It's too implausible for a reader of mysteries to believe. However, it's a true story about several odd groups of people who went to live on an island. The story sweeps you along, building to a still unsolved murder or murders. Part of the fun is coming up with your own explanation for what happened. Someone was lying, but who? It's also interesting to find out who of the settlers actually stayed and founded a colony more or less by accident. All in all, a good book to curl up with on a cold winter night by the fire.

This has become my favorite book.I have been fascinated by the Galapagos Islands since I was a little girl, now I'm totally intrigued. I want to thank J. Treherne for bringing to life such a wierd story, truth is stranger than fiction! I pass the book around to all my friends and everyone has a different theory about the strange events. Wonderful!

Great Book! Taking part in a Bible Study and this book has been a tremendous help. Lots of great ideas on how to speak with someone concerning God without making them feel that you are "shoving religion" down their throats.

There are many hundreds of excellent books on Christian apologetics, and J.P. Moreland has authored a number of those. He is certainly one of our top Christian philosophers and apologists.

In his newest volume he teams up with communication lecturer Tim Muehlhoff to offer a somewhat different approach to Christian evidences. Here the authors make the case for sharing Christian truth via stories and illustrations. A number of important apologetics and philosophy of religion themes are discussed, with an eye to reaching others through memorable illustrations and compelling stories.

Topics include God and the problem of evil and suffering; Christianity and other world religions; the case for the resurrection; and the existence of God and the evidence from design. These core topics are helpfully introduced and discussed, but with a view to being user-friendly, both for the apologist and the seeker.

For example, when dealing with the resurrection, one must deal with the reliability of the Gospel accounts. The authors offer a number of reasons why these accounts differ from mere legends. One reason is that the Gospels are not afraid to include embarrassing details, something which legends try to avoid.

Such details include: Jesus referring to Peter at one point as Satan; the cowardly nature of the disciples during the crucifixion; and the disciples initial refusal to believe that Jesus had risen. The authors remind us of the story of the Alamo. This actual event has been excessively glorified and turned into legendary status over the years. True, 185 Texans courageously took on 5,000 Mexicans. But the story has been seriously embellished over time, and contemporary historians have had to peel away the legend from the actual facts.

But the authors remind us that there simply was not enough time for legend to creep into the Easter story. Legends require some amount of time to become established, but the New Testament documents were written so close to the actual events of the life of Christ, that such legendary features could not have taken hold.

Consider another issue related to all this. We know that the Synoptic Gospels were written before the Book of Acts, and we know that Acts was written somewhere between A.D. 60 and 62. This is because two crucial episodes are not recorded there: the fall of Jerusalem and the death of Paul.

As an illustration, consider an account of the World Trade Centre in New York. If one found an undated book about this structure, one could partly determine the dating by what it includes or did not include. If it spoke about how it was built, how massive it is, and how many people work there, but said nothing about its tragic fall at the hands of terrorist, one could reasonably conclude it was written before September 2001.

Many other illustrations, analogies, examples and stories are weaved into the big topics covered in this book. It thus is a very accessible and easy to follow primer on basic apologetics. Of course whenever one is dealing with complex philosophical and theological concepts, some proper intellectual content must be utilised as well. And that is also featured in this volume.

Thus this book is a mix of helpful stories as well as solid reasoning and argumentation. It makes for a nice combination, and should encourage budding apologists to take some first steps in applying these principles and tactics.

Those who find this volume helpful may well want to go back to some of Moreland's more advanced works. For starters, consider his 1987 volume, Scaling the Secular City. For those who want something even more in depth, see his important 2003 work, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (co-authored by William Lane Craig).

For the beginning apologist, this might be the first volume to consider. It is both practical as well as intellectually solid, making it a very good introduction to the defence of Christian beliefs.

This book is a well crafted intro into many of the most famous arguments for the existence of God, and other pressing problems that confound Christians in all ages. It's divided into Seven Section over 11 chapters and an afterthougt. What seperates this book from many other apologetics works is it's heavy reliance upon illustration. In dealing with ehtics it has a sidebar on the movie Munich and how it might be used as an illustration on dealing with that we intuitively know that somethings are morally wrong, etc... The use of a vertical line next to the illustrations makes them easy to find. The book covers The Problem of Evil, Pluralism, The Ressurection, Ethics and Moral Relativism, and the Design Argument, as well as an exceptional 2 pg afterword about listening before you speak with all your new found knowledge.

How useful this book is to you will largely depend upon the type of person you are. If you are an apologetics buff you are not likely to hear too much new in here. Dr. Moreland(I'm assuming) does a good job distilling some of his work against the Jesus Seminar's assertion that Jesus is only a figure of legend, into a more conversational style. The two chapters on the problem were some of the best I've ever seen on the subject in such a short amount of space.

A great book for your average Christian who needs help learning how to defend their faith or why they're rational do believe the way they do. A good quick referesher for those of us who need a brush up on some of the arguments for these subjects. Maybe not useful for those reading Swinburne, Plantinga, and the like.

As a sidenote in case either of the authors read this review. I'm an avid fan of Dr. Moreland, and as such read most all of his books. These last few that he's co-authored with BIOLA faculty members have really impressed me with BIOLA as an institution.

Many of us have wondered how to start difficult conversations with family and friends regarding sensitive topics such as religion and faith. This book helps the reader gain insight on how to do just that. After reading this book, I feel more equipped to speak openly and honestly about my faith to all of those I care for. An excellent and easy read and definite for anyone wanting to learn how to share their faith.

Whether you just love comics or intend to start writing some yourself, you'll probably need a helping hand. Will Eisner might just be the right hand for you. As a true pro, who's been in the field since 1930, he might just have the kind of hints, tips and interesting details you need to know as a beginner. Graphic Storytelling will reveal to you the world of telling a story in drawings and words combined, the art of comics and caricature. In my very humble opinion, this book is one giant step forward for you, on the way of expressiong yourself on paper. And hei, if Neil Gaiman recommends it, who am I to say anything else?

Eisner is one of the old pros who helped create the way sequential art is done. This book demonstrates the thinking that goes into producing sequential art, how to pace and create emotions in your audience. A must have for film artists, storyboard artists, comic and graphic novel artists and it opens new ways of thinking for illustrators and painters.

First off, Eisner does a great job of combining visual elements with his text in this book. The whole thing is illustrated with cavemen working on their storytelling technique, and I have to admit that the cavemen illustrations were great fun and always helped to clarify the how side of what he was saying in the text. Beautifully done. (Yes, I know, this is like saying, "Hey, y'know that Hemingway guy? Some of his stories were really good.")

Does it have any issues? Yes. It's 164 heavily illustrated pages. You can read it in an afternoon. And some of the illustrative pieces feel over-long for the point they are trying to prove. I hit the point on a couple of them where I found myself saying, "Yes, I get it. We needed the X in the beginning so we would understand Y now. Can we move on?" I also felt that, at 164 pages, he didn't really have the opportunity to go into depth on some areas. There's a point where he provided two bad examples of a comic script... and no good example. Aaaaah!

Even with those issues in mind, I have to give the book 4 caped crime-fighters out of five. It's well-written (though there are also some grammatical gaffs that make me want to scream), it's engaging, and it's instructive. Worth the read.

As a veteran comic book illustrator (You can find my work here on Amazon.com; I am the CO-creator and artist of Transmetropolitan), I am often asked to recommend books to aspiring professionals in comic book illustration. In that case I always enthusiastically recommend any of Eisner's instructional books as essential reading for anyone serious about their craft and dreams of getting into the industry.

From the earliest work of his career, Will Eisner was an innovator in writing as well as illustration. Even in his twilight years the man is still a vigorous and creative artist producing work that pros as well as fans can't wait to get their hands on.

These books display his genius in an entertaining and easy to follow method, and if put to practice will inspire and reveal hidden keys to making your work truly professional grade. A great companion book to Eisner's "Comics & Sequential Art".

- Darick Roberston

a volume with meticulous research, and also a sad inventory of the last specimens of this extinct bird. Let us hope there won't be too many books in this serie.

Ask anyone you know with even a cursory knowledge of birds and animals to name you an extinct species. After the Dodo, the Great Auk will probably be the most frequently mentioned name. The reason the story of the Auk's extinction has remained in our brains, in the recesses yes, but remembered nevertheless, is because of the sheer size and horrific destruction associated with the hunting to extinction of the bird.

The book deals not just with the hunting of these large flightless birds (think Penguin) for food but also looks at what their feathers, fat and oils were used for. Other subjects include the history of the trade, a full description of the birds appearance and it's behaviour. Although the last bird died in 1844 the story does not end with their demise. Fuller talks about the stuffed specimens and the eggs and how the greed associated with the Auk's extinction continued in the behavoir of collectors and museums.

Plenty of color illustrations. Gift for a bird lover.

THIS IS A MOST EXCELLENT AND SUMPTUOUS BOOK.THE AUTHOR COMBINES IN HIS STYLE VICTORIAN IDEAS ABOUT COLLECTING WITH MODERN CONCERNS ABOUT CONSERVATION.A BETTER MAP WOULD BE IN ORDER"TRY FINDING FUNK ISLAND".HE OPINES THAT LIKE THE PASSENGER PIGEON,GREAT AUKS CAN ONLY EXIST IN GREAT NUMBERS"PG.63" HE ALSO DOES NOT TELL US WHAT HE PAID FOR HIS OWN SPECIMEN."PG.141" A BEAUTIFUL AND TECHNICAL BOOK.

Fuller's book cannot possibly be surpassed on its subject, the extinction and remaining artifacts of the The Great Auk. A truly amazing book which details every stuffed auk from around the world, as well as all the egg specimens. Mostly with photographs, the history of how each specimen finally came to its current residence of display is a story in itself. Great detail is given to the obsessive collectors and dealers through the last 150 years also. Forget the price, just buy this book! Fuller's own Auk is photographed extensively in colour. Only question remaining on the subject is, What did Eric Fuller pay for his Greak Auk?"

ELaine Hodges' "The Guild Handbook to Scientific Illustration" is truly a landmark as a reference and the finest on my shelf -- and I cannot count the times I've sought it since 1989 out either to clarify a client's request or as a refresher for some obscure technique (carbon dust, for example) . . .

Even though the book is quite expensive even by reference standards (twice its price of 1989), I would purchase it again without hesitation. Truly, there is no question of hand technique that is left unanswered . . .

If that were not enough, the volume weighs over two kilos and could also prove a formidable weapon . . .

Since its first edition this book has been by far the best single resource available for anyone with a serious interest in scientific, medical, biological, nature, botanical, or wildlife illustration.

Don't be daunted by the price - this book is worth far more than the next 10 competing books combined. I've been a professional medical and scientific illustrator for 35 years, and I own hundreds of books on the subject, but I think this single volume should be the foundation of any reference library on visual communication in the biomedical sciences.

Over and over in my work I found myself referring back to this encyclopedic manual. A must for all those in the field of scientific illustration, and a huge help for graphic artists and illustrators in general.

The most extensive coverage of media and subject matter for use in creating science art. For use by practicing illustrators.

As Giger fans, this is an excellent follow-up to "Necronomicon", with more gorgeous pictures. Another excellent gift for that special weirdo in your life.

Well as the Biggest Giger fan in the world i could never express the value of each book that he publishes. If your looking for something new, strange,fun,and exotic H.R. Giger is the man to see, with his uniqe style of erotic horror and morbid imaginTION this book has no exception, check it out today. you won't be dissapointed!

Giger's art, like the music of Marilyn Manson, the paintings of Jackson Pollock, and the clothing taste of Cher, tends to provoke extreme reactions in people (the classic "love-hate" relationship). This book, as well as the first Necronomicon volume, delves deep into the subconscious and comes up with fists full of squirming demons and violent yet artful sexual imagery. Some people are so repulsed by these "shadowed" parts of the psyche that they condemn Giger's art in general, while others wallow in the decay and degradation he depicts, believing it to be a mirror of the world they see around them. I personally keep Giger's work next to that of Alex Grey on my bookshelf, representing the dark repressed side of human nature coexisting along with the transcendental, spiritual side. Some may call Giger's art spiritual; I personally find it far too celebratory of the flesh for it to be truly spiritually-themed. If you are considering buying this book, first of all be forewarned: it is graphic and disturbing, but if you're looking at Giger books to begin with you probably already knew that. Also, I find the first Necronomicon volume to be better than this one. But if you are a fan you definitely will not be disappointed. You should probably buy one of Giger's lower-priced retrospectives if you're only going to have one of his books, but the attractively presented Necronomicons are the logical next step if you find yourself wanting more. Giger's work is very yin; just make sure you have some yang on your bookshelf to balance it.

Horrific? Yes, but beautiful none the less. The art in this book offers a great view into Giger's mind. Giger's use of the airbrush is phenomenal, giving his art a very realistic style to it. While flipping the pages, I felt like I was either reliving a nightmare or viewing satan's personal photo album. A truly unique experience.

I highly recommend this book based on its unique and excellently rendered imagery.