Illustration Books

The first time I was introduced to the art of Rodney Matthew's was in 1994 with the book, "Last Ship Home". It didn't take long for me to rush and pick up "In Search of Forever", "Countdown to Millennium", his portfolio collections and a host of other books featuring him!

What becomes apparent upon "feasting" our eyes on his captivating illustrations is the creative genius behind them. The surreal and fantasy-like nuances that he infuses the most mundane objects with transport us into a magical realm. Here, common animals are inspiration for exotic beasts (a 4 winged eagle, a 4 eyed elephant or even a saxophone toting grasshopper!) and classic fantasy novel settings ("Alice in Wonderland", "Middle Earth" or "Camelot") are imbued with epic breathtaking qualities that invite you to go on an adventure as you flip through the pages. His employment of color is superb and the level of intricacy is simply mind boggling.

Rodney Matthews has done for the art world what Peter Packson's "Lord of The Rings" did for Hollywood; to bring the fantasy genre into the forefront of people's minds, young and adult alike. He, along with a select few panel of artists (Patrick Woodroffe, Boris Vallejo, etc.) form the core of the movement to bring the psychadellic inspirations of the 70's into the 21st century's mainstream creative consciousness.

If you are someone who likes all things fantasy-related, this book is definitely a keeper. When I feel bored and uninspired, I just have to open one of his books and feel immediately transported away into another world! My wish is for him to collaborate with J.K. Rowling for the Harry Potter series sometime in the near future; that would be the day!

I bought this book a long time ago. I have yet to tire from it. Rodney Matthews is one of the best Fantasy artists around, and has also done work for musicians as well as magazenes and books. The work this book hold vary from people like Sir Arthur Conan Doile, H.G. Wells, J.R.R. Tolken, and many many more. It's too bad it's out of print, or I would recomend it to anyone vaguly intrested in Fantasy art.

You can't hope to understand the U.S. Civil War without coming to some kind of an understanding of Robert E. Lee. The South's preeminent commander was a larger-than-life figure in his own time, and continues to occupy a very prominent place in the American imagination. He is seen as the personification of the Southern aristocrat, the Christian gentleman, and the brilliant military commander. To some extent, all those characterizations are true; but they hardly tell the full story. The essays in this volume serve as a fine introduction to the ongoing debate about the true meaning of Robert E. Lee to us as Americans. Contributors like Douglas S. Freeman portray him as a godlike, awesome figure; revisionists like Alan T. Nolan brilliantly reexamine the traditional view, suggesting that Lee had flaws, both as a man and a commander. The most recent essays, such as Gary Gallagher's contribution, suggest that although the revisionists are to some extent correct, Lee was nevertheless a source of strength, not weakness, to the Confederacy. The debate will doubtless continue to rage, and if you want to get brought up to speed, this is the place to start.

It took my a long time to make it through this book, but it is well worth the time and effort. Gary Gallagher has consolidated several essays (to include his own) that describe Lee's abililty as a military commander. This approach really provides the reader with a comprehensive view of Lee on the battlefield.

Two interesting things about the book. First, the authors vary greatly and include subordinates of Lee, noted Civil War historians, and modern Civil War scholars. Secondly, and not surprisingly, the opinions of these distinguished authors about Lee also vary greatly. Some view him as the true hero of the South, while others argue that he is the main reason the Confederacy lost. The result is that the reader can analyze the positions and decide for himself whether or not Lee was a good, bad, or mediocre General.

If you are interested in gaining insight into Lee's role in the Civil War, then I highly recommend this book. It is worth noting that it helps if you have a fundamental understanding of the War and the sequence of battles in the East before tackling this book. Otherwise, some of the articles may be hard to follow.

I met Dr Megan McKenna for the first time last summer in Scotland, we spent a week working together in the house of a mutual friend.

She was preaching on Sunday and giving a workshop on one of the evenings during the week. There were three services on the Sunday an for once in my life I actually returned to hear the same sermon preached twice. What was even more impressive was she kept the congregation spellbound while she was preaching - they hung on her every word.

This is another of her works, which lets us reproduce some of her tremendous insights - if alas not her style!

This work deals with the reading for Lent it is a splendid book packed full of stimulating and thought provoking ideas for sermons. However it goes beyond that. I should also recommend it a tool for personal reflection and meditation for everyone.

If you would like to take time to meditate over the scriptures and do not know where to start this book is an excellent point of departure.

I met Dr Megan McKenna for the first time last summer in Scotland, we spent a week working together in the house of a mutual friend.

She was preaching on Sunday and giving a workshop on one of the evenings during the week. There were three services on the Sunday an for once in my life I actually returned to hear the same sermon preached twice. What was even more impressive was she kept the congregation spellbound while she was preaching - they hung on her every word.

This is another of her works, which lets us reproduce some of her tremendous insights - if alas not her style!

This work deals with the reading for Lent it is a splendid book packed full of stimulating and thought provoking ideas for sermons. However it goes beyond that. I should also recommend it a tool for personal reflection and meditation for everyone.

If you would like to take time to meditate over the scriptures and do not know where to start this book is an excellent point of departure.

This book is a well balanced collection of sketches, drawings all the way through highly refined work. It is a great source for designers and artists especially anyone who wants to improve their perspective skills. Even if you not an artist I think anyone interested in futurism or vehicles would find this book extremely interesting. Love the drawthrough concept it lets you visualise the structure in transparent way and makes for some really cool looking drawings.

This book is very inspirational for anyone in the design field! It has tons of examples of his process and not only ideas for being creative, but also help get your creative juices flowing. I thoroughly enjoy looking at this book over and over and finding new ideas to draw from.

In the world of Tolkien artwork, two artists sit at the top of the heap: Alan Lee and John Howe. These two artists have devoted a lot of ink to sketching scenes from J.R.R. Tolkien's masterworks, and in the "Lord of the Rings Poster Collection 2," we get to see some of Lee's best work.

"The Halls of Moria" is one of the most stirring pieces of artwork -- an enormous dark hall full of pillars and vaulted ceilings, with a beam of light shining over the Fellowship. "Tol Brandir" shows a tangle of leafless branches, mossy rocks and stone steps. And then there's the "Golden Hall," a beautiful landscape crowned by a hill, on top of which is Theoden's home. Lee's painted clouds look as if they are glowing.

"Orthanc" shifts the focus to grimmer subjects -- Saruman's stronghold is immense, menacing, vaguely insectile with its black shiny look. And, of course, it's surrounded by floodwater. "The Siege of Gondor" is tightly packed with grinning, creepy orcs with spears, and a few human warriors, one of whom is dead. And "Two Orcs" has a pair of suitably creepy-looking orcs, not doing much.

Of the two poster collections of Lee's work, the second is obviously superior. We get a range of subjects, from all three books, and it shows the different kinds of artwork that Lee can do. The posters themselves are lovely -- high quality paper, clear reproduction. As for the pictures themselves....

Alan Lee does "still work" the best -- even when his subjects are in motion, they look very quiet and almost dreamlike. There's a lot of detail poured into these, since even small twigs, cracks and stains make their way into his artwork. They also tend to have muted, faded colours, lots of soft greys, browns and greens. Some of them look like sepia photographs.

Looking at these beautiful posters, it's easy to see why Lee was one of the designers for the "Lord of the Rings" movies' exquisite sets. A wonderful collection of fantasy artwork.

This collection features six works of Alan Lee who, along with John Howe, was one of the principle conceptual artists for Peter Jackson's films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings".

The six works featured in this collection are:

1. The Mines of Moria
2. Tol Brandir
3. The Golden Hall
4. Orthanc
5. The Siege of Gondor
6. Two Orcs in the Land of Shadow

The six works are large, stand alone posters on heavy stock contained within an attractive folder featuring "Orthanc" on the front cover. The prints--the originals were done in watercolor--have a black border with the name of the work and the artist at the bottom in small print.

These prints are an excellent addition to any Tolkien fan's collection.

I rate this book so highly because of its unique standing as both skillful work and historic artifact. Given the fact that even King Babar is forbidden in some circles, people who look on literature as political porridge for babes might pass this one up. Its propaganda is out of date, and for a small elite: many of the tales were smuggled into the captive children of the Tsar in Siberia. If we allow ourselves to be transported to another world, where the monarchy is as benign as that seen through the eyes of the children of the Tsar and Tsarina, and through the eyes of the young son of their heroic Dr. Botkin, then we can enjoy these amusing tales.As in sets of colorful toy soldiers, the characters are male. Whimsy animates these teddy bears, monkeys and rabbits in military dress. The teenaged Botkin, full of Russian artistic soul, drew his clever animals, created their uniforms, and put them in the sort of jeopardy in which their young readers lived. The children were a captive audience, literally, to whom he tried to give hope. His father, Eygeny Botkin, like the gentlemen who stayed behind on the Titanic out of a sense of duty, was shot with the Tsar's family. Unfortunately, the tragedy does not end there, because some die-hard monarchists (not the same thing as monarchs) would separate his bones, if they could, from the royal ones they wish to venerate. Gleb escaped the Reds, and went on to raise a family in New York. When various claimants to Anastasia's identity came on the scene, he was asked to give an opinion, informed as he was by real intimacy with the family circle. Earlier Botkin's had been court physicians; now they had to make it as immigrants. That in itself is another tale. We must be content with this one for now. It is an engaging hint at the profound effect of history on individual lives, not least those of cultivated people in the Tsar's court. Thoughtful children might enjoy this book. There are now many Russian immigrants in our society once again. I wonder how this book would be viewed by them. It is indeed a piece of the puzzle of what was the Soviet Union, and now has become Russia again.

A beautiful book that stirs back a lost time and the tragedies of the last Tzar, Nikolai Alexsandrovitch Romanov II.

Covers the Maryland Booth Family +! Kimmel is the greatest!! Wonderful pictures and well written! The second edition (Dover) is the best by far!!!!!!!

I first read the revised edition of this historical biography in 1972 & have been reading about the Booths ever since. The wealth of information is descriptive & in depth; offers a wonderful understanding of Lincoln's assassin by recounting his heritage from a "wild" family of their time. Have owned my own personal copy since 1974 when I was sixteen years old. Anyone interested in this subject, this is a gem of a book not to be discarded.

Whether your interest is socio-cultural, historical or purely aesthetic, you will treasure Henri Schindler's latest passport to the "Golden Age" of the New Orleans Carnival celebration. Schindler, who is himself a treasure-trove of information on this subject, has put together a most interesting documentary providing an in-depth discussion of the historical roots of the pre-Lenten festival against a background of the artists, illustrators and patrons who gave the "Golden Age" its particular look and ambience. The quality of the color reproductions of the invitations that make up a major part of the book is most impressive. The color and clarity of these (mostly) art nouveau works comes across on each page, leaving the reader with the feeling that he or she has truly been a part of this romantic era.

Over two hundred invitations, dance cards and admit cards are assembled here in a coverage of the art work associated with the Mardi Gras which began in the 1870s and was marked by pageants and private balls. While Mardi Gras Treasures is a specialty collection of interest to those researching New Orleans collectibles and Mardi Gras collectibles in particular, many a reader will delight in these full-page illustrations.

This is the 13th of some 30 books written by Charlotte V. Allen and I think, so far, it is the best. I am slowely working my way through all of them. I loved Francis, Hadleigh and Bonita. It got somewhat farfetched toward the end but I loved it. Charlotte, write another one like this or maybe you already have and I haven't gotten to it yet.

from the back of the original paperback book: "They were the unforgettable, passionate men and women bound together by an era of turmoil and tears ... blood and passion, by a search for love, happiness and fulfillment ... FRANCES -- a beautiful, pround Englishwoman torn between her dreams of romance and the reality of her marriage, about to be swept into a maelstrom of secrets, betrayal and forbidden sensuality. HADLEIGH -- the daughter, alone and vulnerable, too hungry for love to know the difference between caring and desire. ARTHUR -- the husbandf, obsessed with a woman he should never forgive, but whom he cannot forget ... or stop wanting. AMANDA -- the other woman, very lovely, very desirable, very devious, ready to fight for the man she loves, ready to destroy the rival she hates. Sweeping across decades from war-torn London to the promising landscapes of New York and Connecticut, from the stormy secrets of the soul to ... MATTERS OF THE HEART."

In concise but informative prose, Margaret Wagner illuminatesnot just the work of the timelessly popular Maxfield Parrish, but sheplaces him firmly within the context of his time. Ms. Wagner accomplishes this by introducing readers to some of Parrish's lesser known contemporaries (though the book has a rich selection of his work too) and by not falling prey to histrionically trumpeting his "greatness." Parrish's fans might even learn something from this book.

Many books have profiled Parrish's art; Maxfield Parrish and the Illustrators of the Golden Age reproduces 70 works of Parrish and other illustrators of his times, using the archives of the Americana Illustrators Gallery and other resources to present works by a range of painters. Chapters provide plenty of text history of the works of these illustrators and their related styles. Highly recommended, this goes beyond most singular Parrish focuses.