Art Books

Just pop in some FrontLine Assembly, VNV Nation, Funker Vogt, and Apoptygma Berserk mp3s, and browse through this amazing collection of sci fi/fantasy artwork from the master known simply as Brom. Large, crisp, full-color photos of his amazing paintings grace this informative book. See sketches for some of his paintings in the margins, and view his talented early sketches from age 5, 11, and 20 years of age.

Brom is the most amazing artist in the Fantasy genre. This book is a great buy if you love Fantasy art and you want to see a true master. Forget Frazetta, forget Vallejo, Brom is the one. This book portrays Brom's art to it's fullest. Beautiful, full color prints adorn every page, showing off Brom's masterful talent and attention to detail. Don't miss out on this one or it's sequal 'Offerings'.

If you like to draw, like great art works, sci-fi, well fantasy art this book is for you. Brom his a great artist, very talented, his art book got lot of nice to weird art works. It had been a while since I search for a great fantasy art book and this one is the best I saw so far!

I saw this book in a store yesterday. The title, Darkwërks was what first caught my eye. So I picked it up, looked at the covers, back and front, and began to flip through the first pages. I was amused very much by the art created by Brom in his earlier years. For instance, when he was age 6, he drew quite a bloody scene; a body riddled with knives and sharp objects. So, I started to look through the pages. Immediately, I was captivated by his morbidity and uniqueness. The graphic beauty of each picture shot into my eyes and made my heart quicken. I had only planned to glance through the book, but within seconds I had become a slave to each work of art.

While definitely not for the....."Normal" person, anyone who loves the morbid and macabre will love this book with all their heart and soul. Beautiful, beautiful blood and violence. Femme nikita, freaks of nature, tortured souls and Dark Angels fill the pages of this magnificent masterpiece. BUY IT NOW!!! Hah...

Brom is a fantasy artist who is best known for his work on his work Dark Sun, Deadlands, collectable card games, and book covers. He stands out from Boris & Julie as well as Frank Franzetta partially for the sole reason that most of (though not all) of his portraits contain people who wear clothing, albeit usually something fetish inspired, leather and latex. He has a very distinct style, painting very beautiful moon-skinned redheads and tan wild-elven creatures, which stand along detailed landscapes that insipre the imagination. Some of his work is disturbing (though not quite as disturbing as H.R. Geiger), and mostly very dark (what would you expect from a man who listens to Nick Cave while he paints?) but all of his work is remarkably well composed and masterfully detailed.
Brom has a larger influence than many people realize, for example the evil albino in the recently released movie Time Machine could very well have come directy from the pages of Darkwerks. To get an idea of how popular Brom has become, just type in his name in any search engine (Google works best). Darkwerks is a very good collection of his art, containing very little text and allowing all of the pages to be showcased in full-sized, full-colored glory.

This book introduces jazz to a young audience. It explores the sounds, rhythms, and emotions of the genre through colorful pictures and rhythmic words similar to the beat of "scat" singing.
Lots of the words are there just for the sound of them. By focusing on the sound words, students could develop spelling strategies that help them move from phonemes, the sounds they make, to graphemes, the written representations of those sounds.

This book is excellent. The illustrations and musical text allow for early readers to really enjoy and learn from this book. Perfect for preschool and kdg age. I used this book as the basis of a jazz unit, it worked wonderfully.

"Charlie Parker Played Be Bop" was my son's favorite book when he was two and nine years later we still have fun reading it. I now purchase a copy for new parents to read to thier babies. As a speech language pathologist, I want to share to magic of words and the music they can make! This book is an absolute MUST read for all children.

I wasn't sure how my little one would respond to this book even though I love it. If I ask, "Do you want to read about Charlie Parker?," she lights up and starts literally starts to bop. The baby digs it. Just more evidence that the jazz is a universal language. I like the introduction to poetry, rhythm and randomness ("Never leave your cat alone"). I bought two other copies and gave them to my friends for their babies.

I am an elementary school music teacher with students ranging from pre-K to 5th grade. I read this book to all of my pre-K and kindergarten through second grade classes and sometimes the mood strikes me to read it to older students. There is something in here for most every age. Everyone loves it.

So why does Raschka draw chicken feet in such odd places, e.g., on overshoes, alphabet letters, pancake flippers?

Well, rumor has it that one day Charlie Parker was driving back to his boarding house and, as luck would have it, he hit and killed a chicken that had run out into the street from someone's front yard. Such chickens are called "yardbirds". The alleged events include Parker doing the unthinkable, namely, backing up his car, picking up the dead chicken (aka "roadkill"), taking it to his landlady (hey, it was fresh!), her cooking it, and him eating it. When friends heard this story, Parker was known forever after as "Yardbird", which was eventually shortened to just "Bird".

If you didn't catch the part about the chicken feet on your own, don't feel badly. Insiders like Rachka and myself know it and now you do too. Rachka has done a terrific job in providing a lot of feeling about some very notable personalities. Plus he does it with humor, some of which is very subtle.

My students probably have as much fun going through Parker's history as with the book itself. But all of that is just the preliminaries: I then have to read it several more times with the students reading and acting out the story. We have a rockin' good time.

A Child's Christmas In Wales CD: And Five Poems
Hurrah! Now I won't have to wait for the radio to play Dylan Thomas reading his wonderful Child's Christmas every Christmas. Truly a beautiful recording of the other poems as well.

My goodness, these illustrations are ugly. They completely detract from the beauty of the language. Either read it out loud to a blind person or stick with the version illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman.

This reading of A Child's Christmas in Wales is tops! It wouldn't be Christmas for us without hearing Dylan Thomas tell his story. He recounts a holiday of simple, family and neighborhood doings, and paints a picture of snowy, seaside Wales of the 1920's.

I love this story, as do all my children, who, from their earliest years, have not much struggled with the density of the language nor the scatteredness of the story. 5 of my 8 great-grandparents are from Wales, and the remaining 3 have the blood in them as well, so maybe it is like drinking water for us.:-D Our minds are all scattered, and words, even English words ;-D, fall on us in clumps....which makes it doubly hard to keep a clean house. LOL

The sort of prose-poetry imaginative way of seeing and describing the world unique to Welshwomen and Welshmen and Welshchildren, which does not seek to keep up the pretense that history can be separated from myth, story and desire, and which requires loving with eyes wide open to [and eventually embracing] one's own and others' bumps, bruises and idiosyncracies included, is extraordinarily well represented here. So, by the way, is speaking and listening to the close and Holy darkness!

My favorite version isthe one illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. To me she has captured the complexity of the Welsh personality best, though i have nothing to say against the other illustrators praised in these reviews. I DO have a warning for you: there are some skinny versions flying about which do not have the poem-story complete and correct. This sort of work cannot suffer removal or modification, IMHO.

gbg

If you have read A Child's Christmas in Wales, you know that it has to be a classic. But you can't fully appreciate it until you have heard Dylan Thomas read it. What a deep, expressive, poetic voice. For years, I have listened to the recording on a Caedman record. It is wonderful to have it on a CD.

I thought this book is very good for beginners who are interested in roman army and equipment. it is nicely divided into 4 parts, and the terminology is clearly explained with photos or illustrations. There are also small surprises where specific campaigns are discussed in a 2 page summary. i will definitely recommend this book for beginners

Anyone interested in Roman History should include this in their library.
Excellent detailed pictures and written history.

The author is an expert in Roman military matters with several previous works to his credit, and even though he's an academic, his style is exceptionally readable without being oversimplified or talking down to the reader. He begins with the origins of the citizen army under the early Republic, made up of soldiers who volunteered as a matter of patriotism. This worked fine for several centuries, when Rome's sphere of influence was still relatively small and campaigns were limited in time. As conquests expanded, though, and continuous occupation became necessary, a full-time professional army became necessary, made up of career soldiers receiving pay. The ethnic make-up of the army also shifted, with a large percentage of non-Italians being accepted -- though they were still citizens, as the law required -- and with a much greater proportion of non-citizen auxiliaries added to the TO. Other sections of the book cover the many aspects of a soldier's life, both on garrison duty (which might be most of the time) and at war. Great attention is given to weapons and equipment, and the author is careful to note the many competing theories based on scarce evidence. The nearly 250 illustrations even include photos of modern reenactors, whose experiments and field trials have answered many scholarly questions. A lovely book, well written and edited, and very useful as a bridge between casual interest and academic study.

Because I am writing a novel about the Roman Army I was looking for a source that brings my research together. Having read several of Goldworthy's works I knew this book would be well researched and very readable. I was not disappointed. The graphics are great, drawings, paintings, maps, diagrams and photos really bring support the text and answer a lot of questions that even a professional researcher may have.

The complete Roman Army is just that. Although it will not stand alone, it is the one work I have in my library that answers the lions share of my questions. Since buying my first copy nearly two years ago, I have begun sending it as a gift item to other enthusiasts, even one to my editor. This book is a good investment.

If you are going to buy one book on the Roman Army - this should be that book!

Historian Adrian Goldsworthy write authoratively and in great detail on every aspect of the Roman Army, including the Republican Army, the Professional Army, the life of the Roman soldier, the Roman Army at war, and the Army of late Antiquity.

This book, which is a great read and is lavishly illustrated with maps, photographs, timelines and charts, provides unparalleled insight into the armies of the Caesar's as well as all aspects of warfare through the late 3rd Century.

Worth every penny. It doesn't go very deep in each subject, but enough to better understand and appreciate Japanese swords. The described forging techniques are detailed enough in my opinion for someone who wish to start trying forging his own blades (most probably knives for beginning). Lots of stuff can't be learned by books, and this one is no exception, but at least you'll learn basic forging techniques instead of starting from scratch, on your own.

It has a great deal of information on Japanese swords, how to identify them according to the era they were made, etc.

I highly suggest this book for every Japanese sword enthusiast.

An excellent book, getting a bit old now but still extremely relevant.

Well written with excellent descriptions and photos.

Good to see Yoshindo Yoshihara is still alive, but he looks a bit older than the book photo!

I throughly recommend this book to anyone starting out in Japanese swords.

Steve

An excellent book. It has all you need to know to either understand the craft of the sword or to begin your own explorations into the craft. Or both.Craft of the Japanese Sword is well written and illustrated, with an emphasis on the artisanship and detail of each step in creating these beautiful works. Ken wa hito nari.

It's a good book, good information!
Photos should be color, that's the only thing I don't like!
But anyway, I like it!

This book is an excellent introduction to Japanese swordmaking by looking at modern masters and how they make swords. If you are just beginning an interest in Japanese swords and how they are made, this is the book for you. The book takes you through the process of forging the blade, polishing, making the habaki and finally the scabard. This book is highly recommended!

Finally, a way to beat your caffeine addiction! Creative Advertising. For aspiring and seasoned creatives alike, Creative Advertising is fuel for great ideas. The Kickstart Catalogue is an invaluable resource for getting the creative juices a'flowin. My work noticeably improved after reading this book. I could go on and on, but I don't want to waste your time. Instead of reading this, you should be reading this book. You will not be sorry.

When you first lay your hands on this book you will realize this book is something special with its elegant appearance. The book speaks directly to two audiences creatives and professionals on the acct mgt/client side. The author chooses over 20 different styles that an ad can use to effectively communicate.

For example before and after is a technique has been used countless times and requires diverse imagery that dramatizes the benefit to the consumer yet intrigues them to look at ad. This book has 7 full color ads and explanations that demonstrate how to effectively use this technique.

You will find the examples are from across the globe using brands from all verticals. Although you can pick up a lot from reading cover to cover, anyone can enjoy viewing the ads in this book as a critiquing exercise.

Huge book. Lots of tips. Color photos. Interviews with the pros. An overall great guide to team creativity.

This book has become one of my favorite books in my library. Extremely creative ideas and large, colorful photos. I am very pleased to have this book.

I expected this book would contain some cool ads and lots of boring text about advertising. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is actually full of awesome examples of ads, pretty much from cover to cover.

It also contains a good How To guide to help eliminate 'art directors block', based on methods used by the creators of the ads featured throughout this book.

A very good buy with lots of pages of 'wow'.

I have been teaching for awhile but this book is great for new and experienced teachers and excellent for college students studying courses in child development curriculum. It is broken down alphabetically by themes. Some examples include-seasons, holidays, ants, just to name a few. At the beginning of each theme there is a parent letter that explains what will be happening in your class. Then for all aspects of your students learning, the subject is broken down into different areas that support ways to implement the material- songs,fingerplays,math,science,language(supporting stories), art activities etc...
Overall, a great resource for early educators-especially if you run out of ideas!!!!!

This book is a great resource for teachers. It has wonderful ideas in it.

This book was purchased as a classroom requirement for my daughter's community college course. As a teacher, I don't generally buy resource or idea books, but this is a good one for the beginner or someone who does not have the time to search for ideas. Although it is costly, its a better investment than numerous small books. I feel that the way that the author chose to organize it could have been better; so be sure to read through the entire book as ideas for what you're looking for may be hidden under other topic headings!

I am a stay at home mom and have used this book to help keep my toddler busy. It is great. Every theme has activities for all areas of learning and has great book/DVD/website resources. If it's this great for a parent - it would be wonderful for a teacher!!

This is a great book. Used it as a college student, and kept it handy in the classroom like a bible. Great stuff!!!

This is an excellent text/reference for drawing enthusiasts, or students of drawing. Both the way it is broken down, and uses examples from the masters to illustrate the concepts offer a really solid grounding in how line is used to describe space, shape and tone.

This is one of the "timeless" drawing reference books every artist should look at when he/she needs inspiration. Hale picks some of the most dynamic life drawings by the old masters--Leonardo, Ingres, etc.--and disects them in terms of composition, tone, thrust, etc. He is right on in his suggestions that artists should study human and animal surface anatomy to understand the figure. I found his discussion of light and shadow especially instructive.

More of a philosophical approach to drawing than instructional. But, often i find it enlightening to learn HOW to think...more so than WHAT. A great artist can synthesize his ideas rather than simply comprehend them. This book exemplifies and necessitates this philosophy.

This book is a great addition to the student of drawing's library. The author does a superb job of analyze some excellent examples of classical drawing and elucidates the formal and structural concepts in each. Although this book does not provide very much in the way of "step by step" style technical instruction, it does provide the reader with a way of conceptually approaching a drawing.

The author demonstrates where the great artist used a cylinder, or a sphere to conceptualize a part of the subject's anatomy. He shows how lines are modulated to give varying degrees of tone and shape to the figure. Many of these ideas will stew around in your head as you approach your own drawing projects. Eventually, you will notice that you are more aware of certain parts of the form and that these are being incorporated into your work. Overall, this book is a very interesting and enjoyable way of delivering basic drawing concepts to a student reader.

I like that he has a full page to show the drawing and on the facing page he has a smaller version with commentary. He places capital letters on the drawing so you can see exactly which line or shape he is discussing.

I was one of many young kids in 1977 who was overwhelmed by Star Wars and who spent the next several years writing letters to ILM and John Dykstra trying to get a job! The whole thing just seemed like the ultimate description of fun.
I never got any responses but this book has made me smile allot. I'm learning so much about what was really going on while me and other slobbering, special effects wannabes grabbed our super8 cameras and made our little FX films.
I ended up as a cinematographer and know several others who now have impressive credits in the area of filmmaking...all due to our new found young love of filmmaking started by a little space opera in 1977. I have always wondered if George knows how responsible he is for the start of numerous film careers.
I really have enjoyed this book. Worth the read!

This is a great book, entertaining and intricate, which tells an important story. The guys a DroidWorks pioneered the digital audio industry that exists today. In 1981, I desperately wanted to break into computer music, having studied electronic music and electrical engineering. I visited Andy Moorer at DroidWorks in 1982, who gave me an incredibly generous hour long tour of the headquarters, and showed me the prototypes of their Audio Signal Processor.

I eventually did break into computer music when I went to work at E-mu Systems in 1983, where I implemented a computer audio editing system. I certainly wanted to have my own system like the astounding machines I saw at DroidWorks, and designing my own was the only way that I would ever get my hands on one. I invented the concept for the program "Sound Designer" and worked closely with Evan Brooks of Digidesign to implement this program on the brand new Macintosh computer.

Moorer and his friends blazed the trail for the whole audio industry, publishing and lecturing extensively on what they had done. Today, tape recorders exist only in museums. All movies, sound effects, and music are produced using digital systems, and DroidWorks showed the way. There were many other people working in digital audio, but few published as much, or were as bold, or had such a broad vision of how far the technology could go to replace the existing technology, or how dramatic the new technology could be.

It was as vivid as a Lucas Film movie, and as futuristic, but it became real.

I am a borderline technophobe whose mind goes blank whenever I am forced to read any computer product user's manual. The brains of the people that write these things are obviously wired very differently than mine. The leaden, sterile word choices and phrases used by this engineering culture make the sense of disconnect even worse.
The good news is that I finally have found an Electronic Moses to lead me to the promised land. His name is Michael Rubin. "Droidmaker" is a remarkable book, bringing the story of computer animation to life, allowing non-technical people like me to understand how this process evolved. The photographs of the people and events involved in the story are particularly well chosen.
This book is required reading for anyone with a basic level of curiosity on how the digital revolution came to be. There isn't another one out there like it

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this book. If you have a passing interest in modern movie making, the history of Pixar, or are a fan of Star Wars/George Lucas, you really have to read Droidmaker. The first half, dealing more with Lucas and the history of Star Wars is probably a little more accessible, but the back half, with its detailed telling of the evolution of Pixar and other Lucas-driven technical innovations, is equally fascinating. Oh, did I mention all the stuff about video games? Seriously, this is among the best books I've read in the past five years.

For anyone who is inspired by the use of technology for creation of art, this book is wonderful. I enjoyed learning the connections between computer, film, and sound pioneers, and how they inspired each other.

I just received Joseph Rosenberg's, "GERMAN: How To Speak and Write It." It is an informal conversational text of Self-Study.

The book's format is extremely well engineered, and cleverly formatted so that even someone of my age can make sense out of what is trying to be conveyed to the reader. Unlike other books, I don't know if, I will ever really "finish" this one because of it's specific purpose, that of... constant learning. However, I would higly recommend this book to anyone who even has an inkling of interest in learning a foreign language, specifically, German. This is a very good book for an excellant price!

The only thing missing in this book is it's ability in..."giving the reader Time to use it"!

This book was the fifth one I acquired in a previously unsuccessful attempt to learn German on my own. When it arrived from one of Amazon's "other" sellers, I thought, "Oh no." My copy was so old it had a "standard book number" and an old, creased cover. But it turned out to be exactly what I had needed to steadily begin learning to speak German, and to make my German-English dictionary and the three other books useful references!
"German, How to Speak and Write It" provides, with its artwork and approach, the perfect jump-start to begin doing just what the title says. It cost less than any of my other German books, but it has been by far the most useful of all!

This is a wonderful book for beginners and more advanced speakers. Everything is clearly explained, and grammar is taught along with great examples. I also love the pictures. This book makes me want to sit down and take the time to do a lesson every day! I highly recommend it, and the price is unbeatable!

I read this book each day on the way to and from Language class on the subway in Germany. It was a great supliment and is organized in a way that made me look forward to doing the next lesson on the next trip. The material is a little dated, but I found that to be part of the appeal.

I purchased this book as a refresher course in German, and have found it both useful and charming. The organization of the book is very logical, the artwork is charming, and all in all, it is a bit like an actual visit to Germany. Well worth the money.