Clip Art Books

I was very disapointed in this book. I was under the impression that it would not only be instructive but that all of the work in it would be Gerald Brommer's. It was neither.

This is a good book for beginner and intermediate collage artists. It contains basic historical and theoretical information, as well as basic application techniques. You may also consider Nita Leland and Virginia Lee Williams' book CREATIVE COLLAGE TECHNIQUES. The techniques are challenging and open ended, so they truly encourage you to be creative.

This is the best reference available as at this date on collage. It is also one of the most inspiring art books I have read. I cannot recommend it more highly. The artworks provided as examples are of the highest quaility. Thank you, Gerald Brommer.

What I particularly liked was that all the illustrations were of first rate work.So many different approaches. An excellent text and motivational advice on materials and the object of collage as a genuine artistc outlet.

Brommer approaches collage from an fine art point of view. Most other books I have looked at tend more toward the scrapbook and/or kitchy altered art genre. He has an excellent section on art paper preparations and basic design.

This book has the most awesome animal drawings I have ever seen. The fact that they are wood engravings is more than remarkable!

A present for my daughter-in-law and the illustrations were incredible. She is an artist and will make good use of this book.

Wow - the enormous numbers of animal life is astounding and the book clearly shows this. Unfortunately the images are quite dark and the book is very thick (you get your money's worth - image-wise), so scanning them for use in various artistic media is difficult. Therefore, I bought two of the books and plan to cut one of them up (that hurts to say for I treasure books of all types). This way I can control the scanning and modification using software to bring out details and highlight an image to my satisfaction. And finally, the classic images are impressive and I applaud the author for his selection of animals from all realms of life on earth.

Used several of these drawings in projects. Books like this are great for those of us designers who aren't the best freehand drawers.

This is just packed full of brilliant illustrations of birds frogs fish girafee spiders butterflies you name it , throughly recommended for any one who loves botanical illustrations or engravings , really good source material for artists or designers.very nice book but rember it is a paper back not that that matters to me.

*****
I have been reading collage books in order to get ready for a collage class I'm taking next month; while all the ones I've read have their strong points, this book is truly the "Bible" of collage---it contains the widest and most in-depth information of all of the books I've read. It covers so many topics, and for a beginner, enables me to see just what can be done with collage. As I become more experienced, though, I am certain that I will refer to it again and again.

Ever type of collage conceivable to me is covered here, with step by step instruction. It is written in an instructional (as opposed to entertaining) style, and is definitely a reference book, but one that I think every collage artist should have.

If you are wanting to learn more about collage and can only afford one book, this one is it. It covers many different styles, so unlike other books, if your style is not the same as the author's, you might be left out---no chance of that with this book.

Highly recommended.
*****

I'm speaking as someone who knows zilch about collage -- or close enough to zilch that it doesn't matter. Which means I'm extremely impressed by the way the authors clearly explained techniques and concepts in a manner that didn't confuse the ignorant (me) while informing both beginners and experts. I'm guessing they DO inform experts just because of the wide range of information. The result is that I feel I really begin to understand the basic concepts without being overwhelmed. My only problem is to choose which fun methods to try first. There is certainly an exhaustive array of options. I can't speak for more experienced people but, for beginners, I can't imagine a book being more helpful than this one.

This book does offer specific projects and yet leaves an open-ended aspect for artist innovation and personal touch. There are a lot of methods explored and so this text is a great one in addition to the works of others in this genre. The greatest part about this book is that contemporary collage artists are featured and this gives the reader a connection with his/her peers. There is no "art history" and "these are the famous collage artists" feel to this book: it is 100% TODAY people who are creating collage art. This aspect makes the world of collage feel approachable and in the here and now.

I have dabbled with collage and assemblage and want to do more. What I mainly want is info on supplies and technique, rather than an overview of what other artists are doing in the field, or a history of the art, or coaching to overcome fear of doing art. I took six collage and altered book books out of the library. This one worked best for me. The information about what supplies, adhesives, and papers/boards to use was well organized, clear and simple. Each technique was presented in a straightforward, step by step way accompanied by examples. This book had more techniques in it that seemed like ones I would want to work with than some of the other books - I'm not at a stage where I want to build a complicated studio setup or use photocopiers and photography a whole lot in my artwork, but I appreciate knowing about techniques that are a little more advanced than gluing paper down.

This book was actually a text book for a college class. As a not very artistic person, I found some of the projects to be a bit intimidating. However, the explanations were very helpful. The pictures are beautiful. I found the descriptions of the elements of design very helpful.

This book is a terrific reference. It presents copious examples along with very thorough identification for sources. It allows me to quickly pick a style that fits the need and also provides enough information to allow me to dig a little deeper and investigate a particular style through other reference material. Just perfect for what I need and wonderful for my uses.

Originally published in 1888, this book is the real deal. Honestly, this book renders so many others I have on the shelf useless. It goes through EVERYTHING ornamental from furniture, to alphabets, to architecture, to tracery, plain design, cutlery, and everything else you can think of. At first, I scoffed when I got this book because it covered such a wide range of ornamentation. I mean, what book have you ever seen that does a GOOD job covering a range? Then, when I got into it, I realized that it DOES go into detail in each section. Having 3000 images makes this possible, but what I like too, is there is a substantial amount of text explainig where the design comes from.

I think its nearly impossible to find a book this rich in resources for less than $20 USD.

This is an indispensable resource for the novice or serious designer/painter. Some designs are very small, and others are so ornate that they would be difficult to reproduce without spending considerable time and effort. However, I found most to be easy to scan, print on a transparency, and enlarge with an overhead projector. The section called "bands" has beautiful designs that could be handpainted or made into border stencils. Chapters include geometric designs, natural forms such as foliage, fruit and flowers, mythical creatures, individual ornaments, capitals and bases for columns, decorative panels, vases, several lettering styles, and much more.

Not only does this book contain a huge assortment of extremely clean and scannable examples of ornamental designs from different periods and cultures, but also provides diagrams and information you can use to create your own original designs in a given style. This may be the last book I buy (except newer copies of THIS book!) on ornamental design.

This book has been in print since 1888! Yes, it's that good! It's a bound version of an earlier work that was a folio. Forty years ago, my art teacher showed me his copy. I went out and got one. It's still on the shelves, but price has risen. It a collection of drawings from many sources: Cathedrals, Estates, Chateau, public buildings, museums and their contents! All collected before the Franco-Prussian war. Many things that no longer exist in this world. If you wish to depict life in the dark ages, the renaissance, Atlantis, Troy, the enlightenment, Hyboria, Byzantium, Rome, Carthage, etc., YOU NEED THIS BOOK!!!

24 Victorian Display Fonts CD-ROM and Book (Dover Electronic Display Fonts Series)

A great collection of fonts that's easy to download to the Mac. I was impressed that there were no filler fonts (poorly designed fonts included in a collection to make it appear that you are getting a better deal). All were well designed. Some were classic and others very unique to a particular genre of Victorian Type. We were looking for a font that looked like it would be in a medical advertisement and one that looked like it would appear on the cover of a horror story. We found both on this disk and they look genuine on our poster.

A great resource for the cutting edge designer who want more choices in this currently fashionable font group (2006). Goes far beyond what is on either Mac or PC OS and reveals a treasure trove of standout designs.

Includes Arboret. That should be enough enticement if you're truly a font freak. Pages have maps/grids/graphics to show you what characters are actually there. Sometimes a few dingbats are incl. Some (many?) western European (non-English) characters are absent.

Hope there will be a second set of Victorian fonts from Dover.

These Victorian fonts were from a period of "anything goes" in type design and everyone will surely find some goodies here. Dan Solo had a huge collection of great old and new type faces. You'll find 24 of them here. Some, you might already have, and some are so nice that I believe if you find one gem here, it makes the price worthwhile. The fonts are in both Windows True Type and Macintosh formats. The pages have the complete alphabets and a character chart. Be sure to notice the "extra characters" that are offered in some fonts.

The Victorians were responsible for some really hideous, over-decorated typeface designs - but you won't find them in this book. This Dover collection of 24 fine examples from the 19th century include many elegant faces deserving of more exposure, together with lightly-ornamented designs which recapture the charm of a bygone age. This isn't a reference book you'll leave on the shelf. The 24 faces are supplied as good quality Postscript and TrueType faces on CD-Rom. All have been deftly restored to their full glory - there are no broken kerns and worn hairlines with these little gems. My guess is that you'll find a use for most of them within a few months of receiving your copy. A must for any designer's library and a typographer's dream.

I've been wanting to get serious about mixed-media. No scrapbooking. No journals. No trading cards. I'm talking about 5 foot wall pieces hanging on plywood. Mixed-media on my ceiling. Items that can be hung in a gallery.

After looking through several "collage" books, which were really just personal journal books in a "how-to" disguise, I was frustrated and then found this.

Explaining everything from supports, to tools and materials, this is an essential book for other artists venturing into mixed-media.

As well, I read this along with Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Art Materials by Ian Sidaway, and came away knowing a lot more than I ever did, and I have a background in acrylic painting.

I gave it 4 stars because some of the material was redundant and the pictures didn't match the text, but this was few and far between.

Bottom-line: Serious potential collage and mixed-media artists start here.

As a collage artist, I found this book to be great for a beginner or a expert. The photos and precise instructions are excellent. The creative inspiration is remarkable. This a very nice "starter" the curious and a great reference for the practicing artist. This book really runs the gamut: paper collage, mixed-media w/found objects, fabric collage and digital. It's a an all-around sampler for someone trying to use collage as a creative outlet but not yet settled on the "how" of it. Check out Claudine Hellmuth as well. Enjoy . . . I sure did.

This is a fantastic book on creating a wide variety of great collage projects. It covers numerous collage techniques including using paper, mixed-media, fabric, decoupage, photomontage, computer art, found and three-dimensional objects. The beautiful galleries after each collage type are sure to inspire you.

In addition to the collage techniques you also get the basics of papermaking, papier mache, marbling and batik as well as painting and dyeing fabric. There are step-by-step instructions accompanied by demonstrating photos for all the techniques and projects. Don't expect to make exact replicas of the projects since your sources and materials will vary. Rather, the author expects you will follow her assembling directions to create a unique masterpiece of your own.

Some of the sixteen projects include a gorgeous butterfly lampshade, a painted paper fruit bowl collage, a clock decorated with magazine scraps and nature objects, and a sewn fabric book cover. Another great project is an easy to make yet sophisticated looking Japanese box covered with scraps of yuzen or chiyogami papers.

This book filled with fresh and interesting ideas is sure to help you create gorgeous collage artwork.

I wanted to explore collage as an aspect of other paper crafts I'm trying to learn. I picked this one first and I really like it. Many other collage books are meant for people narrowly focused on collage who see beauty in their collages ..... that is truly not obvious to other people - so esoteric it appeals to a very narrow audience. The Crafter's Complete Guide to Collage is different. It's visually attractive. The samples of collages have much broader appeal. The excellent how-to photographs are tremendously helpful and NOT intimidating. It opened my mind up to more than paper possibilities - it discusses collages of paper, found objects, mixed media, fabric, multi-dimensional, decoupage, photomontage, even computer collage. Its a treat - I think you'd enjoy this book!

this book got my muse back where it belongs, in my heart. not only are the techniques shared simple yet sophisticated, the examples bring out the "experimenter" in you and you can't help but want to grab your glue, brushes and colors and play again.

This book was exactly what i needed to work with on an interior design project. It was easy to read and not so detailed that would make it dull.

As a loving and dutiful son of both cultures, having been reared in France under the Nazi terror and having commanded American Infantry during the Korean War, I feel qualified to greet this treasure of a book with enthusiastic acclaim for being such a moving and exquisite celebration of the Entente Cordiale that holds these two great republics in a bond that no amount of maligning can destroy.The evocative text together with the extensive collection of superb photographs are the guides for a cultural, architectural and historical visit to the enriching French heritage that graces all the regions of the United States.No effort has been spared in designing and in producing this large and most elegant volume which is in itself a work of art.

Very nice photographs with informative text. A great gift for any American of French ancestry or someone with an appreciation of the French contribution to our culture.

"French America" is a dazzling, oversized coffee table book which opens an entirely new world all around the reader. I had expected a treasure of great pictures and was not disappointed. What I had not expected is the narration, not only descriptions of the pictures, but of the history of the French role in the development of the United States.

This book is a tour through many buildings associated with French settlement and development in the United States. Beginning with the early Huguenot settlements in New York and South Carolina, the reader is taken on to the heart of French America along the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi. Despite living among the greatest collection of French Colonial architecture in the country, I learned of near by structures of which I was totally unaware. The journey continues down the river to Louisiana with its living French culture amid the houses and buildings surviving from a way of life that is Gone With The Wind. The tour winds through sites in the Eastern states associated with French participation in the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars and concludes with Civic buildings in the Washington-Virginia area inspired by French architecture.

This book broadened my understanding of the French heritage around us and sharpened my appetite to visit some of these areas. It can do the same for you.

French America is one of those rare coffee table books that is both beautiful to look at and features a well-written and highly interesting text. The photos display incredible luminosity and skill. Both interior and exterior shots are infused with light that reaches out and grabs the viewer. The book itself is a true find - a vast historical and architectural frescoe of the French sites and buildings in America, spanning from New England, the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley to the Gulf of Mexico.

I was fascinated to learn the history of French architecture from constructions along the Mississippi Valley, like Sainte Genevieve, Missouri, built by Normans using the same bousillage and colombage techniques found in local French villages. The more sophisticated architecture of the Creole plantations in Louisiana and the urban and civic buildings of Philadelphia, New York and Washington, D.C., created from the plan by Pierre-Charles L'Enfant remid us of the once prevading French influence in this country. Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's Virginia estate, was inspired by the Hôtel de Salm in Paris and his admiration of French architecture. The Maison Carrée in Nîmes was the prototype of another of Jefferson's architectural projects, the Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, designed along with the French architect Clérisseau.

The special features on history and French culture in the US are a delight, including the Huguenots and their descendants. George Washington himself had Protestant ancestors from the l'Ile de Ré off the Brittany coast. Other sections deal with the Creole influences and the cultural importance of the Cajuns in Louisiana. As the book points out, before the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, when Napoleon sold the territory for 15 million dollars,(the greatest real estate deal ever) the settlers of French origin made important contributions in the realms of architecture, education and trade. The Jesuits educated and converted Indian tribes, the coureurs de bois established fur trading posts, talented artisans constructed houses and monuments largely inspired by French architecture from France, Canada and the French West Indies while blending them in such as way as to create a unique new style : American architecture. A great discovery !

How nice that someone has preserved both a piece of history and a part of the legendary and much-missed Montgomery Ward stores. If you study or write about history, you'll find this a fabulous reference of period styles, furnishings, and common items. Fun to read as a curiosity piece, too.

This wonderful book is a reprint of the 1895 Montgomery Ward & Co. catalogue. Everything is there, along with the pictures for each item, looking just the way they did more than one hundred years ago! My family and I had a high old time thumbing through this book, laughing at the funny styles of clothing, the strange items our forbearers needed (or thought they needed), and generally being amazed at the prices. This is quite a fascinating book to read, one I recommend to any history buff!

I've given away several of these reproduction catalogs as gifts and they're always a big hit. Instantly, the recipients open the book and start studying its pages, remarking at the prices and oohing and ahhing over the more curious items of the day.

This book gives a detailed and accurate picture of a typical "day in the life" 110+ years ago. Think about that for a moment. Can you really imagine someone looking at a 2005 newspaper in the year 2,110?!

Buggy whips and patent medicines and cook stoves (fired by kerosene, wood or coal!) and portable bathtubs and cream separaters and more were featured in this catalog.

This is a wonderful resource and a fun read. You can lose yourself for hours reading about life "back in the day."

A little trivia: There's a story (as told on PBS's documentary, "Mr. Sears' Catalog") that the Sears Roebuck catalog was a tiny bit smaller than the mail order catalog offered by his competitor, Mr. Aaron Montgomery Ward.

Sears (a marketing genius) knew that the farm wife would probably have both the Sears and Ward's catalog in her home. Sears made his catalog a little narrower and shorter than the Ward's catalog, so that when the little lady was tidying up the house, the Sears catalog, being smaller, would end up stacked on TOP of the Ward's catalog!

Rose Thornton
author, The Houses That Sears Built

This "Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalogue and Buyer's Guide" from Spring/Summer 1895 is better than a time capsule. Most of my ancestors were still on the far side of the Atlantic that year, but for my maternal grandfather's ancestors here are 25,000 items (most of which are illustrated by woodcut) that they could have either had in their homes or dreamed about owning. From straight-edged razors and high buttoned shoes to tea gowns and the New Improved Singer Sewing Machine. Historically, Montgomery Ward prided itself on being the friend of farmers and the official supplier to the Grange. Ward was the first to offer a product guarantee that became the key to earning the respect of rural consumers and building the business. However, in 1887 Ward's main competetior Sears put out his first catalog and upped the ante by showing the customer what they would be buying before they bought it (okay, he also offered lower prices). By the time this 600-page catalogue came out in 1895 Ward was following suit. Flip through it and see what sort of amenities were making their way out to the farms at the end of the 19th-century. You could buy a buggy for $60 or spend $200 on a piano. Here you can get a bathtub, chairs, watches, hats, and even a Star Raisin Seeder. How about a solid-gold eighteen-karat wedding band for only $5? Looking through these pages will give you a sense what it was like in 1895, when the average worker had to put in 16 hours to earn enough money to buy a hair brush or 260 hours for a one-speed bicycle. Just looking through the pages of books you could order was enlightening. Actually, this is more like a time machine than a time capsule.

Like the Sears Roebuck catalogue, which sits beside it on my shelf, this unabridged reprint is an indispensable tool for anyone who wants to know the kinds of items that might have been found in a typical middle-class home a hundred-odd years ago. In some ways it's even superior: the illustrations have reproduced more clearly, with their details better visible, and the type, though you may still want a magnifier to read it, is also more easily made out. Prices are of course included, though you'll want to allow for the fact that MW was at that time not a conventional retail house, but confined to mail-order, which allowed it to undercut the "traditional" merchants just as Net sellers can today! There's a full index right at the front, where you can easily look up whatever you may be interested in at the moment; or you can simply open the volume at random and start browsing. And, unlike Sears, it even has a toy section! Like all Dover books, its paper and binding are superior in quality, and will doubtless last very well. Since the items listed don't duplicate exactly, I strongly suggest purchasing both catalogues. As a writer of historical fiction, I use both frequently. Highly recommended.

Although the title doesn't mention Victorian, most of these designs originate in that era. They have influences other than the typical complex Victorian fonts. But they can be effectively be used with fonts from the other Dover title "Victorian Display Fonts". Well drawn, Mac and Windows, Postscript and Truetype...and what a GREAT price!

Weirdly, these fonts are all Gothic (actually blackletter), whereas the Gothic book in this series contains some Celtic (uncial) fonts. I think that the books were probably produced at the same time and mislabeled. Nevertheless, both are well worth buying.

The fonts included in this book will surely make a nice addition to your type library. Dan Solo had a huge collection of great old and new type faces. You'll find 24 of them here. Some, you might already have, and some are so nice that I believe if you find one gem here, it makes the price worthwhile. The fonts are in both Windows True Type and Macintosh formats. The pages have the complete alphabets and a character chart. Be sure to notice the "extra characters" that are offered in some fonts.

This is an excellent collection of 24 fonts, with printed examples and indices of the special characters for Macintosh (access to Windows special characters is described in the ReadMe file). They represent a fine collection of Baroque and Gothic lettering, but very little of the material could really be called truly Celtic. Any church could spice up its documents for special occasions with this collection. The `sz' of German formal text appears in a variety of forms. Also present are many other accented letters used in various European languages but not always included in more current fonts. Try it! Use it! There is creative material here!

This book is filled with 512 different patterns to trace and embroider to your hearts content. Designs with sizes in inches and suggested uses for the patterns. A fantastic collection!

Although I did not get the book to use for hand stitching designs, it would be great for the person who does embroidery by hand. The designs are classic and simple. Books like these are great for those of us that cannot draw great designs outselves. I got the book for inspiration for designs for machine embroidery. Some of the designs are quite large for machine embroidery but can be reduced easily enough for that purpose. It is a good book.

If you think this is what you're looking for, trust me, it is. Just superb - lots of great, clean, perfect designs - clear instructions.

I bought this book several days ago and was not disappointed. There is so much to choose from. I haven't been able to decide what to do first. The illustrations are basic line drawings. They are ready to go for tracing right out of the book or scanning into your computer to reduce wear and tear on the book. The front of the book displays a whole bunch of embroidery stitches and the directions on how to do them. The majority of the book illustrates hundreds of flowers in many different patterns and the rest consists of creatures, quilt squares and many beautiful intricate medallion patterns. The only thing that will hold you back is your own imagination. I recommend this book highly.