Instruction Books

Glenn Barr visited Melbourne, Australia last year (2007) and i was lucky enough to meet him at Outre galley where he had a showing of his work. It was great to see the original paintings close up. His paintings have a lightness of touch that add to their haunting quality. This is an artist who knows when to put down his brushes.
Among the beautiful reproduced paintings there's plenty of close ups, sketches, doodles to pour over.
This book is a simply a must have if you like this art.

This is a wonderful art book by my favorite of the "lowbrow" artists-- or, as I like to call them, Exploitation Painters. His technique is at once cartoony (he used to do some of the shock paintings for the first season of Ren & Stimpy) and very painterly. His subject matter is a kind of a mix of Tex Avery and Bob Clampett, Jack Hill blaxploitation flicks and a little of the early David Lynch. Wall to wall screwball surrealism against a backdrop of urban decay!

Just a few pages into this beautiful overview of Barr's work and you'll want to take up residence in this seedy, steamy world he's envisioned. Gorgons, apes, Astroboy, fez-wearing beetles, darkened alleyways in the wrong part of town, ladies of questionable repute - it's all here in this must-have for fans of illustration. Pick up a copy now, but don't say I didn't warn you. You'll be having your mail forwarded tomorrow...

I discovered Glenn Barr at a bookstore. This book did it. Now he is one of my favorite. I love his style--it's very edgy. It's a great book to add to your collection of art books. I flip through it when I need inspiration.

Some of his stuff I like a lot, but some will take a little more time. It's actually great art if you're into the darker side of the '60's cocktail scene. The book itself is well done; a nice addition to any alcoholic's bar top.

This book was produced as he was shown at the Royal Academy in London. I begged the poster at the tourist-board in Stockholm and got my parents to buy the hardcover version at the exhibition. Collecting Hiroshige prints in Stockholm I would have loved to see them in London, but the book is the second best thing. The reproductions are terrific, the text short but informative. All the different subjects of Hiroshige are displayed, landscapes, fan motives, fish, flowers and so on. Get it and then get some real prints!

I recieved this not knowing its large format and the images in full color on quality paper. Informative and accurate descriptions of the work. You will not regret buying this book. Makes me sigh....

I have no experience with art at all, but from my point of view this book is a jewl. Printings are so beautiful and relaxing, and they are numerous in this book. Also the book is well organized with explanations about the paintings.

The text provides the necessary background to facilitate understanding of the fantastic pictures. A great variety of photos provide wonderful insight into the world of Hiroshige. The pictures can be perused for pure enjoyment. Terrific book.

Quick, stop reading this review and buy this Hardcover book in New or Like New condition now, while you can. For, this is one of the greastest modern so-called 'coffee table' art books that I have come across. Too often these days one finds that such art books which should be large, lushly produced, lovingly put together and brilliantly written are unfortunately done with punk production values resulting in poor reproductions on cheap looking paper stock and accompanied by unedifying, often stultifying essays. Not this one. As I said above it is one of the most impressive art books that I have come across in twenty years of buying them. It is printed and bound in Germany which in itself is commendable and noteworthy because it is quite expensive to produce a book there. I am so glad they did because, as good as they are, Italy and Hong Kong, two places commonly used for producing today's art books, just don't do as good a job as Prestel has done in Germany. This book was originally produced to accompany an exhibition at the Royal Academy of the Arts during 1997. As such, it commanded a skilled and erudite staff of authors to craft both an accurate history and an illuminating commentary of the artist and his art. They are: Matthi Forrer, author of a similar book on Hokusai; Suzuki Juzo, the author of the standard monograph on Hiroshige; and Henry Smith a Professor of Japanese History at Columbia U. You will come back to this book many times over the years because there is so darned much information to absorb, visually and intellectually and because the publisher's top notch production values have accurately captured the spirit and beauty of Hiroshige's Woodblock Prints. This is the sort of book that will be actively sought out by art book collectors in years to come. This is why I say, buy it now, while you can at such a low price. You won't be sorry.

"OVER 400 HIRSCHFELD DRAWINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS MANY NEVER BEFORE COLLECTED
Essays by Whoopi Goldberg, Arthur Miller, Mel Gussow, Kurt Vonnegut, Grace Mirabella, Louise Kerz Hirschfeld, and Nina!

Commentary by Hirschfeld Throughout.
[from the book of the back cover of the jacket]

What a joy of a book. Not just the great grafics but very interestng information about the Great Hirschfeld

I really enjoyed looking through this book. I am absolutely in love with theater and I love seeing how he depicts all of my favorite shows and actors. He's been through the "Golden Age" of theater and has also done so much work for modern entertainment. I also have tons of fun looking for all the hidden "Nina"s. Just in case you might not know what I'm talking about, let me explain. After his daughter was born, Hirschfield began hiding her name in his drawings. The number by his "signiture" indicates the number of "Nina"s in the drawing. "Nina" is also written all in caps. Because of this, this book is not going to be just some ordinary coffee table book that only his fans might check out. It could also be a great deal of amusement for those who like to play the kind of "Where's Waldo" games.

Al Hirschfeld rose above titles like "cartoonist" and "illustrator", and every other tag specifically applied to visual artists who inject design and humor into their work. His intelligent blend of the caricaturist's eye and the designer's sense of the beauty in flat forms add up to an entirely unique contribution to twentieth century popular culture- and a highly influential one. His recent passing at age 99 marks the end of the century that he witnessed and commented upon so wittily and so stylishly. His legions of admirers (and imitators) will be well served by this 1999 book, assembled by the artist himself, with an excellent selection from his career, his invaluable commentary, and a fairly satisying selection of his amazing (and less celebrated) color work. The reproductions are fine here, and the volume is designed and presented well. It can only be hoped that more comprehensive releases and reissues of earlier books are in the near future.

Here is the indispensible Hirschfeld book - a must for any fan of his work, or of line in general. From his earliest pieces, all the way through his long career with New York theatre, his work is showcased - and done so through his eyes. Each piece is described by this great artist - his inspirations, methods, and thoughts. I cannot imagine a better way to present his wonderful drawings, and I am so very, very thankful that this collection was printed before his death. Although, yes, the work would show just as beautifully without, his commentary alongside each piece just opens up an entirely new viewpoint. This is a truly timeless book, and I highly recommend it.

The shipping was really fast. I bought this book as a gift and they liked it!

This book is so good it's scary it teaches stuff from poses to move ment step by step so you can get it really easyly. At first I was terrible at drawing movement so every piture I drew was a charater standing but then I got this book at the libray. And now I know how to draw people jumping running and much more. Very helpful and useful it should have ten stars. Cool as it gets the person who made this book worked for Studio Ghibli!
~*~Purin~*~

I must say, I really enjoyed this book. I love how the book displays the body in different views and in different positions. This is especially useful when you can't draw a character from a certain sitting position. For those who are a little concerned about nudity, don't worry. There is some nudity, but it's mostly the guys. I really wouldn't call it nudity though, since they do not draw the nipples on the females at all. It's merely a silhouette of the naked form. Other than that, this book is a must have. It really shows daily activities (like the book suggests)it also has some activities like karaoke. I wouldn't call that a daily activity, but that pose can come in handy if one wishes to draw a karaoke scene in their manga.

The third book in the series picks up right after the last with perspective. The first chapter is dedicated to it, and provides many great tips. It then moves on to basic character movements such as walking, running, sitting, sleeping, and much more. From there it even goes into greater detail by showing you variations of the previously mentioned movements, and a lot of them. After all, no two people are made the same. This is a great book for any artist period who wants to learn the different poses of the body.

Ozawa does a wonderful job again! He inititally starts the book on drawing your character using perspective giving a numerous amount of pointers and examples. Then giving basic action poses (walking, running, sitting, standing, laying down, etc) and going into variations of those actions by using multiple examples of characters. A typical example page consists of a stick figure in a particular pose, a block figure, and the actual finished character in the same pose. Front and back, or other view of the pose is common and he even gives pointers and tips of details to look out for.

Besides teaching you how to draw real believable characters, this book is an excellent edition that you may later use as a reference book for poses. Like his earlier books, Ozawa covers nudity tastefully and this book can be used by young artists without fear. A book well worth the money, imo.

As a cartoonist and author myself ( of "Let's Toon Caricatures"), I have quite a collection of how to draw books that I've amasses over the years. This book is my all time favorite for drawing great, cartoony animals.

Christopher Hart's how to draw books are all wonderful. I own this one and a couple others and I often go back to them when I just can't get my sketches perfect. When I first received them I couldn't tear myself away. I was drawing up a storm 24-7. I've drawn realistic pictures all my life, but until buying these books, I'd never been able to whip out anything cartoony. Unexpectedly, his instructions and tips on cartoon drawing also helped me out in my realistic drawing and creativity.

I can't say enough about this book! You won't be disappointed! It's well worth the price and more. One great thing about it is that not only does the author really know his stuff, he's managed to present it wonderfully. It's a fun & easy read!!!

I actually have some of my own characters now just from reading this book. Keep up the good work

I love the idea of putting cartoon animals into humorous situations, and this book shows exactly how to do that! Shows simple ways to draw some of the most seemingly complex cartoons! Highly recommended!

This book is by far the best one in my collection:) It's stuffed with inspirational pictures and it's very easy to read:) It took me only about a half hour to create my very own cartoon character after reading a bit in this book:D

The step-by-step drawing guides in here are so easy to follow, and the book also show you different degrees of hardships in creating a character. You have the easily drawn characters, the medium hard-to-draw characters, and the really hard-to-draw characters:S

I'd say i was already in the "Medium" category when i bought this book, so the easily drawn characters were just to simple for me to even bother with. But still, they make good reference::)

If i am to say something about what audience this book is aimed for, then i'd have to say it's for beginners and people like me(A bit past beginner:p). There are VERY few hard-to-draw pictures in here, so i'm gonna have to buy another book soon if i keep progressing like i do:p

Different animals you can learn to draw from this book: Cats, dogs, horses, sharks, elephants, lions, tigers, bears and a few other critters...

I love this book :) I do not regret buying it at all:) I can actually REALLY reccomend this book to people who are out for learning this subject:)

For those of us who struggle from time to time with drawing animals, especially if the animal is sitting or standing a certain way then this is a great book to buy. Another book from the brilliant Hikaru Hayashi, he shows you some steps of drawing the animals with the use of shapes to start off with so that you can give the animal form. He also give you examples of each animal from different angles, as well as their routines. The only bad thing about this book would be that he doesn't give you detail throughout the whole entire book. Only the the first couple of pages start you off with shapes. I would definately recommend this book for those who already know how to draw to some extent and above. I do not recommend it for beginners. The only nude picture in this book would be of a woman holding her cat, but her back is facing towards you, so it really isn't a big deal at all. This book is far from tasteless.

I WAS SO LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING THIS BOOK. JUST RECENTLY STARTED DRAWING MANGA AND ANIME, AND LOVING IT. THIS BOOK IS GREAT FOR THE VARIETY OF ANIMAL IT COVERS, BUT I REALLY FAIL TO SEE HOW THEY ARE MANGA ANIMALS. I HAVE MANY BOOKS ON DRAWING ANIMALS, AND COULD HAVE JUST ADDED MANGA "EYES" TO THEM AND SAVED MY MONEY. LOTS OF PICTURES BUT LACKS INSTRUCTIONS.

I'm glad to see thay made a book on how to draw animals i am especialy happy to see they show how to draw ferrets and other animals u realy don't think abou drawing.

This book waa really helpful. It has a lot of pictures that makes up for its lack of information. It includes a lot of different animals from the simple hamster to the complexity of the orangatang and the lion.

It is broken down into four main sections. The first section includes basic information. While the other three include the actual animals.

The Second section has most household animals but also a few exotic ones such as meerkats. The first few pages are mostly dogs and then it goes into cats. I believe that these are the animals that the author goes into most detail. But for each animal it has a number of different poses and includes a look inside their mouths which I find helpful when drawing bite marks.

The third section includes wild animals and also becomes more difficult. It gives a huge variety but the sections become increasingly smaller. And the last chapter labeled birds is very small and has a lot of detail but seems very crammed to the point where you can become confused. This section also includes one page of fish, angel fish and goldfish, which was pretty upsetting. They could have included a lot more bony fish and on more than one page.

If you need written instuctions on how to draw an animal, this is not the book for you. But if you can look a step by step drawn instructions then you should do fine and will find it very helpful.

ok, this book is one of the BETTER BOOKS in the HTDM series (the male book is pretty good too) and it does have a nice variety of animals in it, like giraffes, camels, tapirs, birds (tho not many *frown*) etc...it WILL NOT show step by step, so beginners beware...it just provides basics, and it kinda expects you to be able to take methods and put them to use in drawing animals...

out of all the books i own and have seen, this is probably one of the only books that is realy useful...it actualy teaches you something, in which others do not, b/c all manga books in this series have naked girls in them (disturbing...so utterly disturbing...everytime i see the HTDM female book, i feel like im going to lose my lunch)...tho wat DID get to me is even tho this book is SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO TEACH YOU TO DRAW ANIMALS, IT STILL MANAGES TO STICK A FEW UNCLOTHED WOMEN IN THE CAT SECTION...my response, as you can guess, was "wat...the...crap?"...i thought it was animals only, not humans! geez! that aside, the book helps w/ geting the animal proportions down right, and differences between some species and genders...

one of the only books you should get if you like manga...most others are useless, and a big waste of money...the ones you should also consider when learning to draw are listed below:
Tadashi Ozawa's 5 Volume collection "HTDM: Anime and Game Characters" (they have the pretty colorful covers...they teach u how to draw different types of characters, expressions, and actions both daily and battle)
HTDM Bodies and Anatomy (female nudity, males r covered...just get it for the muscle structure)
HTDM Male Characters (nudity curiously omitted...*raises eyes b/c all others make sure "body parts" on women are very detailed*)
HTDM Animals (but you already knew about this one *laugh*)

This book is amazing. As an avid Cosmo reader, I thought that this would be sort of a rewording of most articles. I was happily mistaken! I enjoyed this book (so did my husband I might add). This book gives you that extra umph of self confidance. I cant wait for a sequel!!

If you are looking for a book about how to improve your inner beauty (as in personality, relationship stuff). I definitely recommend this. I was looking for a book about how to improve me to improve my relationship. I found what I was looking for. For me personally, chapter 64 really opened my eyes. It's not that I didn't know this information before but, seeing it in print helped me realize my actions.

I have to comment on how accurate the work-related chapters really hit on the money! I recommend it for women of all ages in the workforce. However, it does apply how women are outside of work also. So, if you're a stay at home mom, like me, even though you don't work, you still associate with these women.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I admit most of it is common sense knowledge. However, sometimes we need to be reminded of common sense things.

This book includes: Table of Contents (of course) and at the back an Index by Subject(Life, Men and Love, Sex, Style, Work). Which is really good for easy re-reading!! A must-have for your bookself! And, if you get a little tired, finish that chapter for that moment, do something else, pick it up later and continue on! It gets better!!

Quite a bit was "been there, read that" -- but it was a worthy pep talk!

Who penned the title for this book? It should have been titled something else but hey I still bought it and I don't even read Cosmopolitan Magazine. This is another book of life lessons or at least How to's for women. 86 lessons in all. Of course, not every lesson is associated with sex and men but rather a woman's life and pursuit of style and self. I'm a big advocate of finding self and I think Kate White is too.

There are endless magazines on the market about anything under the sun for women. You'll find all subjects from fitness, style, health, and hobbies but no magazine delivers the message of self confidence laced with sex appeal as much as Cosmopolitan. Kate White has put together this book of 86 lessons she's acquired in her years as Editor and Chief of Cosmopolitan that will make you think, experiment, nod in agreement, and laugh.

It was a good read that offers advice on sex, men, life, self-confidence, and work. It's somewhat of a mentor book that covers all those topics that you eventually end up asking your mentor with some sex advice that you'd normally ask your most experienced girlfriend about. Each topic is to the point and fairly short so you can read at your leisure with out having to get sucked into a plot you can't put down so this is a great book for reading while waiting in line or a few pages before bed. Most of the chapters are two pages with a few that need more pages to cover the topic but all fairly short.

I loved the different topics. My favorite was lesson forty-two: Guys Like Women Naked, Period. I got a chuckle out of quote in the book: "Want to know how to look hot naked? Answer: Take Your Clothes Off! Also there are a number of other great lessons in the book dealing with work and personal appearance that I really liked. Anyway it's worth a read even if the title kind of misrepresents the contents of the book.

girldiver:)

While I understand the marketing thinking behind calling this book HOW TO SET HIS THIGHS ON FIRE, truthfully the book would have been better named How to Set Your World on Fire. Sure, there are the requisite sex tips (and I'm not even too embarrassed to admit that I learned a thing or two in this category), but what I really liked about this book were the sections dealing with life and career.

Two chapters that really resonated for me were TOSS OUT YOUR FIVE YEAR PLAN and HOW TO COME UP WITH A KILLER IDEA. Great sex advice as well as career tips, what more could a girl ask for?

There truly are a number of thought-provoking pearls of wisdom in this book beyond the naughtiness we've come to expect of Cosmo. More importantly, the book is fun and easy to read. And while you may learn a few things about setting his thighs on fire, don't be surprised if you learn other life lessons along the way.

As a Pastor of Children's Ministries, I frequently give away or recommend books from this series. The series provides parents with information and a strategy for presenting the material to their children. Use the recommendations as a suggestion - your child may need to hear the content sooner, depending on the exposure he/she has had from peers or others.

This is a great book with clear descriptions and discussions. However, it is way more information than my 9 year old needs right now. I am going to order book 2 and go from there. It will be a good book to have on hand when the time is right though.

I've been searching for just the right book for my 11 year old son and this is one has just the right look and information I wanted for him. Many other books were way too long, some with pages in the hundreds and other books were too immature for his age. This is a great beginner book for covering all of the facts and terms. An 8 yr. old would need help reading it but an 11 yr. old could read it alone. I think it would be fine even for 12-13 who hasn't learned much about reproduction and puberty. The illustrations are simple but accurate, not like some I've seen that are more like from a medical textbook or cartoonish. There is a glossary with pronunciations and definitions. I like that it is Christian and family based. It's everything I was looking for!!

My husband and I have read through the book and feel that this is the place to pick up where previous discussions have ended. Having a biblical basis was very important to us and this book does so wonderfully.

This has so much info in it, I am afraid it had a little too much for my 11 year old. She became a bit nervous at some things I thought she would not. I would not let a child read it alone, as suggested, until a parent has read it first and made sure there is nothing too mature for the individual child.

I had been introduced to this book years ago by one of my peers. I had always remembered it, but never really had a need to buy it. I had decided this year to have my high school art students create altered books, and I knew it was time to get it so they had some visual references of how you can transform book pages. I am so glad I bought the book. You don't need to read it as a book, although you can. Every time I open it, I find a new treasure. It's just amazing what Phillips has created from an old book. It's an inspiration and a great piece of artwork.

I received this book as a gift about 10 years ago and have yet to tire of it. It is beautiful and funny, surreal, creepy and profound.

I own multiple copies and give them away to worthy friends. Visually, artistically, and intellectually stunning, this masterpiece is unique in the world of art/literature. The author/artist Tom Phillips began this work in the 1960s, and first published it in book form in the 1980s. He called the result of his decades of effort The Humument and it is a completely illustrated version of W. H. Mallock's 19th Century novel A Human Document. Each page is a well conceived and compelling work of art. On each page the author leaves only a few of the original words revealed. These surviving phrases tell, in prose and poetry, the pathetic love story of Bill Toge. Symbiotically linked to the art itself, the preserved text, and its tale of Toge, reveal a story Phillips found submerged within the original text, a story which Mallock neither wrote nor intended. Phillips calls his work `mining for meaning'. Everyone who has received this book from me has had great difficulty putting it down until they had read/absorbed/experienced/lived/studied it from cover to cover. If there is such a thing as a priceless book, The Humument would be a good candidate for the category.

Truly an elegant, messy piece of work.
Tom Phillips' Humument is one of the most affecting marriages of image and text that I have viewed/read. Visaully, it is stunning, with its layers of subsumed text and inventive imagery. Moments of profundity bordering on Zen surface intermittently, whilst bawdy puns [...] up beside.
If you're looking for sustained, easily interpreted narrative, then this book simply is not for you. If, on the other hand, you long for a story that is as much in your head/heart, as on the page, I can heartily recommend A Humument.

I love this book. I first learnt of Tom Phillips when he recently did the cover of an album by a band called Dark Star, and then was introduced to his work whilst on work experience last summer. I hunted down a copy of this book, and then devoured it completely. at times moving, at times funny, and all the time completely incredible to just look and marvel at. the art work is great. ingenuitive, original and inspired. this book seems to be getting harder and harder to find... buy one while you can.

I heard about this little book in a radio review, what a revelation. Highly recommended for it's historical irony.

This little book is both a historical curiosity and of current relevance. I really wish I had seen it -- or something like it! -- before I went over to Iraq. It is exactly what the description says it is (thus the 5 stars). It's simply a reprint of an old Army pamphlet, though, so of course you can't expect too much.

This book was meant for WWII but it could have been written for the Troops in Iraq today, and it is a must read for all those who support our Troops in Iraq right now!!!

Why didn't the very first U.S. soldier to step foot in Iraq four years ago carry one of these in his or her gear and read it? Why isn't every soldier sent to the Middle East today issued one? Imagine the possibilities.

The book really is a lesson in respecting an entirely different -- and unique -- culture. For instance: Page 18: "No Preaching" seems essential; we all need reminding that "Manners are Important"(page 15); "the "List of Most Useful Words and Phrases" on p. 35 is critical in communication, a key to diplomacy before sabre rattling. Be sure to read Lt. Col. John Nagl's "Short Guide" as well.

I'm gifting everyone in my family, no matter which side of the fence they lean, one of these little gems poste haste.

A great reminder about cultural differences in Iraq. If you're stationed in Iraq this could really help you understand local population better. Great phrase section in the back.