Instruction Books

For anyone who has admired the work of science fiction/fantasy artists or who enjoys modernistic images, this book is a great addition to your library. It's a great book to leave out for guests to admire and enjoy. Each work of art is accompanied by a short description. You may recognize some of the pictures, as many of them have been used commercially.

This is one artist who has mastered the modern methods of creating art using software. Please note that this is not an easy thing to do. I have tried, and I know of at least one very talented and accomlished artist who never managed to make the transition.

New to the world of science fiction, I was totally fascinated by the pictures and in awe that Slawek has such an elaborate imagination about a world that never existed for me until now! I thoroughly enjoyed learning about his love of science fiction as a boy growing up in communist Poland, again another world I appreciated a glimpse into. The detail and colors in his work are breathtakingly beautiful! I shared this book with my son, who is an artist, and was delighted as he was gripped by each page and was keenly focused on the tutorial. I highly recommend this book!!

I'm not the typical sci-fi reader, but once I picked up "Daydreaming" I couldn't put it down. The picturescapes on one page led me to the next; they evoked a sense of the familiar and the fantastic simultaneously. I wasn't as interested in the technical side of their creation. It was the inspiration, the depth, detail and coloring which took my breath away.

Slawek Wojtowicz is an artistic force to be reckoned with. I look forward to his future work, both in writing and computer imagery.

When I received my copy of this book I was literally blown away. I had been in love with Slawek's artwork for a number of years, anyway, and the opportunity to see such talent gathered into one book was a precious one. So often, art books are stingy on the number of color reproductions presented. Not so this time. Artwork forms the bulk of the book, along with Slawek's narrative. I can't tell you how many times I've pulled out this book at bedtime to dream over the paintings before bedtime, being taken to other galaxies in my sleep. A very nice feature of the book is where he illustrates, at the end, the process he goes through in creating an art cover for a science fiction novel or magazine. I would highly recommend this book for all ages. Not to be missed!

If you have googled my name and found this review, please move on to the next google entry as this one is really of little interest.

This book covers the changing styles and images from the 1890s thru the 1990s. Each section covers the life & times, faces in vogue, film and media, fashion, hair and hats, cosmetics, body shape and underwear, and work and play for a particular decade. Filled with interesting facts and tons of photographs, this makes the perfect addition to the library of anyone interested in fashion, cosmetics, or history! Fun and unique!

A nice collection of fact & photos on the beauty industry. Contains information on styles of each period--including the impact of film! I thought the 1920's invention of "twist-up" lipstick & the use by flappers was a hoot! Pick this book up & grab another as a gift!

Don't be to eager to dismiss this book as superficial, for females only or aimed at the fashion/ art set. It is a well researched and knowledge packed directory into the ploitics and social history of fashion and beauty, throughout the entire 20th century.
It would be of immense value to students of 20th century history, women's studies as well as an invaluable and pictorial journey for children exploring the recent past.
The layout is well structured and the photography, art and fashion plates are breath taking.
Even if just a coffee table book, it's far more engaging than the average trendy photo album.

Decades of Beauty is both an excellent pictoral as well as literary history of beauty through the decades. Great pictures that have not been often seen showcase the fashion fads of each era along with the fashion icons who are responsible for that decade's fashion hype. I loved that this book also gave equal space to the history of cosmetic beauty through the years. Its fascinating to see what type of makeup each generation "had to have" along with the "hippest" hairstyles of the day. The contents are easy to read and allows one to pick and choose a decade of interest without having to read the book start to finish. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a cosmetic junkie, fashion obsessed, or just a history buff. This would also make an excellent gift for those in the beauty industry. Enjoy!

I purchased this book a year ago and read it from cover to cover the day it arrived. But I find myself picking it up and flipping through it every now and again. I love the fact that the authors wound in all kinds of fascinating pop culture trivia along with fashion history. I learned all kinds of amazing things -- like the fact that Elizabeth Arden brought out a velvet gas mask during World War II and that someone actually saw fit to bring a bra to market that could be inflated by blowing into a straw. This book is very fun reading indeed. It's also a gorgeous coffee table book. Highly recommended.

I haven't referred to this book as much as I thought I would, but it has proven to be a good resource for computer, internet, photography, typography, paper, prepress, printing and finishing/binding information.

This book provides definitions of hundreds of terms and includes illustrations and photos where needed to make a point.

I will hang on to this book for a long time.

Not only is this the most complete reference for terminology, it is one of the most inventive and best examples of infomation design (similar to the work of Richard Saul Wurmann in its approach to looking up information, but without the maps and graphics). It's cross-referenced to the hilt, and contains explanations even seasoned old-timers will find useful. I'm currently using it as a required text in one of my design courses (graduate-level); my only hope is that it stays current and updated as the field and technology progresses.

I have a fairly minimal background in graphic design, except for a two week class I took when I was 12 (I'm 24 now). Other than that, I'm just computer literate and I learn things quickly. This book gave me a wealth of knowledge in an easy to digest form- Running into terms in your Adobe help files that you don't recognize? Get out the lexicon. Talking to a printer and you don't want to sound like an idiot? Get out the lexicon. Everyone from beginners to pros should have this book. The definitions are simple but precise, with examples of the more difficult terms to make them easier to understand. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars.

A great book for defining all those confusing terms in all the computer and design books. It clearly defines the terms you will come across in the design, layout, pre-press, and printing fields as well as offering many illustrations and diagrams or useful charts further explaining terms.

I looked long and hard to find it and for this price, EVERYONE who works in the field should own it!

Have you read about the story of a designer who went for an interview with a design company and was not considered because they didn't know terms such as "gutter" or the difference between "seriff" and "sans-seriff".

Sure, many of us should know those terms but if you are an individual who wants to continue to learning these terms that printers or professionals tend to use and you are asking yourself in yourself "what the heck are they talking about?". Sure, no one will blame you if you were nodding off in your graphic design class or didn't really read that chapter on print terminology or just plainly forgotten the terms but the thing is, if you really want that job, don't want to look ignorant in front of certain people or if you don't want to continually badger that professional, printer or broker of terminology, then "the designer's LEXICON" is the book that you will find quite helpful.

The book is broken down to chapters for terms such as:

· Computer Terms
· Internet Terms
· Photography Terms
· Typography Terms
· Prepress Terms
· Paper Terms
· Printing Terms
· Finishing Terms
· General Terms

And to find these words, you are provided with a word finder which helps finding that word in a jiffy.

You know paper but you are asked by a client about satin laid paper, a printer wants you to ad a bleed, a designer asks you about glyphs or asks you about a pica size for print where you usually are working more with pixels, it's important to know these words and it's good to have a book that you can look to and get the definition quickly.

There are a few reference books that I highly recommend which include popular books such as "Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market", "Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color" to name a few, "the designer's LEXICON" is one of those books that is worth owning.

Este livro é muito importante para aqueles que estão se aventurando pelo universo da tipografia.

For either those that have been loving typography for many years, or those that just recently have fallen infatuated. This exhaustive documentation of type-crafting minutiae is a MUST-have for reference and obsessive appreciation of classic forms and details.

Karen's careful eye will help you dissect all the classics... Perhaps even discover missed aspects of a much-visited serif, perhaps finally understanding the commonality of a specific "m" proportion, perhaps understand the evolution of "g"...

Many hours of delight await for you within its pages. Get it.
You posted this review 5 days ago.

Anyone who is serious about Design and Typography will appreciate this book. It is a perfect compliment to Bringhurst's "Elements of Typographic Style." What Bringhurst does for typographic composition Cheng does for letter-form design. More imagery than text, she presents a deep exploration and comparison of typographic forms from the major historic periods. Whether you are interested in composing your own typeface or simply seeking deeper understanding of typography, this is an outstanding reference. This one should be on every designer's bookshelf. - db

Absolutely a must have for aspiring and junior typeface or logo designers. However, the book is not an easy read; it should be read cover to cover with patience before being used as a workbook reference. Its text requires a sound prior knowledge of typography and related technologies. And it must be read in tandem with close observation of the numerous illustrations and diagrams to be fully understood and appreciated. The information shared by the author is not available elsewhere unless one attends graduate school in type design or apprentices to a type designer. I had completed my first roman & small cap font before I acquired this book and hadn't started my companion italic yet. And though the author doesn't cover italic type design her thoroughness in her analytical and comparative approach is such that I have the book open like a workbook for every italic character and am redrawing some of my romans. I've been teaching graphic design for 30 years and though so much has changed the fundamental and essential have not though they have evolved. This book will become a classic for serious professionals because of the level of insight that it gives into the essentials of type design.

Most typography books I've seen are showcases of designers and their client projects. These books may have their place for readers who are seeking inspiration and brief but helpful tips for project management. However, none of these books discuss the actual nuts and bolts of creating fonts. Cheng's book fills this gap by focusing only on typographic design, and does so in such a highly informative way that anyone who designs fonts cannot afford to be without it. Not only are all the individual aspects of type examined, but different fonts are compared and contrasted to reveal their sometimes very subtle differences. Cheng showcases many examples of her own students' work as well so the reader can see creative applications of typographical principles. A brief but highly valuable section on punctuation is also included. The only caveat I have to offer potential readers is that this book does not cover cursive fonts, which makes sense and isn't worth deducting a star for. In all, this book is the one you need if you want to make your own fonts. Amazon currently only has it available through third party sellers so get it while you still can!

I LOVED this book. Diana Vreeland's "Why don't you..." suggestions are absolutely wild. They're obviously intended for women of *great* means (why don't you give a diamond bracelet as a gift to the wife of your favorite bandleader?). And some of the suggestions are so out there, I swear she was chewing magic mushrooms. My favorite is the suggestion to put in a private staircase from your bedroom to the library, and have it carpeted with a needlepoint rug that spells out the notes to your favorite tune. My god, you're right, I'll do that tomorrow!!
This book is great to read out loud at a party.

the strange thing is, I am not sure if it's intentionally funny. The author clearly admires Vreeland, and it's a very affectionate book with wonderful photographs.

It is definitely a great glimpse at another era, and at a level of society I can only imagine. To have the kind of money that allows you to do some of these things is beyond my wildest dreams. It's a fun fantasy trip, and a fun retro trip. Five stars.

This book is something to read on a rainy day. It is beautifully put together and very mood uplifting. The suggestions do not seem all that outrageous to me and indeed could add that very necessary flair or as Diana would say PIZAZZ to your life. I love her suggestions for interior decorating. She talks about the pursuit of the perfect RED. How lovely to imagine living a life where your most important concerns are finding the perfect RED. And yes this book is probably for people who are already fans of Diana. Great pictures too.
ACL

My only qualm: I wish there'd been more "Why don't you...?"s. Frankly, I couldn't get enough of them:

"Why don't you have your cigarettes stamped with a personal insignia as a well-known explorer did with a penguin?"

"Why don't you rinse your blond child's hair in dead champagne to keep its gold, as they do in France?"

"Why don't you wear violet velvet mittens with everything?"

Indeed, why don't I?

This slim book far outshines its company in the Diana Vreeland library, and especially "Allure," a gigantic coffee table book with photographs that appear to have been digitized with a $20 scanner.

Of course, you must know and love Mrs. Vreeland to be here in the first place. Given that you do, buy this book. Don't expect a compendium of her suggestions and aphorisms. Do expect a delightful hour's browse. Well worth the money.

Any info on D.V. is exciting to me. This pretty book is filled with great photos and listing of all the "Why Don't You" articles created by Diana during her days at Harpers. If you are a fan of Diana Vreeland (as I am) you must add this book to your collection.

Differentiation in Action is an outstanding resource! Well-grounded in theory, it provides teachers and administrators with excellent instructional tools and strategies that any teacher can use to differentiate instruction and performance assessments. Some strategies are quick and easy; others are more comprehensive. Judy shares a brilliant, user-friendly integration of Bloom's Taxonomy and Gardner's Multiple Intelligences. Using Judy's models, "tiering by complexity" can become a reality for teachers. This book is a must have for teachers and administrators having the "differentiation dialogue!" BLF, North Merrick, New York

This book was a fountain of knowledge. I am slightly overwhelmed after reading it. Every aspect of DI was described, breifly so you understood it and yet didn't spend hours reading it. The reason I bought it was because of the activity and response forms for both students and for myself as a teacher. These forms made the overwhelming infor easy to manage for lesson planning. The only thing missing was a chapter or reference to classroom management. DI is only as good as the classroom manager and as stated in Teachers Change your Bait (2005) by Martha Kaufeldt DI can be a "three ring circus..." (132). I do, however, reccommend this book for the information and response forms. I reccommend Kaufeldt's book as well.

Super book with clear explanations on theory and a wide variety of practical suggestions, templates and examples. Great for all classrooms including secondary.

Differentiation in Action presents a wealth of strategies, tips, techniques, and resources on differentiated instruction that is easy to use for all educators. I have used it with groups of teachers and they readily find ideas that can be implemented in their classes immediately. Each chapter presents a specific topic with the theory neatly complemented by a wide array of strategies, so the book would be a wonderful resource for a study group in any school setting. Judy has taken the best ideas and put them all into this one powerful, teacher-friendly book. A must-have for teachers.

I have known that differentiation in the classroom is key to student success. Practical application has been my stumbling block. Finally, a resource has surfaced that offers theory and practice! I was able to use the strategies immediately. The format of the book is easy to follow. I have already recommended it to my teammates. This is a must-read for classroom teachers. (I wish my own children's teachers would read it as well!) Another plus is the abundance of other resources, including websites for more in-depth information.

EXCELLENT book.... I cannot rate this one high enough.... at firstI thought it might have been expensive but it is NOT... the price is well WORTH it for what you get, Knuth is a master!

This book won't teach you TeX or Metafont. It might not even teach you all that much about particular algorithms (although Chapter 3 is one of the most detailed explanations of TeX's linebreaking algorithms published anywhere). Instead, this book offers a look behind the scenes.

Instead of beholding TeX and Metafont in their almost final versions, as published in _TeX: The Program_ and _Metafont: The Program_, respectively, you see them grow from the first design studies (when Knuth thought of TeX as a program for two grad students to write over a summer) to where they are today. You see how the collaboration between Knuth and Zapf on the Euler fonts worked, and you get another glance at many facets of Knuth's mind (And a beautiful mind it is indeed, even though it is entirely sane).

If you have any deeper interest in TeX and Metafont, this book is well worth the money.

This book collects numerous writings on TeX and typography from one of the greatest coumputer scientists of all time, Donald Knuth. Here you get to read fascinating inside information on Knuth's earliest development of TeX, how doggone hard he worked to get the letter "S" just right in his computer modern fonts, how to typeset his wife's recipes, and other bits of amazing minutiae. Knuth's style is breezy and funny in a wry-dry kind of way. (He's the kind of down-to-earth genius you'd love to take out to dinner.), and I was amused to find out that he seems to be a film buff. (His journal from his early work on TeX shows that he went to see "Earthquake," for goshsakes, "to relax"!)

This is a brilliant book, a book to treasure, and with its relatively short essays, a book to keep handy for bathroom reading. But then again, you may get addicted and just keep reading one chapter after another! If you love TeX (or LaTeX or AMS-TeX) as much as I do, you'll have to have this book. It's that good, and you will not only be astounded by his genius, entertained by the presentation, but you'll learn things too. Trust me on this one.

I got this book primarily to understand the word-wrapping algorithm in TeX,
and just that chapter alone was worth the price of the book.

Having said that... when explaining algorithms, I find Knuth concentrates so
much on the minutiae that the bigger picture is often lost; but that's just
his style and the exposition is always very clear. I've gone through parts
of TAOCP, so his style of teaching wasn't a complete surprise to me.
The word-wrapping chapter itself has a very leisurely style with a lot
of history and background, and it was a very enlightening and pleasant read.

The book itself is a selection of papers, articles, transcripts
of talks and working documents by Knuth on TeX and Metafont
(for the most part.)

Some chapters were not particularly interesting to me, they dealt with
specifics of tricky typesetting with TeX, which I feel has a clumsy
programming syntax.

Other chapters were great reading as they dealt with the historical
development of TeX and Metafont. For example, he writes about his collaboration
with Hermann Zapf on the AMS Euler typeface, which gives great insights
on how fonts were developed with Metafont. There are a couple of chapters talking
about his fascination with digital typography and his gradual descent (or is that
ascent!) into developing TeX and Metafont, and they were fun to read.

If you're a Knuth fan, you'll definitely want to get this book. The historical
material makes for nice, light reading, and if you get the urge, you can plunge
into the technical chapters and see some interesting gears within TeX
and Metafont.

This is a highly stimulating collection of essays about TeX, typography, the delectable art of programming, the joy of a beautifully constructed letter A, the world, the universe and everything. Knuth's style is, as always, eminently readable and possessed of a fluidity unmatched in technical writing this century. Definitely recommended.

This was the ideal book for me! Thanks to this book, I can draw better than I ever imagined possible!

Ames' provides good, clear instructions. Beagles, basenjis, bulldogs and Germans shepherds are fun to draw. Any dog with a curly tail is fun to draw. Readers are also treated to a brief history of each breed on the bottom of each page.

Now, I wish there was a book (or maybe there is and I just don't know about them) of drawing classic cars. How to draw a 1964 Ford Falcon - how cool is that!

I must admit that for me it takes a bit of work to draw realistic and 3 dimensional pictures. But using the 'Draw 50' books are so very, very easy to use! Lee J. Ames's drawing method is simple with the step-by-step instructions which are easy to follow. For kids 9 and older, "Draw 50 Dogs" by Lee J. Ames is great for drawing in your scrapbook, onto your notebooks, on cards, etc.

As the title says, this book includes instructions to draw 50 dogs; all of the 50 are different breeds and types. For me I love the portraits though I also love to draw dogs running or posing. My favorite pictures to draw are most probably the 'Irish Wolfhound', 'Cairn Terrier', 'German Shepherd Dog', 'Cocker Spaniel', and 'English Setter'. The book has another nice touch which is at the bottom of each drawing, there is some information on that dog including a brief history of the breed, average weight and height of the dog, and coat and color of the dog. Extremely helpful especially if you are thinking of coloring your drawing afterwards or would like to know how big to draw the dog when putting it in a background. My only complaint that there isn't a picture of a papillon to draw which I would like to (the reason? I have a papillon for a pet!).

Of course all of the "Draw 50" series are great, be sure to check them all out! The books I want are "Draw 50 Athletes", "Draw 50 Cats", "Draw 50 Cars, Trucks, and Motorcycles", and "Draw 50 Famous Faces".

I bought this book hoping there would be a picture of a weim or a similar breed. I got lucky, there is a weim! It does look incredibly easy to follow, but I know what dog lovers want to know: is MY breed in there? so here's a list:

The book is divided into "groups". The Hound group has Afghan, Basenji (sitting), Basset, Beagle, Black & Tan, Bloodhound (sitting), Borzoi, Dachshund (smooth), Greyhound (running), Irish Wolfhound (running). The Terrier group has Airedale, Bedlington, Bull Terrier, Cairn, Dandie Dinmont, Wire Fox, Kerry Blue, Scottish, Sealyham & a Westie (sitting). The Working group is actually the CKC working & herding combined, and has Malamute, Boxer (running), Rough Collie (running), Doberman (play bow), GSD (head shot), Great Dane, Mastiff, OES, Corgi (Pembroke), St. Bernard (lying down), Samoyed, Sheltie, Standard Schnauzer. The Sporting has Cocker (looks like American, is "sitting pretty"), English Setter (head shot), Golden Retriever, Irish Setter, Pointer, Weim. The Irish, Pointer & Weim are on point. The Non-sporting includes the Toy breeds: Bichon, Boster Terrier, Bulldog, Chow, Dalmatian (sitting), Lhasa Apso, Standard Poodle (continental cut I think), Chihuahua, Pomeranian, Pug, Yorkie. All the breeds which can have cropped or natural ears have cropped ears in these drawings.

I agree with the other reviews,this is a great book in the series. If you have an interest in drawing or know someone who does,you'll find these books to be very useful. My daughter had brought some home from the library & asked for me to buy them.They go step by step with you,in no time you'll have a wonderful picture!

This wonderful step-by-step drawing book has great illustrations like the Yorkshire terrier(My favourite). Lee J. Ames, author, is very kind as I had e-mailed him many times. Hope you like this book too...

Just what I needed to organize my thoughts on starting a drama ministry at our church. It gave me the confidence to go forward.

Great book, full of great ideas to help you start or revive a dram ministry.

I'm my churchs first drama director and I needed a resource to help me get our drama ministry off the ground. This is it. It is very well written and covers everything concerning a drama ministry. It includes many different kinds of acting exercises and the cd shows different blocking techniques that can be used on the same sketch. There are a number of recommended resources at the end of the book. It is a very interesting read from cover to cover and several scripts are included to explain various details. You won't be sorry you bought this book.

This book is just excellent and the best book for a drama ministry in the church that I know! There are a lot of helpful tools. This is a book, that everyone involved in Christian drama should read. You won't be disappointed!

I have been in drama ministry for about 30 years now and I've bought dozens of books. The Christian books have always been lacking in help developing the craft of acting. The secular books can be filled with techniques that aren't very wholesome.
"Drama Ministry" by Steve Pederson is a great no nonsence, nuts and bolts drama guide without all the worldly trappings. Steve is my hero. I'd love to meet him someday.

This is another book that is very informtive for the person beginning to draw portraits.

I'm a teenager, and I hate art books. I taught myself to draw and I have never found any art books helpful, except this one. It completely changed how I do things and my style and art has developed significantly as a consequence. The progression of how to draw a face that is included in detail is incredibly helpful, and has seriously improved my work. Wonderful, lovable book.

This is an excellent book to follow after "Drawing Portraits". It was very helpful for me.

I've been drawing (and selling) portrait art for many years, so I confess, I can be a bit picky about portrait drawings. But this book did not disappoint. It is a very nice book.

The artist indeed has a true grasp on how to draw the portrait. He gives several very detailed step-by-step lessons, which are very helpful. He also illustrates and explains to the reader things like: the different shapes of the head, feature placement, and more. He makes a sincere attempt to educate to the artist on what the face is about.

One of the most important things to note is the excellence of the artwork. All the likenesses are spot-on. It is a delight to see a book full of very nice artwork! This is an essential element as far as I am concerned. If the author is a poor artist, why should I believe anything they are trying to teach me?

I do have a problem with some of the smaller sketches. They were fine, but lacked a little detail. Also, a few of the features on these small sketches got a little "wonky" (crooked eyes, etc.) But these were minor things. Obviously this artist is very capable, and really understands how to get a likeness.

It is also important to note that this book will actually help an artist *enhance* their drawing and observation skills. It illustrates and explains the true fundimentals of looking for a likeness, how to "plot out" the placement of the features, how to *understand* the face. This is the most important key to getting a good likeness. This is a far more preferable way of learning portraits than just mindlessly copying by using mechanical aids like tracing, or the "grid". Those methods may be preferred by some because they are "simpler", but they will not assist the artist in developing their drawing skills, or in truly understanding what makes a likeness. They will also not assist an artist in learning how to draw from life. The only way to truly get an evocative and convincing likeness is to *understand* the face, not just copy shadows and shapes.

This is a medium-sized book, and cannot be expected to cover all the details of drawing the portrait. But it is quite delightful, in its own way.

This book is for those who are serious about learning to draw accurately. The author breaks the process into several easy-to-follow steps. It is one of my favorite art books. I recommend it highly.