Paint Books

This book is full of ideas for using color in your home. As a decorator, I love using faux techniques that add not only color but texture and pattern as well. It allows for so much individuality and expression when decorating. The colors and explanations in this book are great resources.

Kerry Skinner's The Painted Home: Transform Your Living Space With Color, Pattern, And Texture features over 300 ideas for twenty projects which use color to enhance room d‚cor and appearance. So what's new about painting a room? Plenty: for one thing, today's room colors can be as bold as plum or bright green, and can be combined with trim colors for added impact. For another, faux tiles, textures, and color variations can transform even the dullest wall to a work of art. The Painted Home is packed with ideas on how to make it happen

I think that this is a great book of poetry and everyone should read it. Erik is very descriptive and "pours his feelings out" to his readers. ( I am a co-worker of his and feel like I am learning more about him with every page) Good work, Erik. Just waiting for your first Novel!

Mr. Lauritzen's collection of poetry is a little long, but there are many gems to be read, and felt. The poems are grouped into what I supposed could be called chapter themes, of course some of the themes bleed over into other "chapters" but that is usually the way with poetry.
No neat boxes.

The book starts off strong with a poem of conflicting sides of a relationship, how one feels about his love and how he feels in the shadow of that love "Rapids, She" got my attention and that is the mark of a good opening offering. With well over a hundred poems there are too many to discuss at length. But his closing poem is probably my favorite as it does just what a closing poem should do, makes you feel whimsical and long for what you have just finished.
The last two lines linger nicely long after the book has been put down

"I inhale her perfume right before leaving
to remind me of the way home"

I had never read Mr. Lauritzen before, but I find myself reexamining pieces over and over again. I'm not sure if he would be considered a post-modern romantic, but I think that's pretty close. Enjoyed this read.

This is encouraging for those who have pussens with unusual personalities! Cats dance!!!! It says it all!

A pristine paperback copy of this extraordinary book. If cats are your thing, then this is a book for your shelf

"Dancing with Cats" has excellent photography, entertaining text and is purrrfectly delightful. I couldn't have found a better gift for my friend. Everyone who comes through her door is shown right to the book. Then chuckles and mimicking abound.

This book has appeared in my life several times, always with a mixture of joy and terror. The concept of the book is simple: through engaging one's cat in dance, a certain physical and spiritual equalibrium is achieved. Various people are interviewed and photos are shown of them dancing with their cats. Half of the time, though, it is not clear whether the cat is jumping or has been thrown into the shot by the photographer's assistant. Throughout the book you question yourself if cat dancing is "real"; by the end, it doesn't matter anymore.

Each one of the "cat dancers" is borderline schizophrenic, but the images are so whacky that one can't help from laughing histerically. Some people have actually recruited their children into the cat dancing way, which makes you feel sorry for them. (They will never have a normal existence.) The text that accompanies the images, however, is cause for brief moments of terror: these people actually believe they are making a spiritual connection with air-born cats. One is even concerned about creating too much spiritual energy and collapsing an astral vortex. Regardless, the book is a perfect ice-breaker, a coffee table book for all ages that allows strangers to point and laugh and sigh collectively. To say with a smile: "At least we're not them!"

When I first saw the cover of this book, I laughed out loud with joy and a sense of wonder about whether this book was for real. Surprisingly, DANCING WITH CATS is not a joke, and is an excellent primer on how to go about having some fun with your cats in a rather unusual way... by dancing with them. Since I don't currently have a cat, I borrowed one to get a feeling for how possible it might be to get a cat to dance. I succeeded in completely astonishing the cat as I began to notice the ways that the cat watched me moving around with movements that showed we were beginning to move together as one. Clearly, some cats enjoy dancing more than others, and this is one activity that may take a while to get fully into the swing of with your feline dancing partners. From the ancient history of cat dancing to modern age tips and techniques, this book provides a wealth of information about a subject most of us know very little about. The photographs are truly stunning, and you just might get some new ideas about what kinds of fun you can have dancing with cats. Highly recommended!

Sheppard does a relatively decent job in terms of explaining how to use light and shade in a figure drawing. His paintings show this well but often lack a vibrancy of color that many artists favor. His work would be referred to as "tonal paintings."
However, his recipes for painting mediums and his recommendations for pigments have fallen into disuse.
For example, it is no longer acceptable to use maroger medium as it causes paintings to darken. In addition, the conscientious artist will avoid toxic pigments such as mercury sulphide.
In my own research on the techniques of the old masters, it is pretty much the consensus that most paintings were created with simply linseed or walnut oil and pigment ground in a coarse fashion, perhaps, to a less fine consistency than tube colors of today.

I consider myself a successful painter. I've sold paintings, I've had exhibits, and more importantly, I love to paint... but I am self-taught and even with all the information online, this book still provided excellent detailed descriptions into the full process of the masters. From which brushes to use to how to mix paints and thinners. This book was very helpful for me in trying to fine tune effects I want to achieve in a painting. For instance, if I'm doing a portrait and want it to be a little Rembrandt with a hint of Titian (whatever that means to me at the time) this book gives me the tools to accomplish this.

I bought this book based on the reviews here and I wasn't disappointed.

What was really good about the book was that the images shown are of a reasonable size. In many books the images are too small to really see the painting technique clearly. Each painting is also shown in quite a few stages of completion so you can really clearly understand the painting process being demonstrated. The descriptions given of each technique were also very clear and well written.

What I most disliked about the book was that many of the paintings in the book were done in the 1970s and so looked quite dated.

This is a great book, but I wouldn't recommend it for beginners - you need to know the basics of painting and colour mixing etc. first.

It doesn't give the final word on painting like the masters, I'm still interested in reading more about it, but this book was a great starting point and well worth buying.

This is the only book I've every come across that completely demonstrates the techniques of several masters. The graphics are amazing and I like the fact that there are several sequential illustrations for each painting. Wonderful 'how to' book on painting like the masters.

The book first goes into an in-depth discussion of the various mediums, varnishes, and colors used by Titian, Rubens, Durer, Veronese, Hals and Rembrandt. The author advises us to use Lead white, and to also make our own mediums using a messy boiling method. Several "examples" follow to fill out the book, where he does several paintings, in phases, to suggest perhaps how the old masters painted. It is a unique book, because there is a dearth of books out there on what techniques and materials the old masters really used. And Shepherd is a decent draftsman, as witnessed by his several excellent figure drawing books. However, I only recommend buying or borrowing this book if you are completely clueless on the topics of grisailles, glazes, lead white, and how blues and grays can be used in underpainting to bring out realistic flesh tones later when lighter
glazes or scumbles are applied. It is an introductory book only.

The big problem is that there is virtually nothing really written down by the old masters on what their techniques really were, other than anecdotal evidence. So the author is really guessing, and certainly says nothing about how these artists set up their compositions, or their use of models. Shepherd talks only about the mixtures and drying times. Watteau was said to have worked very quickly, finishing a painting in a day-- with a very dirty palette with lots of turps dripping all over--yet his paintings are gorgeous. Rubens, besides having assistants, apparently had some original ideas on how to paint "transparent" shadows, which gives his work a special glow. Titian said that he used "20 to 30" glazes (it's important to realize that the famous Venetian colorists always painted grisailles first). Certainly, the color mixtures that Shepherd employs should be taken with a grain of salt, because a sense of color is an intuitive, naturally-developed thing, and so it is only useful to know that they MAY have used madder and ocher to get a sort of flesh tone-we don't KNOW that they did.

The part about boiling mediums is too labor-intensive, expensive to order, and impractical to experiment with, and worse, there is no evidence that boiling your own mediums, mixing your own paint, or esp. using white lead will make your paintings "glow" like the old masters!
I used Titanium white and it is fine--Lead white is chalky and hard to mix without lots of medium, too much of which can make your work too wet
or sticky. It is also poisonous, and can seep into your skin. It's covering power and mixability is in no way superior to Titanium white, in my view (but better than other whites). Shepherd does, however, mention Maroger medium (Neo Megilp is the modern alternative), which is a sort of varnish-smelling "jelly" which allows a certain mixture and buildup of effects very attractive to certain artists who want their work to look like Rembrandt's. But Velazquez worked very thinly, using no such jelly at all, if you see his work close up (The Technique of Genius book).

In general, I give this book a low rating, because it is less helpful than simply LOOKING at close-ups of old master works. By looking at the surface of great paintings, you can discover many tricks, see how loose, crafty and bold they were, and then go back to your studio and try to keep that in mind when you paint. I certainly do not recommend seriously following Shepherd's step-by-step methods! which I think could actually be discouraging and harm your art, being so dogmatic and narrow. But as a book to simply peruse and familiarize yourself with perhaps how some of these old masters painted, it is fine.

I love this artist. I have watched him on PBS for years. The book has every detail to help anybody to get started in painting. The pictures of the paintings is very helpful too.

Jerry Yarnell is a versatile and talented painter who has written a number of excellent "how to" books and this one is as good as the rest. Just looking at his beautiful work is enough to provide motivation and inspiration.

The book is divided into several interesting projects / paintings, each of which is supplemented with step-by-step instructions that show how to develop the painting.

A beginning painter will find the insight offered by the the instructions to be invaluable in deciding how to choose a brush, mix paints, apply paint to the brush, execute a brush stroke for a specific purpose, and countless other fundamentals.

It is not expected that the student's painting will be a replica of the master's. But the vast knowledge imparted here by Mr. Yarnell will help any interested and properly motivated person peer into the mind of a great painter and benefit from the wisdom of his life of devoted and passionate artistry.

I was terribly disappointed in this book. I can't believe he sells this stuff. Every sky is lurid orange and purple, every landscape is palpably phoney and is created by using every color in the paint box. I never saw him on TV. I wish I had. I would not have wasted my money. Cassie

I have already worked through half of the projects in this book and am amazed at the detail and finished quality I have achieved.
One thing I would highly recommend is to get hold of at least one of Jerry's instructional DVDs as well. I found that once I had watched him using the techniques he describes in the book, a light clicked on in my head and the books became an even more valuable resource.
If you want to learn acrylic painting or improve your skills by discovering some of the tricks or secrets experienced artists use, then this book is an essential addition to your library.

This book like so many so-called beginner's acrylics books follows the usual pattern: a chapter on materials and then an immediate huge jump into technique. It is interesting to note that the author's suggested palette contains eleven colors, three of which are not particularly light fast. After this chapter he dives into the first of ten demonstration paintings. These painting are all extremely complex and large undertakings on 16x20" canvases. I predict that most beginners are going to get lost early on in the first painting a flick it in. Maybe after I find some way to get the basics down, I'll come back to some of the Yarnell books, though I find his style rather garish.

As my growing collection of unsatisfactory "beginner's" acrylics shows (the nearest big bookstore is almost three hours away) there is a huge difference between a gifted artist and a gifted art teacher, though in fairness what is probably lacking are gifted art instruction authors. When writing these books they apparently don't have any reader feedback (why not?) who could slow them down by asking questions like how do I thin the paint, how thing should it be, what's the best way to mix colors, how do I clean the brushes, how do I keep the paint from drying out on my palette or my painting, etc., etc., etc.

The only painting book I've found so far which can truly claim to be a beginner's book is Jack Reid's "Watercolor Basics: Let's Get Started". That book is full of exercise paintings that let the reader learn a technique on a simple painting; the paintings are simple enough so that the beginner doesn't get lost in the detail yet have some artistic character. There are also beginner's drawing books that really do start from zero and build up the reader's technique.

OK to be fair this book teaches different painting techniques successfully. But throughout the examples it seems like they HAVE to paint everything possible. Rather than put a real plant in a room, they paint one onto a wall. Rather than install a tile floor or brick wall, they paint fake ones in. It all just has sort of a comical feel when finished. If you flip through a Pottery Barn catalog and consider that tasteful, then these designs leave alot to be desired. Buy this book for technique, but consider others for inspiration.

This book wasn't intended to make everyone happy with Debbie's color choices or furniture selections, it's intended to teach you painting techniques and preparation, which it does, beautifully. Debbie is fearless and very adventurous when it comes to painting and re-decorating, her colors don't have to suit you, but all of us decorating fanatics can definitely glean some helpful hints from her trial and error in technique.

That book was expected AUG 25 tHIS IS Oct.14 I still can not get satisfaction I can not find e-mail addreaa for bestbookdealers I do NOT hve the book And Someone has my Money Terrible! Merry Margaret merry2b1@vom.com

I was looking for a design idea for my house and I got a quick overview of detailed techniques. I didn't get a good idea of all of the techniques to use on a floor, what I'd need for vinyl..It is alright to look through.

You don't need to know anything about decoration to enjoy this book. I bought it as a gift for my wife and I ended up enjoying it as much as she did.

Most of the techniques used by Debbie on her show are illustrated here in full color. There is an interesting section about the materials used also, with lots of information I didn't know.

This is great. It's challenging, but worth the effort to learn how to solve these puzzles. I'm having great fun with this book of puzzles.

After reading some of the reviews, I decided to purchase this book. Like most people, I am addicted to these pixel puzzles but this book was just way to easy. Almost like a waste of time if you are very experienced. For a beginner, all the puzzles are introductory. For advanced people, I would suggest Paint-doku (Puzzles). This is by far the best and most difficult book that I have tried.

I got this because I fell in love with Paint by Number puzzles in World of Puzzles magazine. This just isn't the same. The puzzles are too large, making it such a chore to fill in all the squares. It's a fun game, though, and at least the puzzles are interesting.

I had given this puzzle book to a woman who is an ardent sudoku puzzle worker of hard puzzles. She liked the book. I wanted to give her another book of these puzzles. However, it was the same book. After so many months, I expected a new book would have been published. but no. My fault, I guess and a disappointment.

I love Nintendo's Picross and wanted some paper versions of the grid puzzles for airplanes and for more puzzle variety. I purchased this book along with paint by sudoku, and have to say I prefer the other book. This one isn't bad though, the puzzles are arranged one on a page with cute titles that hint at the final picture, and are rated easy to hard in ascending order. I haven't gotten past moderate level puzzles yet but so far I'm unimpressed with the pictures. The easy puzzles are relaxing and fun to do, but I've had to look up the answers several times just to find out what thing it is that I just drew and make sure I did it correctly.

I think it is good. I have not went through the whole book yet but after going through it I have found the Learning Center tells you most but pictures help a lot.

I bought the book and learned some of the basic stuff I was missing. I would like to see the lessons go a lot deeper. I was totally disappointed in the lack of photo restoration lessons for old photos. What was given was minor to say the least. I am very interested in some larger lessons on restoring old photos.

While there are hundreds of books for the various versions of PhotoShop,it seems like there are very few books available for Paint Shop Pro. So just finding Paint Shop "Pro for Photographers" was a treat, but to have be such a thorough and easy to use reference was a stroke of luck. I've really enjoyed reading it, and it's provided me with a lot of useful tips and guidance.

Having owned several versions of Paint Shop Pro and having owned several how-to books (at least 1 for each version going back to PSP 4), this book is a huge disappointment. Since my heavy usage of PSP is sporadic, I rely heavily on good documentation. Since PSP has always lacked in this area, I look for one good how-to book for whatever version I'm using.

To fill that void, this book falls short. Steps are not sufficiently detailed, and often lumped into whole paragraphs. (Opening a new document, copying, and then pasting a photo are separate steps, not one.) Some techniques are only presented in photo captions and without enough detail to recreate what the author is showing.

At best, the writing style is 'offhand' with more text devoted to what features are in the product and their advantages, rather than how to really apply them to a project. A similar book on Paint Shop Pro 8 was far better than this book is, which just underscores what is possible in creating a truly useful book.

This book is a nice chunk of marketing, but falls short on the usable nuts-and-bolts.

One reviewer says is the best book for this application. But I found only this one. It's sad. The application is great, but this book didn't help me as I expected. I don't get a good guide through the overwhelming options and settings that the software has. I doesn't answer why of anything. What is it this one setting or how should we make better use of controls other than trial & error. It's all mixted up. Images inserted in the book very often not related to the explanation, but out of place or redundant. In a word, i didn't like it.

Just the cover of this book will tell you that you don't want to go here....The author likes graphic, garrish, monochromatic, in-you-face imagery, but without any "payoff" or even an anything-interesting focal point...the center of the composition on this cover, IS the center of interest (definitely a do not do this to your own compositions!)...and uh, are those vines or telephone wires, or is there a tornado here etc as a subject? I just personally can't stand these "how-to" style of artist/stylist/authors and shlocky color artists of this genre. Get away from fine art and into scenic background painting-big and splashy for the local high school theatre arts group and stay away from your easel with this stuff!! A TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY UNLESS YOU'RE A HALF-BLIND COPYIST...Sorry Svob, it just stinks and that's my opinion...

mike svob's book is a great resource, he shares his style and ideas, so we too, can "Paint Red Hot Landscapes That Sell".

This was an example of not being able to look into the book prior to purchase. I would not have bought the book. Reds and Oranges just make me nervous and most of his paintings are filled with them. The paintings are dramatic, however most of them disturb me with their colors and I cannot paint that way. I suppose some of the advice is good that's why there are three stars. He is definitely a very talented artist but not for me.

I find this book disjointed and poorly written. The headlines are not followed through in the body of the pages. Perhaps someone who hasn't painted much would find it helpful, but Svob is mostly talking about compositional tricks. There are much better books on composition out there. If you like bright, garish colors, then this is the book for you. If you are weak in composition, then you might learn something too. Otherwise, I'd pass this book by. It does not deliver on the title, Paint Red Hot Landscapes that Sell.

I am new to the art of painting. I've bought lots of books on the subject but none of them has given me the urge to paint like this one does. I saw a larger picture of this book on a differant website and the front cover spoke to me. I'm glad i listened.
The way he simplifies the painting process is exactly what i've been looking for. If your a painter set in your ways this may not be for you but it's awesome for a beginer.
If you don't like the art don't buy the book. If you like the cover you really should check out the art inside it's fantastic.

I ordered this book on e-bay sorry amazon.....but it is the exact same identical book to another title under author's name " Painting your house inside and out".....just thought all should be aware...it's 1/2 the size but if you have the first book no need for the second. Way too general....not enough "foolproof" info. Good house photos but need more specifics.

Unfortunately "Perfectly Painted House: A Foolproof Guide for Choosing Exterior Colors for Your Home". (1) It wasn't any help in choosing the perfect color(s) for our home. We have a bungalow style home built in 1925 - there was only one color choice in the book for similar home(red) personally did not care for color. I was looking for siding color w/trim & door color choices i.e. 3 colors. (2) We do not plan on painting our house ourselves (many hints for doing same). Very disappointed in this particular book.

I have two of Ms. Krims' books, The Perfectly Painted House and The Perfect Palette. We bought a Federal Style home built in 1820 in downtown Fitchburg, MA for my husband's psychology practice last year. We consulted the book and decided on the Phelps Putty color, but kept the shutters black (although your choice of gray was stunning and I may do that in the future). The color suggestions along with the pointers on painting cedar shingles in the appropriate way yielded great results and we have gotten many compliments. Our next project is our own home and I chose the Glastonbury combo for my main floor and the Marblehead for our downstairs. Clearly Ms. Krims' books have been used and enjoyed. Thank you very much!

Anyone using this book as a means by which to choose paint colours, is making a huge mistake. Like most books of this genre, it is candy for the eye - you may be inspired, but to go out and use the same colours as in the book is foolish.
The homes featured in this book are mostly country, or traditional. Any paint colour you choose is dramatically influenced by the architecture of your home, the climate in which you live, whether it faces north or south, etc. The homes in this book seem to exist in isolation on snowy plains or country acreage unobstructed by neighbours, power-lines, garages, etc. She does not talk about size at all. For example: a tall skinny home, with little architectural detail, painted fire engine red will not look nearly as charming as a cosy cottage with heavy moldings and shutters. There is little mention of accent, or trim colours. It is a flimsy read - if you love the idea of a yellow home (as I do) you will only find ONE yellow house. There is only ONE red house. A better book would have shown pictures of 4 or 5 homes, in different styles, painted red, yellow, blue, etc. We're talking about photographs here - why not include more? A better option for house paint ideas is to drive around your neighbourhood, which shares the same light, climate, etc. as your own. Find a few houses you really like, then ask the owners what colour they used.

This is a great book for anyone serious about choosing paint colors for their house with professional results. A wide range of house styles and color combinations are presented. The book starts out with a brief step by step for choosing exterior paint color. It provides instructions for actually painting the house yourself. This is followed with page after page of gorgeous photos of painted houses, and it includes the paint color used for each house. There are very few resources available on the subject of choosing color for the exterior of the house. The book is truly the best I've seen.