Paint Books

The book "Paint!", by Kim Solga is a good book for people who want to learn different styles of painting. It explains and lists the basic supplies you will need to do most of the projects in the book. It explains in detail about how to do the projects and other easy to find supplies that you may need. "Paint!" is a very good book for people who are beginners, or for advanced people.

It is OK if you have some knowledge, but if not, it can be a little complicated to understand...

This is an excellent scientific book with a twist. Karl Kruszelnicki presents the information in a fairly easy to read way and eveything inside is guaranteed to fascinate you. The little boxes that are on nearly every page have some fascinating stories, about anything you care to look up! I have used this book as a reference for many school science projects and it has been extremley useful. This would be a great book for anyone who would like to know everything and practically everything is in this book! I wouldn't reccomend this book to younger readers, as it can get a bit complicated at times.

I have done a considerable amount of research into the correct two-toned grays and blue - so called Opex blue -striping used on the 1938 20th Century Limited. I am, in fact, building a very accurate "O" scale model of this famous train. After a year's worth of research, Dupont custom mixed the appropriate colors for me in the newer Centari acrylic enamel as opposed to the old Dupont Duco lacquer and Dulux enamel formulas. After reviewing the NYC paint samples in the book under corrected light and comparing same with my paint samples, the two grays in the book are not accurate. For as long as I can remember, the blue striping applied to the '38 Century cars has been incorrectly referred to as "Opex" blue. The word "Opex", like Dupont's "Duco" was a trade name for Sherwin-Williams'lacquer, and was never an actual color designation. The blue striping color existed in a New York Central, Dupont formula, and this is what I used. Although it too is very subjective, I found the Pullman green sample in the book to be inaccurate. My Pullman green was mixed from the Pullman formula found in the old Great Northern files. Another area of considerable controversy lies in the proper color applications on the undercarraige of the Pullman heavyweight cars. Certain boxes and tanks and the steps were painted Pullman green, while the rest-except the trucks, which were sometimes painted Pullman green-was painted black. I wish Mr. Dubin would have given this area a definitive treatment. Otherwise, I feel the book is a very worthwhile reference, especially for modelers.

Fourteen pages of fun is what you will find in this paint-book that comes with a small paint tray (with the all important Thomas-Blue!!), a small paintbrush and pre-perforated pages.

The drawings show Thomas, Percy, Gordon, Elizabeth and Sir Topham Hatt doing various fall chores. For example, there is a line sketch of Percy buffering up against some leaves. The text says: "Peeeep!" whistles Percy. "These leaves need to be cleared so I can move full steam ahead."

Children can paint or use crayons or other media to complete the pictures of their friends.

Four Stars. Painting Thomas is fun and good for developing fine motor skills. At these prices you can buy several for rainy days. And while the description says 32 pages, this is not quite correct as they are counting the covers and the blank backs of the pages. [Because paints can soak through a page there is a picture on only one side.] Oh, yes, and there are two cut outs on the back cover; one of Thomas and one of a troublesome truck filled with baskets of delicious looking apples.

Strip away the fluff and leave it in the rough. The author reveals secrets of hundreds of inks, and he gets right to it. The book was bigger than I thought it would be. The only thing that is left to the imagination is exactly how you will get the materials needed. It is too bad this book is out of print, and Loompanics is out of business. You may get lucky like I did, and catch this title online at a reasonable price.

This is a good one!Clear,fun,easy pictures to colour in and the pages are in tear-out form for kids who want to hang their proud work!!

This is another in a series of four small, well-produced books by a demonstrator for Winsor and Newton. I've got them all and they will provide something for artists of all levels. Harrison has a great way of putting movement into his paintings, even when they are apparently static landscapes. In this book he gets those mountains full of color and clawing to the sky. His explanations are simple and well described. I can't think how any artist could find this inexpensive and attractive series of books anything less than very helpful. By the way, don't let the fact that the landscapes he is painting are British put you off - a mountain is a mountain, sea is sea and sky is sky wherver you go. It is techniques he is teaching and I find them very useful in my California plein air class.

I definitely recommend this book if you live in Chicago or you're planning to be there for a significant amount of time. This is not your usual run-of-the-mill travel guide to Chicago. It is a collection of essays written by elementary school students from Chicago schools about their favorite places and things to do in Chicago, in order for them to improve their writing skills and see their names in print in the process. An organization called 826CHI organized this project--they help Chicago students with their writing. The book serves tangible result of the students' efforts. I stumbled upon this book in a Borders in Chicago and was fascinated. The kids live in the "real world" in Chicago, not the tourist areas, of course, although they go into the city for museums and special occasions all the time. So they are equally familiar with the Aquarium and Museum of Science and Industry as with their neighborhood restaurant or park off the beaten path. The combination of descriptions of major tourist attractions written from a child's perspective and insights into lesser-known neighborhoods, hangouts, and restaurants, also written from a child's point of view, makes for a unique approach. The book is quite informative as well as impressive--the kids are very articulate, know what they like, have vivid memories, know how to express themselves, and genuinely like Chicago in general and their own neighborhoods specifically. Do yourself a favor and buy this book if you want to know more about Chicago. You will learn more than the guidebooks will ever tell you, and will be helping some deserving kids at the same time.

This is one of four similar books by Keith Fenwick, a demonstrator for Winsor and Newton. I've got them all and they will provide something for artists of all levels. Fenwick has a great way of putting movement into his paintings, even when they are apparently static landscapes. Painting trees is not easy , but Fenwick is here to help. His explanations are simple and well described. I can't think how any artist could find this inexpensive and attractive series of books anything less than very helpful. By the way, don't let the fact that the landscapes he is painting are British put you off - a mountain is a mountain, sea is sea and sky is sky wherver you go. It is techniques he is teaching and I find them very useful in my California plein air class.