Paint Books

A very nicely written book working with this subject. Just open the book and follow along. You will soon be doing some amazing things with this great software. I am very happy with the software, and this book for showing me how to use the program. I knew absolutely nothing about working with this type of software. This book has brought it up to speed fast and I have been able to impress a lot of friends with my on hands knowledge.

This is really a great book for a beginner, like me! I'm so glad I found it. Short and sweet and to the point compared to others I have purchased.

Whenever I buy a another book in an effort to unravel the Paint Shop Pro program I have yet to conquer, I have great expectations that this new one will answer the questions that plague me. I have searched through the help menu offered by the Paint Shop Pro 8, but need more visual aids.

I paged through Paint Shop Pro 8, Fast and Easy, having ordered it online, going from chapter to chapter to see what problems are addressed in each part of the book, in more detail than was available online. I am already to Chapter 15 and still haven't come to the one area that is causing me trouble, editing and pasting from one raster image to another. Plenty of pages are allocated to vector images, but my goal in purchasing this book was simply to create a variety of collaged images, most of which would require raster images.

If you are looking for information of text applications, Chapter 15-17 offers a variety of options, although none are particularly sophisticated or original, leaving you to experiment for more creative effects. By Chapter 17, we are on Web Page Components and I still haven't found a useful discussion of editing/pasting raster layers. (I realize that if you are a serious graphic artist, you won't even consider this book or this particular program. )

Another issue that is relevant for me and not addressed is print resolution. I did look for solutions to setting the appropriate number of DPIs to the print an acceptable image, but there is little material on this issue. If the image has been saved as JPEG or GIF, the image resolution lost cannot be recovered by changing printer settings. There seems to be an assumption that most are using Paint Shop Pro 8 for web images because there is virtually no information relative to printing problems or how to control the quality of the printed image.

I was told that most problems can be traced to user error, but I think that the majority of these books make certain assumptions about the user, in the same manner that programmers fail to consider different levels of understanding on the part of the user. Perhaps the problem is in the program, rather than the attempts to provide answers, such as offered in this book. In any case, both are a disappointment. Luan Gaines/2004.

This book is VERY basic. It is written for people who have never used Paint Shop Pro and may be intimidated by the manual that comes with the program. If you want to improve your existing basic skills, this is NOT the book for you! As soon as I opened the book, I realized I made a mistake in buying it. As an example, on page 136, "Adjustment layers are beyond the scope of this book and will not be addressed." Chapter 10 on masks starts by saying, "Masking is probably one of the most powerful features of Paint Shop Pro.", yet the chapter describes only how to create a mask from a "canned" geometric shape. There is no instruction for how to create a mask from an imported graphic or an outline from a photo...which I want to do. I also expected instruction on blending several photos together (to make panoramas), but this is not covered at all.

On balance, this book is a big disappointment and I wish I'd had a chance to look inside before buying it!

I am a commercial artist and have some computer experience, mostly word processing and the internet. I've been waiting to take the plunge into computer graphics for years, and finally overcame my paranoia and bought the software and this book. It was not a good choice. With its black and white photos, dense dry technical-writing style and limited scope, it was very off-putting: a book to reluctantly plow through, not devour. I recommend Paint shop Pro8 Zero to Hero instead. It has great color photos and is project oriented - a good approach for the artist.

Note: This review is from a photographer's point of view.

The book...

After finishing the book, I couldn't help but feel that it was a little shallow. It'd be perfect as an introduction to PSP, but intermediate and advanced users would fare better by navigating through PSP's help system.

Some of the advice the author gives regarding settings are off. For example, try using the unsharp mask at 5-10 pixels/100-200%/20 tolerance and you're definitely going create halos around your photos. The descriptions of commands and settings are really very general, and seems to be more like a glorified brochure.

Conclusion...

Buy this book if you're just starting out with photoediting. It does a good job of introducing you to the photoediting tools in PSP, and then some.

I've yet to find any good books targeting photoeditors using PSP. I'd suggest that intermediate/advance users turn to the abundance of web sites dedicated to digital photography to learn about photoediting. Most Photoshop commands have an equivalent in PSP, so both web sites and books dedicated to Photoshop can be applied to PSP.

Good luck, and good light.

I generally don't go on rants but this book was so disappointing, I felt compelled to write. This book is not good for beginners because it lacks clear direction and is no good for more advanced users because it covers the topics so minimally.

For example, on page 139 it says "layer masks can be quite confusing to undertand let alone use effictively." But the book offers no tutorial or hands-on exercise to help us understand this powerful tool, but instead gives us three pages of pictures that show what we could do, if only we understood it.

Most of what is covered is not telling us anything new -- especailly if you're at all familiar with PSP and photography. I'm very suprised that this level of mediocrity made it past the editors at Focal Press. 'Nuff said.

If you've never worked with an image-editing software, this is not the best first book to get. If you just got a digital camera and you don't have experience editing digital photos, this might not be your best choice.

I got this book from my local library because it is the only book they have that is specifically written for Paint Shop Pro (PSP) version 8. I had version 7 for almost 2 years and was quite familiar with it. Version 8 has a lot of new features, and many of the old features are re-arranged so they're not where they were in version 7.

This book was helpful, but not completely what I was looking for. This book would be best if you want to work with digital (or scanned) photographs. The author seems to think that's the only thing PSP is good for, editing photos. He tells you lots of things you can do, so if that's what you want to do, and if you already have some experience with image editing software, this is the right book for you.

He doesn't hold your hand and go step-by-step, at least not for every concept he talks about. He sometimes, but not always, shows you where the tool he's talking about is located. He seems to assume the reader brings a certain amount of knowledge with him/her when they pick up the book. But if you've got dark photos, light photos, photos that are out of perspective, or if you want to learn ways to make your images really stand out, this book is very helpful. He also tells you steps to use to take several photos and put them together to make a panorama, and how to make it look like it was taken as one photograph. There are some very neat things you can learn in this book.

But, if you are like me, and your primary interest in PSP is creating images from scratch, for web sites or other publications, for stationary to be used in emails, you're not going to get much out of this book. The author says PSP's picture tube feature is "one of those esoteric tools that's almost impossible to find a proper use for." So if you're one of those people who has a huge collection of tubes, if you go surfing the net to find sites that have tubes that you can download for free, you can see that this author is not on the same page as you are. He does, however, give a step by step lesson in how to make your own picture tube, even if he's not so sure how you'd use it. It was interesting to me that the panorama photo he used, in it's final version, showed a seagull that was not in any of the original photos. I thought it might have been a tube, but he did't say. His chapter on text contains sections on vectors and brushes and doesn't show you step by step how to do many of the effects he illustrates.

So, if you are a digital photographer, you might want to buy this book. If you are a PSP artist, and you want to make your own images for web sites, this book might be of some help to you, but it wasn't written with you in mind.

Having heard what an excellent bargin Paint Shop Pro 8 was and having little experience in image editing I purchased Paint Shop Pro 8 and the following books:

Paint Shop Pro 8: The Guide to Creating Professional Images by Robin Nichols

How To Do Everything with Paint Shop Pro 8 by Dave Huss

Paint Shop Pro 8 Zero to Hero by Sally Beachman and Ron Lacey

Paint Shop Pro 8 Power by Lori Davis.

Although none of the books are 100% in coverage of the features in Paint Shop Pro 8 (there are so many) my experience has been that Paint Shop Pro 8 Zero to Hero was a complete waste of my money, written by what seemed 100% complete self taught authors who had zero creative talent and knew very little above surface knowledge that can be found in countless places on the Internet for free.

Dave Huss' book lacked a lot in coverage of from scratch design so probably should have been titled differently but if you are interested in digital photography and editing your photos in Paint Shop Pro 8 this is the book to get because it is evident that he is a professional photographer and is far more knowledgeable than the trial by error macjob surface approach of Beacham and Lacey in the coverage of photography, and also does much better at coverage on digital photography than Robin's book and Lori's book. Dave easily relates his wealth of professional experience to beginners terms, but still delves into the how and whys of each technique he discusses. His book is not good if you want to learn brushes and filters, and that is where Robin's book takes the forefront.

Robin's book is best for those intested in editing existing photos and graphics from scratch using filters and brushes. Robin seems to have a much better grasp of the theory, concepts and principles of graphic design than the other authors especially better than Beacham and Lacey who lack any creative juices of their own as far as I could tell. From Robin's book you not only get the how and whys, but also get a lot of creative ideas and suggested techniques to try out.

Lori's book is a good extension of the Paint Shop Pro 8 manual, but like the Beacham and Lacey book don't expect to discover how to design WOW type graphics or get even to get suggestions on how to do it because these authors do not appear to have the ability necessary to do it themselves. Technically Lori's book is more indepth than Beacham's and Laceys', but she lacks on the digital photography end. Lori does seem to know more about Paint Shop Pro than Beacham and Lacey, so her book is the better pick and certainly worth the purchase for any beginner.

If you have the cash get Dave Huss' book for digital photography interests, Robin's book for filter, brush and the more creative side of graphic design, and get Lori's book for a more technical approach to understanding Paint Shop Pro 8.

I purchased this book because it seemed to have a lot more info than any of the other books available on PSP 8. I rated it 3 stars because it's a lovely book with lots of colour illos, but the thing is, if you're a beginner, you have no idea to find what the author is talking about. Telling us to use a tool is great - but where do we find the tool? Then telling us to do something further with the image, great... but again, how? Without clear, easy steps to direct the beginning PSP user, I think this book is better for more experienced users.

I'm sure this book will be a wonderful addition to my library once I get more experience with PSP 8, but as of right now? Not so much.

I was disappointed when I got that book. It got a lot of pages but it is not as informative as it should be. I had to discover CorelDraw 10 on my own and the book wasn't helpful at all.

Although Corel Photo-Paint - as part of the larger Corel Draw suite - remains highly rated, the whole product has gone through two significant releases since this book was published. Sadly, Corel has minimized the documentation of the Photo-Paint component, both delivered with the product, and with the current "CorelDRAW 12 The Official Guide" available through CORELPRESS. So Dave Huss's "CorelPHOTO-PAINT 10 The Official Guide" (along with the User Guide delivered with the 9th release) are the only best references for what is still a superb product that may die for lack of market share and provider attention.

This book is definitely for people with a experience on Corel. You get some good advise but it needs a little more detail on explanations in "how to".

This is an excellent book, however I would like to see more illustrations of the steps to achieve your task.
The book was sold as used but it was in mint condition.
It arrived just about the time I was told.
I'll be back for more!

This is the second book on Photo-Paint by David Huss that I have purchased. Not the typical dry and turgid computer documentation, David has a sense of humor lacking in almost all other software titles I have read. Complete to a "t," David has sprinkled in humor just when you might get bored or overloaded. Now that Corel has thinned its included documentation down to almost nil, this is a great and enjoyable reference book.

I won't ugrade to Photopaint 11 until David has written a book for it.

This calendar is wonderful for any cat or art lover. The photography and commentary are both first rate, mimicking and mocking the pretentiousness of the contemporary art scene without losing the sense of whimsy that has been the hallmark of the series since the book of the same title was first published.

Some people seem aghast that people actually paint cats. Well don't. This is a joke. The visual effects are done courtesy of Photoshop long after the photos have been taken. The creators, Burton Silver and Heather Busch, are quite devoted bona fide animal lovers, and although I am sure they would be flattered that some people thought the effects are real, would never allow harm to come to these beautiful animals.

This is a beautifully done calendar, and is perfect for the art lover in your life. I look forward to the 2005 "Why Paint Cats" calendar. I have no doubt it will be as spectacular as this!

The cats aren't physically painted... it's their photos that have been decorated, not their bodies. The author has done extensive research on animal intelligence and works closely with animal rights groups. The cats were not harmed in the making of this calendar or the book by the same name. Try actually doing some research before jumping to conclusions!

This is hilarious. The artwork is spectaular. The comentary is absoutely typical of art comentary, which is also totaly hilarious. The entire work continues seamlessly and effectively creating a whole different interpretation of the art/reality boundary. Obviously a work of love which must have taken a great deal of effort to produce. Clearly many gulible, non-critical thinkers will not "get it" and their outraged reaction reinforces the entire theme. They only make the whole experience richer. If you are outraged by these pictures, post your comments here so the whole world can laugh at you.

I bought a copy of the book this calendar is based on for myself and a copy for a friend. I'm not going to give the copy to my friend and I don't really know what to do with the one I have. It's not because I'm offended at the idea of people painting cats if it's humanely done. I just feel ripped off. I bought the book because it was quirky and pretty. While the pictures are still lovely, apparently they're all done in photoshop. There is no disclaimer on the book anywhere, and while I'm sort of glad that people aren't really painting cats, (though apparently the book is inspiring people to paint cats because a lot of people don't realise it's a hoax) I can mock up pictures of painted cats in photoshop all on my own. This book isn't an oddity of human nature, it's a fraud that doesn't have the decency to let you know that. You have to first buy it and then figure it out for yourself. I want my money back.

Actually the cats WERE painted -- with vegetable dyes. If you read the text the author writes about, for example, how the whiskers on the cat are stimulated in such a way as to anesthetize them prior to painting. The author also states that painting does not harm the cats and that many of them rather enjoy the process. I love cats and really enjoyed this book.

This book may have projects for beginners at colored pencils, but not for beginning artists. Each project starts with a "simple" black & white sketch that no beginner could ever do! Not a bad book if you are an accomplished drawer, but true beginners should look elsewhere.

While Yaun's book is okay for someone to learn a little bit about colored pencil, please be aware that it is merely a reprint of part of the book entitled Colored Pencil Stey by Step (Walter Foster, 2003; ISBN 1-56010-719-7). I did not realize this and ordered Colored Pencil: Project Book for Beginners when I already had Colored Pencil Stey by Step. I am now contacting Amazon to see if I can return the book and get a refund.

Ms. Angelo's book is a beautifully illustrated and easy to understand how-to on colored pencil techniques. I can hardly wait to get her other book "Exploring Colored Pencils" and the companion DVDs.
The exercises are layed out step by step and she includes a color chart so even a beginner, like me, can do it. Her sections on supplies and papers were very helpful. I especially enjoyed the various examples of art pictured in the book - amazingly all done with colored pencil!

I could not believe how incredible my colored pencil drawings turned out after going through this book. Sandra presents the steps in easy to follow language and simple examples. She presents several techinques and then gives lessons to practice each technique. The method she uses in this book instills the confidence to continue with the process. I produced drawings that I was proud of almost immediately. (I had gone through Sandra Angelo's So You Thought You Couldn't Draw first, so I felt confident with my drawing skills, but this book does not require that.)What I like most about this book is the overall philosophy that comes across: drawing is a process that can take you to a different place where stress disappears and relaxation enters in.

I must agree with another reviewer that this book is impossibly
difficult for a beginner. I am trying to find a book that starts
from the simplest with step-by step instructions working up to
more advanced. Which book is it? Not this one!

I have been an artist for over 35 years. I bought this "book" just to see if there was any cloud painting techniques that I could use in my paintings. I hate to say this, but I can paint better clouds and I think almost anyone else could, except maybe the new, first time artist. An then I would tell them to not by this book. The TV show "Joy of Painting" does better at showing now to paint clouds.

This book was a big disappointment! I always wanted to learn how to draw and paint clouds, so when I saw this book I was really excited. I am a novice in the field of Art and this book was no help whatsoever. It instructs you to perform certain drawing and painting techniques, but it doesn't tell you HOW to do them. This book may be good for someone who has previous experiences in Art, but for a beginner, like me, it's a big waste of time and money. :-(

i found this to be very good not just basic but useable and easy to digest money well spent

I had a hard time for years. I have painted on many levels. Yet Clouds and skyscape were hard. This is a simple way for you to step up your game. It's easy to follow and made my craft better.

I found this book to be more than just helpful for painting clouds . It actually takes you through step by step on mixing colors . Also , I found the painting techniques to be easy to understand . This book also shows different types of clouds and explains them in a very simple way . This book not only teaches you how to paint clouds step by step , but is full of color pictures showing beautifully painted sunsets , sunrises , and also has illistrations of different types of cloud formations which i found to be very helpful . This book is great for the beginner as well as profession artist . By far the best art book i have ever seen .

The book covers many of PSP's photo editing options, but is rather uninspiring in it's examples: too many family pictures and not enough color examples.

I agree with a previous reviewer: this book is extremely limited in its scope, given that it's some 450 oages. It assumes that ALL you want to do is clean up or enhance your family photos. There's almost nothing on creating original graphics. For example, there's absolutely NOTHING on doing such basic things as resizing an image, using the Picture Tube function, or applying backgrounds. It's a shame because I've had SAMS books about previous versions of Paint Shop Pro that were far more useful.

As a technical writer and editor by profession, much of the writing style in this book is just downright lazy - such as this example buried in a paragraph:

"You can change this on the Units tab of the Paint Shop Pro 8 Preferences dialog box (choose File, Preferences, General Program Preferences)."

A better version would be in the order the user would actually complete the task: "To change this, click the File menu, point to Preferences, and click General Program Preferences. On the Units tab, choose the Disply Units from the list."

This book was a major disappointment, considering the publisher. If all you will ever use Paint Shop Pro 8 for is creating an online family photo album, this book is for you. If you really want to get the most out of this powerful program for other projects as well, this book is no help at all.

Very good for photographic purposes and for me as an amateur photographer.In this respect it could hardly be any better since the book clearly demonstrates every step to be undertaken when working with a photo.Since the book hardly treats other aspects-which by the way don't interest me-I can't say anything about them

In A Snap is *totally* about manipulating photographic images. If you want to learn PSP basics, pass this up. I have used Paint Shop Pro 3 and am totally confused by version 8. I bought this book and Paint Shop Pro 8 Fast & Easy by Diane Koers because even the basics were confusing me, e.g., selecting a font to put on a blank background.

Obviously, I am not qualified to give a detailed review of In A Snap, but if you want to learn editing of photographic images, you probably want this book. For basics such as creating buttons and banners for websites, check out Koers' book.

As a lifelong amateur photographer and digital image user for 8 years, I thought I knew a great deal about enhancing photos. I was pleasantly surprised to learn much more from this reader-oriented, consistently-detailed "how to" book. Especially useful were tricks for sharpening images, eliminatng blemishes, and improving portraits. Tips giving suggested parameter values were also valuable.

I thoroughly enjoyed the author's personal style of exposition. After renewing the book three times from the library and studying nearly every page, I am now purchasing it as a reference. (Yes, I have PSP 9, but 8 and 9 are similar enough to justify purchase.) Be advised that it does not stray from the subject of improving photos, so if you are looking for help in creating graphics, look for a book on that subject. If it is photos you want to enhance, and you want to really understand how PSP can be used, this is a great book for you.

Oops- I spoke to soon. Information for contacting the American Society of Marine Artists IS in the book after all. A little blue sidebar box... I just missed it, in the back of the book, just before the index.

This book is very thoughtfully done. Filled with fresh new work. The layout is satisfying, reproduction is excellent. If contemporary sailboats and tugboats are your thing, you'll especially enjoy this work. It serves as a very good introduction to the techniques of painting marine art. The topics are useful, the demonstrations are interesting. This should be a real boost to ASMA (American Society of Marine Artists). The only thing I missed was information for contacting ASMA ...

Cam Martin Tehachapi, California

Very disappointing!!! Messy layout,...mostly mediocre artists who write just as poorly. What substance there is could have been covered in one of their two page magazine articles. And what's with all those pretentious triple barreled names?

Rachel R Wolf used a simple approach to deal with the painiting of the seascape. Not only the painiting of the sea is dealt with but the items that interact with the sea are also discussed. Items like boats, shorelines, people, animals, birds etc that compose the picture are discussed.

Mix media are also explored in the book. The autheor used different media like water colour, oil ink and pastel to illustrate how to bring out the mood for the various coposition. It also discuss how some of the tips to help overcome mistakes and mask its effects.

I go to Maine every year to paint the wonderful rocks and seas and boats. Seeing a sailboat from the safety of the shore (Iget seasick on a boat), doesn't give you nearly the perspective nor information that this book gives you. I have it, I've read it, I've used it, and now I'm sending it to a friend who loves to paint seascapes also.

I think this book is a beneficial addition to any painters library. Even if you do not paint in the classical traditions it is an excellent source of techniques and thoughts on painting.

My recommendation is based upon the book's content, not collectability value. I have been painting for over thirty years and find the information, techniques and insites in this book very helpful for the figure painter. I often go back to my reference books to rekindle my interest in various techniques and I use Schmid's book when I want to return to oil techniques for figure work. Unfortunatly, most of the good texts on figure work in oil are out of print (like Schmid's). Based on the book's usefulness, I recommend it to any figure artist.

I find it hard to believe that this book does not have many, many good reviews. This is the ONLY book by Schmid that goes into detail about figurative and portraiture painting. He has maybe one DVD (The Captain's Portrait) about portrait painting but that's about it. Simply stated, this book is a goldmine.

Yes, its no fun to pay the high prices but as mentioned, it is his only figure book and its out of print. My advice is keep your eyes open because it is possible to snag it at lower then average prices if you are patient. I got mine for $130 from an ebay auction. It's like new and absolutely worth every single penny.

This book is similar in format to Schmid's also excellent landscape book of the same time period. After some introductory info about his tools and approach to figure painting, he takes you through many, many figure paintings, utilizing sequential images that are loaded with valuable comments about what he is doing. There are plenty of high-quality color pages in this book, pretty good for the seventies, and the techniques are clearly explained. I've read and reread this book many times.

What amazes me the most is that his techniques have changed very little in the ensuing 30+ years since he wrote this one. I can only assume that some of the poor reviews were from those who maybe just casually glanced at the book and did not read and apply its contents.

Yes, his newer book "Alla Prima" is great but this one is a gem, too. So be patient, shop around a bit. If you like Schmid's technique this is one book you will want to someday add to your library.

I am a figurative painter and I have read this book. I can only conjecture that all the recent publicity about Richard Schmid has raised the price of this book to the outer limits!
I was glad I didn't fall into this price-hipe trap. The book originally sold for around $12.95 and I think that as a book that is what it is worth. I have the same sentiments for "Richard Schmid paints the landscape". If you are an artist I recommend the most recent book, "Alla Prima Painting " which is still way overpriced at $100. but if it is Mr. Schmid's technique and experience you are after this will help you to understand his thoughts, philosophy and technique a little better. Book collecters may feel differently about the inflated price. I am not writting for their benefit but for the artist or art enthusist.

I have other books by Richard Schmid. The price for this book, however, is extremely overpriced. The range of $200 to $400 for a used book of this size is much too high His later book "ALL I know about painting" is worth much much more. I paid $100 for this book 6 years ago (new).

I have really enjoyed the color mixing blends shown in each lesson. It is helpful to see these isolated from the actual painting to more easily see what the colors do together.

I have enjoyed seeing so many different subjects used in the same book. I will encourage all my art friends to buy this one.

How lucky we are that Barbara Jeffery Clay has written this helpful and inspiring book. She walks you through so many lessons and gives such wonderful instructions with beautiful results. I like the setup of the book and the detailed explaniation of the color mixing. It is a book for many levels of painters and can be enjoyed by anyone who is interested in painting watercolors.

The artist's paintings in this book are beautiful, but I found the step-by-step intructions to be very unclear with steps missing. Also, the preliminary drawings are very sketchy and most are not detailed enough to be able to follow along with the artist without considerable redrawing. The concept of this book is very good and with more accurate drawings and more concise directions it could be an excellent learning tool, but as it stands I wouldn't recommend it for the novice watercolorist. If you are looking for projects with clear, concise directions and accurate line drawings I recommend "Step-by-Step Guide to Painting Realistic Watercolors" by Dawn McLeod Helm. "Watercolor Right From the Start" or "Color Right From the Start" by Hilary Page are also both excellent books for the beginning watercolor painter.

I ordered this book for my niece to learn how to paint with watercolors. I wish that I would have read some of the reviews first... because just like some of the reviewers state, this book leaves out too many steps for a beginner painter. The drawings are poor and incomplete. And the step by step instructions are way too high level to ever help a beginner. For example....step two of a flower states, apply masking fluid to preserve the white in the painting....sounds okay, but when you look at what the sample picture shows, there is masking in areas that will eventually be red or yellow and so a beginner would not know when to use masking and when not. On that same flower when it gets to step 5 which tells you to paint the greens...it says things like....as you're painting the green portions...try to be as realistic as possible. But it never says how to mix the greens, or what colors were actually used in the sample, or that you should also be adding yellows and reds to some of your greens for shading purposes as the picture example clearly uses. There are just too many steps left out to be of use to a beginner.

And then the final insult is the fact that at the front of the book, before any lesson begins there is a giant bright yellow warning about copyright infringement. And it tells the user of the book that they can't use their final drawing for any other purpose but to show family or friends, and that they are never allowed to pass of the final work as their own or they will be going against the law. It even states that they can't sign the final work that they do. Now if beginners like my niece would like to use this book and feel good about finishing their first painting, the very least this book could do is provide learning with an example flower, and then give the reader photos of additional flowers that the beginner could use to actually create their own work of art that they can actually sign.... Now that would be a nice book.