Paint Books

This book was lame and expensive. I came to this book because previous books that I've read about glass painting and enameling were from the 1970s, and hence don't cover many modern enamels and materials. I thought this book fill me in on modern possibilities in enameling.

Turns out though, that Ms Weiner spends about a third of the book on general art instruction that has no specific relationship to glass OR enamels (basic color theory and paintbrush selection). Then she spends another third on profiles and pictures of other artists' works. This part wouldn't be so bad except that the profiles do not describe the techniques these artists used at all, and there's a distinct vibe that she's just promoting her buddies in the glass world.

Finally, the enameling advice she does give is shoddy and incomplete (not surprising since it's jammed into the remaining third of the book). For example, I couldn't believe she could spend a whole gratuitous chapter on paintbrush selection, yet NOT EVEN MENTION the most classic and fundamental of all glass enamelers' brushes - the badger brush. She also mentions that enamels can be fused between two pieces of float glass, but then never tells you how to do it - no firing schedules, no recommendations on the types of enamels best suited to this. It is SO frustrating! That's the whole reason I bought a book like this - for technical instruction. Finally she doesn't review the numerous types and brands of enamels on the market today - a real labyrinth that I was hoping to find help with. She chooses two suppliers and just seems to promote them the whole way through.

In short, this book is fluff and a huge disappointment. It shows you lots of pretty things that other people do but moves you no closer to being able to do it yourself. I returned my copy and got my $40 bucks back. You are way better off reading The Art of Painting on Glass by Albinus Elskus - a treasure trove of technical instruction, even if it's a little outdated in terms of products since was written in the 1970s.

When I picked this book up, I could not put it down- except to run to my glass studio! It is a perfect balance of eye candy and then the instructions to make your own.

I am delighted by the thorough listing of tools accompanied by the explanations and examples of how to use them. Everything has well photographed pictures and illustrations. Sources for materials are given. Special "tips" are highlighted in boxes for easy reference. As a previous review mentioned, I too was very pleased to see molds included in this book. The section on troubleshooting firing problems is worth the price of the book, as it has photos to help diagnose problems. The section on the techniques of well know artists, as well as the other numerous photos through out the book are inspiring.

I would rate this book as an advanced beginner and up. The author assumes the reader has basic glass cutting skills. Projects with specific instrutions are not given, so if that is what you are looking for, this is not your book. This book, in my opinion, is designed to excite your imagination, and give you the tools to accomplish it.

"Contemporary Glass Enameling" starts with a novice's introduction to types of glass, tools used to distribute and distort media, and techniques to otherwise manipulate the medium for a desired effect. What I particularly liked about the first half of the book was references to specific brands and pictures of tools, paintbrushes, sifters, and other tools by brand name so you can go to a local store or search the Internet to learn more and buy these tools and materials. Interspersed with the ABC's part of the book are very high quality photos of professional glass work and descriptions of how the pieces were made, very helpful to me as I try to gather techniques.

Later in the book is an "Artist Profiles" section that not only shows wonderful works of art but also gives hints on how they were constructed. For example, I've seen Judy Conway's "Chesapeake" series in person and assumed that they were clear surrounding black for the blank areas. I learned that actually she cut 3/8" strips of transparent brown and stacked them vertically to get the dark canvas effect. There's also very insightful comments about Brock Craig, Peter Tarlow, Gil Reynolds (who wrote the foreward), and other artists' work. Very nice to see the work and also learn how some of them were done.

Surprisingly, for a book that focuses primarilary on powders, enamels, and frits, the book also covers mold creation, inclusions, draping, and other techniques that you wouldn't expect to see in this book. These nuggets were a pleasant surprise.

Overal a very professional book, extremely well photographed, and accessible to both beginners and more advanced fusers. You'll finish the book with a list of things to buy and test as well as new techniques to experiment with. Well recommended to start or round out your fused glass book collection.

My children love to paint with water and some of the books are horrible, very little paint and my children give up on them right away. While you can see the colors before you add water, at least there is enough paint to cover the picture. My kids love them.

These paint with water books are great for toddlers. A lot less messy than real paints.

I remember when I was a little girl I loved these paint with water books.
As I remember you could barely see anything on the page other than the outlines of the pictures. Perhaps they used some toxic chemicals to make that "magic" work...but today's books show the colors before the water is applied and even then they're so pale they're hardly worth it. I think even the child figures "What's the point?"

I have just taken up watercoloring as a hobby and having had no classes in watercoloring but having a love of painting flowers, I found this book to be extremely helpful and informative. I copied several of Mr. Riley's pictures and they turned out very well. His information on watercolors and brushes to get started with are extremely helpful and I will be following his advice! I read the book from cover to cover and am looking forward to reading his book on landscapes. His book is easy for even a beginner like myself to understand and use.

Excellent innovative approach to painting flowers in watercolor. Paul Riley departs from the standard format of predictable how to books and speaks of research and investigation, planning and preparation, exactly as he might as a teacher. (He runs successful painting workshops from his studio in Devon.) Flowers are synonymous with color and Riley is a consummate colorist. He uses unusual tools, calligraphy brushes and bamboo pens to achieve his effects. Beautiful color, articulately written.

I agree with the reviews here that this book is for beginners. Why? When I opened this book and saw the paintings inside, I felt as though I were looking at paintings done by someone who had just begun to paint and was taking a brush and just splashing color all over the canvas. Any beginner would be thrilled to learn from this book, because to duplicate what this artist has done would seem quite simple to do. I realize that this is just my opinion of an artist's work. Apparently he is well received and has won many awards. But, I could not even get passed the paintings to get to the text to see if it was actually of any value, because I felt the paintings were so horrid. I don't write many reviews, but this was something for which I felt strongly. I'm so glad I only paid $4 for a used copy.

First of all, who is Peter Jay? Somehow it sounds like jeannine's editor or family member or something like that. Instead of giving herself 5 star review which she did before, she has somebody else do it. Well, not that much different. PLEASE, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. It is a WASTE of money!!!! It si sooo expensive. Her technique is rather confusing and the result? Well, you can't really see because the pictures are aweful quality. All blurry. I strained my eyes to see the effect. The peaches and cream did not really produce nice peaches and cream complexion. The newborn technique is better, but I still do not recommend using her technique (unless you like her work, I don't). babies don't have brown creases and brown inside of their noses. And the bonus material??? Guess what? It is rit dye method!!! Who still does it??? One way for her to use her old material and again copy and paste, including the grammatical mistakes. She seems to rely on spell check, well Jeannine, I have news for you. Too instead of to will not be caught by spell check. If you charge such outragous fees for your material, please take your time to do it right! Shame on you for such crapy job. At least she uses genesis here LOL. Which is a great improvement from her other books where she happily teaches to use stencil cremes. Who still uses those? What can I say. I am a very unhappy buyer and one thing for sure. NEVER AGAIN!!!! Jeannine Holper is OFF my list.

HI, Thank You Thank You. Thank You. Thanks for sending me newsletters. I also wanted to let you know that I have downloaded your books. I love them. I really like how you mix the paints and it has greatly improved my reborning! Hugs. KA

New for 2008. The Collector's Edition, which includes Part 1, Part 2 and 30 additional pages of visual instructions, was created especially for using Secrist Doll Kits and Secrist Products. Shows the Peaches and Creams Techniques, and the Newborn Layering Techniques. Covers Ethnic Skin Tones using Genesis Heat Set Paints. If you purchase this book, you do not need to purchase Excellence in Reborn Artistry Case Study #5, Case Study #9 or Part 1 or Part 2 of the Learn to Paint Series..

I love this book! I had looked at it several times before actually purchasing it and I'm so glad I did. I haven't painted anything exactly like the book, but have instead used it for inspiriation. If you are artistic at all, you'd be able to figure out YOUR STYLE of interpreting these ideas.

In contrast to the first reviewer, I found this book very helpful. As an experienced artist, I found several new techniqes which are applicable to a number of styles and materials. Appreciated the reommendations of specific products (adhesives, for example). This book is very useful to the crafter who is looking for a new twist. I liked it enough to add it to my library.

This book is great if you already know how to paint and only want to paint exactly what they have: an old lunch box, and even older T.V., a sink, a couple of swings, a table, a gourd, a brick, etc. They give you the pattern (in most cases) but do not give you any tips on how to actually paint. I was expecting more general ideas on how to paint household items like frames, vases, candleholders, etc... If you are thinking about buying this book, I would check it out in the library first and see if it is for you!

I think background color of The Regatta at Argenteuil was made of cobalt blue and white instead of ultramarine and white as the book suggested.

Anyway, the overall content is okay.

A fantastic book for gaining insight into Monet's painting methods. As an art historian, I've spent years learning the academic facts about the Impressionists, but never picked up a brush until a few years ago. If you're like me, you don't really expect to paint exactly like Monet, but this book just walks you through a number of the artist's better-known works and guides you to create a painting exploring the key techniques. If you do all the exercises in the book, you will certainly gain an enhanced appreciation of painting with color and light. I wish my art history professors had offered us an afternoon with brush and canvas instead of just slides and books. This book would be invaluable for teachers, and it would also make a great gift for anyone interested in learning more about the process of making art.

This book offers a nice review of Monet's painting methods, though it suffers along with other art books with chapters explaining what is an easel, what is a paintbrush, etc. I suppose if one had never seen any art materials before it would be just the thing, but for most people this is just unnecessary filler. The demonstrations might be great in real life, but the end result, as portrayed in the book anyway, give the impression (no pun intended) of a poorly painted reproduction. If the finished works were of higher quality it might inspire more people to try their hand at a Monet copy; right now it seems to say "Paint this picture this way and you will end up with a picture apparently done by a five-year old". Despite all this, though, here are interesting insights into tone and color as well as technique, so that it makes nice reading for a rainy afternnoon, but I'm not sure I would buy it again.
B.O.

I finally broke down and bought Paint Shop Pro 8 and knew I best get me a book to help me out with it.

This book is very easy to read, very easy to understand and best of all it answers your questions in terms that makes sense.

I really like this book. And am glad I bought it.

This book obviously written to be the first PSP book available after Jasc's latest version appeared and it shows. Extremely superficial coverage of subject matters. If you don't have a magnifying glass available be absolutely certain you do not buy. You will never be able to read the screen shot examples printed in the book.

In the first chapter, the book defines the audience as beginning-intermediate. If you've used Paint Shop Pro 8 before, it may be too basic for you. I'm an intermediate user, but I still found shortcuts, tips, and workarounds in this book I didn't know about, so it was worth having.

I bought this book as a present for my friends 21st birthday... along with a gigantic bottle of Rum.
Let's just say, she liked the vocal selections more.

This book is actually wonderful. I expected a bad collection, but instead I was given a good collection of songs with BEAUTIFUL full color pictures. If I could post the pictures online, I would. They are stunning. Directly from the film, the pictures steal the book. If you are not into singing, but still have it hard for The Little Mermaid, then buy this book just for the pictures. It's worth it.

Wow. It's worth it.

As for the songs themselves, you'd expect more of a piano line from one of Disney's greatest treasures. I mean, it's an accompaniment, but it's not a full orchestration. Remember that when buying Disney product vocal selections: IT'S NOT LIKE THE MOVIE. It's a harmony line with some fun syncopation.

It was a good buy all in all.
Recommended.

This the Disney story about Arial, the little mermaid & all her odd assortment of friends that live with her in the sea. My grand-daughter Britanie, is 4 years old & just loves this book/ tape so much that she wore it out. I love the idea that the cassettes follow the words in the book so the children following the words read aloud, start to recognize words that they hear. I am in the process of trying to purchase her another set. This is only thing she asked me to get again her for Christmas.

I thought that this book would be great for children. It has many good fantasy adventures for little kids and I think that you should read it to your kids or just read it on your own time.

The concept of this book is interesting. However, the color reproductions are not that good after I conducted my own experiments with the like pigments and that is how I based my rating. The format showing 1 pigment mixed with several others is a useful guide, but putting it into practice on your own is necessary to really see the results. Moira Clinch's 2 watercolor swatch books are a bit more useful and differently formatted. Clinch's Walter Foster published book has better reproductions, Watercolor Mixing Directory. If you are a watercolorist seeking to learn more about pigment mixing this book and others like it are useful for mixing ideas. However, to learn more about pigments Michael Wilcox and Hilary Page's books on pigments are 2 of the best references to use as guides to learn about pigment properties.

For those in need of a visual guide to mixing colors, this a terrific reference. The mixes presented are simple two-color combinations and run the entire spectrum. It can also help to minimize the number of colors in your basic palette... sometimes less really is more. Compreshensive, well organized and easy to use. A handy and highly recommended guide!

A very good book if your looking for the right colour mix for Winsor & Newton water colour paints. I like this book.

My kids had fun with their paint with water books after Christmas. Then when my daughter got hers out months later to paint again the colors wouldn't work. The red worked a little but she got very frusterated since it was a mess of water and no colors but the red. Can't they make them like they did when I was a kid?

My daughter really likes this and the pictures of each character are really big. The only thing I didn't like was the size of the paint brush, so we just used a different one.