Best Individual Artists' Books
An extraordinary and surreal art book, this edition has been redesigned by the author and includes new illustrations. “…the book really does live up to its reputation: The drawings are in turn hilarious, disturbing, bizarre and, sometimes, just flat-out incomprehensible, but all of them are annotated in Serafini’s script.” - Dangerous Minds “It’s not the sort of thing that easily lends itself to classification, but probably the most accurate way to describe it would be as an encyclopedia of an invented alien civilization…the Codex is still a disorienting and provocative vision of inscrutable otherness.” - Slate.com “ Codex Seraphinianus is an art book in the most direct sense—there are big, beautiful drawings accompanied by indecipherable letterforms--and it is impossible to “read” in a literal way. " Codex Seraphinianus : History’s Most Bizarre and Beautiful Encyclopedia, Brought Back to Life...a weird and wonderful masterpiece of art and philosophical provocation on the precipice of the information age....Undoubtedly one of the most intricate and beautiful art books ever created."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"My campus library had a copy briefly a decade ago, but foolishly left it open to general circulation."
"A weird and wonderful calendar, and the printing is outstanding."
"Beatifully done calendar based on this amazingly mysterious book."
"Drawn & painted in some alternate n ancient universe where dear reader shall be inthralled in its mystery n excellent paper of that of kings ."
"If you've gotten this far, you know what this book is, but perhaps where I can add value is in describing the Rizzoli (white cover) edition. Though i would prefer a black background over white, it has the red circle ladybug illustration (one of my favorites) on the cover instead of the alligator bestiality illustration that the 1st edition has."
"Transports to a new world."
"You can't help but admire the genius to create a whole civilization, with language, geography, religion, culture and science."
"Most incredible book ever."
Single-sided Coloring Pages Each image is printed on a black-backed page to reduce bleed-through . Two Copies of Every Image Enjoy coloring your favorite images a second time , color with a friend, or have an extra copy in case you make a mistake.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I love these pictures, but the paper quality is just not good."
"Really cute selection of chibi animal pictures."
"There are 50 pages to color as you are provided with two copies of each design. This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium: 25 x 2 each Chibi Animal Designs for a total of 50 coloring pages. Designs are printed on one side of the page. Paper is typical of CreateSpace: white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated. Though you cannot see the bleed-through easily due to the back of the page being printed in black, I recommend the use of a blotter page when working in this book. I use a page of card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper under my working page."
"I have been coloring for over a year now. Today has been one of those days. I decided to try and do a coloring book review for one of my very favorite coloring book artists."
"She is an awesome artist, with a wide variety of different themed books for everyone. I defiantly recommend Chibi Animals coloring book."
"This is the cutest adult coloring book, but beware you get two of every picture."
Deemed the modern-day Louis Comfort Tiffany, Dale Chihuly is renowned for his blown-glass sculptures inspired by the natural world. Dale Chihuly is an icon in American art.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Saw the Chihuly exhibit in Seattle and became an avid fan."
"I love Dale Chihuly's artwork."
"Very, very cool calendar."
"A nice calendar for a Chihuly fan."
"Enjoy his calendars every year."
"Wonderful art to appreciate."
"Great photos of lovely art."
"Very small print makes it almost impossible to see the numbers."
Best Fashion Coloring Books for Grown-Ups
• Features over 30 images, each one a single page so no bleed through • Heavyweight, artist-grade paper perfect for whatever you like to color with.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"What a wonderful book , full of stunning, imaginative, very detailed, highly decorated, animal drawings, a couple are simply detailed, a couple more than diabolically detailed, most are just right, like the Cat I colored and I am attaching. (The COVER PICTURE is NOW included in the book, it is on line at the following site for you to print and color as an amazing FREE example of the other illustrations you will have when you purchase this unique coloring book. The details are so tiny that you should use Colored pencils, Gel Pens, or Ultra Fine markers for this book."
"I used gel pens for this picture but some of the drawings will have to be colored with pencils as some of the pictures have tiny, tiny areas."
"Lots of cool pictures to color, each page has a blank back which is great so that your markers do not bleed through onto another picture."
"I have bought a few other coloring books but this one is my favorite so far!"
"______________________________________________________________________. I work behind a computer all day and have a 2 year old so I wanted something to do when the day is over to help me unwind (that doesn't involve looking at a screen). The pages are one sided so you can use markers if you want. Note: The copy I received was missing the lion page like on the front cover but my understanding was this was due to a misprint and the seller is happy to replace if you email them."
"Amazing."
"I've purchased about 10 Coloring Books in the last few months and this one is by far my favorite (but I have 5 cats and 3 dogs so I may be a little biased :). This book is a great addition to your coloring book collection - a perfect gift for animal lovers and people that need a little stress relief in their lives :)."
"Very fun."
Best Skin Care
Milady's Skin Care and Cosmetic Ingredients Dictionary, 4th Edition is more than just a dictionary of cosmetic ingredients; it is a guide to understanding skin types and skin physiology, product formulation and how cosmetic products interact with the skin. Chief Scientific Officer--Emeritus for Pharma Cosmetix Research and a former Vice President of Research & Development for Revlon-Almay Inc., Mr. DiNardo was the VP of R&D for Almay Hypoallergenic Cosmetics and spent many years leading research for the development of products dedicated to atopic dermatitis.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Love this book, great for educating yourself and your client!"
"If you make any kind of skin care product or are in the skin care industry, this is a great reference."
"This updated version is good."
"It's very helpful for estheticians!"
"Such a nice resource to have at home to look up ingredients."
"I chose the book after reading some of the reviews and deciding that I really did need this to complete my library of Skin Care information."
"has many of the products i wanted to research but wish it had more ingredients than the basics, there was a few i couldnt find but it still is a good dictionary."
Best Individual Artist Essays
Ralph McQuarrie is the most iconic artist in the history of Star Wars . Brandon Alinger is the chief operations officer of the Los Angeles branch of Prop Store and the author of Star Wars Costumes: The Original Trilogy .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I haven't been as excited about a Star Wars book since Rinzler's THE MAKING OF STAR WARS. Not only does this set include the studies for his paintings, but EVERY version of each painting (with commentary). The only painting that could possibly be missing as far as I can tell is the night time establishing shot of Chewbacca's house in the STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL, but it's unclear if McQuarrie created that painting. I thought of how STAR WARS changed the way movies were made and seen, how it opened the door for everything that followed from Lucas, how it inspired the lives of so many artists, including my own. In my opinion this is among the most important Star Wars books ever released."
"This huge (and heavy) book set is the ultimate treasure for whoever is a greedy fan of Ralph McQuarrie's work on the classic Star Wars trilogy!"
"If you call yourself a Star Wars Fan, You Better Get this book set above ALL others!"
"Thousands (yes, thousands) of images are beautifully presented here and put in context – concept sketches, preliminary sketches for paintings, color studies, finished production paintings, matte paintings, promotional artwork, and on and on. The written text and captions are also insightful and surprisingly specific with regard to dates and details."
"This isn't just the final paintings, but it has all of McQuarrie's sketches and designs along the way."
"Ralph McQuarrie is one of those icons of the Star Wars saga and always will be."
"The authors have been very thorough in their examination of Ralph McQuarrie's Star Wars artwork."
"The packaging could be a little better, as the box the books come in was packaged in another box only slightly bigger than the box containing the books."
Best Individual Artist Monographs
Published to coincide with an exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art organized by The Costume Institute, this stunning book includes a preface by Andrew Bolton; an introduction by Susannah Frankel; an interview by Tim Blanks with Sarah Burton, creative director of the house of Alexander McQueen; illuminating quotes from the designer himself; provocative and captivating new photography by renowned photographer Sølve Sundsbø; and a lenticular cover by Gary James McQueen. "For those still wanting to view McQueen's fashion creations, the book shines on. "The catalog—with its gorgeous images places alongside provocative, incisive, and often puzzling conversational quotes from the designer himself—makes for an interesting way to get a peek at the show for those of us who won’t be lucky enough to make it to New York this summer. The most radical designs of his career are presented here, with critical analysis perfect for any arts or fashion library. "The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum's Alexander McQueen retrospective has proven so popular that the exhibit has been extended until August 7. But if that still isn't enough time for you to get down to see it, the next best thing to a New York City jaunt is the definitive monograph, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. ".
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book is a beautifully put together compilation or MANY (not all) of his brilliant clothes from his first collection up until the posthumous Angels and Demons."
"This book is inspiringly beautiful, filled with avant grade fashions characterized by clean but eccentric lines, the blending of male and female, and garments with beautifully architectural features."
"There is a short bio at the front of the book that is only about 10 pages long, if that, which is probably enough for this book, which highlights the beauty of his garments."
"The beautiful photography has inspired me in many ways and I very highly recommend this books to artists and readers who are interested in Alexander McQueen and fashion."
"Each of these books was for one of our grandchildren... the 12 yr. old who is gifted in design is mesmerized by McQueen... he spent the holiday "designing" outfits for males & femalles... the 4 yr. old is having trouble "sharing" so Llama Llama is just right for her... Love Looks Not, etc., will be given to grandson for his Feb. birthday..."
"I love looking at them over and over."
"This book looks beautiful in person."