Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Art
T he Legend of Zelda™: Art and Artifacts contains over four hundred pages of fully realized illustrations from the entire thirty-year history of The Legend of Zelda™ including artwork from the upcoming The Legend of Zelda™: Breath of the Wild ! A few years later, the Gameboy and the Super Nintendo cemented Nintendo as one of the premier gaming companies in the world.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"First of all, if you're a die hard Zelda fan, nothing in this book is new as this book is essentially a collection of promotional and concept art for the series. You do get art from the entire series from the original Legend of Zelda to Zelda Twilight Princess HD or Zelda Tri Force Heroes."
"This is a must own to learn the history of one of the greatest franchises is video game history."
"The only unique part to the book is the final 40 pages or so that are full of interview Q&A's which are pretty interesting."
"Gorgeous to look at, came safely packaged, no wear and tear, protective plastic sleeve fits perfectly with the cover illustration."
"I bought this book as a gift and it is beautiful!"
"That said, I am an obsessive Zelda image hunter and have sought out most of this art in the past."
"I'm pretty obsessed with everything Zelda, so when I saw this book I had to get it."
"It is surprisingly thick, has tons of artwork from all the games, Breath of the Wild has like a page or 2 dedicated to it but I did not see anything spoilers (BotW only) so that's good, unless I haven't looked through the book enough."
Foreword by John Boyega Just in time for the next blockbuster, Star Wars: The Last Jedi , this unique and beautifully designed compendium with removable features traces one of the franchise’s most iconic characters—the stormtrooper—from initial development through all nine Star Wars movies to their many iterations in TV, comics, videogames, novels, and pop-culture. “On top of the impressive research Windham and Bray bring to the book, it’s also filled to the brim with photographs (some never before published! “If you’ve ever been interested in the iconic white-armored soldiers of the Galactic Empire, this is pretty much the book for you… It’s awesome… It’s a seriously must-buy for any serious Star Wars fan.” (Beltway Banthas Podcast).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Ryder Windham and Adam Bray's "Star Wars: Stormtroopers: Beyond the Armor" traces the history of the Empire's white armored shock troops from the earliest drafts of George Lucas's "The Star Wars" to the hype machine for "The Last Jedi"."
"This gift book details the history of the Stormtroopers in the real world, not in the cinematic Star Wars universe."
"For a book about the evolution of the iconic star wars stormtrooper, this was just ok."
"Learned a lot about the development of movie characters."
"Excellent reading and covers the First Order in addition to the original trilogy!"
"So I was surprised to find that this book is more of a history about the making of Star Wars with a stormtrooper focus that gives a story line to that huge amount of history. Overall, I came away from Star Wars Stormtroopers with lots of fun facts and insights that I didn’t know before. Here are some of my favorite facts from the book: They released comics and novelizations before the first movie which wasn’t a common way to market movies back then. History of the stormtrooper toys released in the entire franchise (some of which seemed really cool and I kind of want them.). The book doesn’t go so far to say that Finn was inspired by this story, but I think it’s interesting how similar the stories are. Star Wars Stormtroopers: Beyond the Armor is part of the Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi series and it’ll help get your Star Wars fix while we are all waiting for the next movie to come out."
"If you are looking for that perfect gift for your Star Wars lover.. Star Wars Stormtroopers: Beyond the Armor (Star Wars: Journey to Star Wars: the Last Jedi) is a must have books for their library! If you’re like me.. you’ve seen every Star Wars movie since it was released and are sitting on pins and needles awaiting, ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi”! Star Wars Stormtroopers: Beyond the Armor is chockful of colorful photographs, stories, trivia, and many other assorted surprises!"
This coloring book features eighteen examples of unicorns texting in theaters, farting in elevators, eating your leftovers, and generally acting like jerks. "Coloring books for adults are still hot, but you haven't seen one like Unicorns are Jerks.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Our firm was on the verge of hiring a unicorn as our new public relations rep. At first, it seemed like a dream come true, what with his magical rainbow mane and shimmering eyes but then after reading this book, we decided to do a little more digging on our potential new hire. It's really so much more than a coloring book, it's a public service announcement."
"I'm a child at heart and I enjoy coloring, this is a great alternative to kids coloring books I've pretty much colored all the pages already!"
"I had no idea that unicorns were such jerks until I read this book!"
"So much fun for adult coloring!"
"This was a Christmas gift for my young adult daughter."
"I love the coloring book, it is not super detailed, I like the story that comes along with it, the only thing that I was disappointed about is that i wanted to color the picture that was on the cover, I figured that it would be included in the book, but it wasn't."
"Of course they're jerks ;). Gave to a friend who is going through chemo...cause coloring is quite therapeutic."
"This book is not at all the quality I expected."
Best Art History by Theme
Growing out of President Bush’s own outreach and the ongoing work of the George W. Bush Institute's Military Service Initiative, Portraits of Courage brings together sixty-six full-color portraits and a four-panel mural painted by President Bush of members of the United States military who have served our nation with honor since 9/11—and whom he has come to know personally. President Bush will donate his net author proceeds from PORTRAITS OF COURAGE to the George W. Bush Presidential Center, a non-profit organization whose Military Service Initiative works to ensure that post-9/11 veterans and their families make successful transitions to civilian life with a focus on gaining meaningful employment and overcoming the invisible wounds of war. It’s also a tale of life’s capacity to surprise, its ability to hand up new and unexpected lives not only to these veterans but also to their constitutional commander.” -Seth Lipsky, New York Post. After staring at the haunting close-up portraits of wounded warriors and reading the searing accounts of their suffering, I’m beginning to understand why this beautifully published book went to No. “Most of [the portraits] show the head and face full size, seemingly bursting out of the frame with genuine presence and considerable expressive energy . “[It’s] impossible to look at these 98 extraordinary images without thinking deeply about the artist who made them: A leader who sent troops off to the battlefield, and who, so many years later, spends his days channeling the damaged but determined warriors who came home .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm an artist and a Liberal."
"So while I don't want to cross the line into the contentious, I have to be perfectly honest and say I never would have expected myself purchasing one of President Bush's books. But I watched an interview with him from Jimmy Kimmel's show while he was promoting this book, and when he mentioned that all the proceeds to to supporting causes for veterans, I said “I'm in”. I read a piece a couple years back by some artists and critics who weren't very flattering in their assessments, so I imagine he's already been exposed to some of that. I took a drawing class in college and got a B on a project...the professor's only reason was she hated my subject matter, thought it wasn't mature enough, the thrust of her criticism was not about my technique."
"The love and honor is expressed in every brush stroke of the portraits."
"The president took on art (painting) after leaving the office, without any previous art background, but his desire to paint lead to this book; Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors. The title of the book is kind of self-explanatory, it deals with the courageous men and women who served in the military. It will make a great coffee table book and something special to keep in anyone's personal library. Lastly, the president did not just paint these men and women, but he has met with most of them personally multiple of times."
"These portraits seemed crude to me at first glance, but once I read each story and looked a bit longer at each portrait, I could see that the president managed to capture each person's character in the eyes or mouth, or some other aspect of that individual's personality."
"Proud that my spouse served while President Bush was the commander in chief."
"So inspirational to read the stories of our warriors."
Best Cities & Architecture Coloring Books for Grown-Ups
Satisfying the inner child and adult intellect all at once, this timeless activity is now revolutionized to create 20 pieces of fantastic, stylish line art readers will want to remove and display when finished. Graphic designer and experimental artist Thomas Pavitte uses simple techniques to create highly complex pieces.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I appreciate some of the other reviewers stating that these can be difficult and take some time to complete, but some of the negative reviews are pretty harsh and sound like they are just written by a bunch of grumpy people with no patience. Good thing Amazon reviews didn't exist in the 1800s when folks were moving West, we never would have gotten past the Mississippi River: "The wagon ride is harsh and the days are long."
"The only downside is the numbers were fairly small, I didn't realize how many little dots would be on each page. For most people that's alright, for the older generations it might be harder on their eyes. We saw this book and several similar at Barnes and Noble after I purchased it on Amazon."
"I got into doing dot-to-dot puzzles back in the early 2000s with the David Kalvitis books, then sort of lost interest. This is a large book -- about 10" x 14" -- and each puzzle occupies one single removable page. I'll be purchasing additional books by this artist -- winter is approaching, and our Pacific NW weather is conducive to cozying up indoors."
"So I bought a few other dot to dot books and this is my favorite by far!!!!!"
"Yes, there are a gazillion dots, but they're grouped according to color and I found with a good magnifying glass that I could complete each page, not easily though."
"I use a binder as an underlay, as for some reason the book doesn't have a flap to act as one."
"Pictures are of the book cover and the cities that you make."
"I particularly enjoy tackling it when I've had a stressful day or my thoughts are racing, since it's an easy activity that still forces me to concentrate on what's on the page."
Best Plant & Animal Art
Draw 50 Animals: The Step-by-Step Way to Draw Elephants, Tigers, Dogs, Fish, Birds, and Many More...
Draw 50 Animals is a step-by-step, easy-to-use drawing book that will help kids and adults alike develop their technical drawing skills and build a repertoire of animal subjects. Fifty furry, scaly and feathered friends are here for aspiring young artists to draw.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I bought this book for my special needs daughter in the hope that it would introduce her in the art of drawing and help her to easily understand each step in drawing animals."
"Got this for my little brother to get him off of the tablet and phone once in a while."
"Much less material than I expected."
"This book is great for beginning artists."
"It arrived quickly and, as described."
"This book was purchased for my 9 year old grandson who loves to draw, & was spending a week with us during the summer."
"Mailing issue: The book was torn and folded."
"Shipping was fast and good quality."
Best Landscape & Seascape Art
From beloved author and Hallmark Channel favorite Debbie Macomber, this special adult coloring book features forty-five original illustrations depicting scenes from the Rose Harbor and Blossom Street series. Debbie Macomber , the author of A Girl’s Guide to Moving On, Last One Home, Silver Linings, Love Letters, Mr.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This coloring book depicts a number of scenes from various books, including: “Starting Now”, “The Inn at Rose Harbor”, “Love Letters”, “The World of Debbie Macomber”, Blossom Street Brides”, “Silver Linings”, and “Rose Harbor in Bloom”. Here is an overview of what I found in the book and during my testing of mediums and coloring in this book: 45 Hand-drawn designs depicting scenes from Debbie Macomber books. Printed on one side of white, heavyweight lightly smooth non-perforated page. Quote of Scene is on the preceding page (back of the previous design page. Glue Bound. Designs merge into the binding area – if you cut pages out, you will lose portions of the design. Book opens fairly flat if you “break” the spine. Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page. Given the construction of this book, with the quote on the prior page, I do not plan to remove pages from the book."
"I have been coloring as a hobby since high school so I'm no stranger to "adult coloring books" and after a while the same themes get old."
"I am a big Debbie Macomber fan and an avid colorist so it took me not two seconds to decide to buy this book."
"The Paper in this coloring book is thick and takes multimedia well."
"The paper us good quality and the pictures fill the pages which seem to be a bit larger than most coloring books."
"Most of my books are jungles, gardens and flowers, so I thought I'd try something different."
"The pictures are one on a page with a description of the next picture on the back."
"Stunning coloring book that tells a story."
Best Human Figure Art
The illustrator Andrew Loomis (1892-1959) is revered among artists - including comics superstar Alex Ross - for his mastery of figure drawing and clean, Realist style. After studying art he moved to Chicago, eventually opening his own studio, working in editorial and advertising for most of the top clients at the time including Kellogg's, Coca Cola, Lucky Strike and more.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"As stated in reviews of his other books, one can't go wrong reading and learning what Loomis had to say."
"Andrew Loomis is one of the most talented artists that ever lifted a pencil and this book was lovingly composed as a personal gift to those who might be inspired to follow in his footsteps."
"Although the figures are exaggerated a bit, this book is wonderful and beautiful."
"excellent quality well written a must have for any budding artist a great hand book ."
"Most artists can't draw well - this book will help eliminate that problem."
"I had started studying a low quality, crooked scanned version of this book I found online."
"I always had an issue drawing the human figure and now I have one of my favorite artists showing me the ropes in this educational book."
"If you want to learn how to draw, you can do no better than to use this book as a training manual."
Best Women in Art History & Criticism
The intimate life of artist Frida Kahlo is wonderfully revealed in the illustrated journal she kept during her last 10 years. Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1919- 1954) kept this haunting journal during the last decade of her life, preoccupied with death, beset by declining health, isolation and repeated surgical operations resulting from the bus accident that severely damaged her spine, pelvic bones, right leg and right foot at the age of 18.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm in love with this book's edition."
"I wanted to like this more because I am a bit enamored of Frida Kahlo, though I am not very educated about her."
"Such a well made, sturdy, book."
Best Erotica Art
The work was gathered from collections across the United States and Europe with the help of the Tom of Finland Foundation, and features many drawings, paintings, and sketches never previously reproduced . The elegant oversized volume showed the full range of Tom’s talent, from sensitive portraits to frank sexual pleasure, to tender expressions of love, and haunting tributes to young men struck down by AIDS, and was completed by eight commissioned essays on Tom’s social and personal impact by Camille Paglia, John Waters, Armistead Maupin, Todd Oldham , and others, plus a scholarly analysis of individual drawings by art historian Edward Lucie-Smith . Dian Hanson produced a variety of men’s magazines from 1976 to 2001, including Juggs, Outlaw Biker, and Leg Show, before becoming TASCHEN’s Sexy Book editor.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This is the same calendar available from the Tom of Finland Foundation."
"A great collection of his works from early years to the latter ones we are more familiar with."
"Great Book and worth the price."
"Possibly the greatest purchase of my entire life."
"WAY beyond what I expected."
"It's waaaaay much more bigger and heavier than i expected."
"the book its perfect just i spected to be im in love with it."
Best Religious Arts & Photography
This coloring book s Christmas theme will help you always access to the happy time. You will find the beautiful ball, bright bell, wonderful present, charming Christmas tree, snow flake and all the whole world of the Christmas time. Leave your stress life on the table and come with me to find the wonderful moment with coloring book.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"You will find full page collages of Christmas bulbs, Mittens, Bells, Santa & reindeer riding across the night sky, plus pictures of Gifts piled high, Decorated Christmas trees and abstract Christmas trees, Santa and his sleigh, and many more all based on traditional Christmas items just waiting for you to add christmas colors to bring each to life."
"Complexity of the artworks range from beginner to more advanced level."
"One caution, though: I bought this book for my elderly aunt who has used some of the other books; she said that some of the images in the book are too intricate/close for her eyes and she thinks she may not be able to complete them."
"This is a fun book!"
"The adult coloring books are also great for my mother in law whose almost 89."
"The paper is thin and the designs are too simple, it would be difficult to color with sharpies or gel pens."
"The pages on this book are all very busy with lots of detail."
"Colored one or two items-rest were either too large or not to my liking."
Best Art Portraits
Growing out of President Bush’s own outreach and the ongoing work of the George W. Bush Institute's Military Service Initiative, Portraits of Courage brings together sixty-six full-color portraits and a four-panel mural painted by President Bush of members of the United States military who have served our nation with honor since 9/11—and whom he has come to know personally. President Bush will donate his net author proceeds from PORTRAITS OF COURAGE to the George W. Bush Presidential Center, a non-profit organization whose Military Service Initiative works to ensure that post-9/11 veterans and their families make successful transitions to civilian life with a focus on gaining meaningful employment and overcoming the invisible wounds of war. It’s also a tale of life’s capacity to surprise, its ability to hand up new and unexpected lives not only to these veterans but also to their constitutional commander.” -Seth Lipsky, New York Post. After staring at the haunting close-up portraits of wounded warriors and reading the searing accounts of their suffering, I’m beginning to understand why this beautifully published book went to No. “Most of [the portraits] show the head and face full size, seemingly bursting out of the frame with genuine presence and considerable expressive energy . “[It’s] impossible to look at these 98 extraordinary images without thinking deeply about the artist who made them: A leader who sent troops off to the battlefield, and who, so many years later, spends his days channeling the damaged but determined warriors who came home .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm an artist and a Liberal."
"So while I don't want to cross the line into the contentious, I have to be perfectly honest and say I never would have expected myself purchasing one of President Bush's books. But I watched an interview with him from Jimmy Kimmel's show while he was promoting this book, and when he mentioned that all the proceeds to to supporting causes for veterans, I said “I'm in”. I read a piece a couple years back by some artists and critics who weren't very flattering in their assessments, so I imagine he's already been exposed to some of that. I took a drawing class in college and got a B on a project...the professor's only reason was she hated my subject matter, thought it wasn't mature enough, the thrust of her criticism was not about my technique."
"The love and honor is expressed in every brush stroke of the portraits."
"The president took on art (painting) after leaving the office, without any previous art background, but his desire to paint lead to this book; Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors. The title of the book is kind of self-explanatory, it deals with the courageous men and women who served in the military. It will make a great coffee table book and something special to keep in anyone's personal library. Lastly, the president did not just paint these men and women, but he has met with most of them personally multiple of times."
"These portraits seemed crude to me at first glance, but once I read each story and looked a bit longer at each portrait, I could see that the president managed to capture each person's character in the eyes or mouth, or some other aspect of that individual's personality."
"I was very Impressed and moved by President George W. Bush's paintings and the stories shared by the wounded Vets."
"Amazing!!!"
"The most beautifully portrayed emotionally moving book I have ever read."