Best Typography
Chalkfulloflove was created to encourage, inspire and make you giggle, so just pour yourself a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and settle in to start your own unique, adorable lettering creations! Hardcover, oversized gold wire-o binding and gold corner protectors Step by step instructions on how to create various fonts and designs Thick premium paper, perfect for lettering Beautiful coffee table book and practical workbook. A day in her life looks like taking a crazy number of photos, dancing in the garage while packaging up orders, and cuddling with her pups.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book is beautiful!"
"Gorgeous book!"
"This book makes learning hand lettering SO easy!"
"BUT, the blank pages.... About 45% of the book is blank pages, not to mention all the white space. Pages 96-110 are ENTIRELY BLANK but for the page number, and so is almost half of the book."
"I should have listened to the other people who reported that this book was full of nothing, but I was encouraged by the the claim that additional content was added."
"If you want to learn upper case, you have to also buy Hand Lettering 201."
"In purchasing a $30.00 book I expect more inside information, tips and tricks and showing me HOW she achieves her style of lettering, etc... For example, the flourishes pages literally just tells you that flourishes and illustrations are great to add to your lettering then shows you a 2" x 2" example of the author's own "Bless Your Heart" design (with zero instructions on how she achieved it) and has about a 6"x3" area next to that design that says "Practice Here.""
"Got the lower case letters down and then realized there's no upper case letters to practice to!!"
In this book, Margaret Shepherd, America's premier calligrapher, shows you that calligraphy is not simply a craft you can learn, but an elegant art form that you can make your own. * Provide context for calligraphy as an art, exploring the rich tradition of hand-lettering and mapping the evolution of the most popular styles.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Of the many books on calligraphy that I've purchased, this one had the most useful, everyday ideas for simple calligraphy."
"I recommend three manuals for the novice calligrapher: Calligraphy and Illumination: A History and Practical Guide by Patricia Lovett, The Calligrapher's Bible by David Harris (see my reviews of both texts) and this text, Learn Calligraphy by Margaret Shepherd, one of the foremost experts on the subject."
"And, for other occasions like addressing a birthday card, or a love note to my wife, I wanted something to make people say, “Oooh! I can’t imagine the work it took to write the entire book by hand. Additionally, the book is good at teaching you to write calligraphy, which is exceedingly helpful in a book called “Learn Calligraphy.” I disagree slightly with the author’s choice to begin with the Roman font, however. Even though I don’t prefer it, I’m going to follow her instructions and go through the book little by little, doing the exercises, and learning the letters and strokes as she presents them. It’s meant to teach you the movements and habits that make calligraphy possible. In Roman, she covers the basic letter construction and then shows you five variations with serifs. It’s not huge, but I would argue that each style of serif does change the character and feel of the letters. She also shows a few examples of projects done with the Roman hand so you can see how it could be applied to your own artwork. Finally, she shows the “narrow” or Rustica version and “wide” or Quadrata forms of the Roman alphabet. Shepherd also includes some history on each alphabet and the book is arranged chronologically."
"Got this as part of a Christmas gift for a friend who invested in a calligraphy pens but has never learned calligraphy."
"Best calligraphy book I've used."
"This is not an appropriate book for beginners."
And finally, 12 projects to show off your newfound skills: including a Winter Wonderland Snow Globe; a smartphone-themed birthday card to text friends and family; a one-of-a-kind party invitation to create, photograph, and mail; and a bake sale sign guaranteed to put everyone who sees it in the mood for a cupcake! From basic tools and tips (how to sharpen a stick of chalk, how to prep a blackboard) to a dozen inspiring projects, it’s a complete guide to the playful art of chalk lettering.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book does a fabulous job of making the art of chalk lettering and illustration accessible."
"Most of them were not helpful because they contained only one or two lessons and then a ton of empty pages for you to practice on (that's what my notebook and scratch paper is for - thank you very much). There is detailed discussion on how to draw more attention to some words within a phrase so that they catch the reader's eye by making them bigger or bolder or shaded."
"I've been wanting to up my game with calligraphy and chalk lettering... What tools you need, how to prepare your chalkboard for battle, typography 101 courses, lots and lots of styles and tips to achieve your lettering goals... Imma go play with it because it is addictive."
"I purchased the Allary Chalk Cartridge Set, sold here on Amazon, to go along with this purchase and LOVE them. They are a great companion to the book as they are thin chalks in a mechanical pencil type holder that don't need to be sharpened (but can be) and I was very surprised that they weren't waxy."
"After several attempts at the script lettering, following the book's instructions, I have concluded that my below average ability still shines through in the letters."
"Still a hassle flipping back and forth between page I'm trying to copy and boards to some degree, but done very well."
"It provides explanations and instruction of chalk letter techniques and styles and really does give you the tools you need to succeed at chalk lettering if you have the time to devote to practicing and perfecting your skills."
"I have gone over the book once and am going over it again so I can build my confidants and learn what I missed the first time reading it."
Best Typography
And finally, 12 projects to show off your newfound skills: including a Winter Wonderland Snow Globe; a smartphone-themed birthday card to text friends and family; a one-of-a-kind party invitation to create, photograph, and mail; and a bake sale sign guaranteed to put everyone who sees it in the mood for a cupcake! Say It with Chalk In more than 60 lessons learn the art of hand-drawn chalk lettering from an Etsy superstar.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book does a fabulous job of making the art of chalk lettering and illustration accessible."
"Most of them were not helpful because they contained only one or two lessons and then a ton of empty pages for you to practice on (that's what my notebook and scratch paper is for - thank you very much). There is detailed discussion on how to draw more attention to some words within a phrase so that they catch the reader's eye by making them bigger or bolder or shaded."
"I've been wanting to up my game with calligraphy and chalk lettering... What tools you need, how to prepare your chalkboard for battle, typography 101 courses, lots and lots of styles and tips to achieve your lettering goals... Imma go play with it because it is addictive."
"I purchased the Allary Chalk Cartridge Set, sold here on Amazon, to go along with this purchase and LOVE them. They are a great companion to the book as they are thin chalks in a mechanical pencil type holder that don't need to be sharpened (but can be) and I was very surprised that they weren't waxy."
"After several attempts at the script lettering, following the book's instructions, I have concluded that my below average ability still shines through in the letters."
"Still a hassle flipping back and forth between page I'm trying to copy and boards to some degree, but done very well."
"It provides explanations and instruction of chalk letter techniques and styles and really does give you the tools you need to succeed at chalk lettering if you have the time to devote to practicing and perfecting your skills."
"I have gone over the book once and am going over it again so I can build my confidants and learn what I missed the first time reading it."
Best Arts & Photography Study & Teaching
That’s the message from Austin Kleon, a young writer and artist who knows that creativity is everywhere, creativity is for everyone. "Austin Kleon is positively one of the most interesting people on the Internet... Kleon makes an articulate and compelling case for combinatorial creativity and the role of remix in the idea economy." "A quick, easily digestible read that is particularly relevant in today's digital world."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Most of what he writes about may be trite to those "in the know" but for me this book said I could go into the world, find something I love and tweak it bit to make it mine. But even these words do not convey accurately enough how inspired I was - I read it again - I added his blog and tumblr feeds to my daily readings - I follow him on twitter and bought some books he recommended. Finally - rather than sending him an email telling him how wonderful this book is - I am following his advice and putting those same thoughts in a review. A small book awakened a bit of passion for being creative."
"I read this one in about an hour. Just because the story has already been written, doesn't mean that there's not room for a different take on things!"
"The gist is "Borrow things you like from others, fail at perfect imitation, slowly gain your own style through this process.""
"I have been wanting to read this book for awhile and it lived up to my expectations."
"Thus book hast bite sized chunks of ideas that are easy to grasp yet give a lot to think about."
"This was an excellent book and a wonderful read, not just for traditional artists but also anyone endeavoring to pursue any sort of creative venture."
"Gets the mind working on a different plane."
"Austin explains being an artist in such a natural way."
Best Graphic Design Annuals
Featuring 24 unique and creative designs, ranging in complexity from to simple to advanced, this coloring book will provide hours and hours of stress relief, mindful calm, and fun, creative expression. Long before adult-coloring books were introduced to the world, Dani was turning store-bought children's coloring books into adult-coloring books for her own enjoyment.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Great value for price."
"Great item."
"Gift for grand-daughter...she loved it!"
"It was awesome!"
"This is so cute!!"
"A coloring book that isn't worth more then $1.00."
Best Unicode Encoding Standard
Ideal as a quick reference, Regular Expression Pocket Reference covers the regular expression APIs for Perl 5.8, Ruby (including some upcoming 1.9 features), Java, PHP, .NET and C#, Python, vi, JavaScript, and the PCRE regular expression libraries. He's also the author of Regular Expression Pocket Reference, former Engineering Director for Odeo.com and former Engineering Lead for O'Reilly Media.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Regular expressions are often viewed as one of the most cryptic subjects in programming or systems administration."
"In addition to brief explanations of the different types of regexes in the wild (based on the comprehensive Mastering title, also from ORA), there are detailed quick references to all of the different implementations including several common languages (Perl, PHP, C#, and several others) and software packages (including sed, Apache, vi and many others)."
"If you ever play with text files to produce reports, speadsheets, etc ... this book is for you ... of course, if you have never used regexp before, grab a more comprehensive teaching book ... but you will find yourself trying to remember the arcane syntax and this book can help."
"Hassle free delivery by Amazon."
"A pocket reference like this is indispensible when you don't have a photographic memory for aligning vast sequences of escape characters."
"If you're still here, then you'll get a cheat sheet on steroids for languages ranging from bug-prone JavaScript to the King and Queen of robustness, Perl and Python."
"I recommend the pocket reference over the full book."
Best Lithography
Featuring 24 unique and creative designs, ranging in complexity from to simple to advanced, this coloring book will provide hours and hours of stress relief, mindful calm, and fun, creative expression. Long before adult-coloring books were introduced to the world, Dani was turning store-bought children's coloring books into adult-coloring books for her own enjoyment.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Great value for price."
"Great item."
"Gift for grand-daughter...she loved it!"
"It was awesome!"
"This is so cute!!"
"A coloring book that isn't worth more then $1.00."
Best Printmaking
Pen & Ink Drawing: A Simple Guide covers the essential aspects of pen and ink drawing and more. He actively maintains a YouTube channel featuring hundreds of videos and tutorials on drawing, sketching, pen and ink, watercolor, and more for learners of all levels.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Dunn takes that a step further and shows you how to develop a shadow using the texture you are trying to illustrate. C. Dunn takes the learner into the importance of different ways of drawing. I think what is important about this book is that Dunn is very aware of how he learned and what his questions were and he tried very hard to make a book that would have helped him."
"He has spent most of his time teaching people for free and he put all of his knowledge into this wonderful book."
"The book helped me get back into inking and I enjoyed it more than painting digitally."
"It's really safe to say that here in this book all the information is greatly structured. You can find all the nuts and bolts which are just vital for anyone who's anything serious about drawing itself. Just think of the following: if you don't know 'the letters' than how you're gonna write? Well the book's called 'a simple guide'."
"I have watched and rewatched these videos so many times that I made a personal vow to buy his book as soon as it became available in order to take a small step towards repaying him for all of the hours he commits to his fans."
"I have been watching Alphonso Dunn on YouTube for over three years and everything I love about his teaching there is found in his book. I have taken MANY art courses and most I paid for, but Mr Dunn's teachings go above and beyond any of the teaching I received else where."
"This book is all I have been working with for several weeks and I'm having fun and see improvement in my drawings. I do mostly line and wash and this book helps me really better understand light and shadow, as well as texture."
Best Animation Graphic Design
The Avatar’s adventures continue right where the TV series left off, in this beautiful oversized hardcover of The Promise, from Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and Eisner and Harvey Award winner Gene Luen Yang!
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"We find out Toph went on to start a metalbending school (and we meet a few characters--her students, whom she calls "lily livers"), and we see that Aang and Katara have officially cemented their relationship."
"I cried when I got to the end of this book because I know I will have to wait till they write a new one."
"The Firelord is cooling his heels in prison and his son, Zuko, is doing his best to work with the other kingdoms and restore order and balance to the world. But trying to undo a hundred years of occupation of the other kingdoms has unexpected consequences."
"It is not in whatever way predictable, in my opinion, and the complicated relationships in the Royal FIre Nation family are more fleshed out than ever before. As for the artwork, the artistic team continues to produce illustration that shows great attention to detail, including the very obvious physical and mental changes that the characters experience as they go through adolescence."
"It continues the life of Aang, Katara, Zuko, Sokka, Toph, Mai, Suki, Iroh and Ozai. This trilogy is named the promise because of the relationship that Zuko and Aang have after the war. The books revolves around this Promise. I suspect this comes from Sokka repeatedly calling Aang and Katara's PDA, Oogie."
Best Airbrush Graphic Design
Coloring book full of beautiful designs, incorporating hilarious alternative swear words!
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Bought for my girlfriend who is a art teacher."
"Purchased as a teacher gift."
"There are very few pages."
"The perfect gift for your child's teacher."
"This was a perfect gift for my kids teacher."
"Funny teacher humor."
"Sent as a gift to a granddaughter teaching high school."
"The pictures are somewhat larger spaced than I thought from viewing online."
Best Graphic Design Clip Art
From the positive wish that’s right for anyone. TAGS: coloring book,adult coloring book good vibes,adult coloring book calligraphy,adult coloring book for women,adult coloring books best sellers for women, adult coloring book animals, adult coloring books stress relieving patterns, adult coloring books relaxation, adult coloring books relaxing,black coloring book, midnight coloring book, black adult coloring book, midnight adult coloring book, adult coloring books black background.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Another great find to help you relieve stress and encourage a positive outlook in your life."
"Wife loves to color, she liked the book."
"It was a gift she loved it."
"Love the pictures included in this book!"
"love the patterns, but the paper is a bit lower quality than what I would prefer."
"Very pretty pages to color."
"The drawings are absolutely beautiful!"
"This is a great book to color."
Best Commercial Graphic Design
How to Draw Cool Stuff shows simple step-by-step illustrations that make it easy for anyone to draw cool stuff with precision and confidence.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"As adults, we over-complicate so much, and this book teaches us that maybe slowing things down and using just the basics can give very surprising results."
"There is a good reason why every reviewer is giving this book 5 Stars. To open the book, the author provides an extensive section on suggestions for teachers helping the beginning artist. From the Introduction: "Through Art we have the opportunity to showcase our personal strengths in a meaningful way." Some of my favorite drawing lessons: The "Ancient Masks" section, the "Basketball Hoop" drawing, and the "Foreshortened person" lesson. ▲ Honestly, Catherine Holmes has produced a MAGNIFICENT book for students and teachers alike. The amount of time spent producing this book must have been enormous."
"A discussion with a friend got me interested in trying out sketching and drawing as a fun and creative outlet. This is a great eBook for two groups of beginners: 1) the instant gratification type: you just got your pencils and sketch pad and you just want to start drawing things. Okay, drawing attempts is a better description, but my bad art is not what's reviewed here :). The second group of beginners are ones who want to learn more, in an easy to digest format. So we can't have it both ways :). The ebook is comfortable to read on the 7 inch Kindle Fire tablet (or anything larger), and you can zoom on the pictures whether you have your device in portrait or landscape orientation. Some of them have a semi-usable image zoom option (Paperwhite, classic Kindle with Keyboard), so if you are patient, you can also go through the drawing exercises with those. The tiny basic Kindle does not have image zoom, so it's not very useful if you are doing the drawing exercises (but still fine if you want to read the text parts)."
"9 year old who is an amazing artist already understood when I showed her the steps."
"Will want to buy the other books in this series now."
"This was a present for my daughter and she said it is the most helpful instruction guide she has ever gotten."
"This book was so awesome that I couldn't stop reading it's the best on the market I even read it when ever I have time."
"I bought this, along with a set of drawing pencils, for a kid."
Best Graphic Design Techniques
Specially designed for experienced colorists, Owls and other Creative Haven® adult coloring books offer an escape to a world of inspiration and artistic fulfillment. Marjorie Sarnat is a New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of several coloring books and more than a dozen books on art and creativity.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The pages of the book are single-sided and are perforated at the bound edge so you can remove the page to color or to frame afterwards. The images have a wide range, including: an owl sitting on a wildly decorated crescent moon, an owl with butterflies, a "smart" owl amongst his/her books, owls on a wooden rocking horse, pirate owls, fairy tale owl, totem pole owls, steampunk owl, the owl and the pussycat (yes, cat included!)."
"She has filled this book with Charming Owls that entrance you and entwined them with intricate, captivating, unparalleled combinations of patterns, embellishing the backgrounds, scenery, borders, and even adorning the Owls creating illustrations that will make this your favorite coloring book, and you won’t be able to put it down. All Markers and Gel Pens leak through the pages so place two pieces of paper under the page you are coloring to prevent damage to the next page. If you love this book, you will also want to look at Marjoie Sarnats first coloring book (Creative Haven Cats)."
"This is a really cute and charming coloring book perfect for owl aficionados and colorists who like quirky pictures."
"The attached photos show a page from this book colored with the Sharpie Ultra-Fine Tip 24 pack markers and the very minimal bleed-through."
"I love owls so I'm probably bias about this coloring book."
"Markers will bleed through, but that's easy to fix with a couple of sheets of paper behind that one your coloring."
"This makes using water colored pencils and markers easier as they do not bleed through to the other picture. I do put another piece of paper or thin cardboard in between so that it also helps to catch the bleeding if I am being heavy handed."
"5 bucks for a coloring book?"