Best Museums & Art Collections
At the same time Adolf Hitler was attempting to take over the western world, his armies were methodically seeking and hoarding the finest art treasures in Europe. (Coincidentally or not, this book appears only briefly after Ilaria Dagnini Brey's The Venus Fixers: The Untold Story of the Allied Soldiers Who Saved Italy's Art During World War II , Reviews, June 1.). Our task, I believe, was truly important - we were restoring to Europe evidence of its own civilization, which the War seemed virtually to have destroyed - and I was lucky to have had a chance to participate. -- Anne Olivier Bell "Highly Readable ... a remarkable history" * Washington Post * "Engaging and inspiring" * Publishers Weekly *.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The book pretty much ensures that a reader will both understand the logistical difficulties (no actual unit, no access to transportation, constantly having to ask other military personnel for help), the danger (booby-trapped caches of loot, dank salt mines filled with art and explosives, German soldier ambush), and the heroic nature of the Monument Men's job (especially those who worked in Germany and had to reconcile risk to life and limb to save cultural heritage sites like Aachen Cathedral after touring devastating places like Dachau). I particularly enjoyed learning about Lincoln Kirstein (my name doppelganger) who I thought mostly of as a ballet guy, but who turned out to be more of a Renaissance man in his abilities and proclivities than I had understood."
"And thereafter during the war, it was their responsibility to locate the five million movable works and cultural artifacts that were stolen by the Nazis, which included works by Leonardo Da Vinci, Jan Vermeer, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and Donatello and the pieces that were the highlight of Edsel’s book, the Ghent Altar pieces, Bayeaux Tapestry, and painting of Mother and Child. And their training such as Stout’s focused on understanding raw materials, degradation and cause of deterioration, and preparation to prevent deterioration and damage, which would be beneficial once he delved in the race against time to save the artworks. For the Kindle edition, maps may have been helpful and the photographs may have been dispersed within each chapter rather than at the end of the book."
"My major criticism of this book, and the reason why I could not award the fifth star, is the actual writing, both on the sentence level and the paragraph level, even the chapter arrangements. As a retired Professor of English I was frequently reaching for my non-existent red pen (I read the book on Kindle) to make the sentence-level writing clearer, and also frequently looking back to earlier paragraphs to check on dates and events because the chronology had become confusing."
Kahn, perhaps more than any other twentieth-century American architect, was a “public” architect. She has written for The New York Times Book Review , the London Review of Books , The Times Literary Supplement , and other publications.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Great book but, for those who have never seen some of Kahns buildings, it could use some photos of his work."
"The best book about the motivations of Kahn."
"him as he sought the best solutions."
"Loving this book, as it gives great insight into architecture and the writing is excellent."
"She masterfully blends his complicated life and personal relationships (a marriage, a child by that marriage, and at least two extra marital affairs and two children from those affairs) with a thorough examination of four of his masterpieces; the Salk Institute, the Kimbell Art Museum, the Phillips Exeter Library, the National Assembly Building in Dacca, Bangladesh, and the Indian Institute of Management in India."
"Louis Kahn immigrated to the United States from the Baltic area as a child and was raised in a working class family in Philadelphia. His face and hands had been badly burned as a small boy, but his mind and his confidence seemed to override the problems that such severe scarring might inflict. Like his fellow architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Kahn was a great ladies man, fathering a child each with two women he worked with."
In The Art Detective , Philip Mould, one of the world's foremost authorities on British portraiture and an irreverent and delightful expert for the Roadshow , serves up his secrets and his best stories, blending the technical details of art detection and restoration with juicy tales peopled by a range of eccentric collectors, scholars, forgers, and opportunists. Art historian Mould provides an accessible introduction to the world of art dealing, inviting the listener along as he tracks down the provenance of paintings--including a Thomas Gainsborough. Philip Mould is a British art dealer best known in the U.S for his appearances as an art appraiser on the PBS re-broadcasts of the original BBC series Antiques Roadshow, retitled Antiques Roadshow UK.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Philip Mould takes a wonderfully interesting look at how art restoration works. Mould takes five or so examples of "found" paintings - one from his "Antique Roadshow" - and writes how instinct and education about a painter, his other work, the painting's subject's history, and other "intangables' go into Mould and his staff taking on an often dirty and undistinguished painting on the chance that the painting is "the real thing" - a real Rembrandt, a real Homer Winslow, etc. Mould's book is a wonderful read for those interested in art history and in art restoration."
"“The Art Detective” by Philip Mould is a fascinating, entertaining, insightful look into the world of art galleries, discovery, restoration, dealing, collecting, and, to some extent, the creative process. Each of the six chapters is a well-written account focusing on the author’s own adventure involving the discovery of an important work of art: a hoard of old British portraits in Vermont, a Gainsborough, a Norman Rockwell, a Rembrandt, a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I (and another of Henry VIII’s brother, Arthur), and a Winslow Homer watercolor. Without revealing “spoilers”, the text covers the business aspects of dealing in masterpieces far beyond a purely financial perspective: it also addresses the issues of fakes and forgeries, theft, auctions, and the personalities and relationships of collectors, dealers, historians, art subjects, and artists themselves."
"I discovered the television series "Fakes and Forgeries" on youtube recently featuring Mould, Fiona Bruce and Gerald Grosvenor."
"Philip Mould, one of the engaging intrepid experts on Antique Roadshow UK, gives the reader a short, intriguing book of art restoration and art re-discovery centered on his own experiences as a London based art dealer of English portraits."
Best Museum Studies & Museology
At the same time Adolf Hitler was attempting to take over the western world, his armies were methodically seeking and hoarding the finest art treasures in Europe. (Coincidentally or not, this book appears only briefly after Ilaria Dagnini Brey's The Venus Fixers: The Untold Story of the Allied Soldiers Who Saved Italy's Art During World War II , Reviews, June 1.). Our task, I believe, was truly important - we were restoring to Europe evidence of its own civilization, which the War seemed virtually to have destroyed - and I was lucky to have had a chance to participate. -- Anne Olivier Bell "Highly Readable ... a remarkable history" * Washington Post * "Engaging and inspiring" * Publishers Weekly *.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The book pretty much ensures that a reader will both understand the logistical difficulties (no actual unit, no access to transportation, constantly having to ask other military personnel for help), the danger (booby-trapped caches of loot, dank salt mines filled with art and explosives, German soldier ambush), and the heroic nature of the Monument Men's job (especially those who worked in Germany and had to reconcile risk to life and limb to save cultural heritage sites like Aachen Cathedral after touring devastating places like Dachau). I particularly enjoyed learning about Lincoln Kirstein (my name doppelganger) who I thought mostly of as a ballet guy, but who turned out to be more of a Renaissance man in his abilities and proclivities than I had understood."
"And thereafter during the war, it was their responsibility to locate the five million movable works and cultural artifacts that were stolen by the Nazis, which included works by Leonardo Da Vinci, Jan Vermeer, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and Donatello and the pieces that were the highlight of Edsel’s book, the Ghent Altar pieces, Bayeaux Tapestry, and painting of Mother and Child. And their training such as Stout’s focused on understanding raw materials, degradation and cause of deterioration, and preparation to prevent deterioration and damage, which would be beneficial once he delved in the race against time to save the artworks. For the Kindle edition, maps may have been helpful and the photographs may have been dispersed within each chapter rather than at the end of the book."
"My major criticism of this book, and the reason why I could not award the fifth star, is the actual writing, both on the sentence level and the paragraph level, even the chapter arrangements. As a retired Professor of English I was frequently reaching for my non-existent red pen (I read the book on Kindle) to make the sentence-level writing clearer, and also frequently looking back to earlier paragraphs to check on dates and events because the chronology had become confusing."
Best Private Museums & Collections
For four and a half decades, Etta and Claribel Cone roamed artists’ studios and art galleries in Europe, building one of the largest, most important art collections in the world. At one time, these two independently wealthy Jewish women from Baltimore received offers from virtually every prominent art museum in the world, all anxious to house their hitherto private assemblage of modern art. Though it intimately portrays two powerful, influential, ahead-of-their-time women, The Art of Acquiring is more than a tale of two sisters, more than an important addition to art history, and more than a major contribution to the study of women's history. Because it reproduces some of the more famous and important art of Matisse, Picasso, Cézanne, Dégas, and others, The Art of Acquiring enables readers to practically step through the canvas and live in the shocking paintings these two unsung sisters purchased, then gave to the world-at-large. But here Gabriel (Notorious Victoria: The Rise and Fall of Victoria Woodhull) focuses on "the barely recognized link" between modernist masters such as C?zanne, Degas, Picasso and Matisse, and the largely forgotten art collectors Etta and Claribel Cone, wealthyAand stolidly VictorianABaltimore sisters who, starting around the turn of the century, devoted their lives to amassing one of the largest and most remarkable collections of modern art in the world. (June). Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. Heiresses to a family fortune, Etta and Claribel Cone, Jewish sisters from Baltimore, amassed a major collection of modern French artworks.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Recommended for art lovers and those who simply enjoy a good read, The Art of Acquiring tells the fascinating story of two sisters who are unknown by many."
"The story seems like a fantasy that the Cone sisters were able to buy Matisse, Picasso, Degas and many other famous painters work for just pennies."
"This book, which covers the collecting years of the Cone sisters, breathes life into the time period interweaving the stories of Gertrude and Leo Stein, Alice Tolkas, Matisse, & Picasso."
"The book is well written and well researched and really brings to life these two amazing women and the lives they led."
"Did not know anything about the Cone sisters."
"Became interested in the Cone sisters when attending an exhibit of their collection."
"To have read this book after twice visiting the Cone Wing @ BMA makes me desire to return and give a blessed thanks to these incredible collectors."
"This is a thorough and entertaining history of two Amèrican art collectors."
Best Architects, A-Z
Drawing on interviews with both past and present executives of auction houses and art dealerships, artists, and the buyers who move the market, Thompson launches the reader on a journey of discovery through the peculiar world of modern art. Independent 'Intriguing and readable' Sunday Express 'Don Thompson is an entertaining sceptic when it comes to contemporary art...a much-needed attempt to get to grips with the mysteries of the art market...Thompson's knowledge of markets and law is a convincing and informative read.'.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This is a very well documented encapsulation of all that is horrifyingly wrong with the art market today, esp in the USA and London where quality and talent is totally subjugated to and trumped by sensation, trendiness and outrage."
"The author sweeps you along, divulging such new and inconceivable information, that you will constantly want to keep going. It is true, though, that this author has only focused on a part of the art world, and there are many successful artists working in areas uncovered by the book."
"Let me preface by stating that I have taught art/sculpture at the university level and have struggled to become a professional artist. Read how top galleries and auction houses manipulate the market."
"What it does is to explain basic but often unanswered questions: why the art world has become so exclusive; why artworks need price tags; who decides on those numbers; how an emerging artist can become a branded one, and etc."
"Overall, the book is well-written and thought-provoking."
"As an arts activist, artist and past gallery director, this book tells it all...and adds a few newer tricks (auction houses...give me a break!)."
"Interesting and informative."
"Boy am I learning a lot about marketing!"
Best Art Instruction & Reference
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. It will be really useful during drawing sessions to guide students in a very practical and methodical way. Some of the ideas given are fun and unique and it is also a stress-free way of learning which makes it very useful guide for those who enjoy drawing and also for those who are trying to get into drawing."
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."
"Super cool book inspires my son."
Best Art History
This #1 New York Times best-selling guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing. #1 New York Times Best SellerAmazon's Best Book of 2014 in Crafts, Home & Garden. "Ms. Kondo delivers her tidy manifesto like a kind of Zen nanny, both hortatory and animistic." a literal how-to-heave-ho, and I recommend it for anyone who struggles with the material excess of living in a privileged society. A totally reasonable, scary cult that works, doesn’t kill people (a bonus), but does drastically change your life. the Japanese expert’s ode to decluttering is simple and easy to follow." "Reading it, you glimpse a glittering mental freedom from the unread/uncrafted/unworn, buyer’s remorse, the nervous eyeing of real estate listings. "All hail the new decluttering queen Marie Kondo, whose mess-busting bestseller has prompted a craze for tidying in homes across the world . "How could this pocket-sized book, which has already sold over 2 million copies and sits firmly atop the New York Times Best Seller list, make such a big promise? Marie “KonMari” Kondo runs an acclaimed consulting business in Tokyo helping clients transform their cluttered homes into spaces of serenity and inspiration. With a three-month waiting list, her KonMari Method of decluttering and organizing has become an international phenomenon. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is a best seller in Japan, Germany, and the UK, with more than two million copies sold worldwide, and has been turned into a television drama for Japanese TV. She has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time , featured on more than thirty major Japanese television and radio programs, and profiled in the Sunday Times , Red magazine, You magazine, the New York Times , USA Today , NPR's Here & Now , Slate , Family Circle , and the London Times, who has deemed her “Japan’s preeminent guru of tidiness, a warrior princess in the war on clutter.”.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I grew up in a cluttered house and married the King of Clutter (he's the type of person who'll open a credit card bill, pay it online, and then just leave the empty envelope, inserts, and bill itself randomly strewn on whatever surface happens to be nearby). It's a breath of fresh air and positive energy that brings real joy to the process of "tidying up." My clothes are all mine (which also means that they're in nowhere near as terrible a state as other things in my house), so going through them affects only me and involves only my own feelings. Her advice may sound silly at first, but if your belongings inspire feelings of unhappiness, guilt, etc., her anthropomorphism of them can really help you change your viewpoint in a positive direction. That is likely to carry a different level of meaning for someone in Japan than in the U.S. Other references to spiritual practice and feng-shui are not likely to resonate the same way for an American audience. There is a lot of discussion of travel toiletries, but very little about kitchen utensils, toys, or other items found most often in a family home. I'm now a week in, and 6 months seems like hardly enough time to tackle all the junk in my house, but I can fully see how this can be a life-changing process."
"I was browsing Pinterest one day and stumbled upon the "konmari method" and was intrigued, so I bought this book for kindle and read it in about an hour. I always thought I was a very organized person (because everything I owned had a designated, labelled place and my house was always super clean), but after reading this book I realized I was nothing more than a skilled hoarder. I probably discarded well over 100 bags of clutter in that 6 weeks and earned over $400 selling the big-ticket items via social media, which I used to make my house prettier."
Best Religious Art
An Italian village on a hilltop near the Adriatic coast, a decaying palazzo facing the sea, and in the basement, cobwebbed and dusty, lit by a single bulb, an archive unknown to scholars. Here, a young graduate student from Rome, Francesca Cappelletti, makes a discovery that inspires a search for a work of art of incalculable value, a painting lost for almost two centuries. Four hundred years ago, he drank and brawled in the taverns and streets of Rome, moving from one rooming house to another, constantly in and out of jail, all the while painting works of transcendent emotional and visual power. Prizewinning author Jonathan Harr embarks on an spellbinding journey to discover the long-lost painting known as The Taking of Christ–its mysterious fate and the circumstances of its disappearance have captivated Caravaggio devotees for years. Told with consummate skill by the writer of the bestselling, award-winning A Civil Action , The Lost Painting is a remarkable synthesis of history and detective story. [you'll] enjoy Harr's more clearly reported details about life in the city, as when--one of my favorite moments in the whole book--Francesca and another young colleague try to calm their nerves before a crucial meeting with a forbidding professor by eating gelato. "Jonathan Harr has taken the story of the lost painting, and woven from it a deeply moving narrative about history, art and taste--and about the greed, envy, covetousness and professional jealousy of people who fall prey to obsession. In 1992 a young art student uncovered a clue in an obscure Italian archive that led to the discovery of Caravaggio's original The Taking of the Christ , a painting that had been presumed lost for over 200 years. Broken into short, succinct chapters, the narrative unfolds at a brisk pace, skipping quickly from the perspective of 91-year-old Caravaggio scholar Sir Denis Mahon to that of young, enterprising Francesca Cappelletti, a graduate student at the University of Rome researching the disappearance of The Taking of Christ . But while adept at coordinating dates and analyzing hairline fractures in aged paint, Harr often seems overly concerned with the step-by-step process of tracking down The Taking of the Christ , as if the specific artist who created it were irrelevant.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It is hard for me to understand why admirers became addicted to Caravaggio or any artist."
"I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery and academia, and can think of nothing better than spending hours in the basement of an Italian provincial villa reading through ancient accounts...(really)."
"A refreshing non-fiction book on the discovery of a Caravaggio masterpiece, the story flowed like a mystery."
"This true story traces the dogged detective work required to track down a lost Caravaggio painting worth tens of millions of dollars."
"Reads like a spy novel."
"Wonderful non-fiction."
"Insightful plotting renders this exhaustively researched saga a page-turner with its heart in art history."
"Slow Going."
Best Erotic Art
This #1 New York Times best-selling guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing. #1 New York Times Best SellerAmazon's Best Book of 2014 in Crafts, Home & Garden. "Ms. Kondo delivers her tidy manifesto like a kind of Zen nanny, both hortatory and animistic." a literal how-to-heave-ho, and I recommend it for anyone who struggles with the material excess of living in a privileged society. A totally reasonable, scary cult that works, doesn’t kill people (a bonus), but does drastically change your life. the Japanese expert’s ode to decluttering is simple and easy to follow." "Reading it, you glimpse a glittering mental freedom from the unread/uncrafted/unworn, buyer’s remorse, the nervous eyeing of real estate listings. "All hail the new decluttering queen Marie Kondo, whose mess-busting bestseller has prompted a craze for tidying in homes across the world . "How could this pocket-sized book, which has already sold over 2 million copies and sits firmly atop the New York Times Best Seller list, make such a big promise? Marie “KonMari” Kondo runs an acclaimed consulting business in Tokyo helping clients transform their cluttered homes into spaces of serenity and inspiration. With a three-month waiting list, her KonMari Method of decluttering and organizing has become an international phenomenon. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is a best seller in Japan, Germany, and the UK, with more than two million copies sold worldwide, and has been turned into a television drama for Japanese TV. She has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time , featured on more than thirty major Japanese television and radio programs, and profiled in the Sunday Times , Red magazine, You magazine, the New York Times , USA Today , NPR's Here & Now , Slate , Family Circle , and the London Times, who has deemed her “Japan’s preeminent guru of tidiness, a warrior princess in the war on clutter.”.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I grew up in a cluttered house and married the King of Clutter (he's the type of person who'll open a credit card bill, pay it online, and then just leave the empty envelope, inserts, and bill itself randomly strewn on whatever surface happens to be nearby). It's a breath of fresh air and positive energy that brings real joy to the process of "tidying up." My clothes are all mine (which also means that they're in nowhere near as terrible a state as other things in my house), so going through them affects only me and involves only my own feelings. Her advice may sound silly at first, but if your belongings inspire feelings of unhappiness, guilt, etc., her anthropomorphism of them can really help you change your viewpoint in a positive direction. That is likely to carry a different level of meaning for someone in Japan than in the U.S. Other references to spiritual practice and feng-shui are not likely to resonate the same way for an American audience. There is a lot of discussion of travel toiletries, but very little about kitchen utensils, toys, or other items found most often in a family home. I'm now a week in, and 6 months seems like hardly enough time to tackle all the junk in my house, but I can fully see how this can be a life-changing process."
"I was browsing Pinterest one day and stumbled upon the "konmari method" and was intrigued, so I bought this book for kindle and read it in about an hour. I always thought I was a very organized person (because everything I owned had a designated, labelled place and my house was always super clean), but after reading this book I realized I was nothing more than a skilled hoarder. I probably discarded well over 100 bags of clutter in that 6 weeks and earned over $400 selling the big-ticket items via social media, which I used to make my house prettier."
Best Other Media
The Ephrussis were a grand banking family, as rich and respected as the Rothschilds, who "burned like a comet" in nineteenth-century Paris and Vienna society. Yet by the end of World War II, almost the only thing remaining of their vast empire was a collection of 264 wood and ivory carvings, none of them larger than a matchbox. Ephrussi and his cosmopolitan family were imprisoned or scattered, and Hitler's theorist on the "Jewish question" appropriated their magnificent palace on the Ringstrasse. Amazon Best of the Month, September 2010 : At the heart of Edmund de Waal's strange and graceful family memoir, The Hare with Amber Eyes , is a one-of-a-kind inherited collection of ornamental Japanese carvings known as netsuke. He's also drawn to the story behind them, and for years he put aside his own work as a world-renowned potter and curator to uncover the rich and tragic family history of which the carvings are one of the few concrete legacies. Beginning with his art connoisseur ancestor Charles (a model for Proust's Swann), who acquired the netsuke during the European rage for Japonisme, de Waal traces the collection from Japan to Europe--where they were saved from the brutal bureaucracy of the Nazi Anschluss in the pockets of a family servant--and back to Japan and Europe again.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"His efforts with the innumerable German, Viennese and French words in de Waal's book go from bad to comically miserable to utterly mystifying."
"Instead of a predictable tale from Mitteleuropa about lost grandeur, the author takes a (slightly Proustian) shortcut that leads to unexpected and sometimes deeply moving places. One of the illustrious ancestors collected tiny but incredibly intricate Japanese carvings called netsuke used in early modern Japan as toggles for purse strings. Through this device, De Waal manages to both narrate the story of the rise and fall of the Ephrussi and also sketch the myriad objects they owned and collected during their century and a half of eminence."
"Having just completed this book, I feel so genuinely overwhelmed with a strange emotion and expect, that for the near future, my perception of life will be altered from what it was before."
"I read the paperback version, using Google to follow along when paintings/artists were mentioned: the fate of his mistress; the identification of the young JEWISH girls in Renoirs portraits, etc."
"This is the story of the author's amazing family history, which opens up art, architecture, and the history of the last 140 years in Paris, Vienna, and Japan. The book is also the story of his obsession with researching his family around the world."
Best Sculpture
Join thousands who have rediscovered their creative talent, using Jonni's revolutionary techniques and recipes. The sculpting techniques shown in this book have been used by middle school kids, university art students, theater prop-makers, and adults of all ages who have rediscovered their love for sculpting, using methods and materials that are affordable for everyone.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"this book is about a new type of papermache recipe making it easy to. create any thing you have ever wanted to copy and make yourself in an. easy to follow description,with easy to obtain ingredients."
"She gives clear, precise directions, lots of pictures, and really walks you through everything thoroughly."
"When I became interested in paper mache."
"My 7-year-old made the MOST AMAZING penguin sculpture for a class project based on the information in this book."
"Extremely good value for the money."
"Just received my book over a week early!"
"The author is a talented artist who generously shares her talent in a very user-friendly style."
"She is good about telling you which brand she uses for the ingredients--for the brand of toilet paper, for example, can make a difference."
Best Painting
With her encouraging tone and useful exercises, Marine teaches you to: -Master composition and value. -Become confident in any medium including oil painting, acrylic painting, watercolors, and other media. -Choose subjects wisely. -Stay fresh and loose. -Photograph, post, and sell your art online. -Become connected to the growing movement of daily painters around the world. She is a member of Daily Paintworks, a distinguished group of daily painters, and she teaches daily painting workshops around the country.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"She sought out advice from well-known artists and over and over again, she was whispered the same thing: do some art every single day. It can be discouraging to be an artist and find yourself with a trunk full of creative endeavors and no where for them to go. That's where Carol's book takes us through the twists and turns of a career as an artist. Not only does it go through the basics of painting (materials, value, composition, color mixing), but the artist-author shares her secrets to becoming a successful artist. She and her programmer husband created an unique website, www.DailyPaintworks.com, where non-juried artists (read: you don't have to prove your talent or be selected by a committee) post their daily works. Big, beautiful paintings are wonderful, but not everyone can afford $10,000 for one piece of art. But, with a small project - a 6x6 canvas - you can play with lots of different mediums, textures, concepts, what-have-you and no matter how it comes out, tomorrow is literally a new day. It showcases Carol's talent, as well as a myriad of others, and shows you the nuts and bolts of being an artist. The final chapters shed light on how to sell your art online, where to go, and how to stage it for photographs."
"So since 2006, Marine has been painting daily, and selling her work online. Marine talks about her experience on painting daily, where she finds inspiration and subjects to draw, techniques involved and how you can sell your paintings online. Tips for better online sales. I really like the idea of painting small. Somethings the size of a blank canvas can be intimidating. It's difficult for a small painting to match a big one in terms of impact, but it's likely to sell better because it's more affordable. However her tips and techniques can often apply to other media as well except for things specific to oil, such as wiping a canvas and starting over again. The best part about the book is it shows you the possibility of selling your work online. It's great to see other artists make a living using this method and it's something that anyone can get into."
"I bought this book in order to learn how to be more 'painterly'."
"A friend looked through the book and immediately went to purchase one for herself."
"Inspiration, first of all, from just looking at the artist's work - she has mastered the art of bringing out color and showing light. and she delivers the information: everything from materials to proportion of saturated and unsaturated color, to placing highlights, to composition and how to get objects placed correctly on the canvas (including illusive ellipses), to her own unique method of what order to paint the various parts of an object in."