MBR: The Artbook Shelf
MWBOOKREVW
F&W Publications
4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236
1-800-289-0963 www.amazon.com
Three new guides from North Light Books present inviting how-to
"do-it-yourself" instructional manuals which invite artistic experimentation.
Lesley Harrison's Painting Animals That Touch The Heart (158-1801319, $27.99)
provides a guide to creating touching animal paintings. Amateurs and those with
minimal art experience will find this an easy set of step-by-step
demonstrations which are based on creating animal outlines and filling in with
color. An inviting, encouraging guide outstanding in its attention to realistic
animal drawing. Dorothy Dent's Painting Realistic Landscapes (1581801572,
$24.99) shares years of creative decorative experiences with a focus on
creating landscapes in acrylic. Both beginners and those with some landscape
painting background will find this a fine basic guide to creating textures,
patterns, and effects to be proud of. Melvyn Petterson and Ian Kearey's Drawing
Landscapes (David & Charles, 07153-14521, $22.99) tells how to capture a
variety of landscapes using a few simple techniques in pen and pencil. Plenty
of color drawings demonstrate polished results. All are excellent guides for
all levels.
Creative Authenticity
Ian Roberts
Atelier Saint-Luc Press
PO Box 1082, Fairfield, IA 52556
0972872329 $14.95 1-888-333-4541
A landscape and gallery painter of over 40 years' experience, Ian Roberts has
also incorporated the questions and input of over 200 students in Creative
Authenticity: 16 Principles To Clarify And Deepen Your Artistic Vision. A very
helpful guide to unlocking one's creative potential, Creative Authenticity
debunks the "Van Gogh Syndrome" and myth that genius requires torment;
addresses the almost universal necessity of dealing with natural tendencies to
procrastinate; presents effective working methods; shows how to reap ideas from
everyday life, and so much more. Enthusiastically recommended reading for
anyone wanting to engage in their own artistic aspirations, Creative
Authenticity transcends its focus upon painting to serve as an inspirational
guide to artists of all mediums.
MFA Highlights American Painting
Elliot Bostwick Davis, et. al.
MFA Publications
465 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115
0878466606 $19.95 mfa-publications.org
Enhanced with a full-color display of 150 illustrations, MFA Highlights
American Painting is a stunning, 232-page, art history discussion of over one
hundred masterworks dating from 1670 to 1960. The creations of such diverse
artists as O'Keeffe, Pollock, Copley, and others are presented along with a
general discussion of art in American history and how events of the ages
interplayed with the creation of classic works of art. A joy to read and
behold, and a superb resource for any dedicated art history connoisseur, MFA
Highlights American Painting is a strongly recommended addition to personal,
academic, and community library Art History core reference collections and Art
Appreciation supplemental reading lists.
Graphic Modernism
Art Institute of Chicago
Hudson Hills Press
PO Box 205, Manchester, VT 05254
0865592071 $50.00 hudsonhills.com
A co-production of the Art Institute of Chicago and Hudson Hills Press, Graphic
Modernism displays artworks drawn from the Francey and Dr. Martin L. Gecht
Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago. Showcasing color illustrations of
bold 19th Century, Twentieth-Century European, and Twentieth-Century American
works that range from realism to more abstract constructions of shape and
image. Graphic Modernism is enhanced with accompanying and extensively
informative commentary, history, and critique by Suzanne Folds McCullagh (The
Gecht Collection and the Chicago Tradition) and Mark Krisco (Francey and Dr.
Martin L. Gecht: An Appreciation) to make Graphic Modernism a thoroughly
impressive survey of modernism, displaying works by Cezanne, Degas, Gauguin,
Pollock, and so many others. Graphic Modernism is a visual treasure that will
superbly complement any personal, academic, or community library Art
Appreciation and/or Art History collection.
Steve Tobin's Natural History
Steve Tobin
Hudson Hills Press
PO Box 205, 74-2 Union Street, Manchester, VT 05254
1555952119 $65.00 hudsonhills.com
Steve Tobin's Natural History is a grand coffee table book flawlessly published
and presented by Hudson Hills Press featuring the sculpture of Steve Tobin as
showcased in the photography of George Erml and enhanced by the informative
essays of Donald Kuspit. Indeed, Erml's brilliant full-color photography
reveals the daring, natural-themed works from a mosaic of seeds to shoes filled
with preserved natural items to three-dimensional renditions of human torsos,
and so much more. Kuspit's insightful and deftly written essay series prefaces
the visual display. A strongly recommended addition to academic and community
library Artbook Collections, Steve Tobin's Natural History allows the original
work of this master artist in a full, free, and unfettered reign.
The Jade Book: A Stone Of Hope
Daniela Geracitano Vance
Colossal Creations
2591 Panorama Drive, Coquitlam, BC, V3E 2Y0, Canada
0973139013 $24.95 colossalcreations.com
The Jade Book: A Stone Of Hope is an informationally impressive tribute to a
singularly unique and powerful work of the stone shaper's art -- a book crafted
entirely of jade, with pages that can be turned due to extremely skilled
carving. Only three sentences are in this remarkable book, each a quote from a
great human figure: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world" from
Mahatma Gandhi; "Works of love are works of peace" from Mother Teresa; and "Let
Freedom Ring" from Martin Luther King Jr. The Jade Book: A Stone Of Hope also
contains finely carved and polished portraits of each notable humanitarian, and
embodies the lasting and joyous power of the noble ideals it celebrates.
Featuring full-color pictures of the book-made-out-of-jade, as well as an
in-depth study of its intricate creation process, The Jade Book: A Stone Of
Hope offers an unusual and very special spotlight upon truly memorable art.
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