Drawn by the Brush: Oil Sketches by Peter Paul Rubens

Book Description

Oil sketches by Peter Paul Rubens—created at speed and in the heat of invention with a colorful loaded brush—convey all the spontaneity of the great Flemish painter’s creative process. This ravishing book draws from both private and public collections to present in full color 40 of Rubens’s oil sketches. Viewers will find in these informal paintings an enchanting intimacy and gain a new appreciation of Rubens’s capacity for invention and improvisation, and of his special genius for dramatic design and coloristic brilliance.
The book investigates the role of the oil sketch in Rubens’s work; the development of the artist’s themes and narratives in his multiple sketches; and the history of the appreciation of his oil sketches. It also explores some of the unique aspects of his techniques and materials. By revealing the oil sketches as the most direct record of Rubens’s creative process, the book presents him as the greatest and most fluent practitioner of this vibrant and vital medium.

Customer Reviews:

too many black and white, too little color plates.......2007-05-20

this is the only reason why i was very disappointed. one could basically find all that is in the book online. one thing that i just realize from buying this book is that if you love an artist dont just buy it base on one customer's review even if you love the artist that bad. but then again if you crave to have Rubens on paper then its not an awful buy just not the best of the best. so far i have three art books on Rubens, the drawing by the metropolitan museum, a master in the making, and now drawn by the brush, the best goes to the drawings, and right next to it a master in the making and the last one...

Best substitute for the print I had stolen..........2007-01-26

The dust cover to this Sutton book features Head of a Negro. I had a large print of this artwork on my wall years ago. After one particular party in 1968, I found it had been liberated from my house. I've been looking (in an unsystematic way) for another print ever since. . .in England. . .in Canada. . .in Texas. This book helps, in a small way, to fill the physical gap on my wall. It adds in a large way to my collection of art books. It's one coffee table book that I don't leave on the coffee table. The prose is sometimes a little overblown, but usually clear, and the illustrations are great.

Drawn By the Brush, Oil Sketches By Peter Paul Rubens

Average customer rating:

Drawn By the Brush, Oil Sketches By Peter Paul Rubens
Peter C. And Marjorie E. Wieseman with Nico Van Hout Sutton
Manufacturer: Yale Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ODKUG2

Book Description

Benrik, the irrepressible force behind bestselling phenomenon This Book Will Change Your Life, returns with a whole new year's worth of hilarious daily guidance to add a little spice to your dull life. This Book Will Change Your Life has even greater ambitions than its forefather, aiming to subvert not only your own life, but the whole of society—as only Benrik can. Part instruction book, part therapy, part religious cult, part sheer anarchy, this wickedly funny day planner will help you stick a spoke in the wheel of your routine, every day of the first year of your new life.

Days to spice up your life include:
* Claim you're Jesus day
* Lobby Celine Dion to sing about you
* Bake naked day
* Let children rule the world
* Speak only Esperanto day
* Speed-read War and Peace

Customer Reviews:

Even if it doesn't change your life it will make you smile!.......2006-09-02

I love this book and the first one, "This book will change your life." It is so funny and wonderful to share with friends and famliy. Wonderful for a shy person who would like to try more in life, and wonderful for a outgoing person who would like to experience even more from life. Will make you LAUGH!!!!

Change your life - NOW!.......2006-03-17

This book is useful in so many ways, not only does it motivate one to change ones' life but it also offers helpful hints on how to do this. Some of them are a tad out of my personal league but I am sure others would do them. There are many little "daily-things-to-do" that will take you out of your comfort zone and make your life richer and more fulfilled. Try it won't you?

radically bodacious.......2006-01-05

What originally attracted me to this book was the original and colorful layouts on each page. It is fun to flip through and gain bite size insights on any of the daily activited.

Of course, you're probably not going to be participating in most of these activites (like "eat this book day"), but that's not really the point. The book is fun to look at, and fun to read.

It's FUNNY!.......2005-12-07

It seems some other reviewers have taken the title of "THIS BOOK WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE, AGAIN" a wee bit too seriously. This isn't a self-help book, and it's probably NOT going to change your life unless you actually follow through with the ridiculous daily suggestions you'll find on it's pages. It's a joke! It IS intended to be a hilarious daily planner of sorts, perhaps even accurate for the criminally or mentally insane. Each day reveals off the wall suggestions of what to do to change your life, such as emigrate to New Zeland or claim you are Jesus. Are you going to do these things? Probably not, but each day when you open up the planner you are sure to laugh out loud or at least chuckle at the life altering task the planner has suggested.

Don't waste your money!.......2005-12-02

This drivel looks like the results of a 3rd grade class project for Halloween. I am amazed that any publisher would print this garbage. If you're over the age of 9 and/or have an IQ above 50 this "book" (I use the word loosely) is a complete waste of your time. Go watch some paint dry; it will be more edifying.

Amazon.com

Packed between the covers of this undersized volume are classic film posters drawn by the likes of Norman Rockwell, Thomas Hart Benton, and many unknown illustrators. Bambi, Gone with the Wind, The Phantom of the Opera, Casablanca, The Thin Man, and King Kong are just a few of the film titles readers will recognize from Hollywood's heyday. The exaggerated lettering, the dramatic rendering of the movie stars' faces, the bright colors, the sensational slogans, and the overall layout of the posters have all but disappeared from contemporary movie advertising. The wide selection of posters promises to please movie buffs and design fans alike.

Customer Reviews:

Superbly written, sumptuous presentation.......2002-11-14

...This is a groundbreaking book, the first (and only one since!) that truly unearths the story of how movie posters were created, who drew them, why each studio had a certain 'look' to their posters and what impact they had on the popular culture. The text is wise, witty, thoroughly enjoyable while it imparts vast amounts of fresh and fascinating information. And as for the images, they are magnificently chosen and reproduced, each one of them accompanied by intriguing and smart observations on the films themselves, their making and their role in Hollywood history. This is an ambitious undertaking, yet it's an ideal book to get lost in during a lazy weekend. Hard to put down, beautifully done and crying out for a sequel. A classic!

Misleading.......2000-10-02

Reel Art is like looking at a carpet sampling booklet. The paperback edition that is. Apart from a few none specific notes given a the front of the booklet the information on offer is very limited. Page after page of vintage posters with no text to accompany them makes this flick book an annoying "read". If all you require is visual this is an excellent choice. However, if you thought this book would actually tell you anything about the posters published, think again.

Hope you find this helpful. JG

spectacular book well worth having.......1999-05-19

This is a must have book, even if you aren't "into movies". It is a sheer visual delight and a worthy addition to any library. Those with an interest in the graphic arts should definately acquire it. Arranged in a thoughtful manner, the glorious artwork is accompanied by intelligent text that is never dry and always informative.

This undisputed classic actually surpasses its reputation........1999-03-10

This undisputed classic actually surpasses its reputation. The sumptuous, coffee table-style volume, over 340 pages, would be worth owning alone for its eye-popping reproduction of rare poster images that advertised such films as King Kong, It Happened One Night, Dracula, The Old Dark House, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Casablanca, Gilda, Gone With the Wind, It's a Wonderful Life, The Wizard of Oz and hundreds of others. Each chapter is beautifully organized into genres making the tome as compulsively entertaining as it is enlightening. Don't mistake this one for any of the other copycat poster books, though, which merely display page after page of images with no analysis or comment. What makes Reel Art a must-have, definitive book on the subject is its witty, hefty, impeccably informative text and extended captions which reveal so much about how the old-time Hollywood publicity and marketing machines worked to sell the moviegoing world not only on particular stars, directors, films, but also on the sexiness of things like cigarette smoking and the patriotic duty of going to war. Talk about "The Hidden Persuaders"! I especially appreciate the groundbreaking information Rebello and Allen reveal about the actual artists (some very famous, like Norman Rockwell, Al Hirschfeld and Miguel Covarrubias) and art directors who were responsible for the distinct visual style of posters from MGM, Paramount, Universal, Columbia, RKO and even the so-called "poverty row" studios. There's even a lengthy section of illustrators' biography, complete with actual poster credits -- something I have never seen anywhere before this. What research the book must have taken! Awesome and essential, as I guess is to be expected from author Rebello, who also did the first-rate Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of `Psycho.' Only quibble: this book cries for a follow-up, so when will the authors get around to the sequel?

REEL ART - GREAT POSTERS FROM THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE SILVER SCREEN

Average customer rating:

REEL ART - GREAT POSTERS FROM THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE SILVER SCREEN

Manufacturer: Abbeville Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H40RTI

Average customer rating:

REEL ART: Great Posters from the Golden Age of the Silver Screen
Stephen, & Richard Allen Rebello
Manufacturer: Abbeville Press, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NRYWGS

Average customer rating:

Reel Art Great Posters from the Golden Age of the Silver Screen
Stephen and Richard Allen Rebello
Manufacturer: Abbeville Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OTLOW0

Average customer rating:

REEL ART: Great Posters from the Golden Age of the Silver Screen
Stephen, & Richard Allen Rebello
Manufacturer: Abbeville Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NRVZOA

Amazon.com

In The Music of Light, Lindsley Cameron chronicles the Japanese writer Kenzaburo Oe's remarkable relationship with his son Hikari. Although Hikari was born with a severe brain deformity that resulted in retardation, autism, near-blindness, and poor coordination, he has become an accomplished composer of classical music. Kenzaburo Oe, the winner of the 1994 Nobel Prize for Literature, has written much about Hikari and the rest of his family over the years. Cameron studies the intersections between Oe's life and work in this volume. She also discusses the nature of creativity, the scientific theories about brain injuries, and the history of musical savants.

Oe's close relationship with his son is unusual, especially in Japanese society, where men do not usually get very involved with raising their children. While helping Hikari deal with his health problems, the Oe family struggled to cope with their culture's severe discrimination against disabled people. Cameron describes Hikari's musical development and his amazing ability to memorize songs. Hikari's life story is an inherently fascinating one--a man who cannot express himself very well verbally somehow figured out how to do something most people cannot do: make up songs. Cameron interviewed both men and other family members for this book, and has done a good job of capturing their personalities on paper. Hikari and Kenzaburo Oe influence each other's work tremendously, and the elder Oe's writing and fame have had an enormous impact on the family's life. Fans of Kenzaburo Oe and people who are interested in the roots of creativity will find a lot to like in this book. --Jill Marquis

Book Description

The most popular classical composer of our day was born with a medical deformity so severe that his parents had to fight to keep him alive. When the child of novelist Kenzaburo Oe and his wife, Yukari, was born with a herniated brain, the doctors recommended letting him die. Instead, his parents defied Japan's then-harsh customs and saved him with a complicated operation that left him severely handicapped. They named him Hikari, which means "light"; now in his thirties, with an I.Q. of 65, limited language and motor skills, and an inability to express emotions clearly, Hikari has indeed become a beacon of inspiration. He has miraculous musical gifts, including a phenomenal memory and the ability to compose chamber works that have broken sales records and delighted hundreds of thousands of listeners.

His father's boundless love for and devotion to Hikari have been inspirational in more than one way. Kenzaburo Oe has written many novels and essays based on the experience of raising his musical-savant son, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1994. His stories and novels have been translated into many languages and read by millions.

Based on exclusive access to the Oe family, as well as interviews with brain specialists and performers of Hikari's music, and including assessments by leading music critics, The Music of Light offers a portrait of uniqueness. Hikari is the only savant known in history who has composed original music. Lindsley Cameron explains how his brain works; how he can express sadness in his music but not with language or his face; and how his musical activities have extended his mental capacities. The creative interdependence of father and son is unprecedented, too. Kenzaburo's need to give Hikari a voice was so essential to his own art that he announced, just before winning the Nobel Prize, that he was giving up writing fiction because Hikari, through his music, had now found a voice of his own. Cameron shows how writing has allowed Kenzaburo to explore possibilities too painful to confront in any other way. The Music of Light explores the mysteries of the human brain, and reveals the miraculous power of creativity.

Customer Reviews:

This has probably changed many lives.......2007-05-09

This is the best book I've read this year. It covers so much: a family's love for their brain damaged child and their commitment to the grueling, challenging years raising him in a society that wants him to just disappear. It is at once literary criticism, classical music criticism, cultural commentary, biography, pschology, psychiatry, medicine and a touchingly told love story between man and son. By the end of this book you will fallen in love with Hikari the sweet savant from Kobe and his wonderful father, Kenzaburo.

Book Description

Intrigued by MMGs?

Here's the place to start

Compare games, create a character, choose a guild to join, and have some fun!

So your friend keeps talking about playing this cool game with millions of people on the Internet, and you really want to join in? Great idea! This book will let you in on the lingo, provide a little background on MMGs, help you choose a character, and prepare you for a trip into the fantasy world.

Discover how to
* Choose a game you'll enjoy
* Start developing a character
* Survive player vs. player combat
* Find useful gameplay guides
* Slay more monsters
* Team up with other players

Customer Reviews:

A guide for N00bs and L33T alike.......2007-01-09

I found that this guide focuses mostly twords newer players but was still an intersting read for someone as experienced as myself with over 5 years of MMO experience. Typical of a "for Dummies" book it was a plesent mix of humor and facts making it a very easy and amusing read regardless of your experience.

Some of the main things that this book covers is considerations when picking out a MMG, an over view of games avalible at print time, first few days in the MMG world, a guilding over view, and end game. This book also has a glossery of MMG related terms in the back of it and a CD with a 14 day trial of DAoC and a 15 day trial of shadowbane(both of which are avalible for download).

For those that are new to MMG's I would strongly sudjest reading this book I wish it would have been avalible when I first started playing. A MMG is nothing like playing your standard consol game where everything is straight forward and layed out for you, I found this book to explain the dynamics of MMG game play in a fun and intersting way.

For those that are more experienced to MMG's its more dificult to see weather you will find this book to be of your liking. More experienced people to MMG's wont find this book to be praticlary informative but will probly still find it to be a fun read and will end up with a few happy memories poping into your mind as you read through this book.

I rated this book with 4 stars because while I found it to be a fun read it wasnt praticlarly usefull with my experience in MMG's however I did see where it could be usefull to less experienced people

Great for beginners, still nice for experienced players.......2006-03-02

Scott Jenning does a great job of covering the basics of MMOGs, introducing the reader to a wide array of topics: Class role, group teamwork, endgame play styles, professions, and etiquette.

As an intermediate player (~60 days played in WoW, a level 60 and many level 40 alts), I still found lots of new ideas, as well as lots of confirmation about things I had suspected, but was unsure of.

If you want to find help getting into your first MMOG, this is an amazing book. If you are an experienced player, this is still worth the read for the entertaining anecdotes and the few tidbits that you might not yet know.

Real Good Buy.......2006-01-30

I've been Playin DAoC for about 4 months when I bought this book. A friend who has been playing for 3 years got me into it. This book answered showed me alot about these kind of games that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. For just coming into the game, this was a real useful tool in getting me playing and understanding the game better. I now kill Hibs and Mids alot more effectivly.

interact with many other humans.......2006-01-17

One of the biggest themes in computer gaming has been the rise of massive multiplayer games. Jennings takes you, the uninitiated, on an easy tour of these games. He shows that the rich interactivity with human players is the attraction. As contrasted to playing a game against purely software opponents.

Another common theme in these games is that the other humans are not necessarily your opponents. Instead, there might be a community, with cooperative behaviour exhibited, that leads to benefits for all parties involved. The team aspect can be compelling.

Beware, though, of the potentially addictive nature of these games! Some fans have become obsessively drawn into these, to the detriment of their real, mundane lives.

Book Description

The New York Times Bestseller!

Learn how to keep your cool and get the results you want when emotions flare.

When stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong, you have three choices: Avoid a crucial conversation and suffer the consequences; handle the conversation badly and suffer the consequences; or read Crucial Conversations and discover how to communicate best when it matters most. Crucial Conversations gives you the tools you need to step up to life's most difficult and important conversations, say what's on your mind, and achieve the positive resolutions you want. You'll learn how to:

Prepare for high-impact situations with a six-minute mastery technique
Make it safe to talk about almost anything
Be persuasive, not abrasive
Keep listening when others blow up or clam up
Turn crucial conversations into the action and results you want

Whether they take place at work or at home, with your neighbors or your spouse, crucial conversations can have a profound impact on your career, your happiness, and your future. With the skills you learn in this book, you'll never have to worry about the outcome of a crucial conversation again.

Download Description

Crucial Conversations offers readers a proven seven-point strategy for achieving their goals in all those emotionally, psychologically, or legally charged situations that can arise in their professional and personal lives.

Customer Reviews:

great business tool.......2007-10-01

ordered 15 copies to distribute around our department... received rave reviews from everyone who read it.

Great Insight, Good Tools.......2007-09-21

Wow! It's amazing how often I see my friends, family and MYSELF in both examples and in the strategies (some good, some bad!).

This is a great book to come upon when one needs it. Obviously, some have been forced to read it by a boss... and I'm not so sure that the message gets across that way.

Does this book cure all of the social inequities of the workplace? Of course not - that's not what it even attempts to do!

Rather, it's a series of tools for enhancing communication and, for many of us, these tools are a surprising way of looking at all conversations - particularly the non-productive ones.

Do I recommend this book? 100%!!! Would I give it as a gift to someone who "needed" it? Maybe not. It's best found when the time is right, not forced on someone when the time is wrong.

Very good..........2007-09-18

Very good book for succesful managers, but also for amateurs interested in improving their communication skills. Of course, for some professionals that one may be "just another one".

Ignores conversational reality.......2007-09-06

Do we need a book to tell us that if we and/or our conversational partners are overly emotional or argumentative, create an uncomfortable or unsafe setting, clam up, will not listen, are incapable of adaptation or appreciating other views, or are not overly bright that chances for conversational success are greatly diminished. The author's message is that in the absence of these negativities, that basically free-flowing dialog where all the relevant information is brought into the open will result in effective communication. The emphasis in the book is within business organizations, in particular between employees and employers, although the ideas pertain to all other so-called high stakes conversations between various persons. However, the book absolutely fails to deal with conversational reality.

It is readily obvious that the authors are consultants to the business community (managers), because of their dismissal of the power differentials in the workplace. Their citing of a few brave employees who questioned or contradicted a top manager, serves merely to reinforce the hazards to employees for speaking out in the workplace. Of course, such non-controversial topics as safety, productivity, or where to have the company picnic can be broached. Fundamental topics such as policies, strategies, products, marketing, structures, or personnel are invariably off limits. If the authors wanted to be serious about conversations within businesses, they would propose democratic participation structures, where workers or their elected representatives could freely, without fear of retribution, address any and all issues, not just the safe ones. Bravery or putting one's job on the line would not be necessary.

It is hardly just within businesses where crucial conversations are prevented despite one's best efforts. Bureaucracies and other barriers are often initiated specifically to prevent conversations. Try talking to an insurance company about drug or treatment denial. Try talking to a sales person about a corporate product or service. Try getting through a telephone answering system only to be stonewalled by an "associate." Try talking to a doctor about treatments or, better yet, fees. Try talking to a department head about the nature or conduct of your education. The list is endless where most people do not have a chance of a meaningful or effective conversation.

This book is like so many other "blame the victim" notions. If you are not having good conversations, it must be because "you" don't have the right "tools" to converse. It can't be that the person you are talking to has the power to inflict damage or is within a structure where they can simply ignore you or dispense pabulum. A democracy is based above all on wide-ranging conversation among equal citizens with hopefully widely accepted resolutions. Maybe some day in the US we will try a form of democracy within all of our organizations in which "conversations" are not one-sided with the possibility of punishment for even speaking. Now there is an idea for the authors to grasp.

Excellent Tool.......2007-08-30

So very true....we move to either silence or violence...why not have a tool to charter those waters to resolution without either silence or violence.

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High

Average customer rating:

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High
Grenny, McMillan, Switzler, Kerry, Joseph, Ron, Al Patterson
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B000EPRH9S

Average customer rating:

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High

Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 1417664479

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