If you are a student or a teacher of the arts, this book is a must. It is divided into sections and you can practice and teach yourself each lesson. Very easy to follow and understand.

I don't work in watercolors, I quilt, and I've found this book invaluable as a guide to understanding perspective.

North Light, the publishers of the Watercolor Basics series has hit paydirt once again with Phil Metzgers' Perspective Secrets. In direct simple and engaging language Metzger takes you through the many types of perspective without terrifying you with wordy rules and procedures. It is all covered in this handy and educational volume. You move through beautiful examples of putting space and the illusion of air in your paintings to the subtle issues of close-up perspective such as with bricks. There is also some information on perspective dealing with stairs and inclines all supported by Mr. Metzger's handsome paintings. As with other volumes in this series the subject matter is gone into both more deeply and with more approachable and beautiful artwork. This is a must have for any budding painter.

This is a great book that does what it says--it takes you step-by-step through the art of "realistic" (representational) collage. The author describes the various media (mostly paper, but also metal & fabric) for the finished collage and the different ways to adhere those media. The book also contains a section on other methods of achieving realistic collage by looking at other artists' work. It's definately worth the money if you enjoy collage.

Originally saw this book while visiting the artist's gallery in Maine. It is attractive, concise and FULL of ideas for tons of projects. The book does a great job of inviting people to use their own creativity while giving them guidance and support. I would recommend it to both beginners and advanced collage artists.

As an artist, this is the book that I've been in search of for several years! There have been many times that I've run across an art-related term or technique in a magazine or book that was not defined or fully explained. I would attempt to look up the term in my standard dictionary or encyclopedia but I would never find the information I was looking for. This book clearly defines those terms and describes specific techniques and materials in a very simple and detailed way. The book is very much "illustrated" as the title suggests. There are numerous full color photos of tools, materials and beautiful artwork to visually aid in the definitions. There tables that describe art movements, paint comparisons, and how to read paint labels. I also own "The Artist's Handbook of Artist's Materials" by Ralph Mayer. That book is also very good but it is much more scientific in terminology and explanation. "The Artist's Illustrated Encyclopedia" is much easier to understand and the illustrations make it more interesting. It is user friendly because it is alpabetically arranged. I would definitely recommend this book to artists of all levels; beginner to advanced. It is a wonderful addition to my personal library!

Drawing is the basis of making good art and perspective is the basis of good drawing. Phil Metzger presents the means for making perspectively correct drawings. Yes, it's without "pain" because the mathematics of perspective is not presented; but, to get it right the "pain" is in the practice. Where it should be.

This book is excellent for students or beginners who want to learn perspective. It is illustrated and it has different samples to follow. If you are looking for a more complicated architectural perspective this is not the book. If you want to do cartooning or comic book perspective, this is the right book.

I'm trying to return to drawing and (eventually) painting after not so much as picking up a pencil in 12 or 13 years. When I started, I read every review of every book I could find on the different subjects (basic 'seeing', basic drawing, landscapes, figure drawing, portraits, and perspective) and browsed libraries in five different counties here in NC. The list I came up with for basic texts in each subject area included 'Perspective Without Pain' and I have not been disappointed. For a relative beginner, this book is the most user-friendly manual out there in which all aspects of classic perspective is covered. What makes it especially awesome is actual user exercises to reinforce what you read. I absolutely HAVE TO HAVE exercises along with text (I'm not the brightest light in the hallway) and this book includes excellent reinforcing material. If you can find this in a library, take a quick look before you buy. For us beginners it is, in my humble opinion, perfect.

This book gives a great understanding of what to expect and how to react to programming software projects. Although not set up for the Web world, the book still offers good insight on the dos and don'ts of software management.

This book is a godsend. I still have the first edition. I've been using this book since college. I have managed hundreds of programming projects and found this book (and earlier editions) a must. All my projects originate around this process. The result is having my programming projects on time and on budget.

The original focus of this book was said to be art selected from the annual Arts for the Parks contest in Jackson, Wyoming, but that idea got lost somewhere since some paintings are not from national parks and paintings from parks have no notation to tell you which park is depicted. I have been following the Arts for the Parks for a couple of years and I find some of the omissions pretty glaring. Why do we get six paintings by Jim McVicker and not one by Ronnie Barnes? Three David Tutwilers and no Shirley Cleary. Three Dempwolfs and no Lanford Munroe. There are many beautiful paintings in the book and the artists comments are interesting and informative. The picture cropping at times is brutish and the desciption of one painting is obviously of another.A good book in spite of the editing.31/2 stars for the art and 1/2 a star for the publisher.

What a beautiful collection of art work form the years of the Art of the Parks contests. No matter what style the paintings are, the compositions are outstanding. Nice picture reproduction with a short relevant text with each entry.

Since I had little to no background in art, I enjoyed this book because it gave me a brief summary of so many different media. The book includes wonderful shopping lists for each of the categories covered, so that the beginner need not make repeated trips back to the art store. Watercolor, Acrylic, Gouache, Oil, Pastels, Pen and Ink, Charcoal, Pencil, Egg Tempera are all covered.