Rating: 
Summary: Art From China to Woodstock
Review: Hongnian paints and Lois interperts, thats the Yin and Yang of this wonderful book. His exquisite masterpieces are reporduced in exacting color. Her interpetations bring forward the mood and theroy behind his work that makes it underestandable from novice to connoisseur. I was especially moved by the explantion of using hues to bring forward the mood and intensity of the subject. This book will leave you inspired as it hs me.
Rating:
Summary: Art From China to Woodstock
Review: Hongnian paints and Lois interperts, thats the Yin and Yang of this wonderful book. His exquisite masterpieces are reporduced in exacting color. Her interpetations bring forward the mood and theroy behind his work that makes it underestandable from novice to connoisseur. I was especially moved by the explantion of using hues to bring forward the mood and intensity of the subject. This book will leave you inspired as it hs me.
Rating: 
Summary: I would rather prefer Chinese paintings in this kind of book
Review: I don't own this book nor have I done any more than skim over it, so my opinion may not be useful. The book sounded interesting from the title, but when I opened it, all I saw were paintings by Western artists. Since it was about Chinese philosophy, I expected Chinese paintings. I'm sure this book is interesting, but this got to me, since I was looking for books on Asian art and design. But I suppose it's a good example of how Eastern philosophy can be applied to Western things.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Awesome! A MUST for all Painters.
Review: I have read the previous reviews, and find that the people with criticism have missed the most important point. For me, it is that by using Mr. Zhang's complementary palettes, a painter cannot create MUD!
There may be other books which describe some of the notions of opposites presented by the authors, but none which provide an artist with such a foolproof method for mixing harmonious paint. After many years of using the classic paint hues of the great masters, I attempted a painting with one of Mr. Zhang's palettes, and found that with respect to color, it is the best and most satisfying work of my life. Now I paint exclusively with them.
I believe that this book is meant for advanced artists, although beginners will find a world of important fundamentals, as well.
For all its valuable lessons, the pages of the book are also filled with absolutely stunning paintings. HongNian Zhang creates sheer visual poetry. His book, so clearly and intelligently written by portrait artist and teacher Lois Woolley, is replete with novel ideas, expert instruction, and edifying demonstrations. But it would also be worth owning for the paintings alone.
I do wish persons who consider writing a review would actually read and study the book, and in the case of an instruction book for artists, that they actually attempt putting to practice the lessons taught -- otherwise they have no basis from which to judge, and no business doing so. I can't recommend this book highly enough -- five stars are far too few!
Rating:
Summary: Simply Awesome! A MUST for all Painters.
Review: I have read the previous reviews, and find that the people with criticism have missed the most important point. For me, it is that by using Mr. Zhang's complementary palettes, a painter cannot create MUD!
There may be other books which describe some of the notions of opposites presented by the authors, but none which provide an artist with such a foolproof method for mixing harmonious paint. After many years of using the classic paint hues of the great masters, I attempted a painting with one of Mr. Zhang's palettes, and found that with respect to color, it is the best and most satisfying work of my life. Now I paint exclusively with them.
I believe that this book is meant for advanced artists, although beginners will find a world of important fundamentals, as well.
For all its valuable lessons, the pages of the book are also filled with absolutely stunning paintings. HongNian Zhang creates sheer visual poetry. His book, so clearly and intelligently written by portrait artist and teacher Lois Woolley, is replete with novel ideas, expert instruction, and edifying demonstrations. But it would also be worth owning for the paintings alone.
I do wish persons who consider writing a review would actually read and study the book, and in the case of an instruction book for artists, that they actually attempt putting to practice the lessons taught -- otherwise they have no basis from which to judge, and no business doing so. I can't recommend this book highly enough -- five stars are far too few!
Rating: 
Summary: More Yang than Yin.
Review: I rated 4-star on behalf of some beginning oil painters. Those are people who just started to learn color effects (warm/cool), drawing to the likeness, values, etc..., you know, those stepping stones when one started to explore painting in oil. For intermediate and advanced oil painters, I fear this book only goes as far as a collection of some nice paintings.
Now, don't get me wrong. This is a beautiful collection of paintings of which one or two represent each genre, such as still life, landscape, and figure painting. Most paintings have the silky effect caused by high key choice of colors and tone, of which the white and neutral colors act as mediate. In figure painting, perhaps some mannerism approach was applied, or the artist has some of the most beautiful models posing.
As far as Yin/Yang goes, well, I would think these paintings have more Yang (light) than Yin (darkness/shadow). However, it is kind of puzzling why one should worry about applying some philosoply to art, which should, for the most part, be left to one's heart to catch that "vibe", rather than one's head.
Anyway, a good book for beginners. Beautiful art work is inspiring to artists of any levels.
Rating:
Summary: Nicely presented but didn't "grab" me
Review: If you have little art experience and need to know about color influence, dark and light, and other ways to express your work via color technique, this is actually a very nice book. The artwork is lovely. However I did not think this book was essential to my art library as other books cover the same information, although not with the Oriental point of view.In short, if you are new to painting or want a boost in color use, this can be helpful. If you are very experienced, it probably won't provide much that is very new.
Rating:
Summary: Painting Mastery
Review: This book is a must for the master artist who wishes to advance to the next level of color/light mastery. It is not just pages of beautiful illustrations and color tips.Having enjoyed a sucessful art career myself for many years, this the first art book that I have read that speaks on many leverls to the professional artist. It presents useful ways to limit palet choices without limiting color expression. I have given this six copies away of this book to my contempory artist friends and we all agree that it is a MUST HAVE BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Painting Mastery
Review: This book is a must for the master artist who wishes to advance to the next level of color/light mastery. It is not just pages of beautiful illustrations and color tips.Having enjoyed a sucessful art career myself for many years, this the first art book that I have read that speaks on many leverls to the professional artist. It presents useful ways to limit palet choices without limiting color expression. I have given this six copies away of this book to my contempory artist friends and we all agree that it is a MUST HAVE BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful technique, beautiful paintings
Review: This is an excellent discussion of how paintings can be enhanced by balancing opposites (light/dark, up/down, left/right, front/back, big/little, warm/cool, strong/soft, complements, thick/thin, transparent/opaque, short/long, slow/fast, blurred/sharp). The paintings are beautiful and the concepts are worth studying in detail.
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