Painted House, The

Rating:
Summary: An excellent source book!
Review: As a professional mural painter, I've found "The Painted House", by Graham Rust, to be an excellent idea source book. In fact, it's the best I've found to date. The illustrations are not only imaginative, but extremely rich in detail. My only complaint would be that at times he shows the original sketch without showing the finished product. Otherwise, I've found the book to be extremely helpful and I'm ready for Vol. 2.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent source book!
Review: As a professional mural painter, I've found "The Painted House", by Graham Rust, to be an excellent idea source book. In fact, it's the best I've found to date. The illustrations are not only imaginative, but extremely rich in detail. My only complaint would be that at times he shows the original sketch without showing the finished product. Otherwise, I've found the book to be extremely helpful and I'm ready for Vol. 2.

Rating:
Summary: Masterful!
Review: I bought this book and G. Rust's, "Decorative Design's" about a year or more ago. In my opinion, his work ranks with the classics. As an art professional for more than twenty years who specializes in trompe l'oeil murals, I am amazed that there is someone like Rust actually living, breathing and still walking the earth.

Rating:
Summary: Masterful!
Review: I bought this book and G. Rust's, "Decorative Design's" about a year or more ago. In my opinion, his work ranks with the classics. As an art professional for more than twenty years who specializes in trompe l'oeil murals, I am amazed that there is someone like Rust actually living, breathing and still walking the earth.

Rating:
Summary: Masterful!
Review: I just kinda stumbled upon this book and thought it was amazing. Rust displays murals for every type of room. As mentioned in some of the other reviews, this is not a "how-to" book per-se. But the reader can learn quite a lot from seeing how this master goes about his art. Everything you need to know is there except the actual rendering techniques. But he does explain how most of the murals were set up and designed. I highly recommend this book. Especially if you can find the hardcover. The softcover is a little too soft and I'm afraid its not the most durable book I've ever seen. But get it anyway and just be careful with the covers.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful artwork. An Inspiration Factory for muralists
Review: I just kinda stumbled upon this book and thought it was amazing. Rust displays murals for every type of room. As mentioned in some of the other reviews, this is not a "how-to" book per-se. But the reader can learn quite a lot from seeing how this master goes about his art. Everything you need to know is there except the actual rendering techniques. But he does explain how most of the murals were set up and designed. I highly recommend this book. Especially if you can find the hardcover. The softcover is a little too soft and I'm afraid its not the most durable book I've ever seen. But get it anyway and just be careful with the covers.

Rating:
Summary: Good Art Book, Not a "How-To" Book
Review: I purchased this book because it was bundled with "The Art of Illusion: A Trompe l'Oeil Painting Course." Although I enjoyed viewing the beautiful, complicated, and skilled work in the photos, it was not the instructional item I thought it would be. Regardless, I like it enough to keep it, although for my purposes, I prefer the other book.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring but not helpful.
Review: The incredible work that Graham Rust has produced is not at all a dissapointment. However, he doesn't in the least try to show you how to acheive any of the effects he has created. I have been painting murals for a couple of years and have found it hard to find a resource for learning Trompe Loeil, which would be my passion. I would have greatly appreciated some help from someone I admire in this field. All in all a great portfolio for Graham Rust if you want to pay to see his work, but if looking for a learning tool, this is not it.

Rating:
Summary: Just beautiful!
Review: This artist is incredible and the book, print, designs, layout -- everything is top notch. I doubt I could ever reproduce such an incredible level of expertise (not exactly a how-to book) but I would buy again just for the sheer pleasure and inspiration!

Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous works, terrific for inspiration
Review: This book is full of beautiful paintings and ideas. The author gives you layout examples so you could literally paint your whole house, or at the very least all 4 walls of a room. Some of the examples are things like: being in an Arabian tent with one flap rolled back to reveal a beautiful desertscape; an indoor swimming pool circled with mythological creatures; draped fabric on all the walls, etc. There are many more, and they're simply breathtaking. The author has painted murals inside museums in Europe, so you know the quality is there. There are oodles of color photos here, and while this isn't a full blown step-by-step book, with 1,2,3 pictures, it gets 4 stars because of it's incredible diversity of mural use, from small to large, and the inspiration that comes from it. I wish it were a little less costly, but it is a nice book with quality paper stock and binding. I know I will refer to it when I start my mural project. If it had more of a beginner's feel, I'd have given it 5 stars.