Title: Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques Purchase Item Manufacturer: Watson-Guptill List Price: $24.95 Our Price: $13.96
Customer Reviews:
Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques by Watson-Guptill Great book!
This is a great book! It goes into the philosophy of abstract painting, methods, materials, composition, etc. The book also emphasizes each artist's creativity. The artist's interpretation and creativity is what art is all about, and even more so with abstract art, as abstract artists aren't painting something easily recognizable (i.e. a barn). The author did a great job in this book!
Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques by Watson-Guptill Lacks sufficient instruction
This book's images are impressive and provide motivation for the novice to explore abstract paintings. However, it really does not go into enough detailed instruction so that techiniques can be applied in the studio. I can't recommend this book except for those painters who 1) already have some experience with abstraction, and 2) novices who want a general introduction and can find other sources to help answer technical questions. It's a pretty book with little technical substance.
Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques by Watson-Guptill a grounding read
I have really enjoyed this book. It is informative on technique as well as rich in concepts, as the title suggests. It has many high quality photos, and is filled with wonderful examples. Thought provoking and well written. A welcome addition to my art library.
Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques by Watson-Guptill Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques
Good book. Really clues you in on the whys and what fors of abstract painting. After reading this book (more than once) I was not intimidated by trying my hand at abstract painting. The photos in the book are awesome. The author knows her art as does those artists who contributed to the book.
Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques by Watson-Guptill First class, but not for the beginner
It's a pity to dismiss Vicky Perry's book if you have done absolutely no abstract painting, because you may well find it invaluable further down the track. The text provides advanced theories that will be well beyond someone who is a complete beginner, but will be a mine of information for the experienced amateur as well as the art student. I purchased this book before I found Brian Ryder's "Beyond Realism" (see my review of this book) and was initially as challenged by Vicky Perry's text as other reviewers. However, having now worked my way through Ryder's book (and two other's I mention at the end of this review) I found that the concepts and techniques in "Abstract Painting" began to click, and even found them refreshing and exciting. What is more, the examples of abstract art in Perry's book are from professionals, which are hardly open to criticism from amateurs. Okay, so I don't like them all either, but that can only be a plus: you can ask yourself - how would I express the artist's idea myself? (You can't do that with the one's you like - they've already made the definitive statement!) This is no paint-by numbers book for two reasons: firstly, by its very nature, abstract art cannot be taught literally, in formal steps - as is technical drawing, for example. Secondly, the author quite reasonably assumes that the reader has some experience, not only in the fundamentals of art making, but also in basic forms of abstract expression. If you are short on either of these skills, you need to start elsewhere. Contrary to what other reviewers claim, there are plenty of books available that can get a beginner started on abstract painting. It is just that such books are not necessarily titled "abstract." They tend to come under the cateories of design, or creativity. Even collage books like those of Gerald Brommer are a good introduction to abstract principles - with instruction included. For the absolute beginner, I would recommend beginning with Mary Todd Beam's "Celebrate your Creative Self." All the exercises in this book are abstract, and clear instructions are given as to materials and techniques. You even get to copy to some extent! Next, I recommend Maxine Masterfield's "Painting the Spirit of Nature." That also gives techniques, but assumes more experience. Try Vicky Perry's Book after you have cut your teeth on these two - or something similar. I am sure you won't be disappointed.
Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques by Watson-Guptill Book Description
Until now, the techniques used to create great abstract paintings were surrounded by a veil of mystery. Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques lifts that veil to reveal the exact methods behind the masterworks. Now students and professional artists can stop guessing and start building on the techniques of the great abstract artists to create their own innovative new work. Two clear, comprehensible sections let artists focus quickly on their specific areas of interest. The first section, on Traditional Painterly Abstraction, using brush and easel, looks at pictorial space, brushwork, paint quality, and collage. The second section, on Post-Painterly Modern Abstraction, considers options ranging from the pour-and-spatter techniques of Jackson Pollock to the staining, scraping, and abrading of modern acrylic artists. Step-by-step recipes for key approaches show artists how to get the best aesthetic results, freeing them to move forward philosophically.

Watson’s Life Coming to an End, Soon Dan Wood: “There’s been some discussion on the Watson Users’ email discussion group about the future of Watson and where Sun is going. I am sad to say that it looks like Sun doesn’t seem to be focussing on getting the port of Watson released any time soon.” This is sad: Watson is cool. But we’re looking forward to hearing what Dan is working on next. Fri, 24 Sep 2004 04:20:45 GMT

Spring 1.3 UserCreations Spring 1.3 includes new features: canvas-to-canvas trading, deeper integration with Watson, and more. Thu, 12 Jun 2003 23:05:11 GMT

Beyond the Browser Bundle Just FYI: the Beyond the Browser Bundle runs through tomorrow. It includes NetNewsWire, Spring, and Watson for $68 (USD), 25% off. All three are award-winning applications: NetNewsWire and Spring won in the recent O’Reilly Mac OS X Innovators contest, and Watson won an Apple Design Award in 2002 as Most Innovative Mac OS X Product. Wed, 30 Apr 2003 00:48:19 GMT

Karelia Software’s Cocoa Open Source Karelia Software posted “a random collection of useful bits of Cocoa, as found in Watson and in other sundry Karelia applications and testbeds.” We already use CURLHandle, also from Karelia Software, in NetNewsWire. Wed, 16 Apr 2003 21:52:18 GMT

Beyond the Browser Bundle We’ve gotten together with Karelia Software and UserCreations to offer a bundle of NetNewsWire, Spring, and Watson. You can get all three for $68 (USD), 25% off. The offer is good through April. Thu, 03 Apr 2003 21:05:44 GMT

Karelia weblog Watson developer Karelia Software now has a weblog. And an RSS feed, too. Wed, 02 Apr 2003 21:13:13 GMT

Watson Developer on Sherlock Plug-ins Karelia Software, which recently released Watson 1.6, on the Sherlock 3 plug-in architecture: “We’ve taken a look at Sherlock 3’s released plug-in architecture, and it’s quite a bit different from Watson’s. Although some developers are sure to prefer Sherlock’s approach, our reaction is lukewarm at best. You can’t exactly expect us to be impartial judges, but here are some differences...” (See the sidebar on the right side of the page.) Wed, 13 Nov 2002 16:10:35 GMT

Breaking into the Business: An Interview with Michael Matas O’Reilly: “He’s the graphic designer who helped Dan Wood create the great look for Watson and who’s now designing for the Omni Group, as well as creating graphics and icons for other Mac OS X software developers. Michael works exclusively in Mac OS X, and mostly in Photoshop 7. Oh, and one more thing, he’s 16 years old and a junior in high school.” Tue, 05 Nov 2002 00:23:44 GMT

Interview with Watson’s Dan Wood O’Reilly interviews Dan Wood: “I had run across some small utilities that did web ‘scraping’ (extracting and reformatting useful data from HTML pages) such as monitoring eBay auctions and collecting headlines of SlashDot.org. I decided that the world needed a handy container application for these kinds of utilities, and from there the individual tool ideas started coming left and right.” Thu, 26 Sep 2002 23:25:10 GMT

Watson Adds Google, Amazon Plug-ins TidBITS: “Karelia Software has released Watson 1.5.5, its utility for easily gathering information from the Web that offers more features than Apple’s otherwise-similar Sherlock 3.” Wed, 11 Sep 2002 00:30:44 GMT

Watson Developer on Sherlock 3 What is the relationship between Watson and Sherlock 3? Karelia Software writes: “We’ve all but given up on any compensation from Apple, so the purpose of ‘going public’ with this answer is because we want to set the record straight.” Fri, 19 Jul 2002 15:58:22 GMT

Watson development to continue, says developer MacCentral: “Dan Wood of Karelia Software, the developer of Watson, confirmed for MacCentral that he had no part in the development of Sherlock 3. Wood also confirmed that Watson is alive and well and he will continue the development of the product.” I’m glad. I don’t know if Watson will continue to be a successful product after Sherlock 3 ships. I hope so. One thing that has always bugged me is how people so often prefer the software made by their OS vendor. Bundling only works so well because people somehow seem to distrust competing apps that come from independent developers, even in the cases where those apps are better and more mature. Thu, 09 May 2002 22:26:12 GMT

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