These 55 masterworks by one of the most influential mdash; and most prolific mdash; illustrators of childrens books during the early 20th century include exquisite images for "The Sleeping Beauty;" "Cinderella;" "The Snow Queen;" "The Real Princess;" and other beguiling tales. An invaluable treasury for lovers of fine art; a delight for fairy-tale enthusiasts.
#2465750 in eBooks 2013-06-01 2013-06-01File Name: B00DBNERO8
Review
24 of 30 people found the following review helpful. Good information; extremely poor format and colorBy Adrift in JapanI have heard much about Ted Seth Jacobs and his approach to seeing color; and certainly his technical ability is what they say it is. However; I am afraid that I cannot give this book more than three stars. It is not about the content of what he says - what he has in there is accurate; and he has good basic illustrations to prove his points. In fact; I bought this book sight unseen essentially for the information the book contained. So while the content itself is not an issue; I do have some issues with the way it is presented.The two main problems I have with the book are the format and the color reproduction. The format makes the book nigh unreadable; and basically all the color reproductions of the paintings in it make me wonder if Mr. Jacobs really painted in those colors; or if it is some regrettable problem with the color reproduction during printing. The book is absolutely cram-packed with information-dense text in a two-column layout. This works for magazines; where the articles are shorter; but makes for extremely tiresome reading in a large book. As I said; the information is accurate; and Mr. Jacobs illustrations to prove those points are simple and easy to understand. But the text is very dense; and very dry; and it makes it hard to get through without getting tired. Another part of the problem is the lack of chapter breaks. There are a couple in the beginning; but the last half of the book is essentially one long unbroken column of text (which runs the outside length; and the wonky-colored pictures on the inside).The other problem is the color reproduction. The paper in my book is still pristine white; so its not yellowing of the paper itself. Its also not a problem that the paintings themselves are most definitely dated to the 70s and 80s; with some pretty groovy fashions; starred tapestries; pyramid power and feathered hair - and I will admit theyre not to my taste at all; but I bought the book for the information. What really threw me off was that the main paintings have either: A bright yellow color that looks as if the picture was taken through a yellow filter; a very odd and jarring lavender-blue shade; or in a couple of instances; an alarming pinkish-red. In fact; Mr. Jacobs own paintings appear garish in many instances; with the strange shades of bright yellow; or orangeish; or ochre-colored tone really throwing me off. But other paintings; as I have mentioned; have this very weird; unnatural blue tinge that very often turns purple. Its not pleasant to see a painting of a composition made with fresh-baked bread; and the loaves are this bizarre; grey-purple color. Its rather unappetizing. And theres at least one picture; a still life of eggs and a whisk; that has an obvious reddish-pink tone; and so its not pleasant to look at.In short; if this book were still around the 40 to 50 dollar range; I think I could recommend it; if only for the information contained within (assuming you could get past the unfriendly text format and awful color on many of the paintings within). But for the current price I see (around 200 U.S. dollars at the time of this writing); Im afraid I cant recommend it; because no matter the information within the book; the format and the color reproduction make for a disappointing purchase.4 of 6 people found the following review helpful. More light is needed on the art choices and look of this book;By Michael ElsasserWhat is written is important; but the artwork and layout of the book are not very impressive; and get in the way of what is written. It is; however; full of information we all should make part of our foundation.6 of 7 people found the following review helpful. ConflictedBy TalviLight For the Artist is a short 100 or so pages that packs in a lot of information. Its the type of read that feels like it was written by an educator/professor and for students: lacking in friendly tones and densely worded; it can be fairly inscrutable. But that isnt to say there isnt useful information in here; certainly; mastering light is arguably the most important discipline of a painter.The book isnt about technique nor style. Rather; the author is careful to note that it is about explaining light in detail so the artist can use that to make their own work more sophisticated. The book is broken down into three sections: (1) Symbolism and Perception: Word Versus Light. (2) The Nature of Light: Its Structure Action; And Effects. (3) Toward a Philosophy of Perception. Within those sections; subjects include directional quality of light; light moving through space; orchestrating light effects; stripping away preconceptions; foreshortening of light; multiple light sources; light on shiny surfaces; light as the teacher; and more.The book is thorough in its approach to light but honestly it does read like a physics textbook - very dry and you have to reread a lot in order to understand the points presented. That isnt to say that were dealing with hard physics here; there are no prisms; light spectrum; wavelengths; or any of those concepts. But what is discussed is done in a very dry; impenetrable; and blocky way. I found myself rereading a lot.Most; if not all; of the images in the book are from the author. That was a bit problematic to me in a book that purports in the very beginning to not be about one style. In order to really make the points work; I would have liked to see all kinds of examples from different artists and especially different eras. Most of the authors works are from 1960-1980; and of naked women; with a few still life and landscapes thrown in to break up the monotony; so the endless repetition of TA (tasteful though it is) isnt as useful as variety could be. Especially since those images arent references to the points of that chapters and seem to be randomly thrown in for filler.The author does a great job of presenting examples of how light interpretation can be done incorrectly or correctly. I found those images the most useful; side by side comparisons of the same image; one stronger and one weaker. But there simply werent enough and so Id end up having to reread and reread to understand the concepts. I also wish there were photographs of the scene to use as a reference to see how the author was interpreting the actual light. It seems too narrow a focus to see only through the authors eyes with his finished works. Even better; I would have loved to see a scenes lighting painted several different ways by different artists.There were other odd contributions by the author - randomly quoting Sanskrit or calling our sun "Aton". In a straightforward; academic-feeling book; those odd inclusions made the concepts within feel less academic and more like a hippy acid trip of nebulous ideas. Had a balance between the two (academic vs new age) been achieved; it would have made for an excellent; modern; straightforward; and very useful reference. As it is; this is a good book that youll want to take to the park and reread sections at leisure so you can figure them out.Reviewed from an ARC.