PDF The Green Mile by Thomas Newman in Arts-Photography

Review

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. I should have read the description more attentively.By J. Morse IIIThe title says it all: I was expecting something from this book that it was never supposed to deliver.I KNOW that the Dover books are basically re-prints of historical references; but I wasnt thinking about that; and I didnt pay attention to the item description when I purchased the book. Since Im not one of these reviewers that slams the product to cover the fact that Im an idiot; Im gonna give this one 4 stars. I think thats fair; given what the book was intended to deliver.That said-- this is a good primer on composition for the BEGINNING artist; and a nice collectible for people that just like to be able to see how things were taught in earlier times. Anyone with a grounding in the basic elements of composition will find this book fairly (though not completely) useless. For the price; its almost worth buying just to skim through. Most of the book is sketches and line drawings that show the figure in various parts of pictorial compositions; but there is very little commentary about "why" the figure is placed there; the book focuses on the practical; and pretty much ignores the theoretical completely. Commentary about each exercise is minimal; even non-existent for a couple of the drawings.It is my personal opinion that composition is the one discipline in drawing that is better taught in practical terms; before learning the theory. With the actual process; I think it is helpful to teach form; value; shadow and light; etc.; as the student is learning to draw; but with composition I believe that it is a good thing for the student to get an instinctive feel for a good composition before thy start trying to figure out WHY its good. So; as stated; this wouldnt be a bad book for a beginner (although there are better; more modern titles available).