Art Fundamentals: Theory and Practice

I have been pleasantly surprised by the text and breakdown of information in Fundamentals. The writing is logical, down to earth and seems fresh and exciting after years of reading very old reference books on the subject. It seems that they did not have a ton of money for the copyrights of noteworthy images from artists so they seem to have settled for lesser-known works by large artists. Some of this is interesting while some of it is frustrating. I believe that they have the ugliest Helen Frankenthaler painting I've ever seen printed in the book. I just hope the images don't turn off students to future research of these artists but who am I to judge? Overall, I am very pleased with the text and recommend it highly.

I have not seen the book, which I gather is loaded with color reproductions of art. However, I was asked by a friend to evaluate the CD-ROM that (apparently) comes with the book. I am not entirely clear on the exact relationship of the CD or how it is supposed to complement the book, but I will confine my comments to the CD 'as if' it were a stand-alone product.The CD is deeply flawed in two key aspects: presentation and content. First, I am a professional multimedia designer who has designed an educational CD, as well as a fine artist who has worked in several media (ceramics, photography, painting), and taught digital design at the university level.My initial impression of the content, including the text and silly little exercises, is that this product could be aimed at elementary school level instruction, and for that matter would be an extremely poor substitute for a scribbler pad and box of crayons coupled with some common-sense discussion of various, basic design elements. However as I read through the "Self-evaluation" section I realized that at least some of the vocabulary employed is really addressed to university-level literacy. If you are going to have students engage in digital manipulations, don't waste their time with these superficially clever exercises (rotating and scaling little lozenges, and filling them with colors and patterns in a tiny window). Give them the real thing! Even a basic freeware paint program has much more to offer.The presentation itself is cold, clinical and utterly lacking in interesting visual dimension or texture -- a catastrophic failing in a publication purporting to teach "Art Fundamentals". Gimmicky rollover effects and slide transitions recall the worst of Flash eye-candy, and corporate Power Point sales pitches.But there's more -- the excessive text is so badly presented that it is functionally illegible, considering the quantities the poor viewer is being asked to read. Pray that it merely duplicates the copy in the hard copy book, and there it is at least conventionally legible. A section of stitlted and programmatic exercises recall those matchbook covers for correspondance art instruction. Blech.Finally I will comment on a series of video clips that explain various fine art media and techniques. The video quality is reasonably good, however the visuals are utterly boring, and the voice-over narration an excruciating, amateur, flat, monotone. Most of the artwork selected as examples during arbitrary, 'slide show' sequences is at best mediocre. What a crime to convey boredom and indifference about visual creativity in a textbook for foundation art students!I'm very sorry to say that I find nothing to recommend about the CD that comes with this "best seller", because that is a reflection of the very sad state of visual literacy in North America. I am not tempted in the least to look at the textbook it comes with.

What a pleasant and very thorough surprise this was. Just as claimed; many contributors, smart and easy to understand presentation, relevant and truly demonstrative reproductions of ideas and topics from the high end professional to the advanced student. All anyone could wish for who is exploring art fundamentals. Thanks to all concerned for this very valuable publication.

Item as described_Thanks!

I received a 2nd edition book when what was pictured and described was an 8th edition. Totally disappointed.

Old art textbook, contains everything you need to know about art