Review of World of Zentangle

  Bai YunYun, a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) from China, approached me in September last year asking whether my mother and I would like to be featured in a book that she was writing. I was thrilled, and agreed in a heartbeat. It took these many months for the book to be completed and printed, then sent from China to Singapore, but I must say that it definitely was worth the wait.

 "World of Zentangle" is a beautifully printed book. The pages are set out wonderfully. It doesn't look cluttered, the text is easy to read, and all the pictures in the book are lovely and sharp. The cover is a sturdy cardboard material that is the colour of Zentangle®'s renaissance tiles. It has a nice border of tangles and the Chinese title of the book is printed in white ink that makes it seem like it is slightly embossed.

  The pages have a slight gloss and the book is printed in full colour. Each chapter is colour coded, which I find really useful for finding a particular section when I want to.

First chapter... And with the Zentangle motto: "Anything is possible, one stroke at a time."

  The book starts off by telling you about the origins of Zentangle, then moves on to talk about different styles in Zentangle art. It briefly touches on materials used to create Zentangle art (even including markers and watercolours). And only after, does it teaches you the 8-steps method and shading techniques. The final few pages gives you ideas on different crafts you can do as Zentangle-inspired art, and the last chapter has tangle exercises with empty boxes that you can draw in. (How smart of YunYun to do that!)

  The book is filled with plenty of pictures of YunYun's own art works, examples of patterns, and pictures related to what she's talking about on any given page. Eight other artists were featured in the book, of which my mother, Joni, and I am included. We truly are honoured to be included in such a wonderful creation.

Here's the section that I was included in.

And here's Joni's section.

Line exercises...

And a spread from the last chapter, where there are step-outs to a few tangles and empty boxes that you can draw in.

  Flip-through video of the book:

  It's truly a blessing for us to have received a copy of this book because we're planning to teach Zentangle classes in Mandarin soon and we wanted to be sure that we would be teaching the Zentangle method using the correct words. This book will really help us.

  I hope you enjoyed reading my review of "World of Zentangle". If you have Mandarin speaking students, this book will be a great purchase. Or if you're like me and just like to collect books about Zentangle, you can currently purchase the book through Dang Dang or through China's Amazon.

Review of "Unwind in the Wilds" a Colouring Book by Derwent

  There's a new colouring book being sold at Art Friend. It's "Unwind in the Wilds" by Derwent and the illustrations within it are by Sarah Taylor. It's retailing at $18.50 (or $16.65 if you have membership). Go buy yourself a set of Coloursoft coloured pencils while you're at it. (What do you mean I have an obsession with Coloursofts... Shhh~)

  It's a colouring book based around a theme on nature... Lots of little critters- bunnies, bugs, owls, deers, song birds, swans... Lots of leaves and trees... There are some pages with just repeating patterns.

  The first few pages are really interesting, too. There's a little guide on how to blend coloured pencils to achieve different tones of colours, and some super basic colour theory. And then you also have two fully coloured pages to give you an idea on what you can do. 

  And scattered throughout the book are a couple of little Complete-It-Yourself pages. For example, one has an owl and you have to draw its feathers and hat. I haven't attempted any of those kind of pages cause when I am drawn to my colouring books, I usually am just craving to handle some colouring materials. So I wouldn't be in the mood to draw. There are other fun activities in the book, too.

Like mazes...

And item hunts...

  Some of the drawings are two-pages spread, and we all know what happens when that's the case... The middle part of the drawings get swallowed up by the binding. *sad face* But I'm happy to say that most pages are single spreads, and some even have nice borders so they'd look wonderful if you cut them out of the book to frame. I prefer to keep my pages IN the book, but to each his own, eh?

  And here's a quick flip-through of the book:

  I coloured a really cute mouse with just less than seven colours:

Yep. Mostly greens, blues, and a yellow. The mouse is actually orangey-red. No browns were used.
Even the background is red plus dark blue. No browns or purples..

And here's a song bird. One of the advice that Sarah gave was to not be afraid to leave certain areas white. That's why I left the flower-y patterns on the bird's throat white.

I rather like the page left this way. Pretty birb.

  Wanna' see another awesome colouring book? Try Enchanted Forest.

"The Boy Who Spoke to the Earth" Review

  "The Boy Who Spoke to the Earth" is a book by Dreamling Books. The story is told by Chris Burkard, while the illustrations are by David McClellan. I bought the book via its Kickstarter, and the book came with its very own Certificate of Authenticity.

  The book tells a story about a boy who asks the Earth where he can find happiness.. The Earth brings him on a journey to the most beautiful places it has to offer. However, the boy soon realises that happiness is more difficult to find than he initially thought. Where will the boy find happiness? You'll have to read the book to find out.

  The story is beautifully illustrated; the colours are vivid, the sceneries depicted are epic; and this book is exactly how a children's book should be like. I would say the story teaches its readers to seek out their own adventures, and to see life with an open heart and mind. I highly recommend watching the above video to understand why I'm gushing so much about the book, and if you end up liking the book just as much as I do, you can purchase your own copy via this link.

  Below, you'll see some of the many wonderful animals hidden within the pages of the book...

(Note: I am not affiliated with Dreamling Books, nor was I paid for this review. It really is an honest review, and I'm sure you'll agree it's a gorgeous children's book that deserves a place on anyone's shelf.)

Book Review: Yellow Square

  "Yellow Square" is the fourth book in David A. Carter's series of pop-up books. This one follows "Red Dot", "Blue 2", and "600 Black Spots". (Links lead to my review of the respective books.)

  In "Red Dot", the dots were easy to find. In "Blue 2", the twos were slightly harder to find. In "600 Black Spots" the spots were in plain sight, just difficult to keep count of. In this book, will the yellow square be easy to find, or not?

  This book delighted the kids I teach all the same. The younger kids seemed to prefer this one as compared to "Red Dot". How about you? Which book in David Carter's series do you like best?

Book Review: Blue 2

  The concept behind this book is just the same as "One Red Dot". On each pop-up page, there is one hidden blue "2" paired with a little rhyme to help you in finding it. Will you be able to find all ten hidden 2s?

And here's a flip-through video of "Blue 2" by David A. Carter, with me pointing out where all the hidden twos are.

Book Review: One Red Dot

  "One Red Dot" is the first of many pop-up books that David A. Carter has created.

  I'm an English tuition teacher to children ranging from 3-16 years old, and the kids that I've shown this book to have absolutely loved it. My current copy is beginning to show signs of distress (not tearing of parts, just general wear-and-tear.. The kids are gentle with the book and I do keep an eye on them when they're reading it), but to me, it just shows how engaging the book is to the kids. They love finding the red dots within the book, and seeing how the pop-ups are tucked in when they close each page.

  Here's a video of me flipping through the book:

  To see me flipping through "Blue 2", click this link.

Book Review: Enchanted Forest

  "Enchanted Forest" by Johanna Basford is a gorgeously beautiful colouring book. People have complained that her previous book "Secret Garden" had beautiful drawings in it but was printed poorly. Even though I cannot say much about that because I do not own that book, I can say for certain that "Enchanted Forest" was well above what I had expected.

  The paper within the book is a semi-gloss paper that takes coloured pencils and markers very well. The cover of the book is delightful, with gold details on the front, and even the inside of the cover has illustrations. The actual cover looks to be made from recycled cardboard material and is of a toned-brown colour. I also just love it when the protective cover and the actual cover have two completely different designs. :)

  The illustrations within the book are very well printed. All the lines are crisp and clear. My only complain is that some illustrations go across two pages, and some parts of the drawing gets swallowed in the middle.

  The book takes you on a journey through a wonderful forest, in search of hidden animals, keys, and nine square tablets with symbols on them to unlock the castle door at the end of the book. A surprise is hidden behind the castle door, so if you want to find out what that surprise is for yourself, don't watch the video till' the end!

  In all, highly recommended. Delightful book to have in your hand.

Book Review: Juxtapoz Hyppereal

  My newest flip-through video. This time it's "Juxtapoz Hyperreal" and it was a delight to look through. Even though all the works in the book were done in a hyperrealistic style, there was a very good range of subjects, colour palettes, and personal tastes. I really enjoyed the book a lot.

  Which book would you like me to flip-through next? Let me know in the comments section below.


  I'm think of starting to review children's books some time in the future. I also am thinking of starting to post illustrations... We'll see how it runs. Till' then, enjoy the video!

Book Review: 500 Tangled Artworks

"500 Tangled Artworks: A Showcase of Inspired Illustrated Designs" by Bec Krahula

  The book is not meant for people new to Zentangle as it does not show how to create each tangle. In the introductory chapter, the book briefly touches upon what Zentangle is and also tells readers how to start tangling. It is in no way a how-to tangle book but more of a showcase of what other artists have done with Zentangle. The book itself is of a good print, and I like the feel of the paper used for the book. However, the pictures within the book leave much more to be wanted. For example, some tiles were badly lit and the white of the paper looked grey in the photos (page 34,, for example). Or even worse, some seem to have been taken in a dark room and lit by the light of a table lamp resulting in greenish and pinkish hues (page 43, for example). Some might complain that the pictures within the book are too small, and I have to agree that details do get lost due to the fact that some pictures were printed too small.

• Chapter One shows actual Zentangle tiles.

• Chapter Two shows Zentangles done on larger paper.

• Chapter Three shows Zentangle-Inspired Artworks (ZIAs). You'll start to see colours in the art works from hereon.

• Chapter Four shows mixed-media ZIAs. Much more colours involved in the art works contained in this chapter.

• Chapter Five shows fiber and textile ZIAs.

• Chapter Six shows ZIAs in sculptures.

  Finally, the book ends with a directory of all the artists showcased within the book, and also where within the book they're featured. It's nice that every picture is numbered and that they have the artist's name under each picture for easy reference.

  All in all, 500 Tangled Artworks delivers what it says it would- it shows you 500 artworks with zentangles, and it does make for a nice coffeetable book, but this is definitely not a how-to book and there are much better zentangle books in the market.

"Subtract" by Tyson McAdoo

A while back, I backed a kickstarter by Tyson McAdoo for him to be able to publish a new book titled "Subtract". The completion of the project was wonderfully on time, and all the books were promptly mailed out after. Shipping was quick and the packaging of the books were wonderful.

This is it.
The beautiful creation that is "Subtract".

I can tell that the utmost care was paid to every detail in this book. I mean look at the wonderful abstract gloss to the book, and even how unique the barcode was made to look so it didn't feel out of place. I love the simplicity of the book's cover design. 

The inside of the book was no different. I loved the print quality, and the entire feel of the book.
Also, I have this pet peeve where when the picture in a book doesn't take up the entire page yet one of its side touches the edge of the page... I hate that because it looks very unaesthetic. This book didn't have that irksome problem. The pictures were either full page pictures, or they had a border around them.

Here's a full page drawing. You can see the brushstrokes and the colours are lovely.

Then there was a section for Tyson McAdoo's drawings.

The pages were ever-so-slightly shorter than the rest of the pages, and I felt that was a nice addition to the book too.

  I'm not affiliated with Tyson in any ways. I do not gain anything from you purchasing the book. Nor was I given the book for free. I just really genuinely loved the book that much, and wished that other art books were created with as much attention to detail as "Subtract" was given.

  With that, here's a video of me flipping through the book:

  If you'd like to support the artist, you can purchase the book via his webstore. From now until the 8th, you can get a 14% discount on all purchases with the discount code "LOVE".

Book Review: Strokes of Genius 6

  "Strokes of Genius 6" was wonderful to look through. I loved the portraits within the book- they were emotive and soulful. There wasn't much helpful hints or any instructions within the book, but the Strokes of Genius series is more of 'nice books filled with pretty pictures' type of series. I felt the book was mainly focused on realism, as do lots of American art books, but I loved looking at all the works within the book and actually wished it had more pages. The print quality is great and I'm quite happy with it, overall. I'm looking forward to buy other books within this series.   View my other book videos here: (click me)

Book Review: The Art of Animal Character Design (second edition)

  "The Art of Animal Character Design" (second edition) by David Colman was beautifully printed and the cover was sturdy and the colours within the book was rich and lovely. The advice within the book was solid; but I really wished that there were more new sketches from Colman, cause most of the sketches in the book can be found on his Deviantart...

Book Review: Whatever you think, think the opposite.

Turn this book upside down.
...

Things are looking up already.

I think this page explained what modern art is about in a very elegant way.
Art isn't meant to be beautiful. It's meant to make you think.

Astonish Me.

   In short, I liked this book better than Paul Arden's first book, "It's not how good you are, it's how good you want to be". (Click me to see a review of that book.) It's more substantial. It's filled with quotes and anecdotes that I could relate to better. It was filled with advice that I felt I could use more than the ones in his first book.

  I'd recommend buying this book. I also am interested in how his third book, "God Explained in a Taxi Ride", is going to be like.

Book Review: Splash Retrospective

  "Splash Retrospective: 20 Years of Contemporary Watercolor Excellence", edited by Rachel Rubin Wolf.

  The Splash series has been around since 1990. Wow, that's a really long history. For all those of you who've never heard of the series; Splash is an international watercolour competition by North Light Books. The winners for each year's competition will have their works published in a Splash book. Splash Retrospective is a book with a compilation of the best of the best from the past winners. I think that was what drew me to buy it.

  The works are gorgeous and varied, and I enjoyed reading the little captions that were paired beside most of the paintings. The book itself felt sturdy, and the pages were well designed and well printed. It was an utter joy flipping through this book. I really can't put in words how good the selection of works is, so you'll have to watch the video below to see for yourself.

  I bought this book via Amazon, if you were wondering. :)

The Vatican: All the Paintings

"The Vatican: All the Paintings" by Anja Grebe

It's the complete collection of the Old Masters plus more than 300 sculptures, maps, tapestries, and other artefacts, and this thick volume is being sold for SGD$120 at the Da Vinci exhibition which I have reviewed before (click me).

Intro From the Book
  The Vatican is one of the wonders of the world. With more then 5 million visitors each year, it houses many museums and palaces containing some of the world's most renowned works of art. Never before have so many of treasures of the Vatican been out together in one book.

  The Vatican: All the Paintings is an unprecedented celebration of this great collection. It includes every painting currently on display by Old Master's including the masterpieces of Michelangelo, Leonardo, Carravaggio, Raphael, Fra Angelico, Giotto, Poussin, Titian, and Pinturicchio, as well as more than 300 sculptures, maps, tapestries, manuscripts, and more.
  The book is organised into 22 sections representing the museums and areas of the Vatican, including the Pinacotera (painting gallery), the Sistine Chapel, the Raphael Rooms, the Borgia Apartments, the Vatican Palaces, and St. Peter's Basilica.

  Each one of the 976 works of art represented in the book- including 661 classic paintings on display in the permanent painting collection and 315 other masterpieces- is annotated with the name of the painting and artist, the date of the work, the birth and death dates of the artist, and tge medium that was used, the size of the work, and the catalogue number (if applicable). In addition, 180 paintings and other pieces of art are highlighted with 300-word essays by art historian Anja Grebe on such topics as the key attributes of the work, the artist's inspirations and techniques, biographical information on the artist, and the artist's impact on art history.

  The enclosed DVD-ROM contains every image from the book and allows readers to view them at a slightly larger size and to search and sort the paintings by type, artist, era, and date, or by location in the Vatican museums.
---

 Some people have found certain written errors within the book, like having two paintings having the same name, or a wrong record of which artist painted a certain painting... I haven't read the book. I just like the fact that it's an extensive collection of all of the Vatican's art works. I am a little annoyed that some of the paintings are pictured really small in the book, but I think for the number of pages the book has, it's completely worth the price. (I've paid more for a book of much lower quality, so I'm not complaining.)

Book Review: "It's not how good you are, it's how good you want to be"

"It's not how good you are, it's how good you want to be" by Paul Arden

  It's an advice book a lot like "Steal Like an Artist" by Austin Kleon... I feel that this title is more directed towards those in commercial arts like designers, illustrators, and advertisers rather than focusing on fine art artists. Nonetheless, it was still a good read for me and had very feel good vibes and good advice within. The layout of the book is splendid- font size is great, text and picture placement is excellent, colour choices within the book is on point, and the quality of the book is great... The writer does inject some humour within the book and I appreciated that a lot.

The book opened with this sentence.

It also contained a variety of quotes and personal anecdotes.

And most of the remainder of the book consisted of segments like the above.
Some pages had pictures to go with the text.

  In all, "It's not how good you are, it's how good you want to be" is an entertaining and feel-good book with some advice on how to get further in your art careers but you probably can finish reading it within a day, and I'm not sure whether I'll want to read it again after...

  (Borrow your friends copy of the book if you can.)

  6 out of 10 stars.


  Stay tuned for my review of his second book, "Whatever you think, think the opposite."

Book Reviews: Sketch Collection 2007, 2011, 2013.

2007, 2011, and 2013 Sketch Collection by Kim Jung-Gi

So, these are the books. 

Pictured: 2013 in its sealed box. Very cute car tape.
Be careful when opening this box cause the poster is right on top of it and if you're not careful, you might cut into it or tear it...

The much smaller 2007 book on top of the 2013 one.

All books come with a signed poster (the white paper in the picture is the poster, but it's closed) and a little bookmark.

  The 2007 book is the thinnest and smallest of the three volumes. I bought the 2011 book first, then bought the 2007 and 2013 books on a later date together. I loved the all three volumes for different reasons. (Do take note before watching the videos that there is nudity and sexual scenes depicted within the books.)

  The 2007 book was filled with more watercolour sketches, a good mix of gesture drawings, and sketches of animals and vehicles and caricatures.

  The 2011 was packed loaded with gorgeous pen and ink sketches and drawings, lots of watercolour drawings, gesture drawings, life drawings, erotic nudes, bondage scenes, and other sketches.

  I felt the 2013 book had more gesture drawings, and they felt more sketchbook-like. I liked that you could see the amount of raw talent Kim Jung-Gi had. I also liked the fact that he was just like any other artist and also made mistakes and like any of us do, and that he also abandoned some sketches sometimes. In the previous volume, the sketches felt really perfect and pristine, but in this volume he felt much more real, of sorts. There was also some really detailed ink drawings that were really full of details and there was a surprise waiting at the back of the book that I loved too.

  I bought all three volumes from Basheer Graphik Books, and I've loved them ever since. Very worthwhile buy.

Book Review: Love & Misadventures and Lullabies

Love & Misadventure and Lullabies by Lang Leav

"Time", a poem in Lullabies.

   TIME
You were the one
   I wanted most to stay

But time could not
   be kept at bay.

The more it goes,
   the more it's gone-
   the more it takes away.

  Love & Misadventure, and Lullabies are both gorgeous books filled with poems written by Lang Leav. It's a book about love lost and love found; about the many shortfalls we have as human beings and how we try to love other people's perfect imperfections. It's a book that resonated with parts of my soul. A book that made me stop for brief moments in between poems to think back on certain memories that I have and hold dear to my heart.

  Love & Misadventure and Lullabies can be bought at your local bookstore. I bought mine from amazon.com, though.
---

  The illustration was drawn with Derwent's Line Maker. You can read my review about those pens, plus enter an ongoing giveaway here. (Oct 2014-Nov 2014)

Book Review: The Mandala Book

"The Mandala Book: Patterns of the Universe" by Lori Bailey Cunningham

  This book has received quite raving reviews on Amazon.com, and for good reasons.

  Initially, I just thought it'd be a book with pretty pictures. Yes; it does have gorgeously breathtaking pictures, but this book is much more than just a coffeetable book. It goes through the many ideals and philosophies behind the mandala as an art form. It covers the religions that have used mandalas; how the mandala is a symbolic representation of you, others, and the Universe; the shapes that are used in mandalas and what they represent.

  The book goes through chapters; from an introduction to mandalas, to understanding the concept of mandalas; to teaching readers about the symbolism surrounding different shapes- from different types of circles, to the dyad, to the triangle, and square, and pentagon, and hexagon... It then wraps up with patterns that can be found in nature. Finally, there's an afterword, and the book ends with drawings of examples of mandala patterns. 

  I'm also really glad that it is a hard-cover book because I know I'll be referencing to this book many more times in the future. With a whole 297 pages of knowledge and pictures, I'm sure you'll find value within this book. This is a wonderful book to buy if you'd like to learn more about mandalas; if you're a zentangle artist that is looking for inspiration; if you're a spiritual artist or someone who uses a lot of symbolism within your work; and even if you're not an artist, the images and ideas within this book are worth a buy.

Book Review: "Colored Pencil Solution Book"

  It's a brilliant book written by Janie Gildow and Barbara Benedetti Newton, covering subjects that are difficult to render in colored pencils.

  The first chapter covers the basics. From what a good workspace should be like, different types of colored pencil brands in the market, erasers, sharpeners, different types of papers and their differences, fixatives, and what to look for when buying a colored pencil. The book offers a good run down on the basics, with the added tips of certain things to watch for. (For example a slip sheet to prevent smudges on your work while drawing.)

  The next chapter covers composition. The chapter has a good amount of illustrations and examples to aid beginners in understanding how to identify what makes a good composition. Page 33 even has a small list to show how you can effectively judge a composition on whether it'll work or needs improvement.

  After, I would have expected the authors to go right into demonstrations and the like, but they didn't. They covered basics, such as how to transfer a line study onto the actual surface you want to work on, layering, blending and burnishing, how to remove some pigment, and the use of solvent in an art piece. I really enjoyed page 46-47, as they explained how you can draw on a black background. (I'll give you a hint: think reverse grisaille.)

   Pages 52-53 were interesting also. Showing how one can add interest to your work by using different strokes on your paper to provide excitement. The pages cover the vertical-line technique, juxtaposing colors, and the open crosshatch technique, which are all brilliant.

  Chapter 4 then moves into color theory, talking about the color wheel, the temperature of colors, and values. The complementary wheel on page 63 is by far the first of such that I've seen and I'm hoping to try it out some day soon. Then the chapter goes on to talk about shadows and forms, and different ways to create impact on your work

  The last three chapters are the chapters that are laden with demonstrations. All demonstrations have line drawings, which you, the reader can use, from the back of the book. All the demonstrations also clearly show what kind of surface the artist uses and what colors were used.

  The 5th chapter covers "reflection and transparency solutions", and talks about metals, glass, water, semi-transparent subjects, mirrors, and the elusive single drop of water. Chapter 6 offers solutions to render textures, such as fabrics, indian corn, the smooth waxy surface of peppers, and velvety roses. While the last chapter, "problem subjects and fixing mistakes" is very interesting for the little problems that can cause big headaches when we don't know how to fix them.

  "Learn that all is not lost when you make a mistake." as the authors write. From repairing dents and nicks in your paper, to lightening your colors. The authors even share what to do if you've stained your paper with coffee or raspberry juice. The chapter ends with a few more demonstrations on difficult subjects. The anatomy of lace is broken down for you. (They're very good at rendering lace.) There's a mini demonstration on how to draw a basket, how to make stripped fabric look believable, and how to draw fringe.

  All in all, I've learnt a couple of things from this book. Like, that layering in uneven patterns make for a far more interesting subject, how to draw on a black background, the complementary color wheel, (which I've never seen elsewhere before.) and the vertical line technique.

  "Colored Pencil Solution Book" has a good coverage of the basics, and a beginner reading it will understand the materials needed, and the different ways colored pencil artists draw. For advanced artists, the book offers a few good techniques, and help on how to render subjects. (And I mean, how many book teach you how to remove coffee stains from your art work?) With an easy to follow layout and beautiful design, it's a good book to have in your shelf for reference.