Shadowline: The Art of Iain McCaig Review

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(More customer reviews)Iain McCaig has been in the art industry doing work for movie studios for a long time. In this book contains the work done for Star Wars prequel, Harry Potter and his concept art for other projects. Most of his work are belong to the fantasy genre.
In this book, a fictional interviewer called Bryon is created to introduce readers to the artwork and bring them into Iain McCaig's imaginative world. It's pretty amusing and reads like some fantasy adventure. My minor quibble would be that there isn't a biography of his illustrious career.
Insight Editions is the publisher of this thick and big book at 240 pages. It's hardcover with a beautiful matte dust jacket.
Inside are lots of glorious concept art, mainly to character designs. They are made up of paintings and sketches. Each is reproduced brilliantly on the glossy paper, showing intricate details of ink, pencil or colour strokes as well as the texture of the medium. The large pages enhance the viewing pleasure.
While there are some digital paintings, most of the illustrations featured are done using traditional medium, showing texture and grain.
This book is highly recommended to fans of Iain McCaig, fantasy artists, concept artists and character designers. It's very inspiring and overflows with creativity.
(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

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The Carnival of the Animals (Book and CD) Review

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(More customer reviews)The magical combination of Jack Prelutsky's verse, Camille Saint-Saën's captivating music, and Mary GrandPré's stunning artwork infuse the pages of this book with excitement.
All fourteen movements of Camille Saint-Saën's Le Carnaval des Animaux (The Carnival of the Animals) are included on the CD. The movements are prefaced by Prelutsky's recitation of his poem. The last track on the CD is an uninterrupted, fully orchestrated performance of the piece performed by the Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra.
On each two-page spread is a stunning interpretation of the animals in the Carnival. Mary GrandPré is best known for her illustrations of the American Harry Potter books. The illustrations are vibrant and capture the essence of Saint-Saën's work perfectly.
In the back of the book is a note to parents and educations discussing this work. The Carnival has been long noted as a perfect introductory classical piece for young children. Judith Bachleitner, head of the Rudolf Steiner School music department, notes that "Kindergarten-age children will move with the rhythm of the music, imitating the animals. They'll walk like an elephant, swim like a fish, march like a lion, hop like a kangaroo, and so on." This amazing book would be a perfect addition to any homeschool or classroom shelves!


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Glazes for the Craft Potter Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a 1998 revision of a 1973 classic work on ceramic glazes. Although written by Harry, for potters, this (contrary to the adjacent review) has nothing to do with the Harry Potter of Hogwarts fame. Instead it contains a wealth of technical information about ceramic glazes. Information is presented clearly and concisely. If you really want to know glazes, you have to learn some chemistry, and Fraser presents the chemical information well. Many of his glaze recipes contain lead, however, and most contemporary craft potters shun lead glazes. If I could own just one book on glazes I would instead pick "Clay and Glazes for the Potter" by Rhodes -- but why would anyone own just one book on glazes, anyway?

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This new edition of Harry Fraser's classic book on glaze technology and practice discusses not only the calculation of glaze composition, but also the preparation and production of glazes. He addresses application methods and how to remedy faults that may occur. This comprehensive introduction to glazes and glazing features a new chapter on health and safety issues, and the book includes new photographs and a color section.

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Movie Poster Book Review

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(More customer reviews)What can I say? I'm a Potter fanatic, and I jumped to buy the Movie Poster book as soon as it came out. The posters are beautifully done and cover a wide range of scenes. There are headshots of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, a scene from Gringotts, and even Ron and Harry at Christmas.
If you have seen the first and second trailors for the film, then you won't being seeing many new things. That's why I only gave it 4 stars. Personally, I think that it is worth getting the Poster Book just to see the first picture released of Harry in his Quidditch uniform. I also enjoyed a shot of Dumbledore visiting Harry in the Hospital Wing.
The casting for the film was excellent, and the pictures in the book only support that fact. Each character matches the wonderful descriptions that JK Rowling provides in all four books.
As I said before, your not seeing much new, but the book is money well spent. This way you don't have to wait 2 hours to download the trailor or pay for a movie ticket just to see the trailor! It will be there in your library to view again and again.

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The HARRY POTTER POSTER BOOK includes 16 high quality HARRY POTTER posters, each featuring a different beloved character or thrilling scene from HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE.Using movie stills from the upcoming Warner Bros. movie, this exciting collection brings Harry's magical adventures to life.Each page is perforated, so posters can be easily torn out and displayed.No Harry fan's home will be complete without these exciting full-color posters from the feature film everybody is talking about!

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Postcard Book Review

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(More customer reviews)Its really cool! It has tons of pictures of from the movie. Most of the pictures are on Harry Potter. Theres some on Hermione and Ron too. If you love the real harry potter actors this is the perfect book to get pictures and send poscards to your friends~!

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Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book: Based on the Film Phenomenon Review

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(More customer reviews)The Harry Potter Pop-Up book is the type of thing that comes along once in a while and reminds you that not all art is found in galleries and museums. Overall, the quality of this book is exceptionally good, something I would not have expected from a book that costs under $50 (let alone the current price of under $20).
At first, I was alarmed by the intricacy of some of the pop-ups, especially the Hogwarts Castle's tall spires and minarets, but the pages all open and close without folding, creasing or anything to cause concern. Truly, this is a remarkable feat of paper-engineering (is that a profession?)
In addition to the main pop-ups, which are stunning, there are numerous extra interactive bits on every page. From invitations, to letters, to small sized pop-ups, this book is filled with wonderful details. The main pop-ups, and the extras on each page, are made of high-quality cardboard.
The text reads easily enough for a child, but is detailed enough for fans to get a tantalizing taste of anything, from a description of how the special effects were done, to stories about the actors themselves.
This is simply a phenomenal book.

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