Robert Hale's selection of drawings is worthy of the cover price, and the foundation he provides in anatomy, light and the intersection of planes is masterful and eloquent. Drawings are from Leonardo and the Italian masters, Rembrandt and the Dutch masters and some artists who may be new to the reader, as they were to me. Every chapter's pages on a basic element of drawing lead to examples from great masters. Botticelli drawings illustrate mass. Albrecht Durer and Peter Paul Rubens drawings depict the light thrown on a subject, the topic of another chapter. There is a small and annotated reproduction of a Great Master drawing on the left page with text to describe the fine points of the craft. The right-facing page has a full-size print of the same drawing in its pristine condition, and more examples on the next page. Some of the drawings used are artist's studies and others are finished works. The intention of the author works well, even for the non-artist. Illustrating drawing lessons with works by old masters creates a larger context for the mechanics of drawing. The drawings themselves are, of course, inspired. The insight and detail of the text push the reader's understanding of draftsmanship to a very high level.
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Are we just cynical if we buy Kevin Phillips meticulously articulated theme? Do we really believe that energy interests have always contolled political policy? With energy developers exploiting 16th century windmills, and then 19th century coal fields, do the 21st century oil companies now pull the strings that make politicos dance?
Phillips is an informed guide if you're going to play connect-the-dots. Petroleum and automobile makers have obvious interests in perpetuating the consumption of oil, mostly as gasoline. Reading American Theocracy, one wonders if W is president now because powerful oil men needed someone (like him) to take care of oil men (like them). W was available. They could probably make him President. An oil man, sympathetic to oil men.
This book requires that you pay attention to the dotted line connections between the energy suppliers and the men they choose to govern you and me. Discouragingly, it's a straight line from the Dutch masters to George W. Bush.
400 years ago: Rembrandt.
Today: W.
How did THAT happen??
This prose reads at a brisk pace. I'd certainly recommend it to my brightest friends.
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(7 of 16 readers found this comment helpful)
Read the INK Q&A with Nikolai Grozni and save 30% on Turtle Feet: The Making and Unmaking of a Buddhist Monk.
mike isberg has commented on (2) products.
mike isberg, May 4, 2007
Robert Hale's selection of drawings is worthy of the cover price, and the foundation he provides in anatomy, light and the intersection of planes is masterful and eloquent. Drawings are from Leonardo and the Italian masters, Rembrandt and the Dutch masters and some artists who may be new to the reader, as they were to me. Every chapter's pages on a basic element of drawing lead to examples from great masters. Botticelli drawings illustrate mass. Albrecht Durer and Peter Paul Rubens drawings depict the light thrown on a subject, the topic of another chapter. There is a small and annotated reproduction of a Great Master drawing on the left page with text to describe the fine points of the craft. The right-facing page has a full-size print of the same drawing in its pristine condition, and more examples on the next page. Some of the drawings used are artist's studies and others are finished works. The intention of the author works well, even for the non-artist. Illustrating drawing lessons with works by old masters creates a larger context for the mechanics of drawing. The drawings themselves are, of course, inspired. The insight and detail of the text push the reader's understanding of draftsmanship to a very high level.(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century by Kevin Phillips
mike isberg, August 8, 2006
Are we just cynical if we buy Kevin Phillips meticulously articulated theme? Do we really believe that energy interests have always contolled political policy? With energy developers exploiting 16th century windmills, and then 19th century coal fields, do the 21st century oil companies now pull the strings that make politicos dance?Phillips is an informed guide if you're going to play connect-the-dots. Petroleum and automobile makers have obvious interests in perpetuating the consumption of oil, mostly as gasoline. Reading American Theocracy, one wonders if W is president now because powerful oil men needed someone (like him) to take care of oil men (like them). W was available. They could probably make him President. An oil man, sympathetic to oil men.
This book requires that you pay attention to the dotted line connections between the energy suppliers and the men they choose to govern you and me. Discouragingly, it's a straight line from the Dutch masters to George W. Bush.
400 years ago: Rembrandt.
Today: W.
How did THAT happen??
This prose reads at a brisk pace. I'd certainly recommend it to my brightest friends.
(7 of 16 readers found this comment helpful)