Customer Reviews

Body Painting: Masterpieces by Joanne Gair

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book as I am a fan of body painting, photography, and of course beautiful women. However the title of this book leads one to believe that all the pictures in it are comparable to the cover. They are not. This is just a collection of different styles of photos. Only 4 out of the entire book do I consider artistic. The rest are just "Oh, look, here is (insert celebrity name here) sort of naked." There were a number of photos where the model/celebrity only had eye shadow or eyebrows painted on. No other painting to be found. So does that mean that all the women out there that can put eye shadow/lipstick/mascara on can now list body painting specialist on their resume? I still don't see any "body paint" on the Pamela Anderson photo. Just an excuse to show her without any clothes.

Here is a sampling of the celebs you get inside:
Demi Moore
Madonna (In what I am still trying to figure out what that has to do with body painting)
Rachel Hunter
Pamela Anderson (See above)
Heidi Klum
Molly Sims (In one of the best body painting photos I have seen yet)
and a smattering of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models.

So if you are a person that likes to collect different erotic photos of celebrities then this is the book for you. If you are looking for true artistic body painting there are much better choices out there. "Bodyscapes" by Jean Paul Bourdier is a perfect example. I am very disappointed. There is one photo that was absolutely brilliant that covered both pages, but this was ruined by not being able to flatten the book out to take it all in. I recommend checking out the plate pic in the index to truly see how amazing the shot was.

Bottom line is the book is not a complete waste, but you can do much better. So only get this if you already have all the others.

This book is a must have for anyone with an eye for beauty and art combined by using the body as the canvas. The ways of using this canvas as part of another picture, as a canvas, clothing or as camouflage are explored by Joanne Gair. This is all brought together by one person in this book covering a career involving famous actresses, models, photographers, fashion designers and politician's wives (Carla Bruni is now the wife of the French president). Maybe Joanne will paint a politician soon. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Editions brought my attention to Joanne's work as before the photographers were getting the credit, however that is like showing off a photo of the Mona Lisa. The photographer is merely the messenger, here Joanne is the the real artist. Buy the book, persuade your library to buy it. Perhaps even have a go at body painting yourself.

This book is breathtaking! Using the human figure as a canvas, this is one of the best examples of creativiity, art and photgraphy all in one. A great gift for art lovers, makeup artists, photographers and anyone who appreciates beauty at its finest! Joanne Gair is truly a master of all.

Beautiful images of a beautiful sunject. Body painting is an amazing art form. Quite good 'coverage' (ha) of am evanescent piece of art.
Love looking at these.
Steve

Joanne Gair is best known for her painted-on swimsuits and/or shirts appearing in Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition, and justly so. But there is more to her craft than just this; she has painted a number of women (and a few men) so well that it is almost impossible to tell that there was nothing on their skin but paint. That she does it at all may seem a bit odd to most people, but that she does it so well provides all the justification she might need. Make no mistake, this is art, and that Ms. Gair uses the human body for a canvas in no way diminishes her ability. Rather, it enhances it.

Gair's palette includes lots of materials that other artists' don't, both because of the temporary nature of her original works and because of the sensitive substrate on which she paints. Outside of the human materials, though, the materials don't matter. The finished work does, and dozens of gorgeous samples appear here.

The works cover a wide range of styles and sensibilities. That cover picture of Demi Moore (a frequent subject) enjoys the amusing irony of being "clothed" in almost nothing at all. A similar sense comes from seeing Victoria's Secret lingerie painted onto Heidi Klum. A series for Sports Illustrated takes their traditional bathing suit pictures to a new level of skimpiness. The model herself dominates, in black-on-black (or 'black-on-black' on black?) photos of Suwana. Then the model disappears again, as in the camouflaged image of Sasha, or the anonymous models dotted with pearls or salt crystals. A few images, toward the end, seem like little more than elaborate makeup - but, where could one really draw the line?

The artworks themselves amuse and sometimes tittilate, but rarely show much real erotic content. The models, though unclothed, hardly seem nude. I have to admire them, too, as much as the artist who adorns them or the photographer who captures them. Creating one of these works takes time, as well as some fairly intimate contact with paintbrushes and other tools. I thank them for putting up with it. The result certainly seems worth it.

-- wiredweird

Excellent! Pretty photos of pretty women. A good book to be in the coffe table. High quality and spotless. I recommend.

An old art, turned new. Only a sprinkle of diamond dust could add more sparkling beauty. Body art often brings definition to a culture and Gair should be proud of her contribution.

This book is FILLED with wonderfully amazing models who are painted up. Very vivid colors, detail that just blew my mind. If you're interested in body painting or even just pained nude models...you should be extraordinarily happy with this purchase!

I received the item in a timely manner and it was in brand new condition as advertised. I would definetely use this vendor again. Dealing with Amazon is a lot better than e-bay. Thanks Again, Royce W Priest