Customer Reviews

5000 Designs and Motifs from India (Dover Pictorial Archive)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was looking forward to getting this book as I am unable to find quality books on Indian designs and motifs. Being from India, and really interested in beautiful Indian art from a very young age, I have even contemplated writing a book using my own collection of designs.

I was very disappointed when I got this book. 5000 designs sounds like a lot of work but a lot of the designs are not even worth using... the quality of drawing is so poor - it is an embarassment! There is even repetition of same designs on different pages. I would have forgiven that but the author seems more focused on making the number of designs large rather than actually making them legible qaulity. Moreover what really annoys me is the fact that he offers hardly any explanation to the source of the various designs he has used.

Overall very poor book... i wouldn't recomment it to anybody except that there are not that many books out there on Indian designs.

Unlike the other reviewers, I bought this book for use in some graphic design projects. Many of the images are clear and simple enough to scan well. There are TONS of great borders and pictures that can be used in any project, not just those with an Indian aspect. I have also used the images as inspiration for jewelery design and in collages.

This book has a great selection of patterns - can be used for a number of things from mehendi to creating stencils to painting on clothes. The selection is very broad and covers patterns from all over India - there are even some traditional rangoli patterns. I just wish there were more large patterns as well...

Although the book has a lot of drawings that are not flat line drawings which can be used for mehendi, it has an excellent selection of line drawings which make beautiful mehendi art.

My family all love arts and design, and over the years this book has become dog eared because we have turned to it so many times for inspiration for everything from easter egg painting to cake decorating to holiday gift certificates. Some of the designs are quite low quality, it's true - they are much more useful for inspiration than for copying a design straight out of the book. I love it, and I think every household should have one - but that's just me. If you are looking for a glossy commentary and showcase of indian design, this is not the book for you.

tons of wonderful designs, 5,000 in fact. i have been using them as models for the artwork that i draw around the pictures and other things in my scrapbook. a must have guide for those of us who are not so great at drawing.

My husband finds great inspiration in this book for his Mehndi art. (temporary tattoos.)While not all 5000 are great for our use, it's still a great book. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes to work with henna.

This is an excellent collection of images that cover a wide range of subject matter. All of the images are approximately 5 cm wide by 3.5 cm high, so you would need access to a good scanner and softwware program to use them at any significant size.

my family all love arts and design, and over the years this book has become dog eared because we have turned to it so many times for inspiration for everything from easter egg painting to cake decorating to holiday gift certificates. some of the desings are quite low quality, it's true - they are much more useful for inspiration than for copying a design straight out of the book. I love it, and I think every household should have one - but that's just me. If you are looking for a glossy commentary and showcase of indian design, this is not the book for you.

This book was a real disappointment. I expected to see well drawn motifs with sources listed. This book delivered a whole lot of images that are hard to use and really poorly drawn.