The Illustrator 10 Wow! Book [Paperback]

Sharon Steuer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201784815 | ISBN-13: 978-0201784817 | Publication Date: June 29, 2002

In The Illustrator 10 Wow! Book, a diverse cast of artists share both their work and the hands-on techniques behind each piece. Follow along as more than 100 of the country's top Illustrator artists take you on a beautiful, inspirational tour of the latest Illustrator features and how to use them, dispensing hundreds of hard-won tips and savvy shortcuts along the way. The Illustrator 10 Wow! Book covers the entire spectrum, from the basics to the sophisticated, making it a must-have for beginners and professionals alike.

Once again, author Sharon Steuer and her team have gathered a thoughtfully edited collection of artwork and techniques that showcases the creative possibilities of Illustrator and how to realize them using the program's powerful arsenal of tools. Updated for Illustrator 10, this edition holds new transparency lessons and covers, in detail, how to construct images with live Pathfinders and Compound Shapes; how to work with envelopes, warps, and symbols; and more. Some things never change: Each chapter still includes lush, full-color galleries of the contributing artists' work, and the accompanying CD-ROM holds the actual files behind many of the works found in the book so you can pick them apart and follow along, plus custom Wow! actions and brushes, clip art, demos, and other Illustrator goodies that you can add to your own virtual studio.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

In The Illustrator 10 Wow! Book, a diverse cast of artists share both their work and the hands-on techniques behind each piece. Follow along as more than 100 of the country's top Illustrator artists take you on a beautiful, inspirational tour of the latest Illustrator features and how to use them, dispensing hundreds of hard-won tips and savvy shortcuts along the way. The Illustrator 10 Wow! Book covers the entire spectrum, from the basics to the sophisticated, making it a must-have for beginners and professionals alike.

Once again, author Sharon Steuer and her team have gathered a thoughtfully edited collection of artwork and techniques that showcases the creative possibilities of Illustrator and how to realize them using the program's powerful arsenal of tools. Updated for Illustrator 10, this edition holds new transparency lessons and covers, in detail, how to construct images with live Pathfinders and Compound Shapes; how to work with envelopes, warps, and symbols; and more. Some things never change: Each chapter still includes lush, full-color galleries of the contributing artists' work, and the accompanying CD-ROM holds the actual files behind many of the works found in the book so you can pick them apart and follow along, plus custom Wow! actions and brushes, clip art, demos, and other Illustrator goodies that you can add to your own virtual studio.

About the Author

Sharon Steuer has taught computer imaging in art schools and trainingcenters throughout the country. Her paintings and illustrations have appeared in numerous books and magazines and have been exhibited nationally. She is the author of all four previous editions of this book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press (June 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201784815
• ISBN-13: 978-0201784817
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,761,824 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

(Visit her at: http://www.facebook.com/SharonSteuer)
Sharon Steuer loves collaborating with other creatives--and working with the Illustrator WOW! team, and the contributing artists to the Illustrator WOW! Books, provides endless wonderful opportunities for collaboration.

For more than two decades, Sharon has pioneered the merging of traditional and digital art forms. Sharon's recent artwork weaves together her oil paintings, drawings, digital paintings, photographs, and personal artifacts to explore and reflect fragmented memory. Awards for her artwork include the national Faber Birren Color Award, a Windsor Newton Painting award, and an Artist Fellowship Grant from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts.

In addition to the 11 editions of the Illustrator WOW! Books, Sharon is author of "Creative Thinking in Photoshop," and has been a contributor to creativepro.com, as well as many other books and articles. She lives with her husband, sound artist and SFSU professor Jeff Jacoby, in San Francisco, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enormous Help for Learning Illustrator 10: Get This Book!, December 19, 2002

By 

carol irvin "carol irvin" (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Illustrator 10 Wow! Book (Paperback)

Drawing is challenging enough for me in the real world but it is a snap compared to doing it in a vector based computer art program. Illustrator 10 is one such program and the one I am trying to learn. This book is the best one to use after the very easy "Teach Yourself Visually: Illustrator 10 (Visual Read Less, Learn More" by Mike Wooldridge and Michael Toot book (which I've previously reviewed). Steuer's Wow text is very visual with lots of graphics and color yet goes much deeper into the program than the Woolridge and Toot book. Ironically, it is very difficult to find computer arts books which are visual, well laid out and with a colorful, graphical interface. The Wow books are filling that void very nicely. This, like the "Photoshop Wow" book, is easy to read and well laid out. This text also has a very good CD-ROM with it that is loaded with extra features and extra excercises. The CD-ROMs that accompany these texts are the frosting on the cake. More and more art work by artists in the field using the program appear on the CD-ROM while the text visuals remain heavily "how-to." Frankly, I find this book even more helpful than the actual tutorials I've watched in the college classroom in person and live. I highly recommend buying this book if you want to learn Illustrator 10. Author Sharon Steuer is a terrific teacher and her book makes it possible for all of us to take her "class".

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT book, May 19, 2003

By 

I. Heller (Hillside, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Illustrator 10 Wow! Book (Paperback)

The initial glance at the seeming lackluster rating of this book does not do it justice. It seems to be influenced by the people who know nothing about illustrator, and bought this book hoping to learn how to use it. This is NOT what this book is about. First buy a book on basics, then get this book after you have a working knowledge of the program. You'll then first appreciate the thorough overview, poignant tips, and very impressive and helpful exercises.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best way to learn Illustrator- For every level of user, September 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Illustrator 10 Wow! Book (Paperback)

I've been teaching Illustrator classes since 1989. I only wish I'd had the Wow book when I first started.

The Illustrator Wow book is one of the best resources EVER for any artist or designer who wants to create illustrations, designs, or graphics.

First of all, the artwork is exceptional. Just leafing through the pages becomes an inspriational lesson as to what sort of great graphics are being creating using computers and vector programs. I was totally blown away by some of the artists (yes, REAL artists) who are featured. Ms. Steuer shows examples from artists I have seen mentioned in award show books. Just to see this artwork up close is a benefit, but to then follow the step by step tutorials on how to make the techniques is worth ten times what the book costs.

One thing you have to watch out for. If you are a beginner, don't just plop yourself into the middle of the book and expect to follow the sophisticated lessons. You need to work through the introductory chapters to get a handle on what the program does and how the book works. I promise you, just a few minutes with the beginning chapters will change your whole perception of how the book works.

This is probably the best version of the Illustrator Wow book yet. Just like Illustrator 10 has blown away all the competition, so the Illustrator 10 Wow book stands apart from all the other books out there.