32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Apparently the best so far, March 6, 2008
This review is from: The Painter X Wow! Book (Paperback)
I was forced to read and use this book for a class in Corel Painter X. I also owned the first Painter Wow book. This one is a great improvement over that, however it still misses the mark on what is needed. Painter has improved greatly also, and has become more complex, if not enigmatic program. Painter was designed for a special group of people, (artists, yes we're special,) who generally like to just pick up a tool and start making art with it. While this book has great full color illustrations of what is possible, thus the "WOW," i feel it has too many exercises, trying to emulate someone else's example, and not enough organized detailing of the tools.
What an artist needs with Painter is an accurate reference manual, where one can easily look-up a brush or other tool, find out all its standard variants, what they do and don't do, and what you may do to adjust it. The author attempts to do this, but you have to follow too many cross references, and too much detail is left out.
This book is however the best you can get and she does do a great job of explaining the principles behind the different aspects of this program. Painter is so complex it is not easy for any person to fully know, but this is why a complete and usable guide is needed.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inspiring and informative, July 16, 2007
This review is from: The Painter X Wow! Book (Paperback)
First, I have every single edition of Cher's books, and am a fan and friend. Why trust a review I give? Because I do not hold back when something isn't quite right, and am interested in people truly enjoying their art experience, whether on a computer or using more traditional means. If one doesn't understand the medium one can not rise to the best of their abilities.
That being said, I unreservedly endorse this edition of Painter WOW as the current standard in Painter education. Corel's new edition of Painter brings back old familiar tools and introduces new ones, including the RealBristle Painting System, tools for photographers such as Underpainting and Auto-Painting, Divine Proportion, and more. For professionals, each new edition of the family of PeachPit's WOW series is a thorough and inexpensive way to quickly assimilate vital information to keep current, and Cher has always proven reliable in producing clear and relevant examples - one of the reasons I trust her books.
Right now, as I write this review, this edition of this book is sitting next to my side of the bed, with a bookmark for where I left off yesterday afternoon. (A microbiology book is on my wife's side, so I consider myself by far the more fortunate.) In two hours the bookmark will be a bit further along.
For anyone starting with Painter, this is THE book currently available. Cher does not try to produce clones of herself or any other artist, but instead aims (and succeeds) at equipping beginners, novices and experts alike with information particularly pertinent to them. For example, I am much more comfortable with Photoshop and enjoy traditional media, so when I want to work with oils I can feel totally overwhelmed. Her explanations on how to use oil brushes, and then manipulate them to my particular desire, is both straightforward and immediately useful. Yet with the new painting system unique to Painter X a mystery to me, and something I want to master right NOW, I am spending time on that particular subject, which is handled clearly and is immediately helpful.
From one version of a book to the other there is obviously going to be carry-through on some art and exercises, simply because the program itself isn't reinvented at each release. Many of the articles do NOT carry over from previous editions, and ALL of them have been carefully reviewed and reworked wherever necessary to reflect the changes occurring from Painter IX to Painter X. This particular edition has been thoroughly edited to cover both minute and major changes/additions to Painter, and the gallery examples contain extensive new work that, like every other edition, challenges and inspires. The galleries show how Painter and the Painter community has grown.
If you're new to Painter or to Cher's materials, you can't go wrong with this edition. If it's been awhile since you bought an edition of Painter WOW and want to find out what's going on in the world of Painter, it's time to "upgrade" to Painter X WOW!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely wonderful, July 6, 2007
This review is from: The Painter X Wow! Book (Paperback)
This book is a superb reference for beginners and intermediate users. It won't teach you the absolute basics of the program - you need to figure them out yourself but it delivers in every other aspect. Artists with diverse sets of styles show the steps on how you can use the many brushes in Painter X to your advantage and explanations with lots of detail help you along the way. Galleries of professional work throughout the book serves as inspiration as you study. It covers so many things that you can do with Painter that you'll sometimes find yourself overwhelmed. Despite that, the book is well organized, the techniques are explained thoroughly, and most important of all: the information is great. Truly a great book; the extra goodies like brushes, textures, etc are icing on the cake!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
