Dec 09
A fabulous compendium of illustrations from the Source books Oriental Flower Designs, Chinese Designs, Traditional Japanese Designs and Persian Designs. These illustrations are suitable for a variety of projects, with exquisite interlaced flowers and stylised animals that form motifs or can be repeated to create beautiful borders. These can be traced from the book and enlarged as needed by photocopier or computer. There's also a CD of designs included which has been specially adapted for craftspeople and artists. As well as the simple designs for tracing, this book includes many pages of finished projects to inspire and show how versatile the designs can be. These range from beautiful glass paintings, a Chinese Opera mask, embossed book covers to fabric painted cushions and a beautifully detailed painted oriental treasure chest. For artists wishing to add some beautiful and complex designs into their artworks, this book will make an excellent addition to their library. This book will be inspirational for anyone interested in Oriental designs in their art and crafts.
* JeannieZelos.com *
Dec 09
Clip art is ideal for using in painting, embroidery, woodburning, applique, cardmaking...really almost every creative project you take on - and these are especially nice. Add a bit of Eastern flair to your crafts with more than 250 black-and-white line drawings for a great variety of dragons, birds, insects, flowers, bamboo, figures, ornamental borders and so much more. A gallery of full-color photos showcases 12 ways to use these designs and comes with basic instructions for each, including a Geisha portrait painted on glass and suitable for framing, embossed book covers, even a Chinese opera mask. Simply trace the motifs straight from the pages or resize and print them using the included CD.
* Crafter's Choice *
Jan 2010
I enjoyed the wide range of images contained within The Complete Book of Oriental Designs and have lots of idea for how I could incorporate the images into projects. The CD that accompanies the book makes printing the designs simple and alleviates the need for a scanner or photocopier. The images are not categorized or indexed, therefore readers will need to browse the entire book to fully appreciate the range of images available. I appreciate the project ideas. The level of information provided for each project idea is just enough to let an experienced crafter know how a project was completed and the techniques required. A beginner crafter may require more information.
* About.com *
Feb 10
This source book is filled with over 250 oriental-style drawings for you to trace and use in your crafts. We're loving the beautiful birds, blooms, characters and borders. Each motif can be used on its own, or you can choose a small area to suit your card. The first section of the book features examples of cards made by the designers themselves along with a short explanation on the techniques they have used. A gorgeous collection for fans of the Orient.
* Papercraft Inspirations *
Feb 10
An enchanting source book full of stunning designs. Flowers, birds, animals and symbolic patterns are to name but a few of the ideas. The first section contains inspirational finished pieces to illustrate how the designs could be used, of course these are mainly ideas to kick-start your own imagination. The rest of the book is full of ideas all using an Oriental theme. A CD ROM is included.
* Making Cards *
Feb 10
Here is the fourth of Search Press's useful new sourcebooks, all of which include a CD featuring every design in the book. This time it is Oriental designs, which have influenced Western art for many years and continue to do so. The designs in here come from a variety of Eastern countries, including Japan, China, India, others, and appear in a range of sizes. The introduction mentions their influence on Art Nouveau, and indeed many of the motifs have been drawn in that style. Subjects include wildlife, flowers and trees, fans, scenery, Buddha, geisha girls, stylised crests, borders and more. The CD is easy to use, and doesn't require any installation (so no extra memory needed), while the .jpg format can be used in just about any graphics program. At the beginning there are several pages showing large colored photographs of a variety of different projects made using the designs to inspire you. Cards, boxes, wall plaques, a mask, glassware and cushions have been decorated using a few of the designs to show their versatility. Silk and glass painting, polymer clay, parchment craft, metal embossing and simple coloring have been used to advantage, with a brief caption underneath to explain the method. As with the other books in the series there are no instructions; but these books are intended to be a stepping-stone from the step-by-step projects in other books towards creating something that truly is "all your own work."
* Myshelf.com *