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The Adobe Illustrator CS Wow! Book (WOW!)
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by Sharon Steuer
Sales Rank: 286324
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Discount: 40 %
List Price: $49.99
$44.99
At Amazon
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Paperback: 464 pages
Publisher: Peachpit Press; Pap/Cdr edition December 20, 2003
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0321168925
ISBN-13: 978-0321168924
Product Dimensions:
9.1 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
Product Review
Some might think of a Wow! book as only showing how to create neon lettering or chrome highlights. But Sharon Steuer has given us a book that will have readers saying, "Wow! I can't believe how much better I am at Illustrator." The special techniques famous to the Wow! series are still represented here: pen and ink wash, scratchboard, warps, scribbles, and 3D effects, among many others. But what makes this book the one you'll keep by your computer is the incredibly clear writing, examples that cover all the fundamentals, and a clean layout.
The book is great for basics, although even experienced users will appreciate "The Zen of Illustrator" instructions that help you "think" and "see" in Illustrator. You begin by recreating basic shapes using a variety of methods, all the while becoming very agile with the pens, pathfinder palette, and other tools. Then, there's the Finger Dance: a set of keyboard fingerings that will take you right back to your piano lessons. These brilliant exercises help you move away from relying too much on your mouse (the slowest way to go) and in the habit of using the modifier keys (Control, Command, Shift, and Option). Other lessons include drawing and coloring methods, creating isometric images, patterns and vector photos, using distort filters, mapping techniques, extensive use of Illustrator CS's new typography tools, blends, gradients, transparencies, preparing artwork for use in Flash, designing web pages in Illustrator, and much more.
In addition to the at-a-glance charts in the Zen and Finger Dance sections (where you learn by looking more than reading), there's a nifty spread showing all the options in the pathfinder palette and another showing special techniques that can be achieved with brushes. And there's a handy pullout of glossary terms and summary explanations of all the steps in the Finger Dance.
There are techniques from accomplished artists and gallery sections displaying their work. Highlights include Marc LaMantia's expressionistic paintings of New York City, made from meticulously tracing over photos in Illustrator using the pen tool; Ann Paidrick's mindblowing, realistic dishes of glistening tomatoes and olives; and Yukio Miyamoto's awesome illustrations of a cat, a French horn, and a motorcycle, so detailed, you can't believe they are vector-based. This work is truly inspiring. In no time, you'll be more creative, work more efficiently, have more fun, and never let anyone borrow your book! --Angelynn Grant
Book Description
Designed to dazzle and inspire but not leave you in the dust, this beautifully designed volume lets you follow along as it dissects real-world projects from some of today's top Illustrator artists. In the process it teaches you how to use Illustrator in ever more creative ways for your own projects. Best-selling author and award-winning artist Sharon Steuer uses four-color pictures of real Illustrator projects to show what's possible and then employs simple, step-by-step instructions to explain the techniques that will produce those effects. You'll find comprehensive ground-up coverage of all of Illustrator CS' most important capabilities. Veteran users will be grateful to explore Illustrator CS' new features: powerful new tools for creating 3D graphics on the fly, a new Scribble Effect that lets you add a loose, hand-drawn look to your artwork, a redesigned text engine, enhanced PDF support, and more. On the CD, you'll find artwork from the book, technical documents, third-party software, clip art, and more.
Customer Reviews & Comments
The latest addition to Sharon's long list of fabulous 'WOW' books has arrived at the Design-Bookshelf.com, and everyone agrees it's not only the BEST of the WOW series, it raises the bar for illustrator how-to books from this day forward. Agreed: Sharon has retained some of the lessons from past WOW books. These lessons still hold true to the spirit of essential training, and should never be discarded. The pull-out "Finger Dance" card is indispensable, and no one -- read my lips -- no one does a better job of teaching the Pathfinder tools and the Gradient Mesh. Sharon's visual explanation of Clipping Masks and Opacity Masks in just a few pages goes further than 20 pages in the pulp books. The new content easily offsets the price with glorious color visions of the most striking Illustrator work being created today. And then you get the insider details on how they were done. It's not just about teaching the software. You can lecture on Envelopes and Warps until dark, but nothing comes close to the "how-did-they-do-that" spark of enlightenment to fully learn the technique. Along with the "how" there's got to be a "WHY" or you're spinning your wheels. We seriously disagree with another reviewer here who seems to find a lack of "WOW" in the new edition. Hold a mirror under his nose! If the Gallery samples are not wowing you, and the new series on typography doesn't wow you -- and the warping, crunching and filters section doesn't wow you... or the fabulous art and tutorials on the CD don't wow you . . . you may not be breathing! I fully recommend this book to my "Intro To Digital Graphics" students at James Madison University. And, with each new roll-out of Illustrator, I find the WOW books the most inspiring and most useful teaching aid available today. I encourage the students to have the spine shaved off and the book drilled for 3-ring binder use -- so it lays flat for use during the exercises. They do it and they thank me. I also believe the Illustrator Visual Quickstart books are excellent. I require them as well for use as a "shop manual" -- but the Illustrator WOW book is the one that inspires the students to greatness. If you've never purchased an Illustrator WOW book, then you MUST. We at the Design-Bookshelf.com believe that no matter how many WOW books are on your shelf, if you paid your blood-money to Adobe for the CS version, your investment in software will go much further by adding this new WOW book!
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The Adobe Illustrator CS Wow! Book (WOW!)
List Price: $49.99
Discount: 40 %
Available from Amazon
Price: $44.99
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