How Did You Paint That: 100 Ways to Paint People and Figures

Rating:
Summary: Emphasis on oil
Review: A hundred different painters explain how they tackled in their paintings one of the most difficult, elusive and rewarding subjects: people. Each painting gets a page long explanation, focused in one of the techniques employed or in some creativity issue relevant to the subject matter. The fact that most artists list the colors they used is definitely a plus. My only qualm with this book are that, being watercolor my medium of choice, I found this books places a lot of attention in oil (and if you're a pastelist or use some other technique, you're in an even worse position). Another minor flaw is the fact that the beautiful picture on the cover is not of those analyzed inside. However, I am being nitpicky, as this book is beatiful and inspiring, and will help anyone seeking to expand his or her creative horizons-

Rating:
Summary: International Artist Magazine - People and Figures
Review: If you receive International Artist Magazine, and I highly recommend that you subscribe if you haven't already, then you've seen all of these paintings featured in this book before in the magazines. BUT - you do get an expanded view of the artwork, as well as a more in-depth interview with each individual artist, since each artist gets their own page in the book.
The "Find-It-Faster" feature in the book, (pictorial pages of content) is not much more than filler, in my opinion. I would have prefered 17 more featured artists, instead of 17 pages of reduced work of those already in the book. The artwork on the front of the book is indeed shown in more depth on pages 6 and 7, by the way. [see previous reviewer's statement]
The last page titled, "Terms you should know" is an abbreviated list of art terms every artist should already know. Oddly, the list stops at the letter "L" for "lifting." I believe there are other art terms starting with M through Z that are worthy of inclusion. Perhaps the other books have included those letters.
Overall, if you enjoy International Artist Magazine and long for greater details, this book series is for you since you can pick and choose your specific genre: people and figures; landscapes; still life and florals; seascapes, rivers and lakes; favorite subjects; and flowers and gardens.