Northwest Coast Indian Designs

Rating:
Summary: Okay?
Review: Does not explain what the designs are, if you don't have another book to explain them you will be lost. Drawings do not reflect true designs.

Rating:
Summary: Oversimplified
Review: This book (and all in the Dover series) represents a simplification of complex art forms. It's good for simple, royalty free ideas, but those looking to learn details of NW art, should avoid this and go for a book by Hillary Stuart, Jim Gilbert and/or Karin Clark.

Rating:
Summary: Okay?
Review: We liked the book as a number of the designs are ones remembered from childhood. They are easy for us to follow when making are native crafts. As we try to be as authenic as possible. It is one of the best books we have found for Northwest Coast Indians Designs. Madeleine Orban-Szontagh's Books are all good books.

Rating:
Summary: Designs are authenic and easy to follow patterns forprojects
Review: We liked the book as a number of the designs are ones remembered from childhood. They are easy for us to follow when making are native crafts. As we try to be as authenic as possible. It is one of the best books we have found for Northwest Coast Indians Designs. Madeleine Orban-Szontagh's Books are all good books.

Rating:
Summary: Simplistic, Misleading, Not Useful
Review: When this book came out, there were surprisingly few books about Pacific Northwest Coast artwork, and many of the books that had been written were out of print.

I suppose it's possible that the author or publisher honestly felt they saw a niche that needed to be filled, and intended to produce a simple, helpful book. But regardless of their intent, the impression I came away with was that this book was thrown together in order to cash in on the rising interest and, at that time, paucity of reference material related to this artform.

The book is remarkably short, there is a lack of useful information about the artform or its elements, and many of the designs that are included in the book do not even appear to be native to this style of art.

I hate to pan a book, because I'm a part-time writer myself, but facts are facts. Regardless of what you are looking for when it comes to Northwest Coast Art - how to understand it, style variations amongst different northwest tribes, how to draw this type of art, etc. -- this book will not provide it for you. The only reason I can think of for buying this book is because you want a copy of every book ever written on the topic. Otherwise, don't waste your money on this one.

[...]