Review of the Art Alternatives Chamois-5"x7"

I find this quite useful as an alternative to paper stumps and tortillions, As seen below on Cathy the cat on this Simon and Freddy fan art drawing I made. I give this five stars.
 

Review of the ProTapes Artist Tape

I like the clean edge this tape gives to my watercolor and ink drawings. The thing I find most interesting is that if you don't make sure that every thing is flat, then some of liquid seeps into those spots and makes cool looking shapes as seen on Stag on log. Below is one of the few works of art that I still haven't shown that I've used this tape on, I call it "Brindle Great Dane "

Other Works of art that I've used this on before I made this post include Molly in the fall , and Simon and Freddy fan art drawing. Some thing else I've found out from using this tape, is that it works better with a half inch border then a one inch border which I usually do for my drawings and paintings. I give this 5 stars out of 5 stars

Review of the Sanford Prismacolor Premier Markers size 05 and Canson Pro Layout Marker Pad 9X12

One again I've decided to review two art products together. Once again I give these products 5 out of 5 stars. Here is a cat that I made with these products, along with the White Large Bullet Nib PITT Artist Pen.  

Pumpkin the Ginger tabby kitten

I Also made a pen and marker drawing using a sheet of  paper from the Canson Pro Layout Marker Pad.

Max the rat

I've also made a mixed media drawing of my dog Molly with the Prismacolor Premier Markers size 05

Molly in the fall

Review of the PITT Artist Pen - White Large Bullet Nib

I'm glad that I finally got this as ever since I made pen drawings with a Magic Rub Eraser, I've been Smudging the drawings I make and with this, it get rid of them and spots that I made pen marks that I changed my mind about after making those marks. It also makes highlighting easier also. As seen below on these drawings and mixed media drawings. I give this 4 stars as my XS size pen was slightly damage as I didn't know that you need to wait for it to dry before adding pen marks, and the Magic Rub Eraser doesn't work so well on pen marks that were put on top of it

Stag on log

 

Review of the Palette Painting Knife Set- 12 Stainless Steel Art Palette Knives with Carrying Case and Royal Langnickel 22-Sheet Oil and Acrylic Essentials Artist Paper Pad, 9-Inch by 12-Inch

I like how these products work I give them both 5 stars. The Palette Knives were very interesting to use, although when I made my signature with a Palette Knife, it didn’t work so well as seen below on the Acrylic painting I made with these two products. I call "Lake at Manchester, Georgia"

Review of the Magic Rub Eraser

This eraser is very good at getting rid of graphite, but as for India Ink pen, it works best before the ink has dried to get a grey color. The other thing you need with this is a white India Ink pen to get rid of unwanted smudge marks.
Here is one thing you can do with it, make a work of art look like this :

Husky laying down

instead of this :

Lab next to Water

Review of the Sanford Prismacolor Colored Pencil Accessory Set

You can get it on Amazon Here 

With this, it adds finishing touches to art so you can get something like this :

PITBULL word art drawing

I will start off by talking about the pencil colorless blender. All the brown and white pit bulls had it used on them. Next on the list is the marker colorless blender. There is a tri-color pit bull that had it on and makes the black transition into orange better. The pencil lengthener is quite useful on my cylinder shaped pencils. Then there is the pencil sharpener which is very good at making sharp points as shown below:

The ebony drawing pencil is good for sketching but doesn't last that long as this drawing was sketched

in ebony drawing pencil. 

Husky laying down

Then there is the plastic eraser. This is how good it's at, at erasing hard and soft marks.   

The soft mark is under the tri-color pit bull. Lastly is the kneaded eraser. It's good at picking up colored pencil, pen ink and marker other then graphite pencil. As for graphite pencil it can make a hard B2 pencil mark look like a light H4 pencil mark. 

Over all I give this a 4 out of 5 stars as the ebony drawing pencil gets eaten up by a sharpener quicker then I had hoped it would have 

Book review of Grimm End

Grimm End by S T Cameron

Book price : $3.99 
3 Stars out of 5 Stars
This book mostly had to do with shapeshifters, zombies, and magic users. It seems to be about this girl who comes to the town because of a crime her brother did, but there is no connection to the rest of the story, other then the cause of her death. There is mild swearing, and this girl named Sara accused of everything bad that's happen to her family as it was because of Supernatural things were the cause of it. Just about everyone is not who they seem, like the cougar.   
I would recommend the book to people that like mystery/fantasy genre, shapeshifters, Zombies, Magic, Adventures and/or werewolves 
read from 7/11-20/14
Date when when I got the book : February 6, 2013
Length of book: 356 pages
Where book can be found: Amazon  
About the author : I tell stories and have adventures.

When I was a little boy, I would tell stories and have adventures in the backyard pretending I was in a circus in front of an audience of my family and neighbors. In elementary school, more stories and adventures were played out on the stage in front of my class and, sometimes, the entire school.

In High School and College, I donned my glasses and disguised my super writer self in my computer nerd persona and while I still told stories and had adventures, they were never made publicly known.

Many years later, I decided that it was time to remove my disguise and let my stories out in the world again. My first adventure, Grimm End, was published in 2012 with four more Grimm End novels planned for 2014 through 2015. CJ Kask, the 106 year old explorer from Grimm End, also appears as an eleven-year-old adventurer in Young Explorers and the Inca Wraith, the first book of the Young Explorers series which was published in 2013. In addition, a sprawling swords and sorcery fantasy novel series and a number of computer thrillers will appear over the next several years.

Book review of The Thirteenth Unicorn

The Thirteenth Unicorn (The Ben Alderman Series Book 1) by W. D. Newman

Book price : Free
4 Stars out of 5 Stars
This was one interesting book. After finding a secret entrance to a place called Camelot. There seems to be Pop culture references from things like Doctor Who, The Hobbit, and the wizard of Oz. A better name for this book should have been something to do with the Snakers, who are evil Snake Men , as there is more about them then a witch who need 13 unicorn horns to free an evil wizard. Both the witch and the Snakers have an illusion of being powerful, but are easily destroyed. Near the end there was this one point where it got confusing. I thought it was interesting how they had a multiverse thing going on.           
I would recommend the book to people that like fantasy, alternate universes, and or mythical creatures 
read from 7/5-10/14
Date when  I got the book : May 7, 2013
Length of book 249 pages
Where book can be found : Amazon
About the author : W. D. Newman is the pen name for William Dale Porter. Dale lives on a farm in upstate South Carolina with his wife Melody and their two children Kyle and Isaac. He has a passion for horses and spends as much time as possible enjoying the great outdoors.

Book review of Heirs of the prophecy

Heirs of the prophecy (The Prophecies Series Book 1) Michael A. Rothman

Book price $3.99
4 Stars out of 5 Stars
This is one interesting book. A family was on vacation when there was a rock slide in the cave they were exploring. They then are transported to a land stuck in the dark ages where there is magic. Unfortunately for them, a dark wizard wants to kill them, as they all got magical powers, including their cat when they came to the new land. Some things seem to repeat themselves, and there are some spelling errors, but other than that, I found this as a great read  
I would recommend the book to people who like magic, wizards, dwarfs, and/or elves 
read from 7/1-4/14
Date when I got the book 3/28/13
Length of book : 380 pages
Where book can be found: Amazon
About the author :

I’ve been writing throughout my career as an engineer, however my writing had been relegated to technical books and technical magazine articles. Heck, you might even find a couple of those musty tomes still for sale if you look hard enough.

With my foray into epic fantasy, I’ve shed the shackles of technical writing and created novels that I hope will be attractive to a much wider audience.

I’ve always admired truly epic tales. You know the ones I mean. The book you crack open, wander through and utterly get immersed in. The story takes you on twists and turns you never expected, run into dead-ends that make you wheel your arms backward to prevent you from falling into an endless abyss. By the time you reach what you think is the end, you’ve read hundreds of pages and realize the end is really only the beginning of the story.

New Reviews

I realize that I need to catch up on this blog to where I am on paper. So, I will finish my video review of the Canon PowerShot ELPH 520. Product reviews of the Magic Rub Eraser, and  Prismacolor Colored Pencil Accessory Set. Along with  book reviews of  Heirs of the Prophecy, The Thirteenth Unicorn, Grimm end, and Aaron & Keja: Time Dragon. 

Book review of Siege of Providence

Siege of Providence by Michael Kaiser
Book price $2.99
3.5 Stars out of 5 Stars
This is a great read for people who are hardcore vampire lovers. As I'm not one of those people, I didn't enjoy it that much, however there was a twist that is quite interesting. there are apparently some people that view the vampires as gods. this is the type of  book for anyone who likes vampire horror/fantasy genre books
Read from June 28 to July 01, 2014
Date when Author sent me the Book 6/11/14
Length of book 63 pages
Where book can be found : Amazon 
About the author : 
Michael Kaiser is the Executive Director of 

Mike's stories & Scripts. This is his second book published under his company.

Book review of legon awakening

Legon Awakening: Book One in the Legon Series By Nicholas Taylor 

Book price: Free
3 Stars out of 5 Stars
This was a somewhat interesting read, it was an Eragon type book where the main character is a butcher's son, and has an epileptic sister, Legon also has an awesome friend, and a resourceful mentor. So anyways, this book follows the the hero's journey cliche very well, which is a cliche I like in books.The things I didn't like is that there is one part that describes a guy about to rape a girl, and then it retells it from the view of the girl, lucky something stopped that from happening, and they also went to a brothel to save some sex slave. There were some grammar errors, but they were somewhat funny, as there was a person who was eaten, then was totally ok in the next sentence that mentioned them. In the Legon universe dragons are magic users that have ascended, there are evil magical beans called Iumenta that are the elves greatest enemy, and an evil queen rules the known land.  
I would recommend the book to people that like the eragon book series, dragons, elves, magic, and/or fantasy adventure
Read from April 14 to June 19, 2014
Date when I got the book : February 27, 2013
Length of book 410 pages
Where book can be found : Amazon, Smashwords
About the author : Hi, I’m Nicholas Taylor, I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, possibly the greatest place on earth. I went to Dakota Ridge High and was in band– that’s right I was a band nerd and no, I don’t have any cool “one time at band camp” stories, so don’t ask.

I started writing in October of 2007. I was driving around with a friend and said “hey, I wonder if I can write a book.” So I thought I’d try and write outline and see what happens. Well, I finished the outline and I couldn’t just stop there. I needed to write chapter one and then that would be it. Do you see where this is going? Anyway, after chapter one was done, I had to finish the first book. But I wanted to get input as I went in order to write a better story. I decided to do a podcast of the first three chapters to see what people thought. After the first podcast, I decided that I wanted to continue to do it and more over, I wanted to get a larger listener base. It’s all been a wonderful journey from there.

Book review of divergent

Divergent by veronica roth

4 Stars out of 5 Stars
This is one well worded book. the small details are very alive in this book. It's  about a girl who lives in a dystopian society that changes factions. The term "faction before blood" is taken very seriously as she must choose to do what her new faction is doing, or save her family members despite risking becoming factionless, which is worse then death. Beatrice falls in love in love with one of her mentors. To be Divergent is considered bad because it means that you know too much as knowledge is power. She must face her fears        
I would recommend the book to people who like dystopian societies, romance and or action 
read from 4/23/14 to 5/14/14
Date when I checked out the book: 4/23/14
Length of book 487 pages
About the author: Veronica Roth is an American novelist and short story writer known for her debut New York Times bestselling Divergent trilogy, consisting of Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant

Book review of Life of Pi

Life of pi by yann martel

4 Stars out of 5 Stars
This was one interesting read. The only thing I didn't like was the ending. I've always wanted to read this book after I saw the Movie. It has a lot more detail than the movie, and was from 1st person view instead of  3rd person view. It's about an Indian boy that's stranded in the pacific ocean with a tiger from his family's zoo.  
I would recommend the book to people who like books about people that get stranded at sea.
read from 1/15/14 to 5/28/14
Date when  checked out the  book 1/15/14
Length of book : 319 pages
About the author : Yann Martel is a Canadian author best known for the Man Booker Prize-winning novel Life of Pi. He has won a number of literary prizes, including the 2001 Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and the 2001-2003 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature

Book review of island of the blessed

Island of the blessed by Nancy Farmer

4 Stars out of 5 Stars
I would not have read this book, or book 2 of this series if my school library hadn't gotten them, as I originally thought that the sea of trolls wasn't part of a series. Anyways, I liked this book because they went to places that they hadn't gone before, and met new enemies that they had to battle. More about the mermaid is revealed, and what happened to her  
I would recommend the book to people who've read other books in this series, and people that like magic
Read from 2/13-3/7/14
Date when I checked out the book from my school library : 2/12/14
Length of book: 468 pages
Other Books I have reviewed from the Author :
The land of the silver apples
About the author : Nancy Farmer has written three Newbery Honor Books: The Ear the Eye and the Arm; A Girl Named Disaster; and The House of the Scorpion, which, in 2002, also won the National Book Award. Other books include Do You Know Me, The Warm Place, the Trolls trilogy, three picture books for young children and an adult novel, A New Year's Tale. Nancy Farmer grew up on the Arizona-Mexico border and lives with her family in Arizona.

Book review of The Story of a Lonely Man

The Story of a Lonely Man by  Tom Hooker
3 Stars out of 5 Stars
This is a some what interesting book about a man that lives as a hermit in the Blue Mountains of Oregon. He has a dog that's hilarious. The rest is what I don't like, he's profane, and is hiding from a surgery that can cure his headaches or turn him into a cabbage.    
I would recommend the book to people that like books about hermits
Read from 3/10-13/14
Date when I checked out the book from my school library: 3/10/14
Length of book : 82 pages
About the author : 
Tom Hooker is the author of The Story of a Lonely Man, and three other books that can be found right here on amazon. 

Book review of Wool

Wool - Part One by Hugh Howey

Book price free
3 Stars out of 5 Stars
This was a boring short Dystopian story. It's about this cop who was wearing a Oxygen suit, as he goes to a place without Oxygen. It breaks, and he dies. The story itself was somewhat confusing, and didn't flow that well for me.   
I would recommend the book to people that like short, confusing Dystopian stories 
read from 3/23-24/14
Date when  I got the book : 2/4/13
Length of book :49 pages
Where book can be found - Amazon
About the author : Hugh Howey is the author of the award-winning Molly Fyde Saga and the New York Times and USA Today bestselling WOOL series. The WOOL OMNIBUS won Kindle Book Review's 2012 Indie Book of the Year Award -- it has been as high as #1 in the Kindle store -- and 17 countries have picked up the work for translation. Look for WOOL in hardback in 2013 from Random House UK and keep your fingers crossed that Ridley Scott and Steve Zaillian will do something exciting with the film rights!

Hugh lives in Jupiter, FL with his wife Amber and their dog Bella. When he isn't writing, he's reading or taking a photograph.

Book review of Sword Bearer

Sword Bearer (Return of the Dragons) by Teddy Jacobs

Book price :
3 Stars out of 5 Stars
This was a somewhat interesting read for me. It has to do with Anders who was learning magic, then something odd happens, and then he has to get away from the dark lord's minions while Anders is haunted in his dreams by the dark lord. Some parts are confusing, like there was this one person who could help him with a problem, or send him to someone who could help him better. After he tell the person his problem, he gets sent away without knowing the way to the better person that could help him. He also has a faerie sword, it held back information back, as Anders didn't ask her and some one died because of it. 
I would recommend the book to people that like books about magic
read from 2/23 to 3/22/14
Date when  I got the book: 1/30/13
Length of book : 238
Where book can be found : Amazon
About the author : Teddy Jacobs writes novels full of action and adventure from his home in New England. He's happy to have the opportunity to connect with readers all over the world through Amazon. Contact him at theodore AT teddyjacobs DOT com. Visit his website at www.teddyjacobs.com

Book review of Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

3 Stars out of 5 Stars
This was an interesting read about being stranded on a deserted island. It was exactly what I've heard about it, that it's about a bunch of boys on a deserted island that fall to anarchy. It's all down hill from the start from the way everyone treats each other. One of the oddest parts was when Simon met the Lord of the Flies. I gave this 3 stars because of the mild cursing.
I would recommend the book to  people who like books about island survival
Read from February 19 to March 06, 2014
Date when  I checked out  the book :2-18-14
Length of book : 202 pages
About the author : Sir William Gerald Golding was a British novelist, poet, and playwright best known for his 1954 novel Lord of the Flies. He was awarded the Booker Prize for literature in 1980 for his novel Rites of Passage, the first book of the trilogy To the Ends of the Earth. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983 and was knighted by the Queen of England in 1988.

Product Review of Derwent Onyx Pencils

I have decided to start product reviews of Art supplies I buy online.
this is a review of some Onyx Pencils I recently got. Find them on Amazon here

Here is a compression to Onyx, Charcoal, and a mechanical  pencil with 0.7 HB lead. on medium grain drawing paper

The eraser  is better for smudging then erasing, and the sharpener is good for getting a fine point
   I had hoped the Onyx pencils would be darker then the charcoal pencil, but it's about as dark a HB graphite pencil.

I give this a 4 out of 5 stars rating
three stars for the Onyx pencils plus one star for the things that come with it.

click here to see a drawing I made with is product

Update: 3-4-14

I guess it must have been the type of paper I used, as my Onyx pencils look darker on printer paper. I've also found out that as Onyx is dark graphite, it works great with paper tortillons and stumps, and kneaded eraser, but unlike charcoal, it doesn't mix well with charcoal white. I found this out as I actually used them for making a drawing with them.  

 

Book review of the land of the silver apples

the land of the silver apples by Nancy Farmer

5 Stars out of 5 Stars
This was a good sequel to the sea of trolls. This was mix of the 1st book and the story of King Arthur. There were more mythical creatures that weren't in the sea of trolls. I liked the adventure Jack went through and I can't wait to read book 3. 
I would recommend the book to people that like the story of King Arthur, Norse Mythology, Magic, or Adventure
Date I started reading : 1/31/14
Date I finished reading : 2/7/14
Date when  I checked the book out from my school's library 1/30/14 
Length of book 528 pages
About the author : Nancy Farmer has written three Newbery Honor Books: The Ear the Eye and the Arm; A Girl Named Disaster; and The House of the Scorpion, which, in 2002, also won the National Book Award. Other books include Do You Know Me, The Warm Place, the Trolls trilogy, three picture books for young children and an adult novel, A New Year's Tale. Nancy Farmer grew up on the Arizona-Mexico border and lives with her family in Arizona.

Book review of Magic's Guardian

Magic's Guardian by Barbara Mason 

 

3 Stars out of 5 Stars
It was a interesting read about these medieval travelers that find the land of the elves. I gave this book 3 stars for some swearing and taking about people on a ship giving them Erotic feelings. So I stopped  reading it, just encase it began to describe porn.    
I would recommend the book to people who really like  elf books
Date I started reading 1/3/14
Date I finished reading 2/16/14
Date when I got the book 2/1/13
Length of book 310
Where book can be found- Amazon 
About the author : Barbara was born in Colorado where she now resides with her two white Collies, Jackson and Storm. She began writing at a very young age in an attempt to make sense of the world she lived in. Never planning to publish, she now has 2 books in print and e-book, Magic's Guardian, and the sequel, Magic's Dragon. She has always had a love of magic and magical creatures and incorporates them in her writing. "Nothing is impossible. See the magic in the world around you and it will be there."

Book Review of Touching Spirit Bear

Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen

5 Stars out of 5 Stars
This is the story of how narcissistic Cole  over comes his disability and thinks like a normal person. Someone who takes the blame, of what he did, and tries to fix it. In Cole's case it was taking the blame for hurting Peter who he smashed his head in the ground
I would recommend the book to people who like stories about healing
12-6 to 17-13
Date when I got the book from my school's library 12-6-13
Length of book 240 pages
About the author : Ben Mikaelsen is an award wining,author