For more than a thousand years, Eastern Christians have used their hands and hearts to create icons, proclaiming God s reality in a visible and breathtakingly beautiful way. This ancient art is enjoying a renewed interest in the West, as people of faith create icons and use them to meditate on mysteries for which there are no words.

A Brush with God is a guide to painting icons and using them in prayer. Written with warmth and energy, it describes the history of icons and examines why they ve been a spiritual tool for so many centuries. Written from a uniquely Western perspective, the book guides artists from novices to professionals through the process of icon painting, using traditional techniques but employing contemporary materials. Included are eight full-color plates of the artist s icons. "

This spellbinding look at the history and development of illusionistic art reveals wide-ranging techniques that have piqued the public's fascination with this medium. Beautifully reproduced, the images featured in the book includes centuries-old work such as the scenery at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy, and the ceiling frescos at the Wurzburg Residence in Germany, that showcase processes such as trompe l'oeil and anamorphosis. It also features work from the 20th and 21st centuries, including Rene Magritte's classic surrealist works; M. C. Escher's magical and mathematically precise drawings; the seemingly undulating paintings of Bridget Riley; the manipulated photography of Andreas Gursky; Duane Hanson's eerily lifelike sculptures; JR's larger-than-life portrait photographs; and George Rousse's mind- bending constructions. The book also has examples of amazing street art including subway graffiti and a sidewalk painting that makes pedestrians think twice. This extraordinary and informative guide to all kinds of artistic trickery will satisfy scholars as well as everyday fans.

Widely loved illustrator Tasia brings her unique style to this issue's cover design, and she also provides an in-depth tutorial to show us how she creates her art. Kenneth Anderson creates a 70s rock band, Johanna Forster brings fruit to life, and Sara Paz shows us how to create characters from reference photos. Character Design Quarterly (CDQ) is a lively, creative magazine bringing inspiration, expert insights, and leading techniques from professional illustrators, artists, and character art enthusiasts worldwide. Each issue provides detailed tutorials on creating diverse characters, enabling you to explore the processes and decision making that go into creating amazing characters. Learn new ways to develop your own ideas, and discover from the artists what it is like to work for prolific animation studios such as Disney, Warner Bros., and DreamWorks.

Watercolours are the first choice for many painters, but few master the full potential of the medium. This book encourages you to be bold and colourful. Written by an internationally respected artist and teacher, it offers practical ways of working with watercolours, and shares ideas and thoughts that can make your painting methods more exciting and adventurous. With over 180 illustrations, it is a beautiful book that will be invaluable for both new and experienced painters alike.

Introduces readers to a more advanced level in icon development, exploring more complex imagery and skills Step-by-step instructions for painting icons, from original drawings through finished product Includes eight full-color plates of the author's original icons This is the sequel to the authors previous work, A Brush with God, for advanced beginners, intermediate, and advanced iconographers. It presents greater detail and instructions for creating entirely new icons. One major feature of the new book is the full-page sketches that artists can photocopy and use as the basis of their own icons, providing a unique and much-requested resource. Chapters and topics include: Introduction and contemporary reflections on iconography, spirituality, and technique. Highlighting folds on full-length figures, including black and white renderings of draped legs, arms, and torsos. Architectural and landscape renderings in Byzantine iconography, including background shadow and highlighting techniques, plus inverse perspective. Festal icons, involving multiple figures, landscapes, architecture, furniture, vegetation, and animals. Construction of heads, figures, and analysis of whole compositions, sacred geometry and proportion.

Over the last ten years, Australian artist Matthew Revert has gained a cult fanbase in various artistic fields including graphic design, writing, & music. TRY NOT TO THINK BAD THOUGHTS collects over 150 pieces of absurdist collage, watercolor, and ink, imbued with humor, horror, sex, heart, and surreal love.

A Darkly Humorous Collection of Cartoons Rejected by The New Yorker

This inspiring book makes drawing in a realistic style easier than you may think and more fun than you ever imagined! Authors Mark and Mary Willenbrink (Watercolor for the Absolute Beginner) cover it all-from choosing materials and the correct way to hold your pencil, to expert advice on the tricky stuff, like getting proportions and perspective right, drawing reflections, and designing strong compositions. (It's not as scary as it sounds...not with Mark and Mary as your guide!) At the heart of this book, a series of fun, hands-on exercises help you practice and perfect your strokes-24 mini-demos lead up to 9 full step-by-step demos. Each exercise builds on the previous one as you develop your skills, build your confidence, and enjoy yourself along the way. The lessons you learn by drawing simple subjects such as coffee mugs, clouds and trees will help you take on progressively more challenging matter like animals, still lifes, landscapes and portraits...the kinds of subjects and scenes you've always dreamt of drawing. This book is just the ticket for budding artists of any age. It's never too early and never too late to discover the pure joy of drawing!

Bring your gourds to life through these ten whimsical and fun decorating projects. Sammie Crawford, the Fairy Gourdmother, provides patterns, color palettes, supply lists, and step-by-step instructions for painting and beautifully decorating a gourd snowman, witch-in-training, baby chimp, wall pocket, Christmas oil lamp, and a magi. Whether you're looking to make a great gift for family and friends or take up a new hobby, this how-to book is perfect for gourd crafters and woodworkers just starting out. A gallery of completed works will inspire your own creative ideas.

Discover how easy, satisfying, and fun it is to create with acrylic paints and mediums in Creative Acrylics. Acrylics are one of the most versatile, affordable, and accessible art mediums, and you'll learn all the tips, tricks, and techniques for blending colors and building texture, plus excellent instruction on how to paint a range of different subjects. Confused about which types of paints to use, and how to use them? Creative Acrylics cuts through the clutter and offers clear fundamentals for working with a variety of paints and mediums to produce beautiful results. Acrylic paint is water-soluble, dries quickly, and is forgiving, making it perfect for those starting out. Begin your acrylic painting journey with an expert who will guide you through enjoyable techniques and projects as you build confidence and ramp up your skills. Step-by-step techniques, lessons, and projects cover a wide range of styles and genres, including color mixing, brushwork, glazing, and how to paint easy florals, still lifes, landscapes, and animals. Take your new skills even further and paint on different surfaces to create an apron, painted shells, a paintbrush rest, clay pot, and more. In Creative Acrylics you'll find: How to set up your workspace to make painting more enjoyable A guide to the different types of acrylic paint Basic techniques such as understanding color and value, and how to add texture and other effects using paint and mediums Lessons and projects that build skills: creating still lifes, florals, landscapes and skies, and painting on fabric, wood, shells, clay, and more With all these ideas and inspiration, your acrylic painting journey can begin today! Perfect for all skill levels, the books in the Art for Modern Makers series take a fun, practical approach to learning about and working with paints and other art mediums to create beautiful DIY projects and crafts.

Will Eisner is one of the twentieth century's great American artists, a man who pioneered the field of comic arts. Here, in his classic Comics and Sequential Art, he refines the art of graphic storytelling into clear, concise principles that every cartoonist, comic artist, writer, and filmmaker meeds to know. Adapted from Eisner's landmark course at New York's School of Visual Arts, Comics and Sequential Art is an essential text filled with invaluable theories and easy-to-use techniques. Eisner reveals here the fundamentals of graphic storytelling. He addresses dialogue, anatomy, framing, and many other important aspects of the art form. Fully updated and revised to reflect current practices and technology, including a section on digital media, this introduction to the art of comics is as valuable a guide as it was when first published.

Drawing and Painting People - A Fresh Approach is about confident and defiant art. Written by a practising artist and tutor, it contains inspiring examples, thought-provoking insights and practical advice about how to become more expressive and adventurous with your work. It is a book for people who are serious about painting and want to develop work that is personal and exceptional in quality. An unpretentious, non-academic approach to painting and drawing Avoiding 'painting by numbers' Strategies for independent working, building confidence and taking risks Examples from notable artists The body as an inspiring muse

Having an Al Streetman book is liking having your own personal carving instructor sit down on the back porch with you. His easygoing Oklahoma ways and his patient, soothing voice are evident in the simple instructions, as though he were right there with you, carving blade in hand, leading you through the simple step-by-step task of characterization. And that's where the Streetman's true brilliance lies-he is a master of the character, and this book is rich with them. There are 30 patterns, with something for every holiday of the year, in here. Streetman's instructions, clear photos, and meticulously drawn patterns will make an expert of beginners, and offer experts a challenge. Many people simply trace his well-drawn patterns on thin flat board or cardboard and paint them for tree ornaments.

This guide helps artists learn to draw natural-looking figures. Hart portrays everyday, real-life gestures on human-looking foundation figures: standing, sitting, kneeling and reclining, with arms folded, ankles crossed, hands on hips and more, all shown from various angles. He also explores deeper concepts such as perspective, illusion of depth, casting shadows and foreshortening, and provides step-by-step tutorials that take artists through complete, naturally posed figure drawings from start to finish.

An essential and practical handbook on choosing and mixing colours successfully. Choosing and mixing colours successfully in different media is all about creating the maximum colour range from the minimum number of paints. In this comprehensive guide, the authors - all experts in the field - show you how to approach watercolours, acrylics and oils in terms of mixing, blending and diluting them to achieve a wide range of effects. Whether you are an amateur or a professional, The Art of Colour Mixing provides a handy source of invaluable information on how to get the most from your paints in terms of colour. This is a book that should be on all painter's reference shelves.

Video production requires a high degree of organization to be a success. Good organization will require a proper diary to be kept of your production. It is the understanding of the paperwork and its organization that will make your production either a success or a failure.
Explained in accessible terms and assuming little prior knowledge of the subject, this book will help you to: plan successful procedures for all stages of a video production; produce paperwork logically to get professional results; understand the basic principles of setting up and running your own business; avoid common (and costly) pitfalls.

If you are a student who wishes to learn about all aspects of planning and documenting a video production, from conceptualization right through to final screening, this book is for you. It is particularly suitable for the City and Guilds Media Techniques Certificate: Television and Video Production Competences.
This book complements the other three titles in the series, which allow you to understand the overall process of video production, and then look in more detail at sound and lighting.
-Improve your production management skills with this accessible introduction to planning procedures for all stages of video production.
-Learn how to produce paperwork logically to get professional results
-Tips provided to help you avoid common (and costly) pitfalls

The Frank Lloyd Wright March Balloons Paint By Numbers Kit from Galison includes line-drawing of Wright's design masterpiece. This paint by numbers piece is designed for anyone to replicate Wright's famous work. * Box Size: 8.25 x 10.25 x 1.75", 210 x 260 x 45 mm * One Canvas: 8 x 10", 203 x 254 mm * Color guide / Instruction Sheet * One Wooden Easel, Two Paint Brushes * 6 Acrylic Paints

The ultimate guide to visual storytelling! How to make the audience "feel" the story while they are "reading" the story. Using his experiences from working in the comic book industry, movie studios and teaching, Marcos introduces the reader to a step-by-step system that will create the most successful storyboards and graphics for the best visual communication.

After a brief discussion on narrative art, Marcos introduces us to drawing and composing a single image, to composing steady shots to drawing to compose for continuity between all the shots. These lessons are then applied to three diverse story lines - a train accident, a cowboy tale and bikers approaching a mysterious house.

In addition to setting up the shots, he also explains and illustrates visual character development, emotive stances and expressions along with development of the environmental setting to fully develop the visual narrative.

The art pottery figurines, vases, banks, and planters made by Kay Finch in Corona del Mar, California, between 1939 and 1963, are adorable! Dogs and cats, farm and wild animals, fish, cute children and stylized adults and birds occupy her creative world. Nearly 400 color and 36 vintage photographs display her very collectible pottery and Kay Finch making them.

Quick Sketching with Ron Husband offers instruction to quick sketching and all its techniques. From observing positive and negative space and learning to recognize simple shapes in complex forms to action analysis and using line of action, this Disney legend teaches you how to sketch using all these components, and how to do it in a matter of seconds. Watch his drawings as he grows from a young, talented artist, to a true Disney animator. Follow him as he goes around the world and sketches flamenco dancers, football players, bakers, joggers, lions, tigers, anyone, and anything. Key Features Get tips on quick sketching from a Disney legend who has animated or supervised some of your favourite recent Disney movies like The Fox and the Hound, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast. Features artist's guide and handbook which provides instruction while chronicling the author's growth as an artist. Quickly try out Husband's instructions and tips as you learn them in a sketchbook at the back of the book. This new edition re-emphasizes the four basic shapes and how important it is to recognize them in fast action. Stressing the importance of observation and the vital part this discipline plays in sketching.

For beginners up, everything you need to know. Includes 28 teaching videos to view online. This combined book and video-guide to drawing manga will allow artists of ANY ability to master this hugely popular drawing style. The 256 page book is packed with step-by-step tutorials on every aspect of manga drawing, basing the instructions around traditional sketching and colouring techniques, and including digital tools for rendering and finishing artwork. The author is highly accomplished professional artist Sonia Leong, who is also creating 28 two-minute video demonstrations designed to link specifically to the content of this book. These video clips are hosted online, and accessed from the book's pages using QR codes (or URLs), making this one of the most user-friendly manga tutor books on the market. Readers will learn how to build up characters from basic shapes and measurements, get the anatomy and poses absolutely right, add crucial design elements to enhance drawings and stories, render artwork in different styles and mediums (including digital), and even start to create comic pages and sequences- for publication in print or online.

All drawing is based on the simple construction of lines and shapes. This great new series teaches how to draw popular subjects in extremely easy step-by-step stages. Even an absolute beginner will be able to create great drawings following these illustrations. In this book, Paul Davies includes a fantastic range of dragons from fearsome flying and fighting beasts to fire-breathing creatures and endearing cartoon-like characters.

"I can't control the paint." "It's not colorful enough." "It's intimidating!" With the fun and easy techniques in Gina Rossi Armfield's No Excuses Watercolor, your excuses for not painting with watercolor don't stand a chance! As you try the demonstrations and exercises, you'll learn the techniques and tricks necessary to achieve amazing, colorful results in your artist's sketchbook. After getting to know your materials, you'll try your hand at thirteen exercises that will help train your hand, and help you identify and refine your artistic style. Along the way, you'll get tips and suggestions for adding journaling and writing to your art. Finally, you'll find an inspirational resource guide packed with reference photos, starter sketches, color palettes, journaling prompts and more to help you fill your watercolor journal! Grab your sketchbook and watercolors--it's time to paint, no excuses! 22 demonstrations for sketching and watercolor painting. 13 exercises for practicing backgrounds, focal images, color mixing, layering and details. 13 resource sections loaded with journaling and painting prompts to keep you inspired.

Capture the Rich Textures of Nature, Step by StepCapture nature's beauty as you never have before. Beloved artist and teacher Claudia Nice leads you on an inspired journey through the great outdoors. With paints in hand, she shares with you her best techniques for creating landscapes that come alive with richness, depth and textured detail. Open this guide and start painting right away. As you follow engaging, step-by-step demonstrations and exercises, you'll learn to recreate the textural elements of a range of terrains and landscapes. Chapters include: Creative clouds and skies Majestic mountains, hills and mesas Texturing trees, trunks and foliage Rugged rocks and gritty gravel Transparent textures for rivers, falls and lakes Flowers of the field In a special section, Claudia covers basic texturing techniques with mini demos using lines, dots, bruising, scribbling, spattering, blotting, printing, stamping and more. From paints and pens to sponges, leaves and facial tissue, you'll explore all kinds of fun and inventive ways to create amazing textures. And to help you put it all together, Claudia includes her masterful advice for creating compositions using reference photos, field sketches and your own creative license. Each demonstration features a large image of the completed landscape, so you can see exactly how Claudia's methods work - from start to finish.