At one time, most towns of any size had somewhere a small foundry that would undertake small casting jobs, often more out of interest and good neighbourliness than for commercial gain. Regrettably, those days are no more and the model engineer in many areas must either adapt commercially available castings or send away to a specialist foundry that will undertake small jobs, often at some expense and with some delay. The alternative is to make your own patterns and castings, which is in fact much easier than you may think. The Backyard Foundry covers basic principles, materials and techniques, pattern making, moulding boxes, cores and core-boxes, electric, gas and coke furnaces, and includes step-by-step procedures with examples of locomotive cylinders and wheels. Sources of specialised materials and even the design of an outdoor furnace suitable for small-scale commercial work are given. Each stage and subject is covered in detail so that even the inexperienced can undertake casting with confidence. Although the book is written primarily for the model engineer, anyone wishing to make mouldings or castings will profit from its pages.

In Sketching Men, veteran art instructor Koichi Hagawa, PhD explains how to quickly capture the dynamic male form through two distinct styles of sketching: Very rapid (1-3 minute) line drawings that capture the essence of the subject's posture and movement--perfect for recording athletic action poses in the moment More finished tonal drawings, which take a bit longer to render (7-10 minutes), but fill in lots of interesting texture and wonderfully realistic details and nuances, including the play of light and shadow, three-dimensional form and a sense of mass and balance Learn to sketch the following: Individual body parts and their bones and muscles Objects held in the hands and with both arms Standing and sitting poses Transitions from prone and sitting poses to a standing pose Bending, reaching and leaning poses Pushing, throwing and dancing poses Folds, gathers and drape of clothing This book contains hundreds of detailed studies and helpful examples. Your sketches will improve rapidly as you learn all about how human anatomy--the skeleton, muscles and posture--all come together to express the uniquely male form. When you hone your line and tonal drawing skills with this book, all of your artwork will improve as a result, no matter the application: storyboarding, cartooning and graphic novels, illustration, formal drawings, painting and more!

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.

Learn to draw colossal dragons and legendary heroes!

It was a stormy night in Northern Wales when I and my apprentice, Conceil, had to take shelter in an old stalkers cottage along Caernarfon Bay. A peat fire was lit, and our guide, Sir Geoffrey Guest, regaled us with ancient stories of dragons while, outside, the gale battered the coastline....

What follows is a retelling of classical legends, plucked from the folklore of cultures spread across time and around the world, from ancient Greece and China to Medieval England and Norse mythology. You'll discover the epochal dragons who reigned over snow and sea; those with wings and flaming maws; those who thwarted Beowulf in underground lairs; and those slain by Hercules' mighty sword.

Dracopedia Legends presents 13 epic tales of heroes vanquishing dragons, accompanied by lavish dragon illustrations inspired by the myths. Acting as both a storybook and art guide, each chapter also includes in-depth instructions to reveal how to conceptualize, research and design every iconic battle scene, broken down into multiple stages so you can create your own commanding and evocative narrative paintings.

Includes:

- 13 tales of the most legendary dragons from around the world

- Instructions for drawing and painting each climactic clash between hero and beast

- How to design, sketch and develop illustrations into layered and detailed final paintings

The fourth book in the best-selling Dracopedia saga!

Written by a long-time expert on drawing and painting human anatomy, Classic Human Anatomy in Motion offers artists everything they need to realistically draw the human figure as it is affected by movement. Written in a friendly style, the book is illustrated with hundreds of life drawing studies (both quick poses and long studies), along with charts and diagrams showing the various anatomical and structural components. This comprehensive manual features five distinct sections, each focusing on a different aspect of the human figure: bones and joint movement, muscle groups, surface form and soft tissue characteristics, structure, and movement. Each chapter builds an artistic understanding of how motion transforms the human figure and can create a sense of expressive vibrancy in one's art.

Unleash Your Creativity with Beautiful Watercolor Blooms From delicate magnolias and zinnias to exotic hibiscus and tiger lilies, you'll be ready to paint an entire garden with 25 breathtaking projects. Renowned watercolor instructor Cara Rosalie Olsen covers everything you need to know to get started--even if you've never picked up a brush! Learn how to select art supplies, blend Cara's unique colors, prepare a palette, master different brush techniques and so much more. Each project provides detailed step-by-step instructions along with helpful illustrations so you can confidently create elegant botanical masterpieces. And with Cara's encouraging and beginner-friendly approach, you'll be inspired to find beauty in everything you paint.

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries have been characterised as the 'age of speed' but they also witnessed a reanimation of still life across different art forms. This book takes an original approach to still life in modern literature and the visual arts by examining the potential for movement and transformation in the idea of stillness and the ordinary. It ranges widely in its material, taking Cezanne and literary responses to his still life painting as its point of departure. It investigates constellations of writers, visual artists and dancers including D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, David Jones, Winifred Nicholson, Wallace Stevens, and lesser-known figures including Charles Mauron and Margaret Morris. Claudia Tobin reveals that at the heart of modern art were forms of stillness that were intimately bound up with movement: the still life emerges charged with animation, vibration and rhythm. It is an unstable medium, unexpectedly vital and well suited to the expression of modern concerns.

With over 10 million views and growing, Mark Crilley's "Realism Challenge" YouTube videos have an enormous worldwide legion of fans and have been featured on sites such as Yahoo News and Reddit. Now, for the first time, Crilley pulls back the curtain to reveal his artistic tricks and secret methods for creating these astonishing renderings. The Realism Challenge leads artists through Crilley's use of pencil, watercolour, pastel, and gouache to produce life-like, seemingly impossible drawings of common household objects like playing cards, crumpled paper, leaves, and seashells that look just like photographs. Each lesson builds off the previous, with sidebars covering specific techniques-such as rendering drop shadows, applying white highlights, and building from light to dark-that artists can master in order to conquer The Realism Challenge.

Wales has charmed visitors for centuries, and this collection of 45 intricate illustrations is a celebration of the country's unique appeal. Featuring a range of picturesque vistas, from beautiful beaches and rugged coastlines to mountainous national parks, vibrant cities and medieval castles, each stunning scene is full of intriguing detail sure to fire the imagination and make you reach for your colouring pencils. There are absolutely no rules - you can choose any combination of colours you like. Suitable for children. If you love Wales, then you will love colouring it in!

Portrait painting is inherently difficult and requires a unique understanding of and sensitivity to the sitter. This practical book considers the historical context of portrait painting and its contemporary practice. Written by a professional portrait painter, it describes the intricacies of making a portrait not just for the technically minded but also for those who are interested in a painter's perspective on the role and importance of portraiture.

Artists need to write, every day, to support their studio practice and careers. Working artists know this. Newly minted art graduates and emerging artists learn this the hard way-usually when a gallerist asks for basic documents like an artist resume, biography, and statement to support an upcoming exhibition! Conversational and instructive, this practical primer helps artists learn the best writing and research strategies for their letters, biographies, statements, proposals, applications, wall text, and more. Kate Kramer, lecturer in critical writing at the University of Pennsylvania, aligns writing strategies with art school curriculum (foundations, topics, capstones, professional development). This is the book every artist will turn to again and again. In addition to models, templates, worksheets, and sample analyses of calls for entry, it references readily available and public resources throughout. Ultimately, this primer brings writing process into practice so the art work can continue to thrive.

Painting is one of the most rewarding ways of expressing yourself. It sparks creativity, engages the imagination and relaxes you, reducing stress levels and leaving you feeling mentally clear and calm. Most people assume that the ability to paint is a skill you either have or you don't, so although they would like to paint they lack the confidence to do so. But painting can be readily learned with the right teacher to guide you, and a clear approach and encouraging voice are often all that's needed to get you on the right track. That's where this book, Acrylics, comes in. Adrian Burrows is an enthusiastic and accomplished artist and teacher who explains the fundamentals of painting with acrylics in a helpful and accessible manner. Adrian shows you what you need in terms of tools and materials, and explains and illustrates all the basic techniques. Ten step-by-step tutorials, covering a variety of subjects, then put these techniques into action. Each tutorial is broken down into stages, with clear instructions and photographs for readers to follow, plus plenty of helpful tips and troubleshooting advice. There are also special features on painting trees, skies and figures.

'If you want to learn about gouache, this should keep you satisfied for a very long time.' Artbookreview.net If you love painting with watercolour and are ready to experiment with something different, then the versatile medium of gouache could be just the thing for you. Gouache is water-based, quick-drying and, can be painted light over dark as well as dark over light. Ideal for the beginner, it can be used thinly in a watercolour style, or more thickly as with oils or acrylics. This guide covers all the materials and tools required and has a comprehensive techniques section that includes overlaying colours, colour blending and troubleshooting. Experienced author Jeremy Ford takes you through three simple, step-by-step projects, each showcasing a unique style of painting with gouache. Numerous finished paintings are included to demonstrate the range of subjects, styles and techniques that you can achieve, and encourage you to develop your own style of painting using this exciting medium.

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.

Join top figure and landscape artist John K. Harrell in his Denver studio for an essential acrylic lesson. Follow along at your own pace as this expert shares his process from beginning to end. Take a personal lesson from a master: Discover John's go-to tactic for placing any figure in a painting-use the horizon line to get the perspective right every time. Give your painting the allure of atmosphere-excite the eye with Harrell's "painting magic" tricks. Make it impactful-enhance "dead spots" with pure accents of unexpected color.

Fashion drawing is the most important way to visualize ideas and concepts in costume and fashion design. This new and expanded two-volume edition of the already classic title Figure Drawing for Fashion Design--revised, updated and expanded--is a precise, topic-by-topic manual that will help readers acquire and perfect their skills drawing fashion designs on the female form. Mastering the rules of figure drawing as well as stylistic techniques that add individuality and flair to the design is an essential skill for all designers and illustrators to master in order to bring one's vision to the page, and eventually mannequin. In its approach, this book is ideal both for those designers and students who want to apply themselves professionally to fashion design, and for all enthusiasts of drawing the female body in a fashion context.