In The Urban Sketching Handbook: Techniques for Beginners, artist and Urban Sketcher correspondent Suhita Shirodkar shares essential skills for sketching architecture, people, and everyday objects on location. You'll learn the basics of value, color mixing, and perspective through helpful studies and exercises, whether at home, in studio, and on location. The Urban Sketching Handbook: Techniques for Beginners is perfect for anyone who's just getting started in this fascinating art form, or who wants to develop their observational and drawing aptitude by reinforcing basic concepts. TheUrban Sketching Handbook series offers location artists expert instruction on creative techniques, on-location tips and advice, and an abundance of visual inspiration. These handy references come in a compact, easy-to-carry format-perfect to toss in your backpack or artist's tote.

Open the door into new worlds ready to complete and colour with the first colouring book from international tattoo artist Cally-Jo. Each spread in this original and surprising colouring book takes you into a different world or scene, from tropical floral glasshouses to mystical owls and whimsical lions, underwater treasures to ancient Japanese masks. Escape into your imagination as you complete and colour these beautiful pages.

Not sure what to do with that old, dilapidated chair that has been sitting in your garage or down your basement? How about turning it into a decorative piece of art for everyday use or for a seasonal decoration? In this new DIY book, master painter Sammie Crawford takes you through, step-by-step, seven chair-painting projects: the rose, sunflower, tiger lily, frog, butterfly, rooster, and, just in time for Christmas, the Santa chair. With color photographs and patterns, as well as lists of supplies and color palettes provided, use this book to follow along with the projects or gain inspiration for your own creative ideas. This book is perfect for painters of all skill level.

Inside this book you ll find 30 creative art activities inspired by the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos. Fun, exotic, and full of psychedelic details, these intricate drawings are sure to spark your imagination and awaken your inner artist. Express yourself with fascinating images based on Day of the Dead sugar skulls. You ll love coloring this mystical folk art, from dancing skeletons to traditional nichos and papel picado . The book also provides valuable advice on coloring and patterning techniques, plus some fully colored examples to get you started. Printed on high quality extra-thick paper, this inspiring coloring book for grownups is perfect for decorating with markers, colored pencils, gel pens, or watercolors. Designed to eliminate bleed-through, each page is pre-perforated for easy removal and display."

Draw the exciting elements of your world with confidence using the tips, techniques, and ideas in The Complete Urban Sketching Companion. Packed with information and visual inspiration on sketching architecture, cityscapes, people, and motion, plus lessons on perspective and adding color, this collection will have you filling sketchbook after sketchbook with compelling artwork. The popularity of the urban sketching movement has grown worldwide, and it's easy to see why. Sketching on the go is exciting, rewarding, and creatively satisfying. With so many choices of what to sketch and how to sketch it, you need a companion to offer valuable insights, enlightening tips, and tons of ideas and inspiration. The Complete Urban Sketching Companion is that helpful guide to take along on your next overseas adventure, or to your favorite cafe around the corner. This book includes key drawing techniques and strategies from four books in the Urban Sketching Handbook series: Understanding Perspective, Working with Color, Architecture and Cityscapes, and People and Motion. Learn how to draw unique buildings, urban landscapes, and lively street scenes, incorporating interesting elements and striking color and lighting. Get tips on sketching with accurate perspective with easy methods and great examples to guide you along. Discover ways to capture motion, whether it's a group of dancers or commuters on the move. Become confident in adding color to artwork by learning about different mediums and color mixing techniques. In The Complete Urban Sketching Companion you'll also find: Simple tools and materials to get started Ways to build a well-composed scene Techniques for drawing urban environments to scale How to construct a sketch in layers Tips for rendering different types of perspective Strategies for creating dramatic shadows How to include a range of color values to create depth Ideas for interpreting movement and gesture Methods for drawing individuals and crowds Get started on your urban sketching adventures today, and start capturing life.

Learn dynamic sketching and watercolor techniques for creating cityscapes, landscapes, figures and faces, still lifes, and more, enhancing the story you want to tell with form, line, and color. Discover incredible methods and tips for creating dramatic street scenes and vivid landscapes, and capturing dynamic figures and graphic architectural details. Artist Alex Hillkurtz-a top Hollywood storyboard artist, international workshop instructor, and Signature Member of the National Watercolor Society-presents fundamental concepts of sketching with pencil and pen for a number of popular genres. Discover simple ways to jot down spontaneous ideas in pencil, capture rough details in ink, and add watercolor for extra depth and interest. Make sketching more enjoyable by adopting innovative techniques that will make a difference in your practice, and your artwork. No matter your experience or skill level, you'll benefit from learning: Compositions that draw the eye How to avoid common sketching mistakes Ways to create light and shadow to define shapes and add interest Successful ways to use negative space The importance of perspective in creating depth Easy color washes that create drama Get started today, and fill your sketchbooks with unique drawings and paintings you will be proud of. The For Artists series expertly guides and instructs artists at all skill levels who want to develop their classical drawing and painting skills and create realistic and representational art.

In Dynamic Still Life for Artists, noted artist and instructor Sarah Sedwick presents detailed, step-by-step instruction and insights on the many creative possibilities that drawing and painting still lifes can offer. Develop observational skills by setting up and assessing various arrangements, groupings, and formats. Evaluate an arrangement's abstract shapes by creating black-and-white value studies. Learn the process of alla prima painting, from underpainting to color mixing to applying color. Featuring inspiring examples by other distinguished artists working in a variety of mediums, DynamicStill Life for Artists will encourage all artists, from aspiring to accomplished, to explore this timeless genre through new arrangements, styles, and visual studies, empowering them to develop and expand their creative and technical skills. The For Artists series expertly guides and instructs artists at all skill levels who want to develop their classical drawing and painting skills and create realistic and representational art.

The Language of Mixed-Media Sculpture is both a survey and a celebration of contemporary approaches to sculptures that are formed from more than one material. It profiles the discipline in all its expanded forms and recognizes sculpture in the twenty-first century not as something solid and static, but rather as a fluid interface in material, time and space. It gives insightful revelations of the creative journeys of ten renowned sculptors and showcases twenty-eight international sculptors. With over two hundred colour photographs, this sumptuously illustrated volume will inspire those intrigued by and interested in contemporary sculpture.

Self-portraiture shows no sign of losing its ability to capture the public imagination. Given our current proclivity to snap and share 'selfies' in seconds, it is unsurprising to find a renewed interest in the genre among general audiences and students. Self-portraits have the power to illuminate a range of universal concerns, from identity, purpose and authenticity, to frailty, futility and mortality. In this volume, curator Natalie Rudd expertly casts fresh light on the self-portrait and its international appeal, exploring the historical contexts within which self-portraits have proliferated and considering the meanings they hold today. With commentaries on works by artists ranging from Jan van Eyck and Artemisia Gentileschi to Francisco Goya, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo and Jenny Saville, the book explores the emotive and expressive potential of self-portraiture, and its capacities to distance or to demystify. Can self-portraits offer windows into artistic process? Is there ever a singular identity to be captured? Is it necessary for a self-portrait to depict the human form? In her vibrant and timely discussion, Rudd dissects these and other important questions, revealing the shifting faces of individuality and selfhood in an age where we are interrogating notions of personal identity more than ever before. With 97 illustrations in colour

A practical approach to all aspects of making porcelain pots and sculptures: from clays and glazes to throwing, handbuilding, slipcasting and decorating. Porcelain is known and highly praised for its delicacy, translucency, fineness and whiteness, but it has always posed particular problems for ceramicists using it. In this revised edition, Peter Lane looks at the development of porcelain in the last few years of the 20th century and at the start of the 21st. He gives particular consideration to the technical achievements, the working practices and aesthetic concerns of ceramicists who work with this most popular medium and its close relative, bone china. The works illustrated in this book demonstrate the confidence and the versatility of contemporary ceramicists who use its special characteristics in exciting and original ways. There are over 350 new illustrations and 75 new artists featured in this updated edition. The result is a breathtaking look at the exciting and innovative work that is currently being done internationally in this field. The wide diversity of porcelain objects will both inspire and enthral potters, collectors and anyone interested in fine ceramics.

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.

What do toothpicks, dryer lint, plastic bottles, and soup cans have in common? They are all items that have been used to create art! Found art is a type of art that involves creating pieces from found objects that are not usually considered to be artistic. Learn how these ordinary objects are made into beautiful art. Created in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, this STEAM book will ignite a curiosity about STEAM topics through real-world examples. It features a hands-on STEAM challenge that is perfect for makerspaces and that guides students step-by-step through the engineering design process. Make STEAM career connections with career advice from Smithsonian employees working in STEAM fields. Ideal for school reports and projects, this informational text will appeal to reluctant readers and ages 6-8.

Vincent van Gogh's paintings are amongst the most iconic and admired in the world. The trials of his life and health are endlessly discussed but the extraordinary richness of his writings and depth of his thinking on creativity, art and beauty is less explored. In Creative Inspiration, Van Gogh's writings have been edited and selected to create an enlightening, uplifting and helpful book for art lovers and creatives - amateurs and professionals alike. 150 carefully selected images illustrate these quotes, focusing on the sketches and drawings that reveal the rigour and ambition with which he approached his work. The book is thematically divided - from Beginnings to Routine to Beauty - and his determination and charisma are shared through words and pictures. A beautiful, and delightfully handy, art book that is designed to inspire.

Celebrating the boats and coastal scenery that have long inspired artists, this book explains many aspects of painting the coast, from creeks and tidal rivers to bustling beach scenes, boats, and harbors--all with a strong emphasis on capturing light, mood, and atmosphere. Using watercolor, oil, and pastel, it looks in detail at the painting process and encourages both novice and experienced artists alike to venture forth to capture the drama and beauty of the coast and sea. Select topics covered in the guide include step-by-step demonstrations; exploring the importance of light and how to create harmony, tone, and color; emphasizing drawing, sketching, and plein-air painting; and instruction on painting water and skies, as well as coastal scenes.

The whys and hows of the various aspects of landscape painting: angles and consequent values, aerial and linear perspective, painting of trees, emotional properties of line and mass in composition, light, unity of tone, plus information on canvas, palette, brushes and other materials and techniques. 34 reproductions of paintings by John Carlson. 58 explanatory diagrams. Index.

J.M.W. Turner is one of the most influential and important British artists of all time. His watercolours, with their extraordinary effects of shifting light and dramatic cloudscapes, are especially highly regarded. This book reveals the secrets of his technique for the first time, allowing watercolourists to try them out for themselves. For the first time, this book reveals the secrets of Turner's technique, allowing present-day watercolourists to try them out themselves. There is an accessible introduction that explores Turner's life and career and the materials he used to achieve the masterpieces we know and love today. The book then goes on to list the modern materials the twenty-first century watercolourist will need if they aspire to take on similar subject matter. Successive chapters look at a particular theme, such as Sky, Water, Trees, Buildings, People, Animals, Sunrise, Moonlight and Fire, illustrating each with one of Turner's works. Expert contemporary watercolour artists then explain, step-by-step, how to paint a version of that particular picture and how to use the techniques learnt to paint other compositions. With a glossary of technical terms, high quality colour reproductions and backed by the authority of Tate, the world centre for Turner scholarship, this is a must-buy purchase for all lovers of J.M.W. Turner and of watercolour painting.