Inside this big coloring book for grownups are 96 ready-to-color art activities that will unleash your inner artist. Each vibrantly detailed illustration is designed to help you relax and unwind while you exercise your creativity. Beautifully colored finished examples are provided, along with a handy guide to basic art techniques, from patterning and combinations to shading and color theory. This therapeutic coloring book is perfect for decorating with markers, colored pencils, gel pens, or watercolors. Printed on high-quality, extra-thick paper that won't bleed through, all of the pages are pre-perforated for easy removal and display.

Italian futurism visualized diverse types of motion, which had been rooted in pervasive kinetic and vehicular forces generated during a period of dramatic modernization in the early 20th century. Yet, as David Mather's sweeping intellectual and art historical scholarship demonstrates, it was the camera-not the engine-that proved to be the primary invention against which many futurist ideas and practices were measured. Overturning several misconceptions about Italian futurism's interest in the disruptive and destructive effects of technology, Futurist Conditions provides a refreshing update to the historical narrative by arguing that the formal and conceptual approaches by futurist visual artists reoriented the possibly dehumanizing effects of mechanized imagery toward more humanizing, spiritual aims. Through its sustained analysis of the artworks and writings of Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, and the Bragaglia brothers, dating to the first decade after the movement's founding in 1909, Mather's account of their obsession with kinetic motion pivots around a 1913 debate on the place and relative import of photography among traditional artistic mediums-a debate culminating in the expulsion of the Bragaglias, but one that also prompted a range of productive responses by other futurist artists to world-changing social, political, and economic conditions.

From allotment inspiration to nature prints, from harnessing patchwork concepts to recycling pieces of art, to the alchemy of found materials, this is a journey to find new creativity through our connection with the natural world.

In her most passionate and personal book for artists, acclaimed watercolor artist Ann Blockley takes the reader through a series of ideas of working with nature—in its widest sense—to nurture our creativity, inspire us, make us more sustainable artists, and breathe back energy and flow when our artistic streams run dry. In “Go Outside and Play,” the author exhorts artists to recapture a fun, no-pressure way of being outside and use that feeling when creating. In “Connecting Materials to Place,” she creates her own paint from the local pond. In “The Slow Movement,” the artist reveals her year of working on a specific local hedgerow and painting a series of different interpretations in its every-changing detail. She created regular creative rituals, using her weekly playing card as a starting point for a new painting to reflect the season each week. She reuses old paintings, and tissue and paper—wabi-sabi style—to create new textures and even new paintings. Including work from other artists as well as her own, she shows the ideas and work from textile and mixed-media artists.

Andrew Loomis' hugely influential art instruction books have never been bettered and "Successful Drawing", the third in Titan's programme of facsimile editions, is among the finest. This is a superb resource, covering the fundamentals of proportion, perspective and pattern, through scale and light, to the mastery of construction, character and consistency. "Successful Drawing" is a masterclass for all.

Zentangle Basics introduces you to today's hottest trend in drawing meditation. Using only pencil, pen and paper, you'll learn how to draw 25 original tangles and discover inspiring ideas for incorporating these designs into your art. This expanded workbook edition includes a bonus section where you can get started with warm-up exercises, practice tangling, and experiment with strings and shading. With benefits including stress relief, inspiration and improved self-esteem, Zentangle can be done anywhere and no special 'artistic' talent is required. Tangles can be used to decorate wearables and home decor objects as well as cards, scrapbook pages and journals. Best of all, you can tangle even if you have never drawn anything before.

Reviewers of a recent exhibition termed Federico Barocci (ca. 1533-1612), 'the greatest artist you've never heard of'. One of the first original iconographers of the Counter Reformation, Barocci was a remarkably inventive religious painter and draftsman, and the first Italian artist to incorporate extensive color into his drawings. The purpose of this volume is to offer new insights into Barocci's work and to accord this artist, the dates of whose career fall between the traditional Renaissance and Baroque periods, the critical attention he deserves. Employing a range of methodologies, the essays include new ideas on Barocci's masterpiece, the Entombment of Christ; fresh thinking about his use of color in his drawings and innovative design methods; insights into his approach to the nude; revelations on a key early patron; a consideration of the reasons behind some of his most original iconography; an analysis of his unusual approach to the marketing of his pictures; an exploration of some little-known aspects of his early production, such as his reliance on Italian majolica and contemporary sculpture in developing his compositions; and an examination of a key Barocci document, the post mortem inventory of his studio. A translated transcription of the inventory is included as an appendix.

COPIC markers are very popular drawing materials used all around the world. This long-awaited book provides techniques for rendering exciting textures using COPIC markers. From basic techniques to entire color sample sheets, this book provides step-by-step visual instructions for rendering textures for a variety of materials, from metals to bricks. Drawings introduced in this book are powerful, and quite realistically rendered. Nobody would ever guess that they were drawn with COPIC markers!

Through a carefully curated selection of quotations, images and interviews, Artists on Art reveals what matters most to the masters. You'll discover how the giants of the different artistic genres developed their distinctive visual styles, the core ideas that underpin their practice and, most importantly, what art means to you.

How to Keep a Sketch Journal is the essential travel-sized guide to keeping a visual diary of your surroundings. Whether you're a habitual sketcher or just starting out, this book will teach you how to improve your observational sketching, indoors or outdoors, whether you're drawing still lifes, environments, or scenes. It covers sketching with different media, from a simple pen or pencil to using watercolors or pastels on the go. The book stands perfectly on its own as a guidebook, or can be used as a complement to 3dtotal's Sketch Journal travel portfolio, fitting neatly alongside your favorite sketching tools.

Paint Like a Master--Paint Like Degas! Edgar Degas is one of the most enduringly popular artists of his time, and his unique style and experimental approach to painting, using oils, pastels and mixed media, make him an artist that any painter can learn from today. In Paint Like Degas, professional artist Damian Callan, combines insights into Degas' methods with practical exercises to offer an exciting new way to develop your painting skills--whatever your level. You will learn the secrets of the master's creativity, enriching your understanding of Degas' work and showing how you can apply his techniques to give your own art even more depth and life. Paint Like Degas includes: Techniques for using pastels, oil paints and mixed media to create works of art with depth and atmosphere Exercises on subjects ranging from developing composition to layering colors to making monotypes Masterclass demonstrations showing step-by-step how to combine techniques to create finished works of art

Learn to make your characters unique, compelling and lifelike with these 75 exercises for all skill levels, including beginners. Topics include tools and materials; shapes; personalities; facial expressions; body language; character interaction; and costuming. Character types featured include more than just humans; learn how to draw animals, plants, creatures and more. Author Bev Johnson guides you through a variety of questions to explore not only the kinds of characters you want to create, but also the relationships between them, such as who their friends and enemies are, what their personality distinctions are, etc. so you can you can create truly interesting characters.

A PNBA Bestseller! Color the Pacific Northwest is an inky exploration of the people, places, plants, and popular culture that define Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. The 50 illustrations appear on only one side of a high-quality paper that supports a variety of mediums, including pencils and markers. You can color Sasquatch, ink your own latte art, fill in the details of an intricate family of salmon, discover the Oregon Trail, and color a flying fish from Seattle's Pike Place Market, all from the comfort of your own home.

Silverpoint, and metalpoint more generally, is the practice of marking with soft metal on a specifically prepared drawing surface. Practiced for centuries, the artform is experiencing a resurgence in recent years, with contemporary work exploring abstract as well as realist, conceptual as well as traditional. Silverpoint and Metalpoint Drawing is the essential manual of metalpoint technique, written by Susan Schwalb and Tom Mazzullo, contemporary masters of the medium. This book is the first treatise on the subject for artists and art teachers with chapters on early history, materials including grounds, supports, metals, and tools, techniques for working in metalpoint as well as mixed media, and finally, the care of metalpoint works. Not only beautifully illustrated, this book also demonstrates how to photograph and exhibit metalpoint art. Featuring a gallery of drawings by contemporary artists, along with their tips and insight, Silverpoint and Metalpoint Drawing is a perfect introduction for students of the medium and an inspiration for those already more familiar with it.

A lavishly illustrated biography of James Gillray, inventor of the art of political caricature James Gillray (1756-1815) was late Georgian Britain's funniest, most inventive, and most celebrated graphic satirist and continues to influence cartoonists today. His exceptional drawing, matched by his flair for clever dialogue and amusing titles, won him unprecedented fame; his sophisticated designs often parodied artists such as William Hogarth, Joshua Reynolds, and Henry Fuseli, while he borrowed and wittily redeployed celebrated passages from William Shakespeare and John Milton to send up politicians in an age-as now-where society was fast changing, anxieties abounded, truth was sometimes scarce, and public opinion mattered. Tim Clayton's definitive biography explores Gillray's life and work through his friends, publishers-the most important being women-and collaborators, aiming to identify those involved in inventing satirical prints and the people who bought them. Clayton thoughtfully explores the tensions between artistic independence, financial necessity, and the conflicting demands of patrons and self-appointed censors in a time of political and social turmoil. Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

"Full of tips and tricks on how to look at the world with a curious eye, it's a brilliant way to breathe creativity (back) into our lives." - Flow magazine "Crammed with practical ideas, inspirational images & creative exercises, Conscious Creativity leads the reader through the process of establishing what kind of creative you are..."-Mslexia "The purpose of this book is to enable you to look at things in an alternative and more substantial way, so that you arrive at composition through genuine interest."-Juno magazine "Philippa Stanton is passionate about people connecting to their innate creativity and has distilled these incredible techniques and ideas on how we can tap into that. Philippa is a massively successful Instagramer at @5ftinf and yet she is only too aware how these little two dimensional squares can limit our experiences and restrict our creativity, so it's not without a little irony that she's written a book to encourage people to step away from their screens and connect more with the 3D world. It's a fascinating subject and I wholeheartedly recommend the book for anyone who's working in the creative industry or is curious about the world around them."-Sophie Robinson (DIY SOS, The Great British Interior Design Challenge, This Morning) Unlock your creative potential with Conscious Creativity: a practical, playful guide bursting with inspiration to help bring more colour into to your life. There is creativity in all of us, but it can easily be buried beneath our everyday concerns or need a spark to bring it back to life. Whether you've lost your mojo or just need some fresh ideas, artist and photographer Philippa Stanton's lively guide will stimulate your imagination and reinvigorate your creative life. Engage your curiosity and connect your observations to your creative practice with activities such as: Noticing all the hues of one colour you can see around you Creating an abstract textured image using herbs, spices and other dry ingredients from your kitchen cupboards Collecting shadows: photograph hidden shapes and dark spaces that you haven't noticed before Conscious Creativity will help you open your senses to the beauty you may not notice every day, and show you how to capture it. Simple, engaging exercises that encourage observation and experimentation will give you an insight into your own aesthetics as you take a conscious step to note the colours, shapes, shadows, sounds and textures that fill your world, and how they make you feel. Bursting with practical ideas and inspirational images, embrace the joy of creating, and learn to use your natural curiosity to take a leap into the most creative time of your life. If you like this, you might also like Creative Flow and Nature Tonic.

In this book, renowned illustrator Victor Escandell offers a step-by-step explanation of ten different techniques and their multiple variations, so that, through experimentation, apparently simple black and white drawings or paintings gain added depth and expressiveness. Now in paperback, this visually detailed book by renowned illustrator Victor Escandell is devoted exclusively to the infinite creative possibilities of drawing and painting in black and white. Traditional and modern materials, techniques and applications (Indian ink, pencil, pen, bamboo, water-soluble graphite, colored pencils, gouache, different types of felt-tip pens for various supports, grattage, etc.) are described clearly so that beginners and advanced artists alike can experiment with what they have learned and explore their creativity. Each chapter covers a specific technique and contains useful information such as the methods and materials used, illustrated examples and interesting anecdotes about the origin of each technique, tricks of the trade, many variations and references to other classic and contemporary authors. Each technique is demonstrated in additional detail by a short film the reader can access via QR code. Photographs display the final result and images of the process make sure readers don't get lost along the way. Different black-and-white mixed techniques are also presented in a dedicated chapter, while the last chapter examines applications beyond paper (textiles, glass, vinyl, murals). In Escandell's resourceful hands, the described tools take on new meaning while everyday products such as salt, bleach and even a hair dryer become essential companions on engaging artistic adventures.

What goes into creating art? How can we learn to "read" paintings? What are the key elements of composition? If you've ever found yourself seeking the answers to the above questions and more, then this may be the book for you! An art book like no other, How Art Works uses practical graphics to demonstrate the techniques, styles, materials, and concepts that lie behind great art. It shows you how to interpret paintings, drawings, and sculptures, and reveals how art is made, laying out the key techniques and materials in visual detail. It also explains the nuts and bolts of the technical aspects behind art, such as perspective and composition, and shows how to identify major artistic styles and movements. This awe-inspiring art history book features: - Oil and watercolour painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, and more - Explains the technical aspects of visual arts including perspective, light, colour, form, and texture - A selection of major art movements such as Impressionism, Cubism, Surrealism and more - Shows how information, messages, and emotion can be conveyed through art - Highlights key inventions and developments Providing all you need to know to build on your artistic understanding and appreciation, this is the perfect book for art lovers of all kinds, whether you're an art student, or you're simply a lover of visual art and are looking to discover more about art but aren't sure where to begin. At DK, we believe in the power of discovery. So why stop there? How Art Works is part of DK's widely successful How Stuff Works series. Discover the inner workings of the mind with How the Brain Works, succeed in all things science with How Science Works and discover the cosmos like you've never known before with How Space Works. Whatever topic sparks your interests, there's a plethora of knowledge to discover!

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.