The ultimate guide to nature drawing and journaling! A potent combination of art, science, and boundless enthusiasm, this art instruction book from John Muir Laws (author of The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds) is a how-to guide for becoming a better artist and a more attentive naturalist. In straightforward text complemented by step-by-step illustrations, dozens of exercises lead the hand and mind through creating accurate reproductions of plants and animals as well as landscapes, skies, and more. Laws provides clear, practical advice for every step of the process for artists at every level, from the basics of choosing supplies to advanced techniques. While the book's advice will improve the skills of already accomplished artists, the emphasis on seeing, learning, and feeling will make this book valuable-even revelatory-to anyone interested in the natural world, no matter how rudimentary their artistic abilities.

How to Read Paintings is a valuable visual guide to Western European painting. Through a gallery of artworks accompanied by informative commentary, it enables readers to swiftly develop their understanding of the grammar and vocabulary of painting, and to discover how to look at diverse paintings in detail, closely reading their meanings and methods. In the first part of the book, the Grammar of Paintings, the author reveals how to read paintings by considering five key areas: shape and support, medium and materials, composition, style and technique, and signs and symbols, as well as the role of the artist. In the second part, we explore fifty paintings through extracted details, accompanied by insightful commentary, training the reader and viewer to understand context and discover meaning within art. As a collection, the pictures featured in How to Read Paintings have a strong relationship with one another, and underpin the story of painting. This book will be a valuable tool whether you are viewing the real thing on a gallery wall, or simply reading around the subject to learn more about Western art.

TREATISE LEONARDO DA VINCI. Originally published in 1877. PREFACE: Vll ono was Issued by Messrs. Nichols and Son, to which was added a Life of Leonardo by Mr. John William Brown. This gentleman had the privilege of constant admittance not only to the private library of his Imperial and Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Tuscany, but also to his most rare and valuable collection of Manuscripts in the Palazzo Pitti, where ho was permitted to copy from the original docttments and correspondence whatever he con ceived useful to Ms subject. He was enabled to produce what was then the most trustworthy Life of Leonardo that had over appeared. Since that time many new biographies of Leonardo have been written, of which ono of the most important is that by Signor Gustavo TIzielli. The 1835 edition of the Treatise on Painting has long been scarce, It is now reprinted, and the more recent facts which have boon discovered concerning the life of Leonardo, and a full account of Ms manuscripts and his acknowledged paintings have been added. Nicholas Poussins drawings and Albertis designs are reproduced, and great pains have boon taken to make Leonardos work as useful as possible to students of Art. John Francis Bigaud, the translator of the Trattato della Pittura, was born of French parents at Turin, in 1742. His father, who was a merchant, intended his son to follow Ms profession but young Bigaud evinced so strong a talent for painting, that he was allowed to follow his own desires. After he had received good instruction in art from Choralier Beaumont, principal painter to the King of Sardinia, Bigaud travelled much, in Italy, and stayed more especially in Homo, Parma, and in Bologna, where, in 1760, ho was elected a member of tho Olomontino Academy. In 1772, Ragatid loft Italy and wont to Pann, where he remained but a short time Ho then camo to England, and gained much praise for IUH picture of Hercules. In the November of tho year of his arrival ho was elected an Associate of tho Royal Academy, and In 1784 he became a full mombor. With tho exception of a journey on the Continent, I igaud spent tho rest of his life in England. Ho died in 181,0, at Packing-ton, irt Warwickshire, the seat of tho Karl of Aylosford, his obiof patron. In tho parish church at Pacldngton is an alte r-pi0e painted by Itigaud for tho Karl of Aylosford - no to worthy from, the circumstance that it m mipponod to bo tho first work executed in fresco in thifli country. Among other honours in art, Iltgaud was mado a Mem ber of th Royal Academy of Stockholm, and Painter to the King of Sweden. Contents include: THE LIFE OF LEONARDO DA VINCI ... ... xi BE A WING Proportion, ., ... ... ... 1 Anatomy .., ... .. ... ... 10 Motion and Equipoise of Figures ... ... ... 20 Linear Perspective ... .. ... ... 37 INVENTION, OB COMPOSITION ... ... ... ... 45 Expression and Character, ... ... 63 LIGHT AND SHADOW ... ... ... ... ... 67 Contrast and Effect ... ... ... ... 80 Betoes ... ... ... ... ... 81 COLOUBS AND COLOUBING ... .. ... 87 Colours in regard to Light and Shadow ... ... 100 Colours in regard to Back-grounds ... ... 106 Contrast, Harmony, and Eeflexes in regard to Colours 108 Perspective of Colours . M ... ... . . . 1 M Aerial Perspective, .. . 125 X CONTENTS. IAOK MISCELLANEOUS OBSEBVATIONS ... ... ... 135 Landscape, etc, ... ... ... ... 135 GENBBAL INDEX ... ... ... ... ... 157 APPENDIX I. Manuscripts of Leonardoda Vinci ... ... 178 II. Classified Catalogue of Ms principal Paintings Holy families, Madonnas, etc. ... ... 170 Sacred Historical Subjects ... .. 197 Classical Subjects ... ... ... ... 204 Historical Subjects .. ... ... 209 Portraits ... ... ... ... ... J10 Pictures Lost or Missing ..., , S g III...

The ultimate illustrated guide for sourcing, processing and using wild clay. Potters around the world are taking to the local landscape to dig their own wild clay, discover its unique properties, and apply it to their craft. This guide is the ideal starting point for anyone - from novices, improvers and experts to educators and students - who wants to forge a closer bond between their art and their surroundings. Testing and trial and error are key to finding a material's best use, so the authors' tips, drawn from long experience in the US and Japan (but which can be applied to clays anywhere) provide an enviable head-start on this rewarding journey. A clay might be best suited to sculpture and tile bodies, throwing clay bodies, handbuilding and slab bodies, or simply be applied as a glaze or slip. The specific properties of found materials can create a diverse range of effects and surfaces, or, even when not fired, can be adapted for use as colorful pastels or pigments. Beautiful illustrations and helpful technical descriptions explain the formation of various clays; how to locate, collect and assess them; how to test their properties of shrinkage, water absorption, texture and plasticity; the best ways to test-fire them; and how to adapt a clay's characteristics by blending appropriate materials. From prospecting in the field to holding your finished product, there is helpful advice through every stage, and a gallery of work by international potters who have embraced the clays found around them.