Paul Fryer's first collection of poems is illustrated with keen insight by Damien Hirst. Together they have produced a beautiful diatribe against current complacencies that, remarkably, also show a precious tolerance and love for their fellow men and women. They have concocted an acute distillation of manners, cultures and prejudices, a polemic, even, that reflects a light suffused with a powerful disinterest, a disturbing sine qua non.

A comprehensive and practical guide full of advice and inspiration for anyone wishing to capture the beauty of the urban landscape. The wonderful thing about drawing buildings is that, wherever you travel around the globe, you will never be short of subjects to inspire you. From the most elaborate of Renaissance cathedrals, through to the humble garden shed, you will always be able to practise your skills and learn a few techniques in the process. This hands-on and inspirational book will encourage you to meet the exciting challenges of drawing and painting buildings using a variety of media and a wide range of techniques, including pencil, pen, graphite powder, watercolour, water-soluble pencils and Indian ink. As you work through this book, you will look at materials and their qualities then move on to explore how to put these materials to best use when drawing specific types of building. You will be led gently through levels of learning, with easy and more challenging exercises progressing your knowledge and developing your skills. As the book is divided into discrete sections, you can dip in to a particular type of building that you wish to draw, and use the information and illustration provided, while extended teaching exercises take you through the way the author approaches composing and completing a drawing. Fully annotated paintings, working drawings and extended projects reveal how each effect was achieved. Detailed artworks in a range of styles and media are thoroughly annotated to demonstrate key techniques and important details and there are invaluable exercises for understanding perspective, negative and positive space, tone, choosing details and constructing large-scale images. The book includes thorough studies of a wide range of different architectural styles, from town houses to rural cottages and barns, from churches and classical architecture to continental cafes and street scenes. Taylor's exquisite drawings and paintings demonstrate the quality of the results that can be achieved by following his helpful guidance and advice.

Abandoned Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: California Revealed is an unforgettable nocturnal journey through secret locations hidden in the deserts of California. California has more than its share of abandoned planes, trains, and automobiles. Famous for its aviation and aerospace, the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad, and car culture, California has long been at the forefront of transportation. Wander with Ken through rarely seen locations as he illuminates these forgotten scenes with light, creating haunting dreamlike exposures of several minutes or more. Immerse yourself in the experiences and adventures. Discover precisely how these night photos are created. If you are a fan of creative photography, transportation history, or vivid travel stories, this exploration of California's abandoned planes, trains, and automobiles is for you.

Edmund de Waal is a world-famous ceramicist. Having spent thirty years making beautiful pots―which are then sold, collected, and handed on―he has a particular sense of the secret lives of objects. When he inherited a collection of 264 tiny Japanese wood and ivory carvings, called netsuke, he wanted to know who had touched and held them, and how the collection had managed to survive.

And so begins The Hare with Amber Eyes, this extraordinarily moving memoir and detective story as de Waal discovers both the story of the netsuke and of his family, the Ephrussis, over five generations.

A nineteenth-century banking dynasty in Paris and Vienna, the Ephrussis were as rich and respected as the Rothchilds. Yet by the end of the World War II, when the netsuke were hidden from the Nazis in Vienna, this collection of very small carvings was all that remained of their vast empire.

This richly illustrated book celebrates in words and pictures the beautiful work that award-winning artist Alan Lee produced for J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, and includes dozens of brand-new paintings and pencil drawings exploring the world of Bilbo Baggins. Since The Hobbit was first published in 1937, generations of readers have fallen under its spell. That magic was reignited sixty years later, when Alan Lee was commissioned to produce a special illustrated edition, and his delicate pencil drawings and beautiful watercolour paintings have become for many the definitive vision of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. In this sumptuous, large-format hardback Alan Lee reveals in pictures and in words how he created these images, which would prove so powerful, matching perfectly with Tolkien's own vision, that they would eventually define the look of Peter Jackson's film adaptations and earn Alan a coveted Academy Award. The Hobbit Sketchbook is filled with more than 100 of his sketches and early conceptual pieces that reveal how the project progressed from idea to finished art. It also contains a wealth of brand-new full-colour paintings and sketches drawn specially for this book, which unlock the secrets of how Alan creates his own magic and provide a fascinating insight into the imagination of the man who breathed new life into Tolkien's vision.