Celebrating the best drawings by contemporary artists, the Strokes of Genius series follows the beautiful, ongoing story of contemporary drawing through the work and words of some of today's top artists. Focusing on the theme "Inspiring Subjects," this thoughtfully curated 10th edition features the artists' most compelling subject matter. Artists and art lovers alike are sure to be inspired by the resulting energy and expressiveness showcased on these pages.

- 127 modern-day masterpieces in charcoal, pencil, pastel, colored pencil, scratchboard, pen and ink, and more

- A breathtaking diversity of styles and approaches

- Comments from the artists offer fresh-from-the-studio advice, insights, and anecdotes not found anywhere else

Discover a unique approach to creating art on location: start with a loose, colorful watercolor sketch, let that layer dry, then add details in ink. The result? Sketches that are more vibrant, dynamic, and fun! Designer, urban sketcher, and author of The Urban Sketching Handbook: Sketch Now, Think Later, Mike Daikubara is your guide to this exciting method in The Urban Sketching Handbook: Color First, Ink Later: Start with a detailed overview of the process, from optional light pencil sketch to finishing touches Follow along several step-by-step demonstrations that apply the approach to a range of subjects, from still life to figures to architecture Get inspired by an extensive gallery of on-location sketches You'll learn how to let watercolor do the hard work of urban sketching and enjoy the spontaneous effects and delightful surprises you'll see in your artwork. The Urban Sketching Handbooks 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. Also available from the Urban Sketching Handbooks series: Understanding Light; Panoramas and Vertical Vistas; Drawing Expressive People; Techniques for Beginners; Complete Urban Sketching Companion; Drawing with a Tablet; 101 Sketching Tips; Working with Color; Sketch Now, Think Later; Understanding Perspective; People and Motion; and Architecture and Cityscapes.

Conjure creatures and characters from your imagination! To generate fantasy characters and inhabitants that populate an imaginary world, sometimes you need a little creative fuel...and a 20-sided die. Fantasy Genesis Characters is a choose-your-own-adventure game where a roll of the dice decides what type of creature you create. Each chapter expands on mimicking the observable world to engineer original populations by mashing up unrelated quirks and concepts--think "vegetarian zombie," "Byzantine goth" or "gangster sheep." Roll the dice to combine traits from word lists. Mix random emotions, behaviors, costumes, cultures and anthropomorphic attributes to create infinite and unexpected characters. Short lessons supply the building blocks to develop character components--expressions, gestures, posture, etc.--while mini demos, creative challenges and RPG-like activities help you bring them to life. 30+ challenges and demonstrations illustrate how to conceptualize and create fully developed fantasy characters Use free-association word games to jump-start your brain into forming original ideas, crazy-cool mash-ups and visual solutions Includes a crash course in anatomy, plus tips for drawing from life and reference photos Learn to sketch facial expressions and modify classic archetypes

Readers will learn three distinct painting methods: water-soluble colored pencil; wax and oil-based colored pencil with solvents; and wax-based colored pencil used with a heated surface. (Using a heated surface is an exciting new technique that softens wax-based colored pencils and other wax-based media to a viscous consistency, similar to traditional opaque painting mediums.) Readers will discover an unlimited variety of creative possibilities, from the painterly style of acrylics and oils, to the loose watercolor look of water-soluble colored pencils, plus everything in between. Easy to follow step-by-step demonstrations, teach different techniques and subject, and include specific materials lists and color pallets. The final chapter will include demonstrations combining the three methods.

This revised 15th anniversary edition of the bestselling beginning drawing book updates art and text examples to include new student pieces, up-to-date materials, and additional sections on drawing in 3D and travel sketching, along with refreshed and contemporary design.

Based on author and art instructor Claire Watson Garcia's successful courses and workshops for beginning and aspiring artists, Drawing for the Absolute and Utter Beginner applies a positive, accepting tone to a progressive series of lessons in sketching and rendering. The book's step-by-step methodology and examples of student works from earliest efforts to completed drawings give novices the tools and techniques needed to make competent and eloquent renderings of still lifes, portraits, and more. In this revised edition, Garcia covers such in-demand subject matter as drawing-on-the-go, drawing in three dimensions, and drawing the portrait at a three-quarter view. The reinvigorated art and text ensure that this drawing instruction classic will continue to appeal to new generations of aspiring artists.

The Urban Sketching Handbook: Understanding Light is an informative guide to heightening the impact of your artwork by capturing the look and subtleties of light in any scene. In settings ranging from fields and mountains at daybreak to neon cityscapes at midnight, learn how to express light effects through color and value to improve and refine your drawings and paintings. Artist and urban sketcher Katie Woodward offers strategies for: Selectively translating values for maximum effect Using your sketchbook to experiment with the effects of natural as well as artificial light Considering many options for visual solutions through work contributed by experienced urban sketchers Master the art of rendering light with The Urban Sketching Handbook: Understanding Light as your guide. The Urban 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.

Eric Gill (1882-1940) is one of the twentieth century's most controversial artists. This illustrated introduction focuses on the clarity of Gill's drawn and cut line. It explores his genius as a letter cutter, wood engraver, sculptor and typographer in the light of his refined finished drawings and preparatory sketches. Like all modernists of the early twentieth-century, he used stylised form, explicit sexuality and the influence of other cultures to position himself at the forefront of the avant-garde. An outsider and a radical, Gill nevertheless became one the establishment's favourite artists, with his patrons including the Catholic Church, the Lord Chancellor's office, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Mint, the London Underground, the BBC, the Post Office and the League of Nations. The authors illuminate here the quality, complexities and contradictions of Gill's fascinating life and art.

Generations of students have benefited from the teachings of this 19th-century master, whose sketches of vignettes from natural settings are accompanied by a series of lessons emphasizing both practical and theoretical considerations. This edition features the added attraction of 23 outstanding plates from the author's Lessons on Trees.

Tirthas shares Dana Westring’s artistic, emotional, and intellectual foray to India. Through art and text, the author identifies the 41 locations that he visits and documents his reaction to his travels. Paintings are presented in a stylistic form that represents not only the architecture and landscape, but also how he feels each is best represented by medium, whether watercolor, pen and ink, or charcoal—all in an effort to convey the emotional essence of what he has encountered on his journey through this astonishing country.

The humble sketch is the foundation of great art, where thoughts and concepts first come to life as an image-but rarely are sketches celebrated like they deserve to be for their power to explore, inspire, and entertain. In Sketching from the Imagination: Sci-fi, a selection of fifty talented traditional and digital artists, ranging from industry legends to talented up-and-comers, have been chosen to share their sketches and reveal the ideas, inspirations, and techniques behind their creative processes. Continuing the high-quality format of 3dtotal Publishing's previous successes, Sketching from the Imagination: An Insight into Creative Drawing and Sketching from the Imagination: Fantasy, this new title is dedicated to fantasy's sibling genre, sci-fi, in all its forms. From doodles of robots and aliens to concept designs for spaceships and speculative life-forms, including rendered drawings of invented worlds, Sketching from the Imagination: Sci-fi presents a handpicked collection of the best sketches and drawings by sci-fi artists from across the globe-each with their own unique style and approach to the genre. Each artist presents an impressive showcase of images from their sketchbooks, accompanied by their own enlightening commentary, and page upon page of useful tips, techniques, creative insights, and invaluable advice for getting your ideas out of your brain and onto the page. Sketching from the Imagination: Sci-fi is not only a must-have resource for any concept designer's shelf, but a stunning compilation of drawings that will delight sci-fi fans and any admirer of beautiful artwork.

Having trouble drawing a nose that looks like a nose? In this step-by-step guide, Lee Hammond will teach you how to draw realistic-looking portraits of your favorite people-more easily than you ever thought possible. Really! The secret is in the blending: With pencil and paper, Lee shows you how to create gradual, smooth shadings of light and dark to replicate the subtle contours of skin...and how to use these simple shading techniques to make any shape look three-dimensional. After you've got the basics down, you'll see how to draw every part of the face. It's made easy by looking at each feature as simple, interlocking shapes, then adding the right highlights and shadows. In no time, you'll be drawing realistic noses, mouths, eyes, ears...even facial expressions. Then you'll see how to put all those features together to create an expressive portrait that actually looks like your subject! Step-by-step demonstrations guide you all the way.

Stimulating exercises to help beginner to advanced students push the boundaries of traditional drawing. As with most art forms, it's best to comprehend traditional drawing techniques before you break the rules. But once you've mastered the basics, you may find that you gravitate to more abstract ways of rendering everything from still lifes to figures. However, this book is not only about avant-garde style; it is experimental in that it forces the artist out of his or her comfort zone, whatever that might be. In this book, renowned New York University professor, Robert Kaupelis, shares the tutorials that he used with his students, offering illustrations of drawings and paintings from old masters to contemporary artists (and even some outstanding works from his students) to explain techniques. Covering everything from creating form through contour drawings to drawing with new technology, Experimental Drawing helps you zero in on concepts and form ideas that may take your work to a new and more intriguing level. Some of the innovative exercises you'll find here include: * Drawing models while blindfolded * Engaging in group drawing sessions popularized during the Dada era * Utilizing different drawing materials like glass, plastic, feathers, string, sponges, metal dust, and more * Reducing a post's brushstroke from six to one * Using cross-contour lines for a more abstract still life * Integrating a grid system on a carefully rendered scene to create an illusion of distorted space and movement * And much more... This classic volume's inventive and stimulating projects will help serious artists develop their own vision and their own way to draw. Includes more than 200 spectacular drawings by old and modern masters from Michelangelo to Jasper Johns.

83 moving works: The Weavers, Peasant War, War, Death, and others. "To see the beautiful examples of her work reproduced in this well-printed, reasonably priced volume is to sit at the feet of a great modern master..."-School Arts.

This repackaged edition of this best-selling guide to anatomy in art that will help artists of all levels to improve their life-drawing skills. Unlock your inner artist and discover how to draw the human body in this beautifully-illustrated art book by celebrated artist and teacher, Sarah Simblet. Whether you're looking to develop a new skill this New Year, or develop your drawing skills even further, this visually-striking guide offers a fresh approach to drawing the human body. Dive straight in to discover: -Over 250 specially-commissioned photographs and drawings -Covers each part of the human body from head to toe -10 masterclasses demonstrate how famous artists have depicted the human body -Practical advice and top-tips on life drawing Combining stunning photographs of models with historical and contemporary works of art and her own dynamic life drawing, Sarah will take you on a journey inside the human body to map its skeleton, muscle groups and body systems. Bring your artwork to life in the most dynamic way possible, with detailed line drawings superimposed over photographs to reveal the links between the body's appearance and it's construction. Featuring inspirational master classes on world-famous artworks, from Michelangelo to Hans Holbein, Ingres to Degas and more, discover how artists have depicted the human body over centuries. Each master class features a photograph of a model holding the same pose as in the painting, to highlight key details of anatomy and show how the artist has interpreted them. Understanding anatomy is the foundation to understanding the human body successfully. As well as being the perfect reference, Anatomy for the Artist will inspire you to find a model, reach for your pencil and start drawing! Let DK plant the seed of curiosity and watch as it develops into a life-long love of art, anatomy and more. A must-have volume for artists of all levels who wish to tackle life drawing, or those interested in human anatomy, whether as a gift or self-purchase.

A wonderful introduction to drawing moving people, shown in very simple step-by-step stages. Susie Hodge includes a wide selection of ages and activities, from adult dancers to young footballers. Both beginners and experienced artists will learn and be inspired by these illustrations inside.

Giovanni Civardi explores and explains the intricate process of depicting the female nude. From choosing your method of representation and deciding whether to draw from life or from photography, every facet of drawing the female nude is covered in this in-depth reference book, a valuable resource for any artist. Civardi's own considered drawings provide an excellent basis for the artist wanting to expand their figure-drawing skills; and the author takes a practical, almost geometric, approach to depicting the female form, breaking down the body into basic shapes and portraying the female figure in a variety of simple and complex poses.

This book provides a thorough and expert guide to the subject of botanical drawing, through detailed text, examples of the author's own studies, short exercises and larger projects. Penny Brown produces traditional botanical drawings primarily rendered in pencil. The book touches on the history of botanical drawing, the rules and practicalities, and includes an accessible, basic study of botany for the absolute beginner. From creating an initial line drawing to adding tone and then creating more complex compositions, Botanical Drawing is a detailed study of the practice for anyone wishing to explore the subject in great depth, led by an expert artist.

An easy-to-follow, step-by-step manga drawing instruction book from fan favorite manga artist and painter Camilla d'Errico, featuring 30 lessons on illustrating cute, cool, and quirky characters in the Pop Surrealist style with pencils.

With wildly popular appearances at Comic Cons and her paintings displayed in art galleries around the world, Camilla d'Errico has established herself as a go-to resource for manga-influenced art. Following in the footsteps of her past art instruction books Pop Manga and Pop Painting, Pop Manga Drawing provides the most direct and accessible lessons yet for rendering characters in her signature Pop Surrealist style. Written in the fun and encouraging voice that fans have come to expect, Pop Manga Drawing takes you step-by-step through lessons on drawing with graphite and mechanical pencils, along with insights on enhancing pieces with other mediums (including acrylics, markers, and colored pencils). It also provides tips and expert advice on drawing specific elements, including hair, eyes, and animals, that can take your manga art to the next level. Pop Manga Drawing grants one-of-a-kind access to the basic building blocks of artistic expression, giving you the tools you need to create your own pop manga masterpieces.

Profusely illustrated book by master of the subject offers complete course in transforming the study of anatomy into art. Each stage progresses logically through the body's main areas -- trunk, limbs, head, and features. Scores of drawings by painters, graphic artists, sculptors, art teachers, and students. 55 figures in color; 141 in black and white.

Stephen Rogers Peck's Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist remains unsurpassed as a manual for students. It includes sections on bones, muscles, surface anatomy, proportion, equilibrium, and locomotion. Other unique features are sections on the types of human physique, anatomy from birth to old age, an orientation on racial anatomy, and an analysis of facial expressions. The wealth of information offered by the Atlas ensures its place as a classic for the study of the human form.