Plains Indian ledger art grew out of the Native tradition of recording and chronicling through art important exploits by warriors and chiefs, among them images of war and hunting, that would adorn tipis and animal hides. These were seen as historical markers. But Native life on the Great Plains underwent tremendous change following the American Civil War, when the American conquest of the West was in full gear. In just a few decades, access to the hides of diminishing herds of bison, deer, antelope, and elk became more difficult and eventually impossible with reservation life. Native people creatively turned to the easily available ledger books of settlers, traders, and military men as their new canvases. The ledger art drawings of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are revered today for their depiction of Native life during the difficult transition to life on the reservation. The ledger drawings thus became a singularly important way for Native artists to preserve tribal history and to serve as a new kind of personal socio-political expression. Dwayne Wilcox, who grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation and is a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, became interested in ledger art at an early age. He was influenced by the work of Lakota ledger artists such as Amos Bad Heart Bull (1869-1913), but he always sought to defy stereotypical notions of Native life and history and create his own artistic vision. Dwayne eventually focused on humor as his way to comment on the objectification of Native Americans. Skilled as an artist beyond measure, Dwayne's ledger art drawings win major prizes and are sought by museums and collectors who see in him a true artist. Visual/Language is Dwayne's first book, and it was created as a collaborative effort with curator Karen Miller Nearburg, who provides an enlightening introduction to his work. This book will surely penetrate the heart and soul and mind of all who read it.

Charcoal is a versatile and dramatic medium with incredible potential for expression. This stunning book shows you how to create a drawing using its subtle, complex and bold qualities to best effect. Through step-by-step demonstrations and tasks, it explores the process, explaining how to capture a scene or the feeling of a scene, and, essentially, how best to fix an image to the page. With over 200 illustrations, this beautiful book is a compelling guide for everyone who wants to work with this elusive and powerful medium. Topics covered include: The basics of charcoal - explains the material, its qualities and ways of using it; Charcoal lenses - advises on how to choose interesting subjects with the use of photography and sketchbooks, and how to build a library of visual references; Mark making - includes techniques for complete beginners, as well as more advanced ideas for those hoping to develop and refine their work; Demonstrations - shows how to use the techniques and build a body of work; Soft pastel - suggests ways of combining charcoal with pastel to add colour to your work; Tasks and extensions - gives tips for trying and exploring ideas further to develop your own skills and to create a unique style to your work and finally: Protecting your work - advises on the key techniques used for fixing, photographing, storing and framing your work.

This comprehensive drawing manual is an invaluable guide for beginners, improvers, and established draftsmen. It contains hundreds of examples as well as step-by-step examples for artists to follow in order to build up their confidence and skills. All the major subject areas are covered, from simple object drawing and still life, to landscape drawing, portraiture, and figures. The book also explores the wider challenges of drawing facing all aspiring artists, such as how to break down visual information, recognize form, and apply perspective. Author Barrington Barber is a renowned authority on teaching drawing and a practicing artist.

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook accompanies the world's most widely used drawing instruction book by Betty Edwards. This workbook reinforces the five basic skills of drawing and includes: - 40 exercises to practice your drawing abilities - A range of subject matters from portrait drawing and still life, to landscapes and imaginative drawing - Advice for a variety of mediums such as pen and ink, charcoal and graphite - A pull-out viewfinder tool The original Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain helps artists to nurture the creative right side of the brain, dramatically improving your ability to draw, whether you are a professional, an artist in training or someone who draws for a hobby. This workbook will help you practise that knowledge with success at every step.

Keep the page in your book with this gorgeous pack of 10 foiled bookmarks, printed on both sides, with a silky ribbon and featuring Jean and Ron Henry's Fairy Story. Paintings of mythological creatures such as angels, cupids and fairies offer both the artist and the audience a glimpse into worlds of wonder. There is a long tradition of portraying fairies in art, and Jean and Ron Henry's Fairy Story is a charming, modern slant on the fairy world.

The top-selling Sterling Sketchbook series now features the popular new Kraft-cover format! With their quality paper and sturdy binding, this is the sketchbook of choice for both amateur and professional artists.   This beautiful sketchbook, with a ribbon marker, contains acid-free, medium-weight drawing paper with a vellum finish that’s perfect for everything from charcoal and pencil to light washes with ink and watercolor. Perforated pages make it easy to tear out “masterpieces� for framing or gift giving. All the copy (title, paper description, size, page count) appears on an attractively designed removable sticker that you can either leave on or remove for a clean, blank front cover.

Take your artwork to new heights with this sketchbook celebrating Castle in the Sky, Studio Ghibli’s spellbinding tale about a boy and a girl and their high-flying quest to find the legendary floating castle, Laputa.

This one-of-a-kind sketchbook featuring a tactile cloth cover with foil stamping, lay-flat binding, and extra-thick pages is perfect for writers, artists, and animation fans alike.

This is an accessibly written, illustrated biography of Venetian painter Rosalba Carriera (1673-1757), one of the most famous women artists in 18th-century Europe. It presents an overview of her life and work, considering Carriera's miniatures alongside her better-known, larger-scale works. Focusing on interpretation of her paintings in the historical context of her life as a single woman in Venice, the book offers an easy guide through Carrieras life, the people she met, her clients and her artistic approach. The author's new iconographic analysis of some of Carriera's works reveals that she was an erudite painter, drawing on antiquity as well as the work of Renaissance virtuosos such as Leonardo da Vinci and Paolo Veronese.