If you can write your name, you have enough touch to learn to draw. Let Mark Linley inspire you to pick up your pencil and create a magical masterpiece. His positive approach secures quick, accurate results and ever-growing confidence. Learn to look properly and get the basic outlines correct; include the key features but simplify what you see; understand how shading (such as dot stipple or cross-hatching) can transform a sketch; get the eye level right and see how a grid helps with the composition. Whatever you want to draw - a beautiful holiday scene, a lifelike portrait of your family or favourite pet, or even a funny cartoon to illustrate a birthday card - Mark Linley shows, in this new edition of his bestselling book, everything you need to succeed.

During the first half of the twentieth century, E. L. Koller wrote a series of art instruction books for home study, designed to simplify various techniques for beginning artists -- and help established artists polish their craft. The books are as relevant -- and the information as essential -- to artists today as it was then. A classic in this series, "Light, Shade and Shadow, " shows how the study of light is a necessary foundation for creating an appealing work of art.
Even the most beautiful drawing can appear flat without shading. But with this expert guide, every artist can learn how to use shadow to add visual dimension and drama to their work, and to master techniques such as highlighting and gradation. Beginning with the basics -- casting light on simple geometric shapes -- and progressing to the human figure, these step-by-step techniques, illustrations, and exercises can show artists of all abilities how to achieve a new level of depth in their work.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive.We are republishing many of these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Make professional-looking metal jewellery and accessories without investing in silversmithing tools, equipment and training, with this essential guide to working with precious metal clay. Metal clay is a magical material: real metal in clay form that can be modelled and then fired to turn it into pure metal. It has taken the crafting world by storm in the past 20 years and its versatility and accessibility means it is used by professional jewellery makers and hobbyists alike. Metal clay is available in many different types - silver, copper, bronze and even steel. It can be sculpted, modelled, moulded, rolled into sheets, cut into shapes, woven, braided and carved to produce an endless array of forms and effects. Equipment needed is minimal and you will probably have most of the simple tools in your home already. This book concentrates on silver clay which is the easiest kind to use because it can be fired without a kiln. After drying the clay, it is fired using either a small blow torch, a gas hob, or camping gas and in five minutes or less the clay becomes pure 999 silver that can be hallmarked. This book will show you how to master all the basic techniques of working with metal clay while later chapters cover more advanced techniques. Twenty gorgeous projects are shown in detail with clear step-by-step photographs. There are pendants, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, charms, brooches, beads, cufflinks and rings and many of the projects give alternative ideas for developing your skills. Embellishment techniques are shown in detail from setting stones and gilding to enamelling with resin, adding inlay, engraving, and oxidising for luscious colours. Whatever your skill level and whatever your craft style you will find this a rich and inspiring guide with tried-and-tested techniques explained in detail, as well as the cutting edge of metal clay creativity and materials. A few projects that need kiln firing are given at the end of the book to show what can be achieved if you decide to go further with this fabulous material. Author Sue Heaser is a prolific crafter who has written over 18 books on the subjects of jewellery making, polymer clay, metal clay and miniatures. Her expert guidance will give even the beginner the confidence and the inspiration to start a love affair with metal clay and all its creative possibilities.

Extinct worlds live again in palaeoart: artworks of fossil animals, plants and environments carefully reconstructed from palaeontological and geological data. Such artworks are widespread in popular culture, appearing in documentaries, museums, books and magazines, and inspiring depictions of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals in cinema. This book outlines how fossil animals and environments can be reconstructed from their fossils, explaining how palaeoartists overcome gaps in fossil data and predict 'soft-tissue' anatomies no longer present around fossil bones. It goes on to show how science and art can meet to produce compelling, interesting takes on ancient worlds, and it explores the goals and limitations of this popular but rarely discussed art genre.

Just when you thought there was no hope of ever finding a comprehensive color-mixing resource for oil, acrylic, and watercolor artists, along comes the 1,500 Color Mixing Recipes for Oil, Acrylic & Watercolor, a collection of Walter Foster's bestselling Color Mixing Recipes books, including Color Mixing Recipes for Oil and Acrylic, Color Mixing Recipes for Portraits, Color Mixing Recipes for Watercolor, and the most recent addition, Color Mixing Recipes for Landscapes. This incredible collection comes in a user-friendly concealed spiral-bound format that is tabbed for quick and easy reference. Aspiring artists will also find two removable color mixing grids--one for oil or acrylic, and one for watercolor.

This is a collection of sporting prints lampooning the work of expert draughtsmen such as Stubbs, Rowlandson, Fernley and Pollard. Thelwell, the creator of the cartoon character Penelope, has a superb eye for detail and for the relationship between humans and animals.

Make a selection of loveable characters in rich, sumptuous shades ready for Christmas, with this adorable collection of 25 quick-and-easy step-by-step projects. All the projects are sewn by hand using accessible fabrics and actual-size templates. The projects include snowmen, mice, penguins, reindeer and other cute Christmas characters. Also included are delightfully quick and simple Christmas cards, hearts, tree decorations and gift bags.

A New York Times Bestseller A Washington Post Bestseller A Los Angeles Times Bestseller Named a "Best Essay Collection of the Decade" by Literary Hub A Book Riot "Favorite Summer Read of 2020" A Food Tank Fall 2020 Reading Recommendation Updated with a new introduction from Robin Wall Kimmerer, the special edition of Braiding Sweetgrass, reissued in honor of the fortieth anniversary of Milkweed Editions, celebrates the book as an object of meaning that will last the ages. Beautifully bound with a new cover featuring an engraving by Tony Drehfal, this edition includes a bookmark ribbon and five brilliantly colored illustrations by artist Nate Christopherson. In increasingly dark times, we honor the experience that more than 350,000 readers in North America have cherished about the book--gentle, simple, tactile, beautiful, even sacred--and offer an edition that will inspire readers to gift it again and again, spreading the word about scientific knowledge, indigenous wisdom, and the teachings of plants. As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on "a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise" (Elizabeth Gilbert). Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings--asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass--offer us gifts and lessons, even if we've forgotten how to hear their voices. In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.

One of the difficulties about how our minds work is that we often cannot quite clearly see or know what is inside us. Art therapists have a longstanding tradition of prescribing image-making to prompt expression of feelings, often by asking people to draw, paint, or sculpt "how you feel." It is one of the fundamental approaches in the field that distinguishes art therapy from verbal techniques that ask people to simply talk about their emotions. Author Erica Jong once wrote that imagery is a form of emotional shorthand. This could be interpreted to mean that while we may use paragraphs of prose to describe an emotional experience, images allow us to communicate simply and directly. At its core, art therapy embraces the paradigm that creating images cuts to the chase when it comes to expressing feelings. The point is not to draw well. But to draw with authenticity. This is specifically a book for people who can't draw.

Create, Explore, and ... Relax with The Official Minecraft Coloring Book! Creepers got you down? Pickaxe constantly breaking? Illagers raiding your hard-won homestead? Sometimes even the hardiest adventurer just needs a break. Based on Minecraft, the best-selling video game of all time, this deluxe adult coloring book lets you slow down, destress, and color your way through over sixty epic pages of original art inspired by the expansive, wondrous, and never-ending Minecraft world.

Learn how to apply the right knot in any situation - secure and strong enough for the job. Such skill can be essential to the safety and enjoyment of leisure pursuits, such as climbing, sailing and fishing. In rescue, life can depend on it. Here Geoffrey Budworth has selected over 100 of the best knots from his lifetime's experience of knots.

What you need to craft it now

There you are, enjoying a normal Saturday afternoon, when it hits you, the sudden, inexplicable urge to "make" something. Whether you're carving a new piece of jewelry or an adorable plush bunny, you'll find something to love in "Craft It Now." With more than seventy-five simple projects ranging from crochet to polymer clay and everything in between, this book has you covered when you need a quick craft fix.

• Simple step-by-step instructions.
• Projects can be completed in a weekend (or faster )
• Original projects for papercraft, jewelry-making, needlework and more

Here at last is the stress-reducing colouring book that lets adults of all ages colour their way through the funny and true annoyances of everyday life. From trying to assemble flat pack furniture to clearing an office paper jam, juggling remote controls, dropping contact lenses on the bathroom floor, and nudging the cat who absolutely won't let you read your book, the dozens of witty and sympathetically amusing illustrations offer real therapy and poke gentle fun at the meditative colouring craze.

* Complete instructions in text and step-by-step photographs * Make a wide variety of practical and decorative items - herb and garden markers, bowls, serving dishes, hanging panels, house numbers, jewelry cases, and more - by fusing glass * Full-size patterns, materials lists, and beautiful finished project photos are included for each project

The perfect book for budding artists, How to Draw Almost Every Day challenges and inspires you to draw one simple illustration each day of the year. Don't let your artistic aspirations come to an end before they start! Everyone wants to draw stylish, evocative pictures, but between busy schedules, not knowing basic techniques, and simply feeling like their art isn't "good enough," many people quickly give up on learning to draw. This is where How to Draw Almost Every Day comes in! Each image in this technique-driven book is broken down with step-by-step diagrams, making the process of creating the image easy to understand. You'll learn to draw items from everyday life, like food and clothing, as well as seasonal images, including snowmen and pumpkins. We have also included inspiring project photos to show you how to incorporate the doodles into greeting cards, calendars, invitations, gift wrap, and just about anything you can imagine. So stop putting it off and get drawing! Each book in the Almost Everything series offers readers a fun, comprehensive, and charmingly illustrated visual directory of ideas to inspire skill building in their creative endeavors.

A book about creativity for anyone who's ever looked at a blank sheet of paper and felt bad. Like you, syndicated cartoonist Dana Maier wants a creativity shortcut-a magical fairy who will both come up with brilliant ideas and grant the energy and discipline to churn them out. This book is not that magical shortcut-you won't find stirring literary quotes or a foolproof system for sparking inspiration here-but it does provide commiseration, jokes, and comics about the often-painful act of creating something. Skip to the Fun Parts is a book for those of us who ever wanted a shortcut to being creative and realized, sadly, that there was none, but decided to give it a try anyway.