Open this book as an absolute beginner, and come away as a proud portrait artist

Mark and Mary Willenbrink's"Absolute Beginner" books have helped thousands of novices tap into their inner artists. In this book, Mark and Mary help the beginning artist take on portraits, showing that absolutely anyone can draw faces. Their encouraging, easy-to-follow instruction style makes learning fun--you'll be amazed by how quickly you achieve impressive results.

You may be a beginner now, but not for long "Drawing Portraits for the Absolute Beginner" covers everything from warming up with sketches, and capturing facial expressions, to framing your finished work. Page by page, you'll build the skills and confidence you need to draw lifelike portraits of your friends and family.

What's Inside:

• A simple two-stage approach to drawing portraits: sketch a likeness, then build up values to bring it to life
• Step-by-step instruction for drawing eyes, noses, mouths, hairstyles, hands, glasses and other tricky elements
• 13 complete demonstrations featuring a range of ages and ethnicities
• Tips for evoking more personality in your portraits by using props, costumes and accessories

Personal symbols and motifs can be explored endlessly when there are a solid number of painting techniques to draw from. In this workshop approach, the reader will be encouraged to explore a chosen theme in as many forms as possible. After learning where to find inspiration (past experiences, memories, intentions, cultural themes, etc.) and how to develop a personal library of symbols, colors and marks, the reader will be guided through 15 techniques to use in her paintings and will also see two or three complete painting projects come together start-to-finish. Notebook Prompts will offer the reader ideas for developing her own new series, showing her how to collect ideas that reflect her personal voice.

Capture the Rich Textures of Nature, Step by StepCapture nature's beauty as you never have before. Beloved artist and teacher Claudia Nice leads you on an inspired journey through the great outdoors. With paints in hand, she shares with you her best techniques for creating landscapes that come alive with richness, depth and textured detail. Open this guide and start painting right away. As you follow engaging, step-by-step demonstrations and exercises, you'll learn to recreate the textural elements of a range of terrains and landscapes. Chapters include: Creative clouds and skies Majestic mountains, hills and mesas Texturing trees, trunks and foliage Rugged rocks and gritty gravel Transparent textures for rivers, falls and lakes Flowers of the field In a special section, Claudia covers basic texturing techniques with mini demos using lines, dots, bruising, scribbling, spattering, blotting, printing, stamping and more. From paints and pens to sponges, leaves and facial tissue, you'll explore all kinds of fun and inventive ways to create amazing textures. And to help you put it all together, Claudia includes her masterful advice for creating compositions using reference photos, field sketches and your own creative license. Each demonstration features a large image of the completed landscape, so you can see exactly how Claudia's methods work - from start to finish.

An anthology of cartoons from the syndicated comic strip, Bloom County encompasses highlights from the five-year span of the strip.

Create Better Compositions by Design

The path to better painting begins with "Mastering Composition." This effective guide blends clear, visual instruction with 5 step-by-step demonstrations to show you how to plan and paint your best work yet.

Composition is the key, and here you'll learn to design paintings with new skill and confidence. It all begins with the armature or structure of the picture plane. Every great painting has one, and you'll see through several famous examples exactly how the Old Masters used armatures to create movement, narrative, harmony and fluidity. Based on these examples, you'll practice what you've learned following a series of hands-on demonstrations.

Once you understand the basic principles of design, you'll be amazed at how quickly and effectively your compositions come together. Soon you will be painting more boldly and confidently than ever before with less reworking and overworking.

Whether you're a beginner looking for basic instruction or a more advanced painter troubleshooting a specific problem, the proven methods in this book will work for you. Ideal for all mediums, "Mastering Composition" gives you the knowledge you need to create powerful paintings out of every subject.

Immerse yourself in the world of Game of Thrones through this beautifully and intricately illustrated colouring book for adults. Complete portraits of your favourite characters, and experience the dramatic landscapes and cities of the Seven Kingdoms and beyond. This is a colouring book of truly epic proportions. Official HBO Licensed Product (c) 2016 Home Box Office, Inc. All Rights Reserved. HBO and related trademarks are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.

This inspiring book makes drawing in a realistic style easier than you may think and more fun than you ever imagined! Authors Mark and Mary Willenbrink (Watercolor for the Absolute Beginner) cover it all-from choosing materials and the correct way to hold your pencil, to expert advice on the tricky stuff, like getting proportions and perspective right, drawing reflections, and designing strong compositions. (It's not as scary as it sounds...not with Mark and Mary as your guide!) At the heart of this book, a series of fun, hands-on exercises help you practice and perfect your strokes-24 mini-demos lead up to 9 full step-by-step demos. Each exercise builds on the previous one as you develop your skills, build your confidence, and enjoy yourself along the way. The lessons you learn by drawing simple subjects such as coffee mugs, clouds and trees will help you take on progressively more challenging matter like animals, still lifes, landscapes and portraits...the kinds of subjects and scenes you've always dreamt of drawing. This book is just the ticket for budding artists of any age. It's never too early and never too late to discover the pure joy of drawing!

Containing more than 300 step-by-step photographs, tips, instructions, and finished paintings, this complete guide provides a comprehensive introduction to watercolor and serves as an essential addition to the reference library of any artist. For those seeking to brush up on their skills or learn new ways of applying traditional techniques, this master class on atmosphere and mood, taught by renowned instructor David Bellamy, includes many excellent demonstrations and instructions on how to paint mountains and crags, rivers, hedgerows, flowers, beaches, harbors, and figures. With surprisingly simple techniques regarding composition, perspective, color, texture, and detail, this is a must-have resource for aspiring and experienced artists alike.

Glen Scouller's paintings are full of vibrant colour and light. In Colour and Line in Watercolour - his first book - he explains how he achieves these effects. He combines traditional watercolour techniques with adding pen and ink, pastels and crayons to create paintings brimming with colour and spontaneity.Using step-by-step demonstration paintings, Scouller shows how he builds up his paintings, working first in watercolour and adding other media to create his original style. He gives advice on his methods and techniques and encourages the reader to experiment with mixed media. He believes that keeping a sketchbook is very important, especially when travelling and shares tips on how to start and use one. There are also sections on painting outdoors and in the studio. The subjects covered are boats and boatyards, landscapes, still life, animals and figures and portraits.Colour and Line in Watercolour encourages all watercolourists, whatever their level, to experiment with the medium and produce exciting and challenging work of their own by adding line in various mixed media to their watercolours.

Etching can seem mysterious and inaccessible, but this practical book guides you through the process to reveal the potential of this distinctive means of creating artists' prints. With clear instructions and visual guides, it explains the many ways that marks are first made on a metal plate before ink is applied and the image transferred onto a sheet of paper. The book goes on to introduce a broad menu of techniques, allowing the visual artist to develop a uniquely personal approach. Topics include the materials and equipment needed to get started, from the simple etching needle and scraper-burnisher to the etching press. Explanations are given for photo-etching, aquatint, as well as related intaglio processes such as drypoint and photopolymer. This new book encourages artists to experiment and try combining techniques to explore their potential, and includes interviews with leading artists explaining their approaches.

Bold Exciting Powerful A new level of artistic expression! Every artist strives to achieve the kind of painting that commands attention from across the room and delights the eye up close. In this book, artist and workshop teacher Patti Mollica walks you through surprisingly simple and efficient strategies for achieving that kind of powerful composition, whatever your subject. Complete with timed exercises and start-to-finish painting demonstrations, this book is for any artist who feels overwhelmed by where to start or daunted by the urge to paint everything in sight. Patti Mollica's mindful approach will lead you to better, bolder results, as well as greater confidence and joy in the process. So load your palette with ample paint, grab some fat brushes and get ready to paint fast, paint loose, paint bold. Start with a strong, simple value statement Get expressive with color Be brave with your brushwork 5 technique exercises 5 start-to-finish painting demonstrations Paint fearlessly!

Full text, plus anatomical illustrations; plates by great artists showing anatomy. 593 illus.

Yes you can draw! Following the success of the Draw in 15 Minutes series, Jake Spicer has created a straightforward drawing course that anyone can follow. Using the tried and tested methods honed in his successful drawing classes, Jake guides the reader through a programme of subjects and scenarios, all designed to give the beginner confidence and build their skills. The subjects include still lifes, cityscapes, people and pets, and each lesson is accompanied by exercises and tips for improvement. The last section of the book looks at skills in more detail, and can be referenced at any stage. Draw is carefully crafted to look and feel accessible to the beginner draftsman, and the lessons are thoughtfully balanced to complement this. Along with the friendly approach, the author provides a thorough foundation in drawing, giving the reader the perfect base to develop their skills and become a confident artist.

Discover your creative side with Zenescope Entertainment's Alice in Wonderland Adult Coloring Book, the follow up edition to the Best-Selling Grimm Fairy Tales Adult Coloring Book. This fun and original coloring book is a gorgeous collection of popular and iconic cover artwork from one of the best-selling comic book series of the past decade, ready for you to put your distinctive spin on! With beautifully detailed drawings from some of the most talented artists in comic books, you can bring the fantastical Wonderland Realm to life-whether you're looking for a relaxing and fun way to unwind, or to practice your colorist skills. It's time to follow your imagination down the rabbit hole! "Price Includes VAT"

Clear, challenging and inspiring, this book contains instructions for 65 abstract paintings that you can get to work on straight away, with no previous experience. All the basic information relating to picture elements, composition, theme and design is provided at the start of the book, together with an exploration of the meaning of abstract painting, and its importance as a means of self-expression and creativity. Rather than providing step-by-step instructions, each of the exercises consists of information on method, materials, technique, composition, imagery and structure which will direct you to the finished piece while at the same time allowing your creativity to flow.

Deepen your love of the garden with Lorene Edwards Forkner's inspirational advice on gardening, mindfulness, and life-plus easy instructions for capturing favorite botanical colors with a few simple brushstrokes If you love flowers and the rich hues of the garden, Color In and Out of the Garden is for you. Author and garden expert Lorene Edwards Forkner shares her gardening wisdom and life advice in this delightfully useful and addictively readable little book. Along the way, she also demonstrates quick and easy techniques for keeping a garden journal so you can record your favorite plants with just a few simple brushstrokes. Arranged by color, each chapter helps readers be in the moment, sharpen their powers of observation, and capture nature's most lovely hues. Plant profiles, practical advice, and personal reflections mingle with creative prompts for creating a simple watercolor that helps focus one's attention. Color symbolism, such as red representing energy, yellow for memory, and green for growth, is also explored. Illustrated with beautiful photographs, the book invites readers to slow down, look attentively, and to appreciate the world around them. Both a mindfulness exercise for seeing garden colors and an easy guide to reproducing them on the page, Color In and Out of the Garden is as satisfying to read as it is to use. Forkner guides readers through the spectrum with her own watercolors while offering color inspiration and a delightful garden respite from everyday stress.

This title stimulates new ways to think about colour, generating responses that unlock personal creativity. It features 31 practical and stimulating lessons that teach how to use colour and composition to make paintings come alive. Colour is one of the never-ending mysteries of painting; there is always more to discover. Through clear, illuminating exercises, this brilliant book stimulates new ways to think about colour, generating responses that unlock personal creativity and allowing artists to express themselves with paint as never before. Colour is one of the never-ending mysteries of painting; there is always more to discover and explore. In thirty-one practical and stimulating lessons, author Jeanne Dobie offers insights into ways to use both colour and composition to make paintings come alive.

Drawing and Painting People - A Fresh Approach is about confident and defiant art. Written by a practising artist and tutor, it contains inspiring examples, thought-provoking insights and practical advice about how to become more expressive and adventurous with your work. It is a book for people who are serious about painting and want to develop work that is personal and exceptional in quality. An unpretentious, non-academic approach to painting and drawing Avoiding 'painting by numbers' Strategies for independent working, building confidence and taking risks Examples from notable artists The body as an inspiring muse