By their sheer size and ambition, murals can pose difficult and unique challenges for the artist. This practical book guides you through the process, from first choosing a design to applying the paint to the wall. Written by a leading artist, it covers the principles of artistic practice before explaining how to approach a large-scale project. Throughout, it shares the tips and tricks behind this most impressive of art forms. It covers in detail materials and equipment; colour theory and building a palette; planning a design; translating a sketch onto a large wall or canvas and it gives specific techniques including the use of stencils and trompe l'oeil. Beautifully illustrated, it is an essential and impressive guide and reference for all artists and designers.

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.

Attention all creative fashionistas! The ultimate guide to drawing today's most stylish fashion designs is here created by the world's most popular author of art-instruction books. Set your inner designer free with this on-trend sequel to Christopher Hart's bestselling 'Fashion Design Studio', featuring easy templates to help aspiring fashionistas draw the garments of their dreams. Hart not only covers perennially popular styles and the basics of drawing dresses, tops, trousers and accessories, he provides the fun details all fashion-forward artists love. Here are irresistibly hip touches like hi-low hemlines, cutout shoulders, patchwork denim, high-cut waistlines, floral-print ankle boots, and carefully clashed patterns. Every page will spark your creativity and give you all you need to draw your most fabulous creations!

This practical and supremely useful manual is the first comprehensive, hands-on introduction to Japanese ceramics. The Japanese ceramics tradition is without compare in its technical and stylistic diversity, its expressive content, and the level of appreciation it enjoys, both in Japan and around the world. "Inside Japanese Ceramics "focuses on tools, materials, and procedures, and how all of these have influenced the way traditional Japanese ceramics look and feel. A true primer, it concentrates on the basics: setting up a workshop, pot-forming techniques, decoration, glazes, and kilns and firing. It introduces the major methods and styles that are taught in most Japanese workshops, including several representative and well-known wares: Bizen, Mino, Karatsu, Hagi, and Kyoto.
While presenting the time-tested techniques of the tradition, author Richard L. Wilson also accommodates modern technologies and materials as appropriate. Wilson has gathered a wealth of information on two fronts--as a researcher of Japanese pottery and art history, and as a potter who has studied and worked for years with master Japanese potters. In his introduction, he provides a short history of Japanese ceramics, and in closing he looks beyond traditional methods toward ways in which Western potters can make Japanese methods their own. Richly illustrated with 24 color plates, over 100 black-and-white photographs, and over 70 instructive line-drawings, "Inside Japanese Ceramics "is indispensable for potters as well as connoisseurs and collectors of Japanese ceramics. Above all, it is an invitation to participate--to study, make, touch, and use the exquisite products of the Japanese ceramic tradition.

A unique behind-the-scenes guide to the painting process of one of the most popular artists working in the growing, underground art scene of Pop Surrealism. Painting superstar Camilla d'Errico opens up her studio and offers readers an insider scoop on the tools, techniques and inspirations she draws from to create stunningly beautiful, otherworldly works of art. Artists working in Pop Surrealism use elements of manga, cartoons, movies and more to produce paintings that have been displayed in galleries and purchased by collectors around the globe. With Pop Painting, fans and aspiring painters get an up-close look at the step-by-step processes she employs to transform oil and acrylic paints into unforgettable images of her ethereal and beautiful characters. This one-of-a-kind look at a painter at the top of her field reveals all the materials and methods readers need to join the ranks of the POD Surrealism movement.

From graphite pencils and charcoals to soft pastels and crayons, the art of drawing encompasses a variety of mediums and techniques, all of which are comprehensively covered in this invaluable manual. Part One, Getting Started, explains the materials and equipment needed before describing the most important drawing techniques through a series of short practice exercises. There is guidance on different drawing methods: drawing outlines, shading and tonal work, line and wash, sketching, using negative spacing, blending, frontage and sgraffito, as well as fundamental principles such as understanding perspective, composition and colour. Part Two, Drawing Projects, has over 25 specially commissioned projects to try, including landscapes, still lifes, people, animals, buildings, and trees and flowers. Discover the pleasures and practicalities of drawing with this fully-illustrated artist's manual.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a superhero drawing book! Professional comic book artist and YouTube guru Robert Marzullo teaches you the building blocks of creating your own action heroes and explosive comic book scenes. Easy to follow step-by-step demonstrations break down advanced drawings into basic shapes and shading for you to replicate and master before applying your newfound knowledge to create your own dynamic comic book characters and settings. INCLUDES 50+ step-by-step demonstrations Chapters on drawing faces, bodies, character details and scenes Instruction on depicting both superhuman men and women using different perspectives, expressions, proportions and poses Ideas for costumes, such as basic cuffs, capes, helmets, armor and weaponry Tips for rendering power effects, from flying and wall smashing to magic-orb wielding and energy blasting Lessons on blocking in a scene to create powerful comic panels that tell a story

Adding other mediums to your watercolour paintings is a fantastic way to take your work in new, more exciting directions. However, the vast array of painting mediums and materials on the market can be daunting, especially for the beginner. This book introduces the reader to the range of media that is available, explains briefly and clearly how to use the materials and provides six step-by-step projects and inspirational finished paintings to encourage you to take a definitive leap into the exciting world of mixed media art. Author Alison C Board covers a multitude of topics in her work, and this book features flowers, animal portraits, dancers in motion, cityscapes and landscapes. She explores how to combine wet and dry media, and how to create vibrant collages from man-made and natural found objects. There are no mistakes in mixed-media artwork, and Alison encourages the reader to be unafraid and embrace the experimental.

The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Drawing Figures! To draw an anatomical figure, you don't need a stack of weighty anatomy books. Just take it step by step! In How to Draw People, author Jeff Mellem teaches beginning artists how to draw the human figure, from stick figure to anatomically accurate person, in clear, easy-to-follow lessons. More than just a reference, this book provides the step-by-step instruction to teach you to draw the human figure and the anatomical knowledge to draw it realistically. In each chapter, called "levels," you'll learn core concepts for drawing the human figure. Each new chapter builds on the previous one to give you the skills you need to add complexity to your drawing. By the end of each chapter, you will be able to draw the figure with greater detail. By the end of Level 5, you will be able to draw an expressive figure with defined muscle groups in a variety of poses both real and imagined. Clear goals to progress from stick figure to anatomically correct Exercises and assignments to practice new skills Level-Up Checklists in each chapter to assess your skills before moving on With clear step-by-step demonstrations and check-ins along the way, How to Draw People is the beginner's guide to drawing realistic figures.

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 fourth in a series of seasonal watercoloring books based on artist Kristy Rice's cutting gardens, this book celebrates winter's blossoms such as amaryllis, hollyberry, hellebores, and snowdrops. Her easy-to-learn, joy-driven approach includes simple tutorials on how to use watercolor and where to find affordable materials. A stationery-industry tastemaker, Kristy believes that making art, regardless of skill level, has the power to reconnect us to each other and ourselves. Touching brush to paper with water and color releases an inexplicable calm that so many of us long for, and making art, even in short bursts, brings us back to ourselves by slowing time.With 25 detailed, yet whimsical illustrations, artists are invited to continue the journey begun in her first watercoloring book series, Painterly Days.

Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts at 25 explores the first twenty-five years of a remarkable nonprofit printmaking and traditional arts studio based on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in eastern Oregon, the only such center located on a reservation community in the United States. Art historian Prudence Roberts, drawing from conversations with CSIA founder, the artist James Lavadour, narrates the institute's history from its beginnings through the establishment of a professional quality printmaking program and an international reputation. Native American art scholar heather ahtone and curator Rebecca Dobkins trace the development of indigenous printmaking in North America, further contextualizing this story. Over sixty color plates will illustrate selected work from the dozens of artists, indigenous and non-indigenous, who have completed residencies at CSIA since its founding, including luminaries of contemporary Native American art Rick Bartow, Joe Feddersen, Jeffrey Gibson, Edgar Heap of Birds, James Lavadour, Lillian Pitt, Wendy Red Star, and Marie Watt.

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.

Now it's easier than ever to create amazing art using acrylic paints! Paint pouring is the latest technique to take the art world by storm, and stunning and unique effects can be achieved by simply pouring acrylic paint onto a surface. Discover the qualities of acrylic paint and the variety of mediums, gels, pastes and resins that is available to create a huge range of fascinating effects. There's advice on what tools you'll need, the kinds of painting surfaces that are suitable for acrylic pouring, and how to dry and seal your finished picture ready for display. After the comprehensive techniques section, which includes intriguing methods such as dirty pour, flip cup, double swipe, puddle pour, tree rings and dipping, there are 16 great projects to try - all with clear instructions, materials lists and step-by-step photographs. But there's no way you'll stop there - paint pouring is addictive and you'll soon be creating amazing works of art of your own!

'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain' is the world's most widely used drawing instruction book. Whether you feel you have little talent and you doubt you could ever learn, or you enjoy drawing but have not been able to get much beyond a childlike level, this book will show you how to gain the skill that you have always wanted. If you are already drawing as a professional artist or are an artist-in-training, it will give you greater confidence in your ability and deepen your artistic perception.

This new edition of 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain' has been dramatically revised, with more than fifty per cent new material, including:
• Recent developments in brain research that relate to drawing
• New insights on the use of drawing techniques in the corporate world and education
• Instruction on self-expression through drawing
• Ways to step beyond black-and-white drawing into colour
• Detailed advice on how to apply the five basic skills of drawing to solve problems

See how the astonishing success of 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain' – responsible for teaching millions to draw – can work for you, too.

Kristy Rices joy-focused approach to watercolor art has won the hearts of fans worldwide. Here she teaches the basics of painting, infusing the learning process with wit, wisdom, and laughter. Rice shows all levels of painters how to make art for joys sake. She offers her quirky, joy-focused guidance on preparation, including the materials you really need (and dont need), and walks you through Basics and Details. Five Exercises enhances your ways of brush handling, muscle memory, color mixing, and texture, and 20 Leaves helps you put them all together. Five Techniques lets you experience flowers, fruits, veggies, landscapes, and patterns. And the projectsor as Kristy calls it, the Ready to Fly listinclude Leaves and Greens; Take a Walk Pattern; Textile Pattern; Gem and Rock Pattern; Imaginary Landscape; Bouquet; and Watercolor Fragments. A great duo: use this book with the Art for Joys Sake Journal!

If you have often struggled to draw portraits or moving people, from master artist Giovanni Civardi comes this highly visual beginners guide to drawing people using the traditional grid technique - a method that makes the first stages of drawing simple and achievable. Artist Giovanni Civardi shows you how to create an accurate pencil sketch of the subject by laying a grid over a photo or drawing and transferring the image to the drawing surface one square at a time. Beginning with a summary of basic human anatomy and key drawing techniques, this book contains over 90 outlines of people in a range of ages, profiles and poses, with guidance on how to add shading and tonal effects to create more detailed finished drawings. Uses material from Drawing Using Grids: Portraits with Character and Drawing Using Grids: Portraits of Babies & Children.

*** 'Figure Drawing is structured like an art school course and is every bit as rewarding.' Artists and Illustrators Informative and instructive, this comprehensive guide will give you all the tools you need to draw the human figure, from life and from a screen. While many books focus on just one aspect of figure drawing, this manual unites the skills of observation, expression and understanding in one coherent approach. Beginning with the key principles of observation, Figure Drawing will help you to build a strong foundation of skills to make well-observed, proportionally accurate drawings. As the book progresses you will explore processes and exercises that move beyond the purely observed to express the gesture, form and substance of your model. Photographic and illustrative examples throughout the book support your learning at every step. Clear step-by-step tutorials provide a practical understanding of the key materials, skills and ideas in figure drawing. A comprehensive anatomical reference section, broken down into manageable zones, deepens your knowledge of the human form. The book is a Swiss-bound paperback, designed to lie flat when open and in use.

Capture the bustle and beauty of life in your town. Experience life as only an artist can! Join the rapidly growing, international movement of artists united by a passion for drawing on location in the cities, towns and villages where they live and travel. Packed with art and advice from Marc Taro Holmes, artist and co-founder of Urbansketchers.org, this self-directed workshop shows you how to draw inspiration from real life and bring that same excitement into your sketchbook. Inside you'll fi nd everything you need to tackle subjects ranging from still lifes and architecture to people and busy street scenes. * 15 step-by-step demonstrations cover techniques for creating expressive drawings using pencil, pen and ink, and watercolor. * Expert tips for achieving a balance of accuracy, spontaneity and speed. * Practical advice for working in the field, choosing subjects, coping with onlookers, capturing people in motion and more. * Daily exercises and creative prompts for everything from improving essential skills to diverse approaches, such as montages, storytelling portraits and one-page graphic novels. Whether you are a habitual doodler or a seasoned artist, The Urban Sketcher will have you out in the world sketching from the very first page. By completing drawings on the spot, in one session, you achieve a fresh impression of not just what you see, but also what it feels like to be there . . . visual life stories as only you can experience them.

Sungsook Setton learned ink painting techniques from Chinese and Korean masters in her native South Korea; now she brings them to you in The Spirit of the Brush. Chinese ink painting is one of the oldest continually practiced art forms in the world. First appearing in China in the fifth century, it soon traveled to Korea, and then to Japan. As old and deeply rooted in East Asian aesthetics and meditation as it is, ink painting is credited with influencing the development of modern Western art. Its minimalist approach to painting continues to have enormous appeal. Author, artist, and teacher, Sungsook Setton is now bringing her years of experience to you with The Spirit of the Brush. You will learn traditional disciplines for holding and using the brush, as well as how to turn these techniques into inner meditation which will help your own world; city views, music, and the essence of contemporary life.

Easy tips for buying and using materials, mixing colours, creating texture and correcting mistakes, as well as for painting skies, fields, trees, water, roofs, winter scenes and much more. Terry demystifies the painting process, reveals his secrets and shows how to produce perfect pictures every time. This title was previously published as Terry's Top Tips for Watercolour Artists. In this new easy-to-use flexibinding format with an updated design, the books in the Watercolour Artists' Pocket Books series bring you the best tips from some of Search Press's leading authors.

Praise for the previous edition: "The book brings together the work of Margaret Evans, Paul Hardy and Peter Coombs to help you to master the pastel medium. The three artists bring a good balance of work to the book, with Peter Coombs and Paul Hardy covering landscapes and townscapes, while Margaret Evans concentrates on flowers. Sections on using a limited palette, composition, colour mixing and colours for painting flowers, are interspersed with 13 demonstrations accompanied by good, clear step-by-step photographs." - Leisure Painter This is a practical and comprehensive guide for all soft pastel painting enthusiasts, from the beginner to the experienced artist. It uses material from the following titles in the Step-by-Step Leisure Arts series: Painting with Pastels by Peter Coombs, Landscapes in Pastel by Paul Hardy, Flowers in Pastel by Margaret Evans and Light in Pastel by Paul Hardy. Starting with advice on materials, it moves on to pastel basics such as blending, adding tone and using a limited palette. There are sections on landscape painting featuring advice on composition and painting trees and water, capturing light in pastels with tips on colour mixing, and finally flower painting, with additional information on adding water to pastels. Throughout the book, the art of painting in pastels is taught through 13 beautiful, easy to follow step-by-step projects, and each section is accompanied by a selection of inspirational paintings by the three featured artists, in a rich variety of styles. Previously published as 9781844488612.

A gorgeous, easy-to-follow, and inspiring guide to stunningly realistic botanical drawing that covers everything you need to draw our natural world. Achieve amazingly realistic and vibrant botanical illustrations, from flowers so dazzling you feel as if you might be able to smell them, to tomatoes that look as if they've just been picked from the garden. Wendy Hollender is known for her vivid, detailed, and inspiring illustrations and in The Joy of Botanical Drawing, she helps you take your art to the next level by sharing her perfected techniques through short lessons that start simple, then build on the basics with easy-to-use and clear step-by-step illustrations. Using colored pencils and watercolor pencils, Hollender shows you how to accomplish scientifically accurate botanical portraits of a spiraling pine cone, a spiky chestnut, a fuchsia-tined radish, a graceful morning glory, and many more. From colorful leaves to delicate petals to textured bark and slender stems, The Joy of Botanical Drawing will give you the skills to complete lifelike drawings while also enjoying nature and the mindfulness of a regular drawing practice.