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

Both an exploration of the ways in which we fashion our public identity and a manual of modern sociability, this lively and readable book explores the techniques we use to present ourselves to the world: body language, tone of voice, manners, demeanor, "personality" and personal style. Drawing on historical commentators from Castiglione to Machiavelli, and from Marcel Mauss to Roland Barthes, Joanne Finkelstein also looks to popular visual culture, including Hollywood film and makeover TV, to show how it provides blueprints for the successful construction of "persona." Finkelstein's interest here is not in the veracity of the self - recently dissected by critical theory - but rather in the ways in which we style this "self," in the enduring appeal of the "new you" and in our fascination with deception, fraudulent personalities and impostors. She also discusses the role of fashion and of status symbols and how advertising sells these to us in our never ending quest for social mobility.

Vivienne Maricevic's desire to reveal, challenge, and transform the imbalance between the frequent representation of the naked female form and the rarity of male nudity is led to more than three decades spent devoted to the unadorned male form. While capturing scores of male subjects, she discovered that the majority had never been photographed by a female; the men all welcomed the role-reversal and the opportunity to confront the disparity it suggested. Included in this compendium are more than 150 images from three of Maricevic's most distinct periods: 1975-2005's "Naked Men," all taken in the subjects' homes; 1994-2002's "Me & Men," with Maricevic cleverly engaging her subjects by inserting a piece of herself into the frame; and 2001-2005's "Strip-to-Strip," an homage to Eadweard Muybridge's iconic "Horse in Motion." Her bold, creative synergy solidified a career built on intimate photographs of men au naturel. They are, at times, playful, erotic, or controversial - but always beautiful.

Erotic encounters have been celebrated by artists from the beginning of time. This irresistible volume presents 120 of the most engagingly erotic paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings from diverse eras and cultures, coupled with revealing commentaries about their sexual and aesthetic content. Organised unlike any other collection of erotic images, The Art of Arousal traces the course of a sensual relationship. It begins by examining the elements of eroticism, and then progresses from flirtation and seduction through kisses and other foreplay before ultimately arriving at consummation and blissful exhaustion. The irrepressible Dr. Ruth explores every element of sexuality in these provocative works of art, including the pleasures of looking, creative fantasising, and the effects on male and female pleasure of the various positions depicted. All the works in this book have been chosen to meet two essential criteria: everyone portrayed must be having a good time, and each image must satisfy the high aesthetic standards of Dr. Ruth and an art historian friend, who writes with witty scholarship about the artistic and biographical aspects of these remarkable images. Now available in a revised edition that includes stimulating new works by contemporary creators, The Art of Arousal is the perfect gift for your lover who loves art.

Simone Grunewald is a 3dtotal Publishing favorite as the designer of popular characters for Character Design Quarterly magazine, and the author of Sketch Every Day, a book packed with her much sought-after sketching techniques and character-design tips. This new title, The Art of Simone Grunewald, is a beautifully produced hardback that goes even further to delight existing fans, as well as aspiring character designers new to her work. Simone is an expert in the art of imbuing scenes and character with a depth of mood, emotion, and atmosphere. The resulting images are incredibly engaging and thoughtful, while still being accessible and commercial. This mix of talent and an understanding of creating work that has wide appeal is a professional approach that readers will be keen to learn and apply to their own art. In addition to fan-favorites from her portfolio and exciting new art commissioned especially for the book, Simone shares the digital and traditional tools and techniques she uses to acquire her results. Brand-new tutorials illustrate Simone's talent not just for drawing, but for teaching techniques in a fun and lively way.

"Gartel has so superbly captured...the essence of erotic desire. In an age of sex being turned into merely a forbidden behavior and a troublesome medical condition, Gartel has rallied and preserved sexual teasing, seduction, and allure into its rightful pleasurable position by his commendable artistic photographic journaling. In my thirty years as a Sexologist, it is nice to see sex education, preservation, and permission for sexual expression and fun so alive in his work." -Dr. Gil Eriksen, Director of Research at the Institute for Reality Studies Renowned digital media artist Laurence M. Gartel records the world of Fetish in his own inimitable style. As an artist he brings his own creative input and adds his twist to the storyline, becoming a participant through the creative process of working with the imagery. This book is loaded with Gartel's provocative art, including 103 set pieces plus many of the posters and other graphic art for which Gartel has received such acclaim. This work will entertain and confront, as all great art will do. And in the end the reader will be left to ponder the creative mind that brought these images into being. An aesthetic and erotic adventure awaits.

This title was first published in 2000: In their stunning simplicity, George Romney's portraits of eighteenth-century gentry and their children are among the most widely recognised creations of his age. A rival to Reynolds and Gainsborough, Romney was born in 1734 on the edge of the Lake District, the landscape of which never ceased to influence his eye for composition and colour. He moved in 1762 to London where there was an insatiable market for portraits of the landed gentry to fill the elegant picture galleries of their country houses. Romney's sitters included William Beckford and Emma Hart, later Lady Hamilton. An influential figure, one of the founding fathers of neo-classicism and a harbinger of romanticism, Romney yearned to develop his talents as a history painter. Countless drawings bear witness to ambitious projects on elemental themes which were rarely executed on canvas. Richly illustrated, this is the first biography of Romney to explore the full diversity of his oeuvre.

A significant publication of original writing on Lucian Freud, including interviews with leading contemporary artists, marking the 100th anniversary of his birth Lucian Freud (1922-2011) was one of the greatest figurative painters of the twentieth century. With an unflinching eye and an uncompromising commitment to his work, he created masterpieces that continue to inspire contemporary artists to the present day. Spanning nearly 70 years, Freud's career has often been overshadowed by his biography and celebrity. This book re-examines his paintings through a broad series of original approaches. Texts by a variety of rising and established international writers explore topics ranging from the compositional echoes of old master paintings in Freud's works, to the contextualization of his practice within the class struggles of 1980s Britain. Throughout the book, leading contemporary painters such as Tracey Emin and Chantal Joffe give insightful testimony to the relevance of Freud today. Marking the 100th anniversary of Freud's birth, this publication accompanies the first major exhibition of his work in 10 years. Presenting fresh perspectives on his paintings, it introduces Freud to a new generation of scholars and enthusiasts - demonstrating his lasting international importance. Published by National Gallery Global/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: The National Gallery, London October 1, 2022-January 22, 2023 Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid February 14-June 18, 2023

Maternal Bodies in the Visual Arts brings images of the maternal and pregnant body into the centre of art historical enquiry. By exploring religious, secular and scientific traditions as well as contemporary art practices, it shows the power of visual imagery in framing our understanding of maternal bodies and affirming or contesting prevailing maternal ideals. This book reassesses these historical models and, in drawing on original case studies, shows how visual practices by artists may offer the means of reconfiguring the maternal.
This book will appeal to students, academics and researchers in art history, gender studies and cultural studies, as well as to any readers with interests in the maternal and visual culture. It is based on visual case studies drawn from the UK, USA and Europe, which make it very attractive to an international readership. Maternal bodies in the visual arts is ideally placed to capture a growing post- and undergraduate market in maternal studies, which is beginning to emerge as a field of study in the UK and USA with courses in a wide range of social science and humanities disciplines now including the maternal as a key theme.

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

John Berger, one of the world's most celebrated storytellers and writers on art, tells a personal history of art from the prehistoric paintings of the Chauvet caves to 21st century conceptual artists. Berger presents entirely new ways of thinking about artists both canonized and obscure, from Rembrandt to Henry Moore, Jackson Pollock to Picasso. Throughout, Berger maintains the essential connection between politics, art and the wider study of culture. The result is an illuminating walk through many centuries of visual culture, from one of the contemporary world's most incisive critical voices.

The visual images of Queen Elizabeth I displayed in contemporary portraits and perpetuated and developed in more recent media, such as film and television, make her one of the most familiar and popular of all British monarchs.This collection of essays examines the diversity of the queen's extensive iconographical repertoire, focusing on both visual and textual representations of Elizabeth, not only in portraiture and literature, but also in contemporary sermons, speeches and alchemical treatises. The collection broadens current critical thinking about Elizabeth, as each of the essays contributes to the debate about the ways in which the queen's developing iconicity was not simply a celebratory mode, but also encoded criticism of her. Each of these essays explains the ways in which the varied representations of Elizabeth reflect the political and cultural anxieties of her subjects.

Our conventional understanding of English portraiture from the age of Holbein and Henry VIII on to Reubens, VanDyck and Charles I clings to the mainstream images of royalty and aristocracy and to the succession of known practitioners of 'Renaissance' portraiture.In almost every respect, the 'civic' portraits examined here stand in sharp contrast to these traditional narratives. Depicting mayors and aldermen, livery company masters, school and college heads, they were meant to be read as statements about the civic leaders and civic institutions rather than about the sitters in their own right. Displayed in civic premises rather than country homes, exemplifying civic rather than personal virtues, and usually commissioned by institutions rather than their sitters, they have yet to be considered as a type of their own, or in their appropriate social and political context.This fascinating work will appeal to both art historians and historians of early modern Britain.

Jinky Coronado takes her Asian schoolgirl namesake into three worlds of incredible adventures in her ongoing series "Banzai Girls." In this deluxe gallery, we get to see sexy Jinky in swimsuits, lingerie, and of course that perennial favorite - the schoolgirl uniform - all the while fighting bizarre creatures Art by Jinky Coronado, with color by Katrina MaeHao & MIchael Kelleher

Barbarian babes brandishing blades Always a fun topic of discussion, but in the talented hands of painter Jose del Nido, that topic transcends mere eye candy and inspires actual shock and awe These are truly stunning portraits that celebrate the terrifying beauty of fighting females Sharpened steel never looked this good

With just under a thousand portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, the National Portrait Gallery boasts some of the most treasured and famous official portraits of the Queen captured at key historic moments, as well as day-to-day images of the monarch at home and with family, following her journey from childhood, to princess and Queen, mother and grandmother. This publication highlights the most important portraits of Elizabeth II from the Gallery's Collection. Paintings and photographs from the birth of Elizabeth II to the present will take readers on a visual journey through the life of Britain's foremost icon. The book will reflect on the Queen's life, presenting family photographs alongside important formal portraits to explore how, as her reign became record-breaking, she became an iconic figure in modern British culture and history. The publication features works by key artists depicting the Queen from 1926 to the present day, including Baron, Cecil Beaton, Dorothy Wilding, Patrick Lichfield, Andy Warhol, Annie Leibovitz and David Bailey. This book features an introductory essay by Alexandra Shulman, exploring how the collected portraits depict the Queen throughout her life and reign, and a timeline of key historical events and moments from Elizabeth II's life.

From Renaissance fresco painters to contemporary graphic novel artists, the ability to draw clothed figures from one's imagination has always been crucial to artists - and exceptionally difficult to attain. With over 220 illustrations, The Art of Drawing Folds: An Illustrator's Guide to Drawing the Clothed Figure reveals the logic and patterns in folds, enabling the reader to more easily predict the behavior of cloth when creating folds in their own drawings and paintings. Addressing folds in clothing systematically, the author provides a clear, concise approach to the analysis, classification and visualization of convincingly naturalistic folds. Starting with the nature of fabric and its geometry, this book methodically explores the reasons for fold behavior based on the construction of clothing and the shapes and actions of the human figure. An essential guide and reference for animators, illustrators, storyboard artists, comic-book artists, 3D modelers, sculptors, fashion designers and students, The Art of Drawing Folds simplifies one of the most complex and important aspects of drawing the clothed figure.

Focusing on images of or produced by well-to-do nineteenth-century European women, this volume explores genteel femininity as resistant to easy codification vis-A -vis the public. Attending to various iterations of the public as space, sphere and discourse, sixteen essays challenge the false binary construct that has held the public as the sole preserve of prosperous men. By contrast, the essays collected in Women, Femininity and Public Space in European Visual Culture, 1789-1914 demonstrate that definitions of both femininity and the public were mutually defining and constantly shifting. In examining the relationship between affluent women, femininity and the public, the essays gathered here consider works by an array of artists that includes canonical ones such as Mary Cassatt and FranAois Gerard as well as understudied women artists including Louise Abbema and Broncia Koller. The essays also consider works in a range of media from fashion prints and paintings to private journals and architectural designs, facilitating an analysis of femininity in public across the cultural production of the period. Various European centers, including Madrid, Florence, Paris, Brittany, Berlin and London, emerge as crucial sites of production for genteel femininity, providing a long-overdue rethinking of modern femininity in the public sphere.

As we approach the bicentennial, in 2017, of the birth of Henry David Thoreau, there is considerable debate and confusion as to what he may, or may not have, contributed to American life and culture. Almost every American has heard of Thoreau, but only a few are aware that he was deeply engaged with most of the important issues of his day, from slavery to "Manifest Destiny" and the rights of the individual in a democratic society. Many of these issues are still affecting us today, as we move toward the second quarter of the twenty-first century. By studying how various American artists have chosen to portray Thoreau over the years since the publication of Walden in 1854, we can gain a clear understanding of how he has been interpreted (or misinterpreted) throughout the years since his death in 1862. But along the way, we might also find something useful, for our times, in the insights that Thoreau gained as he wrestled with the most urgent problems being experienced by American society in his day.

We owe a great debt to Jean Baptiste Marc Bourgery (1797-1849) for his Atlas of Anatomy, which was not only a massive event in medical history, but also remains one of the most comprehensive and beautifully illustrated anatomical treatises ever published. Bourgery began work on his magnificent atlas in 1830 in cooperation with illustrator Nicolas Henri Jacob (1782-1871), a student of the French painter Jacques Louis David. The first volumes were published the following year, but completion of the treatise required nearly two decades of dedication; Bourgery lived just long enough to finish his labor of love, but the last of the treatise's eight volumes was not published in its entirety until five years after his death. The eight volumes of Bourgery's treatise cover descriptive anatomy, surgical anatomy and techniques (exploring in detail nearly all the major operations that were performed during the first half of the 19th century), general anatomy and embryology, and microscopic anatomy. Jacob's spectacular hand-colored lithographs are remarkable for their clarity, color, and aesthetic appeal, reflecting a combination of direct laboratory observation and illustrative research. Unsurpassed to this day, the images offer exceptional anatomical insight, not only for those in the medical field but also for artists, students, and anyone interested in the workings and wonder of the human body.