When watching a masterful sketcher, it seems that they create elaborate sketches with ease, tracing their pencils on the page and bringing to life rich and detailed drawings. After sweating away hours trying to create a simple sketch, you may find that yours pales in comparison, looking amateurish and unprofessional. Why is it that you can't do what these 'masters' can? While many assume the difference comes down to accurate strokes and natural talent, you couldn't be further from the truth. Accuracy is not everything - confidence is. And, in this book, Hlavacs helps you to build up your confidence, moving through each layer of drawing and helping you understand exactly why one drawing looks more professional than another. This book breaks down the fear around sketching, walking you through how to create intricate sketches without difficulty. No other book teaches sketching in such a natural way, allowing anyone - no matter levels of talent or their past in drawing - to learn how to make this beautiful skill an intuitive process. Hlavacs demonstrates sketching as a pathway of logical steps, starting with the most basic elements and then adding further layers to the sketches as the book progresses. With a range of exercises to move through and pages filled with the psychology of why humans are drawn to certain sketches over others, this book will turn you into the master you've always admired. Instead of aiming for perfection, Hlavacs teaches you how to draw emotionally, using confidence in place of skill and understanding in place of talent. No matter who you are, The Exceptionally Simple Theory of Sketching will give you rules and demonstrations that will turn every sketch you create into a masterpiece.

In Logomotive Ian Logan's photographs are assembled into chapters and picture essays recalling the great days of lines such as the Santa Fe, the Union Pacific, and the Kansas City Southern. Some of his journeys are presented as travelogues in which he meets the Fat Controller, gets to sound the horn, and wanders into freight yards to see the last generation of streamline locomotives rusting amid the weeds. Animal motifs, Native American allusions, advertising slogans, names of famous trains such as the Super Chief and the Wabash Cannonball provide the subject matter for other picture features.

The first look at the philosophy behind the "Captain America" comics and movies, publishing in advance of the movie release of "Captain America: The Winter Solider" in April 2014.

In "The Virtues of Captain America," philosopher and long-time comics fan Mark D. White argues that the core principles, compassion, and judgment exhibited by the 1940's comic book character Captain America remain relevant to the modern world. Simply put, "Cap" embodies many of the classical virtues that have been important to us since the days of the ancient Greeks: honesty, courage, loyalty, perseverance, and, perhaps most importantly, honor. Full of entertaining examples from more than 50 years of comic books, White offers some serious philosophical discussions of everyone's favorite patriot in a light-hearted and accessible way.Presents serious arguments on the virtues of Captain America while being written in a light-hearted and often humorous toneIntroduces basic concepts in moral and political philosophy to the general readerUtilizes examples from 50 years of comics featuring Captain America, the Avengers, and other Marvel superheroesAffirms the value of "old-fashioned" virtues for the modern world without indulging in nostalgia for times long passedReveals the importance of the sound principles that America was founded uponPublishing in advance of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier "out in April 2014.

The ultimate guide to creating the most popular form of manga--shoujo
If you're reading this, you already love shoujo. But now you'll be able to take the next step and actually write and draw your very own. The teen characters that populate the genre are outrageously cool, including magical girls, demon gals, cat girls, J-rockers, handsome teen boys, Goth boys, and the increasingly popular elegant older young men that shoujo fans adore.
No one can top Christopher Hart in helping you learn some fundamental art techniques that will bring shoujo characters, which are more realistic and less cartoon-like than other styles of manga, to life. His drawings in this book reflect the coolest and latest style Tokyo has to offer, and the easy-to-follow steps are designed for the beginner.
From coloring to character development, "Manga for The Beginner""Shoujo" has your back on every detail as you learn to create the most beloved of all manga. You may start off as an "otaku "(a manga fan), but you'll end up a "mangaka" (a manga artist)

Stan Lee, the founding father of Marvel Comics, and John Buscema, artist of the classic Silver Surfer series, give professional advice and instruction for budding comics artists. Learn how to draw the Marvel way, courtesy of this lavishly illustrated, step-by-step guide to all facets of the process.

The best-loved comic characters in the world - Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the JLA and many more - are all brought to life by the number one fan-favourite artist working in the medium today, the incomparable Alex Ross. With a new jacket and an additional 16 pages, this book reveals Ross's lifelong love of these classic superheroes and his vision - combining his dynamic art with Chip Kidd's kinetic design. Step into the studio for a behind-the-scenes look at his creative process, with hundreds of never-before seen sketches, limited edition prints, and prototype sculptures. It also has 32 pages of exclusive new material centring on Ross's startling new comic series, "Justice", written by Jim Kreuger, with Ross painting over Doug Braithwaite's pencils!

The most up-to-date critical guide mapping the history, impact, key critical issues, and seminal texts of the genre, Jewish Comics and Graphic Narratives interrogates what makes a work a "Jewish graphic narrative", and explores the form's diverse facets to orient readers to the richness and complexity of Jewish graphic storytelling. Accessible but comprehensive and in an easy-to-navigate format, the book covers such topics as: - The history of the genre in the US and Israel - and its relationship to superheroes, Underground Comix, and Jewish literature - Social and cultural discussions surrounding the legitimization of graphic representation as sites of trauma, understandings of gender, mixed-media in Jewish graphic novels, and the study of these works in the classroom - Critical explorations of graphic narratives about the Holocaust, Israel, the diasporic experience, Judaism, and autobiography and memoir - The works of Will Eisner, Ilana Zeffren, James Sturm, Joann Sfar, JT Waldman, Michel Kichka, Sarah Glidden, Rutu Modan, and Art Spiegelman and such narratives as X Men, Anne Frank's Diary, and Maus Jewish Comics and Graphic Novels includes an appendix of relevant works sorted by genre, a glossary of crucial critical terms, and close readings of key texts to help students and readers develop their understanding of the genre and pursue independent study.

Our understanding of the human past is very limited. The mute evidence from excavation - the dusty pot shards, fragments of bone, slight variations in soil colour and texture - encourages abstraction and detachment. Reconstruction art offers a different way into the past, bringing archaeology to life and at times influencing and informing archaeologist's ideas. At its best it delivers something vivid, vital and memorable. Illustrating the Past explores the history of reconstruction art and archaeology. It looks at how attitudes have swung from the scientific and technical to a freer more imaginative way of seeing and back again. Through the exploration of seven artists' work, the reader is shown how the artist's way of seeing illustrates the past and sometimes how it has changed the way the past is seen. Illustrators working in archaeology are often anonymous and yet the picture that summarises an excavation can be the idea that endures. As well as drawing on her specialist knowledge, Judith Dobie uses conversation and correspondence to build a picture of how these artists' personalities, interests and backgrounds influences their art. Case studies featuring working sketches demonstrate how reconstruction artists deliver understanding and can change the interpretation of a site. This book celebrates and acknowledges reconstruction art within the field of archaeology.

Distinguishing the graphic novel from other types of comic books has presented problems due to the fuzziness of category boundaries. Against the backdrop of prototype theory, the author establishes the graphic novel as a genre whose core feature is complexity, which again is defined by seven gradable subcategories: 1) multilayered plot and narration, 2) multireferential use of color, 3) complex text-image relation, 4) meaning-enhancing panel design and layout, 5) structural performativity, 6) references to texts/media, and 7) self-referential and metafictional devices. Regarding the subcategory of narration, the existence of a narrator as known from classical narratology can no longer be assumed. In addition, conventional focalization cannot account for two crucial parameters of the comics image: what is shown (point of view, including mise en scene) and what is seen (character perception). On the basis of Francois Jost's concepts of ocularization and focalization, this book presents an analytical framework for graphic novels beyond conventional narratology and finally discusses aspects of subjectivity, a focal paradigm in the latest research. It is intended for advanced students of literature, scholars, and comics experts.

This book examines the concepts of Post/Humanism and Transhumanism as depicted in superhero comics. Recent decades have seen mainstream audiences embrace the comic book Superhuman. Meanwhile there has been increasing concern surrounding human enhancement technologies, with the techno-scientific movement of Transhumanism arguing that it is time humans took active control of their evolution. Utilising Deleuze and Guattari's notion of the rhizome as a non-hierarchical system of knowledge to conceptualize the superhero narrative in terms of its political, social and aesthetic relations to the history of human technological enhancement, this book draws upon a diverse range of texts to explore the way in which the posthuman has been represented in superhero comics, while simultaneously highlighting its shared historical development with Post/Humanist critical theory and the material techno-scientific practices of Transhumanism.

Following in the successful paw and hoof prints of "The Daily Zoo: Volume One" comes another exotic menagerie of creative fauna from Hollywood artist Chris Ayers. "The Daily Zoo Year 2 "offers more furry and feathered friends along with continuing reflections on his life as an artist and cancer survivor. And, as with Volume 1 and perhaps more so, regardless of your artistic experience, this book will leave you inspired to grab the nearest pencil, pen, brush or crayon and start drawing ... for fun and perhaps as a way to bring healing!

"Dr. Seuss & Co. Go to War" brings together over 300 all new cartoons from the World War II era, including more than 100 by Seuss, 50 cartoons by the New Yorker's Saul Steinberg, and works by Al Hirschfeld, Carl Rose, and Mischa Richter. The cartoons and commentary cover the five years of the war and are divided into five chapters exploring the year leading up to the war, Hitler and Germany, Hitler's allies, the home front, and Germany's defeat.

A FLAME TREE NOTEBOOK. Beautiful and luxurious the journals combine high-quality production with magnificent art. Perfect as a gift, and an essential personal choice for writers, notetakers, travellers, students, poets and diarists. Features a wide range of well-known and modern artists, with new artworks published throughout the year. BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED. The highly crafted covers are printed on foil paper, embossed then foil stamped, complemented by the luxury binding and rose red end-papers. The covers are created by our artists and designers who spend many hours transforming original artwork into gorgeous 3d masterpieces that feel good in the hand, and look wonderful on a desk or table. PRACTICAL, EASY TO USE. Flame Tree Notebooks come with practical features too: a pocket at the back for scraps and receipts; two ribbon markers to help keep track of more than just a to-do list and robust ivory text paper. THE ART. These charming, brightly-coloured story anthologies highlight the changing role of girls and women in the 1930s. Featuring cheerful illustrations of sporting, spirited girls ready for adventure, they are tangible evidence of the slow and steady social progress of the era, and the new freedoms and opportunities afforded to many women. HE FINAL WORD. As William Morris said, "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

We find ourselves square in the middle of one of the greatest periods in music packaging. Events such as Record Store Day have pushed collectible packaging back to the cultural forefront; millennials have started buying physical records; and hip clothing outlets devote massive amounts of space to record players and racks of LPs. The designers collected here are at the forefront of this movement. Some have been working in the music industry for decades, while others are fresh on the scene. They all share a desire to elevate the simple record cover and the wrapping that surrounds these products into something more, something special, something unique, something memorable. Lifelong music fans, they pour every ounce of creative energy into coming up with solutions worthy of the music inside. They also need to be inventive in how they accomplish this. Coming up with a great concept in a sketch during a meeting and actually seeing it to fruition and sitting on a shelf in a record store are two different things. As Paula Scher details in her interview, today's designers are faced with a very different task than the record sleeve designers of the past. Outside of the mega stars, budgets are more or less non-existent, yet the pressure to deliver something jaw-dropping and mind-blowing remains. Packed with innovative artworks by one-of-a-kind designers, this is the definitive guide to album cover design in the 21st century.

In the late 1960s, IBM was one of the world's pre-eminent corporations, employing over 250,000 people in 100 countries and producing some of the most advanced products on earth. IBM President Thomas J. Watson Jnr. sought to elevate the company's image by hiring world-renowned design consultants, including Eliot Noyes and Paul Rand. As well as developing the iconic IBM logo and a corporate design guide, Rand also brought together a remarkable team of internal staff designers. One of the designers he hand-picked was Ken White, who, along with John Anderson and Tom Bluhm, headed up the design team at the IBM Design Center in Boulder, Colorado. Together, they initiated a poster program as a platform for elevating internal communications and initiatives within the company. These posters were displayed in hallways, conferences rooms and cafeterias throughout IBM campuses, with subject matter including everything from encouraging equal opportunity policies to reminders on best security practices to promoting a family fun day. Designers often incorporated figurative typography, dry humor, visual puns, and photography to craft memorable and compelling messages. Many of the posters won Type Directors Club awards and a large number were 're-appropriated' from walls by enthusiastic IBM employees. While Paul Rand's creative genius has been well documented, the work of the IBM staff designers who executed his intent outlined in the IBM Design Guide has often gone unnoticed. The poster designs by White, Anderson, and Bluhm included in this book represent some of the most creative examples of mid-century corporate graphic design, while offering a unique commentary into corporate employee communications of the period. They also embody the full extent to which Thomas J. Watson Jr.'s mantra, "Good Design is Good Business" permeated every facet of the IBM organization, and created a lasting influence on curated corporate design in America.

This is a highly original collection of essays, demonstrating how comic books can be used as primary sources in the teaching and understanding of American history. "Comic Books and American Cultural History" is an anthology that examines the ways in which comic books can be used to understand the history of the United States. Over the last twenty years, there has been a proliferation of book-length works focusing on the history of comic books, but few of those books have emphasized their connection to American cultural history. These original essays demonstrate the different ways in which comic books can be used as resources. The book is divided into four parts: Part 1 examines comics and graphic novels that demonstrate the techniques of cultural history; the essays in Part 2 use comics and graphic novels as cultural artifacts; the third part of the book studies the concept of historical identity through the 20th century; and, the final section focuses on different treatments of contemporary American history. Discussing works that range from "Wonder Woman" and "Superman" to "American Flagg!" and "Ex Machina", this is a vivid collection that will be useful to anyone teaching or studying comic books in the classroom.