Even if you have never picked up a paintbrush before, Geoff Kersey shows you how to paint convincing seascapes in watercolour using just three brushes, three colours, a plastic palette and a watercolour pad. Only students' range watercolour paints are used, yet from these Geoff shows you how to paint nine realistic watercolour scenes. There is no off-putting colour theory or long-winded mixing information, but a practical absolute beginner's course that shows the three colours in action. You need only three affordable brushes: no. 10, no. 4 and no. 2 rounds in a synthetic range, to achieve all of the paintings shown. Let Geoff Kersey build your skills through nine easy exercises, starting from the simplest of scenes, resulting in seascapes you'll be proud of. With clear advice, step-by-step photographs showing simple techniques, how to trace and transfer a drawing, and finished paintings shown full size in the book for guidance, you will have everything you need to get painting. Colours used: ultramarine, candium yellow pale and light red. Brushes used: Round brushes no. 10 (Large), no.4 (Medium), and a no.2 (Small)

"The Art of Botanical Drawing" is an introductory guide to the techniques of botanical painting and drawing. Beginning artists and gardeners looking to capture the beauty of the plants in their garden will learn how to recognize and draw a wide variety of flowers and leaves, including succulents, vegetables, trees, perennials, and grasses. Botanists and naturalists who need to understand the fundamentals of scientific illustration will also find the text useful. Lessons on recognizing and recreating the texture and structural elements of plants are also included. "The Art of Botanical Drawing" is practical and beautiful -- it includes 150 charming color illustrations and the hands-on approach is accessible to even the most inexperienced budding artist.

The first edition of this book, published in 1994, reshaped the direction of landscape studies by considering landscape not simply as an object to be seen or a text to be read, but as an instrument of cultural force, a central tool in the creation of national and social identities. This second edition adds not only a new preface, but five new essays--from Edward Said, W. J. T. Mitchell, Jonathan Bordo, Michael Taussig, and Robert Pogue Harrison-extending the scope of the book in remarkable ways.

An exquisitely illustrated volume in celebration of the world's foremost library of botanical works The renowned LuEsther T. Mertz Library of The New York Botanical Garden counts among its holdings many of the most beautiful and pioneering botanical and horticultural works ever created. More than eight centuries of knowledge, from the twelfth century to the present, are represented in the library's collection of over one million items. In this sumptuously illustrated volume, international experts introduce us to some of the library's most fascinating works-exceedingly rare books, stunning botanical artworks, handwritten manuscripts, Renaissance herbals, nursery catalogs, explorers' notebooks, and more. The contributors hold these treasures up for close inspection and offer surprising insights into their histories and importance. The diverse materials showcased in the volume reflect the creative efforts of eminent explorers, scientists, artists, publishers, and print makers. From the rare, illuminated pages of Pliny the Elder's Naturalis historia (1483), to the earliest book ever published on American insects (1797), to lovely etchings of the water gardens at Villa Pratolino in Florence (1600s), the Mertz Library holdings will inspire in readers a new appreciation for the extraordinary history of botany and its far-reaching connections to the worlds of science, books, art, and culture.

In this follow-up to "Getting Started, " the first title in this technique and project-driven Acrylic Made Easy Series, "Still Lifes" offers a fresh and simple approach for beginning and intermediate artists to learn the essentials of rendering beautiful still lifes in acrylic. Beginning with an introduction to a variety of tools and materials, artists will learn how to select the right brushes, palettes, paints, paper, and surfaces for their work. "Acrylic Made Easy: ""Still Lifes "also provides artists with an overview of basic color theory and information for how to mix colors effectively, as well as how to plan a composition and achieve proper perspective. Additionally, artists will learn a range of basic painting techniques, including glazing, scumbling, stippling, and more. Included in this helpful guide are useful tips and techniques for mastering a range of concepts, such as color theory, composition, lighting, and painting from photographs. Through simple step-by-step projects, aspiring artists will discover how to approach a still life painting, beginning with a sketch and progressing to a beautiful finished piece of acrylic artwork. Covering a breadth of subject matter, from florals and tablescapes to fruits and vegetables, readers will find helpful information that not only instructs but also inspires.

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the British Wildlife Photography Awards, this stunning collection showcases 150 of the winning and shortlisted images from the 2019 competition. Curating the year's finest work from world-leading professionals and inspired amateurs, it celebrates the extraordinary diversity of British wildlife while inspiring readers of all ages to engage with nature and conservation. Every photograph is beautifully reproduced in a large format, with detailed technical information alongside the photographer's personal account. Featuring a fresh new design, and supported by a touring exhibition and major media campaign, this is both an essential reference and an irresistible gift. It will bring every reader closer to the often unseen and always surprising world of British nature.

Borders within Europe are far from absolute. They have been blurring steadily ever since the Schengen agreements of 1985. Twenty-six countries with a total border diameter of 16,500 kilometres can be travelled between freely. Armed only with a GPS, local ordnance maps, and his trusty camera, photographer Valerio Vincenzo explores liminal spaces between political-cultural territories. He captures what is left over: tranquillity, beauty, calm, peace and freedom. His photos all evoke one question: What are borders really?

"[a] fascinating and indispensable book."-Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times Best Books of 2018-The Guardian Gold Medal for Contribution to Publishing, 2018 California Book Awards Carleton Watkins (1829-1916) is widely considered the greatest American photographer of the nineteenth century and arguably the most influential artist of his era. He is best known for his pictures of Yosemite Valley and the nearby Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias. Watkins made his first trip to Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove in 1861 just as the Civil War was beginning. His photographs of Yosemite were exhibited in New York for the first time in 1862, as news of the Union's disastrous defeat at Fredericksburg was landing in newspapers and while the Matthew Brady Studio's horrific photographs of Antietam were on view. Watkins's work tied the West to Northern cultural traditions and played a key role in pledging the once-wavering West to Union. Motivated by Watkins's pictures, Congress would pass legislation, later signed by Abraham Lincoln, that preserved Yosemite as the prototypical "national park," the first such act of landscape preservation in the world. Carleton Watkins: Making the West American includes the first history of the birth of the national park concept since pioneering environmental historian Hans Huth's landmark 1948 "Yosemite: The Story of an Idea." Watkins's photographs helped shape America's idea of the West, and helped make the West a full participant in the nation. His pictures of California, Oregon, and Nevada, as well as modern-day Washington, Utah, and Arizona, not only introduced entire landscapes to America but were important to the development of American business, finance, agriculture, government policy, and science. Watkins's clients, customers, and friends were a veritable "who's who" of America's Gilded Age, and his connections with notable figures such as Collis P. Huntington, John and Jessie Benton Fremont, Eadweard Muybridge, Frederick Billings, John Muir, Albert Bierstadt, and Asa Gray reveal how the Gilded Age helped make today's America. Drawing on recent scholarship and fresh archival discoveries, Tyler Green reveals how an artist didn't just reflect his time, but acted as an agent of influence. This telling of Watkins's story will fascinate anyone interested in American history; the West; and how art and artists impacted the development of American ideas, industry, landscape, conservation, and politics.

In Animals, we discover a different side to the famed photographer who skillfully explores animals' complex relationship with humans and the environment. Tenderness abounds, particularly in scenes of unkempt street dogs sleeping contentedly next to a human. But there's also a kind of essential solitude, with animals belonging to no one and simply wandering through life with only their survival instincts to guide them. We witness camels caught in the crossfire during the first Gulf War; a shepherd from Northern Pakistan tenderly feeding his goats; Beverly Hills designer dogs; race horses on a Hong Kong rooftop; elephants in Thailand, and more images selected by McCurry from his vast archives. Through McCurry's lens, we discover an appreciation for each creature's beauty and silent dignity. This kaleidoscopic collection is at once a beautiful travelogue and a touching tribute to the creatures who share our planet.Also available in two signed and limited Art Editions, each with a signed print.

This book, published to coincide with a major exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, explores and celebrates Turner's lifelong fascination with the sea. It also sets his work within the context of marine painting in the 19th century. Each chapter has an introductory text followed by discussion of specific paintings. Four of the chapters conclude with a feature essay on a specific topic.

Pebble-hunting is a pleasant hobby that makes little demand upon one's patience and still less upon one's physical energy. (You may even enjoy the hunt from the luxurious sloth of a deck chair). One of the true delights of the pebble-seeker is to read the stories in the stones - to determine whence and by what means they came to be there. We must always bear in mind that a pebble is a transient thing. It is in the half-way stage of a long existence . . .

This is a spirited guide to the simple pleasure of pebble spotting. Clarence Ellis is a charming, knowledgeable and witty guide to everything you didn't know there was to know about pebbles. He ruminates on what a pebble actually is, before showing us how they are formed, advising on the best pebble-spotting grounds in the UK, helping to identify individual stones, and giving tips onthe necessary kit. You'll know your chert from your schist, your onyx from your agate and will be on your guard for artificial intruders before you know it. Understanding the humble pebble makes a trip to the beach, lake-side or river bank simply that little bit more fascinating.

A handy illustrated guide to identifying pebbles is included on the reverse of the book jacket.

Savour a taste of the edible alphabet, from A to Z. Throughout history, visual and performance artists have rendered their visions within the whimsical medium of food. In Carolyn Tillie's deeply satisfying A Feast for the Eyes, you'll embark on a delicious adventure that redefines the art world. Explore the surprising artistry of apple-head dolls, butter sculptures, coffee paintings and a grand cathedral carved entirely from salt. Learn about the ancient role of food creations in ritual and global folk art. Experience the modern magnificence of electrified vegetable sculptures and ethereal molecular gastronomy. Discover why Salvador Dali had an obsession with lobsters, and why there is a giant palace in the American Midwest made entirely of corn. Whether you're a food lover or an art aficionado, this book serves up an aesthetic banquet that will delight your senses - and nourish mind, body and soul.

Water belongs to our most profound dreams: it evokes motherhood, cleanliness, purity, sensuality, and death. Naturally, this is true for every civilisation, but in Islam this series of ideas found its most profound meaning, turning water into one of the cornerstones of human existence: a cornerstone that is both spiritual as well as social and aesthetic. Statements in the Koran and subsequent literature illustrate the historic development of the many roles and meanings of water and the incarnation of its significance in Islamic art and craftsmanship. This volume tells a story through images, artefacts, books, and miniatures: technology, everyday life, and art, which for centuries mirrored one another in the many ways of enjoying and using water.

In 1788, nearly fifteen-hundred people on eleven sailing ships came ashore at Port Jackson in Australia after a gruelling eight month journey from England. This collection of vessels later became known as the First Fleet, and those who sailed in them were the community who established the first European colony in Australia. The Art of the First Fleet depicts the natural history of this extraordinary land, the people and culture of the local indigenous population and the events that marked these initial formative years. The collection, now housed in the Natural History Museum, provides an invaluable record of the wildlife and environment, people and events, as seen through the eyes of the colonists who laid the foundations for the European settlement of Australia. The artists' drawings of the people and culture of the Eora people, the local indigenous population of the area, provide the only lasting visual record of their lives. While images of plants and animals were not always technically accurate, they made a significant contribution to the development of science, allowing experts in Britain to be able to identify and name a large number of new species. They remain an invaluable record of the artists' attempts to make sense and order of this new land.

Get up close to the beauty and detail of nature through the artwork of award-winning UK artist, Julia Trickey. See how ordinary and sometimes overlooked subjects, such as leaves and fading flowers, can be centre stage and come to life in this beautiful showcase of some of Julia's best-loved botanical watercolours. Having been a tutor of botanical art for many years, teaching as far afield as Moscow and New York, Julia loves to help others explore the potential of watercolour and to discover the keys to a good botanical portrait. In this book she shares some of these insights as well as the motivation behind some of her favourite projects, together with the process and watercolour techniques involved. Take inspiration from these glowing, contemporary watercolours in a book that is both beautiful and useful.

A playful room-by-room "bird-watching" guide to the Albert C. Barnes galleries. Rumor has it that Dr. Barnes put a bird in every room of his famed collection. But is this really true, and if so, why? The Barnes Foundation collection offers an astounding array of art, focusing on post-impressionist and early modern masters: Renoir, Cezanne, Picasso, and Matisse. However, interspersed among these notable greats is a different kind of collection that incorporates folk art, pottery, furniture, and ironwork from cultures around the world. The instructional collection is built around a philosophy of individual interpretation, and following the birds from one room to another offers you an accessible starting point for uncovering the educational methods Dr. Barnes used to encourage students to look at art. This lighthearted tour weaves art, history, and lessons on the collection into a delightful search for birds hiding in the gallery.

By popular demand, this accessible new edition of the award-winning classic Buller's Birds of New Zealand: The Complete Work of JG Keulemans, presents the complete set of New Zealand's favourite ornithological paintings. New Zealand's birds are among the rarest and most fascinating in the world - and they come alive in luminous colour in Buller's Birds of New Zealand: The Complete Work of JG Keulemans. This beautiful new edition of the award-winning original presents the full set of these cherished nineteenth-century artworks created by JG Keulemans for A History of the Birds of New Zealand by Walter Buller. With a foreword by Stephen Fry and an introduction that traces the history of ornithological painting, and tells the story of Buller and his talented artist, this definitive book will appeal to all those who love New Zealand's unique avifauna.

Cats have been revered by artists since ancient times for their beauty, grace, independence and air of mystery. Domesticated, but with a touch of the wild about them, they share our homes and endlessly fascinate us. The Book of the Cat is a cool and quirky collection of feline art and illustration by artists from around the world. Interspersed through the illustrations are short texts about the artists and their subjects. Beautifully designed and packaged, the book will appeal to cat lovers of all ages.

Previously published as California's Wild Edge: The Coast in Prints, Poetry, and History, this volume captures the beauty of the California coast from Mendocino, Point Reyes, and the San Francisco Bay down through Carmel, Big Sur, Santa Barbara, and Santa Monica. Woodcut artist Tom Killion's prints combine exquisite color with dynamic composition to portray the coast's ever-changing moods and diverse formations: storm tides crashing at Point Lobos, serene moonlit coves at Mendocino, fog encircling the Golden Gate Bridge. Deepening our experience are poetry and prose from Gary Snyder, as well as selections from Native Californian traditional stories, accounts of travelers, and poems by Robinson Jeffers, Robert Hass, and Jaime de Angulo. As Tamalpais Walking and The High Sierra of California did for lovers of mountains, California's Wild Coast will delight anyone who has seen (or wants to see) the meeting of land and the Pacific.

A chapter on travel drawings gives a flavour of the author's passion and worldwide experience. There is a helpful section on suitable subjects for beginners and a glossary of terms. The text is highly illustrated throughout with beautiful paintings.

Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island are visited by over two million tourists every vacation season, but few know what the island and park are like during the rest of the year, the quiet season. For over a year, the author, a landscape photographer, explored the park daily, embracing the available light, capturing the experience of the moment, as he felt it. On blue-sky days; in storms, hurricanes, and blizzards; on winter nights on silent beaches; and in extreme cold, images and experiences were gathered, to be later shared. The work in this book represents a very personal and deep-felt intimacy with the park and the island that can evolve only by completely immersing oneself into the rhythm and flow of the land and sea, and then using all of his craft to express this deep love, his soul, that belongs to Acadia.

Perspective determines how we, as viewers, perceive painting. We can convince ourselves that a painting of a bowl of fruit or a man in a room appears to be real by the ways these objects are rendered. Likewise, the trick of perspective can prevent us from being absorbed in a scene. Connecting contemporary critical theory with close readings of seventeenth-century Dutch visual culture, "The Rhetoric of Perspective" puts forth the claim that painting is a form of thinking and that perspective functions as the language of the image.
Aided by a stunning full-color gallery, Hanneke Grootenboer proposes a new theory of perspective based on the phenomenological aspects of non-narrative still-life, trompe l'oeil, and anamorphic imagery. Drawing on playful and mesmerizing baroque images, Grootenboer characterizes what she calls their "sophisticated deceit," asserting that painting is more about visual representation than about its supposed objects. Grootenboer demonstrates how these paintings--ones that are often marginalized by art historical discourse--skillfully articulate the complexities of the visual and, consequently, gain new relevance in the context of recent interest in visual theory.
Offering an original theory of perspective's impact on pictorial representation, the act of looking, and the understanding of truth in painting, Grootenboer shows how these paintings both question the status of representation and explore the limits and credibility of perception.

Sophie Corrigan evokes everyone's inner zoologist in this charmingly illustrated and wittily worded menagerie. Each critter featured in this fun book is tagged with totally fictitious yet comically accurate anatomical labels, from a tree frog's "clingy jazz hands" and a raccoon's "sneaky bandito mask" to a velociraptor's "disembowly prowlies" and many more. Rife with animal puns, eye-catching bonus art, interesting animal facts, and laugh-out-loud labels that beg to be shared, Animal Anatomy will bring smiles to animal lovers of all ages.