A Sparrow's Life's as Sweet as Ours is a collection based on the Bird of the Month column in The Oldie, which is written by an instigator of the magazine, John McEwen and illustrated by renowned wildlife artist Carry Akroyd. In this beautiful new book, painter and printmaker Carry Akroyd presents a sequence of her small screenprints, full of variety and colour, that illustrate British birds in all four seasons of the year. These stunning prints give full rein to her extensive knowledge of the British landscape, and what shines out of these dynamic designs is Carry's deft capturing of each bird's characteristics set beautifully in relation to its habitat. Her consideration of each species combines accuracy with elegant simplicity. John McEwen's accompanying text is written with charm and concision, and his original columns have been updated for this new collection. John's light, eclectic approach connects snippets of ornithology, history, etymology and cookery, all expressed with wit and knowledge. His writing is spiced with poetry - from Chaucer to the present - as well as facts and stories, while personal and other anecdotes are included to inform and, above all, entertain.

Amazing results can be achieved surprisingly quickly using the step-by-step techniques in this introduction to drawing animals in various poses--including head shots and full body illustrations. Aspiring artists will easily learn to draw with this simple guide, while more experienced artists will develop specific skills for drawing animals. The example animals start as basic geometric shapes and lines that become completed drawings within four or five steps. Featured are guided instructions to draw cats, dogs, horses, lions, tigers, bears, a wide selection of birds, and many more creatures great and small. Despite the simplicity of the construction methods, these images are realistic representations of the animals portrayed. Once mastered, the traditional approach used in this book can be used for any subject.

Landscape Imagery, Politics and Identity in a Divided Germany, 1968-1989 explores the communicative relationship between German landscape painting and the viewing public that developed in the wake of the student revolutions of the late 1960s. The book demonstrates that, contrary to some historical thinking, more similarities than differences characterized the sociopolitical concerns of East and West Germans during the late Cold War Era, and that it was these shared issues that were reflected in the revival of the Romantic painting genre. Catherine Wilkins focuses on recovering the agency of the individual artist and in revising historiography with sensitivity to narration 'from below.' Interdisciplinary in nature, art historians can benefit from the study's analysis of images and artists not widely known outside of Germany. Additionally, the consolidation of statistics and data regarding German postwar cultural policy are relevant for political and cultural historians. The author contributes to the ongoing multidisciplinary debates regarding Histoire Croisee (in arguing that a clear dichotomy between East Germany and West Germany did not exist but rather that the residents of both nations shared a concern over some of the same issues of the period) and memory studies (by using images as primary historical sources, able to be employed in the recovery of potentially 'subversive' memory and identity). Issues related to gender relations, environmentalism, and spiritual belief are addressed by Wilkins, with appeal for scholars working with those particular themes. Poststructuralist and literary theorists as well can find arguments supporting an alternative means of writing history through artworks and private memories.

Since its original publication in 1999, Earth from Above has been a touchstone for the environmental movement, selling more than three million copies worldwide. After multiple journeys across five continents and sixty countries, acclaimed aerial photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand created a comprehensive, unforgettable survey of the earth from a spectacular vantage point. For almost two decades, Arthus-Bertrand has continued to travel and photograph the planet, collecting new material that has never been published. In this updated edition, he reveals more than 100 new images and presents essays on current environmental and humanitarian issues by esteemed experts, including Nicholas Stern, Jane Goodall, Runa Khan, and Mathieu Ricard. With thrilling new photography, essays, and revisions throughout, Earth from Above is an up-to-date portrait of our world that poignantly juxtaposes evidence of humanity's destructive impact with the planet's raw beauty.

The art of Franz and Ferdinand Bauer was praised by the poet and botanist Johann Goethe as the perfect expression of the aims of botanical illustration. The book examines the contrasting lives of Franz (1758-1840), for 50 years the resident artist at Kew Gardens, and Ferdinand (1760-1826) who led a life of travel and adventure as a natural history artist including participating in the historic voyage to Australia of HMS Investigator in the early nineteenth century. It is illustrated with images from the superb archive of Bauer drawings at the Natural History Museum Library, many of which have never been published before. These include beautiful and finely detailed watercolours of flowering plants collected from across the world, pioneering microscopical drawings of plant anatomy and pictures of the newly discovered animals from the coasts of Australia. The book is published to tie-in with a new art exhibition opening at the Natural History Museum in November 2015.

Eggers is one of the most notable writers of his generation, recognized for such bestsell ing and critically acclaimed books as A Hologram for the King, What Is the What, and The Circle. Before he embarked on his writing career, Eggers was classically trained as a draftsman and painter. He then spent many years as a professional illus trator and graphic designer before turning to writ ing full-time. More recently, in order to raise money for ScholarMatch, his college-access nonprofit, he returned to visual art, and the results have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the country. Usually involving the pairing of an animal with humorous or biblical text, the results are wry, oddly anthropomorphic tableaus that create a very entertaining and eccentric body of work from one of today's leading culture makers.

Explore the wonderful world of tortoiseshell cats and tortoiseshell cat behaviorTortie cat behavior: With about 2 million tortoiseshell cats in the United States, these special felines tend to be strong-willed, a bit hot-tempered, and often very possessive of their humans. Other words used to describe torties are fiercely independent, feisty and unpredictable. In Tortitude: The BIG Book About Cats With a BIG Attitude, cat expert Ingrid King (The Conscious Cat) brings her professional and personal experience to explore why these cats are so special. With expert insights combined with stunning photography and passages dedicated to the cats and their passionate guardians, King offers a new perspective on these exceptional cats.

Now an internationally famous wildlife artist, Robert Gillmor was already a keen bird-watcher at the age of 11 when the Reading Ornithological Club (launched in 1947) invited him to join them as a visitor; at 13 he was elected as their first junior member. He was also learning the art of lino-cutting at Leighton Park School, and the Club's 1949 annual report bore his linocut of a Canada Goose on its first printed cover. Over sixty years on he is still producing his wonderful representations of birds for the covers, particularly the more interesting sightings of each year. This book is the story of his formative bird-watching and print-making years. Illustrated with the images from the covers themselves, it is a beguiling account of the development of both artist and bird-lover.

From the author of adult-colouring sensations 'Botanical Wonderland' and 'Desert Wonderland', as well as the bestselling 'Color Workshop', comes a stunning guide to drawing a garden full of flowers. Rachel Reinert is the perfect artist to explain the intricacies of drawing flowers. With the straightforward, step-by step instructions that are the hallmark of her teaching style, 'In Bloom' covers more than 30 flowers from around the world, from beloved tulips, roses, violets and tiger lilies to the more exotic proteas, kangaroo paws and birds of paradise. Featuring matte paper stock and instructions on colouring your drawings, this is an exceptionally beautiful book with a decidedly modern feel.

Wilhelm Kuhnert was a pioneer. He was one of the first European artists to travel to the largely unexplored savannahs and jungles of the German colonies in North and East Africa. Under hazardous conditi ons he documented at close quarters the fascinating animal and plant world and then created in his Berlin studio monumental paintings which were much sought - after on the art market. Like no other artist of his time Wilhelm Kuhnert (1865 - 1926) has moulded our image of Africa. In his seductively realistic drawings, watercolours and paintings he recorded with almost scientific accuracy the characteristics of the animals and their habitat. It is not surprising, therefore, that his pictures illustrated on the o ne hand legendary reference works like Brehms Tierleben and adorned on the other the popular collector cards of the chocolate manufacturer Stollwerck. The volume shows a comprehensive, exciting portrait of Kuhnert's unusual life and works and takes into account at the same time the current debate on attitudes to Germany's colonial past.

Recording Alexander von Humboldt's historic expedition to the Americas and Cuba-hailed by many as the "scientific discovery of America"-these intricate and delicately tinted prints reveal his revolutionary findings as he traveled through jungles, across rivers, and over mountainous terrain. The illustrations in the book give the English and Latin botanical names of the plants and are followed by an exhaustive index. Internationally renowned botanist H. Walter Lack lends his expertise to a fascinating essay that discusses Humboldt's significant contributions to the world of botany and scientific research. Technically precise, the prints are equally appealing to anyone who appreciates fine art and botanical illustration.

An intrepid Victorian traveler and prolific painter, Marianne North produced more than eight-hundred paintings over her lifetime. She eschewed the soft pastels of typical botanical artists and instead painted entire landscapes using bold, hearty oil paints. Her collection is housed at Kew, where you can still see 848 of her paintings on display in an eponymous gallery. The Marianne North Gift Wrap is a book of twelve sheets of wrapping paper, each featuring one of North's iconic paintings. Printed on quality paper, each sheet tears out easily, leaving you with a clean edge for hassle-free wrapping. It will add some botanical brightness to any gift for the garden-lover in your life. Marianne North 100 Postcards is a box overflowing with 100 of North's beautiful paintings. Each full-color postcard features a unique illustration from the collection and it includes plants from all over the world. What more fitting tribute to a globetrotter than to send one of her postcards from your own international (or even local) adventures?

A selection of goats and sheep portraits in a profile, a sideward glance, or direct gaze. When American photographer Kevin Horan moved from city to country, he found among his animal companions goats and sheep whose chorus of sounds suggested they were not just herd animals, but perhaps individuals as well. Experienced in portraiture, Horan decided to photograph them in his studio, as though they were privileged clients. The resulting images ask us to notice the variety, dignity, and personalities of these lowliest of creatures, who speak to us through the camera in a profile, a sideward glance, or direct gaze. With different coats, faces, and expressions, they are funny, fascinating, intelligent, curious, engaging "others" who command our undivided attention and respect. They remind us that we too are fellow creatures - and the camera isn't always on us.

A beautifully illustrated look at the vogue for night landscapes amid the social, political, and technological changes of modern America The turn of the 20th century witnessed a surge in the creation and popularity of nocturnes and night landscapes in American art. In this original and thought-provoking book, Helene Valance investigates why artists and viewers of the era were so captivated by the night. Nocturne examines works by artists such as James McNeill Whistler, Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer, Frederic Remington, Edward Steichen, and Henry Ossawa Tanner through the lens of the scientific developments and social issues that dominated the period. Valance argues that the success of the genre is connected to the resonance between the night and the many forces that affected the era, including technological advances that expanded the realm of the visible, such as electric lighting and photography; Jim Crow-era race relations; America's closing frontier and imperialism abroad; and growing anxiety about identity and social values amid rapid urbanization. This absorbing study features 150 illustrations encompassing paintings, photographs, prints, scientific illustration, advertising, and popular media to explore the predilection for night imagery as a sign of the times.

This practical and inspirational guide, in a handy sketchbook format, is aimed at the practised beginner and shows how to paint successful flowers in watercolours in just 30 minutes - ideal for the busy amateur artist. Many people think they don't have enough time to paint, but in this attractive guide Trevor Waugh encourages quick and simple learning. By working with just a few materials and focusing on just the key techniques it is possible to achieve successful, delicate paintings of flowers in no more than half an hour. And for those artists who already have a little painting experience, learning to work more quickly enables them to free up their style and paint more spontaneously. All the key topics are covered, from watercolour techniques, colour and tone to learning about flower shapes, foliage, patterns and textures. There are also practical projects and step-by-step demonstrations as well as helpful tips and checklists.

This book is a celebration of trees, with beautiful botanical art at its centrepiece, accompanied by an entertaining and informative text. The paintings by Japanese artist Masumi Yamanaka illustrate the oldest and finest trees growing at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, showing the flowers and foliage and sometimes fruit at different stages throughout the year.

'Think of this atlas as the beginning of a journey and a kind of island guidebook, a rough guide to far-flung places, a Baedeker of make-believe, and a new page waiting to be filled. The cycle of Crusoes continues' Huw Lewis-Jones A new atlas of imaginary islands conjured up by an international gathering of illustrators, including work by Coralie Bickford-Smith, Bill Bragg, Marion Deuchars, Chris Riddell, Maisie Paradise Shearring, Herve Tullet, Ausra Kiudulaite and more. Islomania is a recognized affliction. But what is it about islands that is so alluring, and why do so many people find these self-contained worlds completely irresistible? Utopia and Atlantis were islands, and islands have captured the imaginations of writers and artists for centuries. Venetian sailors were the first to make collections of them by drawing maps of those they visited in their isolari - literally the 'island books'. Then in 1719 Daniel Defoe published his tale of a castaway on a desert island, Robinson Crusoe, one of the first great novels in the history of literature and an instant bestseller. Defoe's tale combined the real and the imagined and transformed them into a compelling creative landscape, establishing a whole literary genre and unleashing the power of an island for storytelling. To celebrate the tercentenary of Robinson Crusoe's publication, a truly international range of leading illustrators imagine they too have been washed up on their own remote island. In a specially created map they visualize what it looks like, what it's called and what can be found on its mythical shores. In a panoply of astonishingly creative and often surprising responses, we are invited to explore a curious and fabulous archipelago of islands of invention that will beguile illustrators, cartographers and dreamers alike.

Presented in a style as stunning as the prints it celebrates, this survey of Hiroshige tells the fascinating story of the last great practitioner of ukiyo-e, or "pictures of the floating world." Hiroshige is considered to be the tradition's most poetic artist and his work had a marked influence on Western painting towards the end of the 19th century. Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Paul Ce zanne, and James Whistler were inspired by Hiroshige's serene depictions of the natural world. Arranged chronologically, this book illustrates through text and magnificent reproductions Hiroshige's youth and early career; his artistic development in the genre of landscape prints; his depictions of Edo and the provinces; the flower and bird prints; and his many popular books and paintings. It discusses the historic and cultural environment in which Hiroshige flourished and the many reasons his art continues to be revered and imitated. Filled with 300 color reproductions, and featuring a clamshell box and Japanese-style binding, this volume is destined to become the definitive examination of Hiroshige's oeuvre.

'Armed with this intrepid survey, we can see a brave new world down there on the beach ... Exquisite revelation, of the most wonderful, watery kind.' - Philip Hoare For many, the highlights of seaside holidays are rockpooling and gathering the glorious array of shells left strewn on the beach after the receding tide. Attracted by the infinite variety of shapes and colours, visitors can never resist making a souvenir collection of their own - but little do they suspect the fascinating lives of the animals who once occupied them. What if each shell had a story of its own to tell us, if only we knew the language? Mr Street's delightful, informative guide uncovers the secret history of each common shell, revealing not only which marine creature once inhabited it but the unique challenges of its watery habitat it had to solve. From barnacles to oysters, cockles to sea slugs, winkles to carnivorous snails, molluscs and lesser-known members of the octopus family, Shell Life on the Seashore is the essential primer for recognising and collecting both these curious specimens and the 'empties' they leave behind - and will greatly increase the old-fashioned pleasures of a coastal holiday for all the family.

Distributed by the University of Nebraska Press for Jeff Kurus, Publisher The Tale of Jacob Swift is a photo-fiction story recounting the struggles and triumphs that one swift fox family experiences in raising its son in the harsh but beautiful grasslands of North America. Written by Jeff Kurrus with photographic imagery by Rob Palmer, this book about Jacob is sure to prompt discussion between parent and child regarding the circle of life.

Where does the apricot tree come from? Why is the oak-tree regarded as the king of all trees? What is made from the walnut tree? Why were lindens planted around churches in the Middle Ages? What are the birch-tree's pharmaceutical properties? Why is the yew's shade deemed to be dangerous? Exquisitely illustrated with colourful lithographs, this little album is a pocket-sized encyclopaedia, containing hundreds of anecdotes on around 80 species of trees. Also available in the series: The Little Book of Cats ISBN 9782812317408 The Little Book of Dogs ISBN 9782812318580 The Little Books of New York ISBN 9782812315329 The Little Book of Paris ISBN 9782812313318 The Little Books of Birds ISBN 9782812316364 The Little book of Versailles ISBN 9782812317804 The Little Book of Roses ISBN 9782379640810 The Little Book of Medicinal Plants ISBN 9782812319815 The Little Book of The Language of Flowers ISBN 9782812318924 The Little Book of The Moon ISBN 9782379641046

Snow scenes are a popular subject of painters all year round. In this inspiring and accessible guide, best-selling author and popular tutor Terry Harrison shares a wealth of tips and techniques for painting snow in watercolour. Suitable for artists of all abilities, Terry shows you how to capture the beauty of snow-covered landscapes using easy techniques. The book begins with guidance on colour mixes and brushes for achieving different effects, and moves on to step-by-step demonstrations of painting snow-laden trees, frozen streams, wintry skies, falling snow, and the warm glow of a low winter sun. He provides valuable tips on using photographs for reference, and turning a summer landscape into a snow-covered one. There's also a section on how to create a traditional Christmas scene, and how to turn it into a Christmas card. With numerous examples of Terry's beautiful artwork, this book is a truly indispensable guide for anyone wishing to paint snow scenes in watercolour.

Join artist Sarah Simblet on an inspirational journey of discovery as she makes drawings of every type of plant. From the tiniest mosses to exotic flowers and majestic trees, this book shows how understanding botany will give your portraits of plants vibrancy and life. In Botany for the Artist, Sarah Simblet takes you on a personal tour of the kingdom of plants, encouraging you to observe them more closely and draw them more accurately. Complemented by beautiful photographs, Sarah's drawings reveal the structure of roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits as she explains how plants breathe, feed, and produce fruits. If you have ever wondered how photosynthesis works, why leaves change colour in the autumn, or how seeds know when to grow, Botany for the Artist has all the answers. Step-by-step drawing classes and detailed pages from Sarah's sketchbooks guide you through all the techniques that you need to draw plants successfully. Masterclasses by famous artists - from Renaissance masters to contemporary illustrators - showcase different approaches to botanical illustration over the centuries. Botany for the Artist is a visual feast, not just for anyone wishing to master drawing plants, but for gardeners, photographers, and everyone who is passionate about plants and how they are portrayed in art.