Cats were just as favored in ancient Egypt as they are today. Egyptian paintings of domesticated cats date back 3,600 years, and animal cults included worship to the cat goddess Bastet. This AUC Press Nature Foldout explores wild and domestic cats of Egypt: large cats like the Cheetah, the Leopard, and the Caracal, which are all extremely threatened or near extinction within Egypt; and smaller cats including the African Wild Cat, Swamp Cat, Sand Cat, and Egyptian Mau. Whether wild or household pets, cats have long been beloved by people. - Each species described and illustrated, alongside examples of their natural prey in the wild - Map of Egypt describing the various habitats of wild cats, as well as locations of ancient Egyptian sites where the cat was worshiped and mummified - Noted appearances of felines in hieroglyphs and reliefs - Conservation efforts for threatened cat species About the series: The AUC Press Nature Foldout series combine, in beautifully practical form, a wealth of information written by leading experts with striking full-color illustrations on the flora and fauna of Egypt and the Middle East. Designed for nature lovers and outdoor adventurers, as well as for indoor use, the foldouts come in an easily foldable format, at once compact, waterproof, and portable, making them durable and convenient travel guides. Size is 23 x 8.5 in. / 58.5 x 21.5 cm unfolded.

Als Reprasentanten ihrer Herkunft und ihrer Verwendungsgeschichten gewinnen auch unbearbeitete Steine in politischen, nationalen ebenso wie in religioesen und asthetischen Kontexten Bedeutung. Oft wurden sie - wie die chinesischen Gartensteine aus dem Tai-See - unter schwierigen Bedingungen abgebaut, geborgen und uber weite Strecken transportiert. Aus sinologischer und kunsthistorischer Perspektive untersuchen die hier versammelten Beitrage den Transfer sowie die materialsemantischen Verheissungen von Steinen in unterschiedlichen Kulturen. Im Zentrum steht China mit seiner besonderen Geschichte der Wertschatzung von "Bruder Stein"; die kulturellen Praktiken und Reprasentationsformen in westlichen Landern und in Japan bilden dazu einen Vergleichsrahmen.

Featuring 200 meticulous and anatomically accurate drawings that capture each magnificent owl in multiple poses and from every angle, this reference provides wildlife artists with the tools to draw, paint, sculpt, carve, and study these majestic birds. The comprehensive drawings and color graphs capture the essence of the owls' watchful and predatory nature, and scaled charts allow carvers to create their desired dimensions without sacrificing proportion. With the combination of in-flight and still photographs, everyone from wildlife artists and bird watchers to nature enthusiasts can create these formidable nighttime hunters in minute detail--down to the stripes, speckles, and streaks of their feathers.

Discover plants like you've never seen them before in this beautifully-designed introduction to the plant kingdom. Discover the extraordinary diversity of the plant world and how plants work with this photographic celebration of the plants, trees and flowers that share our planet and breathe life into our lungs. The Science of Plants invites you on a breathtaking journey to explore the plant kingdom from the ground up, from root to leaf tip! Published in association with Kew, and illustrated with inspiring photography, this beautiful compilation takes you on a visual journey of some of the world's most peculiar plants and fascinating flora in exquisite detail. Throughout the pages of this plant book, you can expect to find: -Inner workings of wide range of plants explained easily with graphic detail -Galleries showcase diversity in the plant world and visually define botanical terms -Feature spreads on key plants combine dramatic photography with rounded descriptions of our most significant,unusual, and sought-after species -Optional 80-page reference section includes a catalogue of plant families and explanations of botanical names This beautiful book of plants showcases every part of each plant in detail, starting with a section on roots, stems and branches, leaves, flowers, followed by seeds. From tiny mosses and delicate ferns to vibrant blooms and stately palms, DK's elegant introduction to botany is packed with striking photos and crystal-clear artworks that explain the mechanics of photosynthesis, why leaves change colour, how cacti store water, and how seeds know when to grow. Filled with fascinating stories of how plants protect themselves from predators, and how flowers use colour and scent to interact with creatures around them, The Science of Plants is a fresh and engaging introduction to the mysterious inner workings of the plant world. A must-have volume for all plant lovers, including naturalists, budding botanists, ecologists as well as gardeners. Doubling up as the ideal gift for the plant-lover in your life, The Science of Plants is a nature book that is sure to delight. At DK, we believe in the power of discovery. So why not explore other terrific titles in our Science Of series? Reveal the secrets of the seas with The Science of The Ocean and explore the animal kingdom like never before with The Science of Animals.

'A sea breeze wafts up from every page. This book is a delight.' - Nigel Slater Both grounding and uplifting, From Coast & Cove, the new book from author and acclaimed illustrator Anna Koska, walks us through the four seasons on the English coast. Beautifully observed, contemplative and deeply personal, Anna combines emotive and evocative tales of life beside the sea with her exquisitely detailed and intricate illustrations of the plants and wildlife found in the water and along the coastline. Anna and her family moved from East Sussex to Devon in 2020 and she now finds inspiration for her artworks in the ebb and flow of the tide throughout the year, the flotsam and jetsam washed up on the shore and the creatures spotted in the air, on land and tucked away in rockpools - whether it's the haunting cry of the curlew heard while kayaking along the River Dart, the iridescent scales and pointed teeth of a hake, the mussel shells discarded by an oystercatcher, or the kelp, wrack and eelgrass strewn along the beach and pressed for posterity. A love letter to the natural world captured in materials ranging from pencil, pen and ink, watercolour and egg tempera, From Coast & Cove details an artist's year spent beside the sea. A book to savour, and a wonderful celebration of nature's cycles and minutiae.

The ultimate gift for gardeners and art-lovers, featuring 300 of the most beautiful and pioneering botanical images ever Following in the footsteps of the international bestseller Map, Exploring the World, this fresh and visually stunning survey celebrates the extraordinary beauty and diversity of plants. It combines photographs and cutting-edge micrograph scans with watercolours, drawings, and prints to bring this universally popular and captivating subject vividly to life. Carefully selected by an international panel of experts and arranged in a uniquely structured sequence to highlight thought-provoking contrasts and similarities, this stunning compilation of botanically themed images includes iconic work by celebrated artists, photographers, scientists, and botanical illustrators, as well as rare and previously unpublished images. Advisory panel: Rosie Atkins, Gillian Barlow, Brent Elliott, Celia Fisher, Patricia Jonas, Rob Kesseler, Hans Walter Laack, Gren Lucas, Henry Noltie, Mikinori Ogisu, Pia OEstlund, Lynn Parker, Martyn Rix, Charlotte Tancin, Alice Tangerini and Anita Walsmit Sachs Additional texts: Rosie Atkins, Helen Bynum, Ruth Chivers, James Compton, Tim Cooke, Brent Elliott, Celia Fisher, Carolyn Fry, Patricia Jonas, Rob Kesseler, Hans Walter Lack, Paula McWaters, Pia OEstlund, Lynn Parker, Martyn Rix, Julian Shaw, Charlotte Tancin, Alice Tangerini, Guy Tindale, Jacek Wajer and Martin Walters

"A painting must stand as a painting, made by human hand," wrote Caspar David Friedrich, "not seek to disguise itself as Nature." One of his generation's most popular painters, Friedrich imagined landscapes of powerful beauty and spirituality from within the confines of his studios. This breathtaking monograph, filled with glorious reproductions and details of his paintings, argues for Friedrich's reputation as a sublime artist and interpreter of nature. In his thoughtful and well-researched commentary, author Johannes Grave explores Friedrich's approach to landscape painting as well as his revolutionary thoughts about how these paintings should be received by their viewers. Looking closely at pieces such as Monk by the Sea, Abbey in the Oakwood, and the Tetschener Altar, Grave shows how Friedrich developed an innovative approach to landscape painting, one that communicated a new sense of space and time, and which draws the viewer into a unique aesthetic experience. Highly readable, insightful, and copiously illustrated, this compelling book sheds crucial light on Friedrich's celebrated body of work.

This dazzling collection showcases the very best of the British Wildlife Photography Awards, presenting over 150 of the winning, commended and shortlisted images from the 2017 competition. Featuring a range of photography from world-leading professionals as well as inspired amateurs, it is a book that captures the magnificent diversity of the British Isles. Now in its eighth year, the annual competition has a long tradition of supporting conservation. It provides a platform for the finest examples of British nature photography, revealing its wonders to a wide audience and engaging with all ages through its evocative and powerful imagery. With a 20,000 prize from lead sponsor Canon, it is one of the most prestigious photography competitions, attracting major sponsors and culminating in an exhibition at London's Mall Gallery. British Wildlife Photography Awards 9 is divided into the competition's fifteen categories, from Animal Portraits through to the Young People's Awards. Every photograph is beautifully reproduced in a large format, with detailed technical information alongside the photographer's personal account, to appeal to both photographers and natural historians. Featuring a fresh new design, and supported by a major media campaign, this is a book that will bring every reader closer to the often unseen and always surprising world of British nature.

Beaches, marshes, mangroves; cliffs, deserts, forests; bays, deltas, estuaries - coastlines take many different forms and are put to very different uses. From deserted beaches to busy ports, from pretty fishing villages to a surfers' paradise, a salt marsh to a ship-breakers' yard, Coasts celebrates where the land meets the sea. From beautiful coastal paths to the shipwrecks left high and dry in the Aral Sea, from world famous locations such as Copacabana Beach in Brazil and Big Sur in California to the little explored coastlines of Yemen and Oman, from Algeria to Antarctica, the Amalfi Coast to the Dead Sea, the book celebrates a huge range in coastlines from all around the world. Including nature reserves and tourist resorts, rugged landscapes and desert island tranquility, fjords and fossils, eroding cliffs to whole towns lost to the waters, the book explores coastlines in all climates and conditions around the globe. Presented in a landscape format and with captions explaining the story behind each entry, Coasts is a stunning collection of images and stories.

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.

Drawing with graphite and coloured pencils enables the artist to capture every detail of a plant, and to enjoy, study and celebrate their wonderful forms. Whether the illustration is a striking monotone or vibrant with colour, pencils give you absolute precision. The book, written and illustrated by an award-winning botanical artist, introduces and explains the drawing skills behind the art. Each chapter concentrates on a different aspect of the plant, working upwards from the root system to include the stem, leaves, flowers and fruit. Fungi have also been included due to their close association with plants. Topics covered include: techniques on using graphite and coloured pencils; practical help on lighting, posture and keeping plants fresh; instruction on composition, colour charts and mixing; advice on portraying texture and hairs, and achieving bloom on fruit and finally, simple explanations of botany to aid the artist's understanding. With tips and advice throughout, the techniques are supported by step-by-step projects, clear exercises and over 300 colour illustrations.

India's Punjab is the land of the five rivers, five (Punj) rivers (Aab) - Ravi, Satluj, Chenab, Beas and Jhelum. It is also the birthplace of Max Kandhola's family, who historically were landowners, with connections to farming, agriculture and also to the military. Max Kandhola decided to go back to Punjab after completing his project "Illustration of Life" (2002) in which he documented his father's last moments of life, and reflected on issues within Sikh ritual, immortality and death. Over the last four years, he has visited the region as part of a continuing project to map family history through an odyssey of ancestral narratives, exploring memory, diaspora and identity. For him it is a land which is unfamiliar, yet it provides both a context and a beginning. Kandhola's journey began in Nurmahal, in the district of Jalandhar, from which most of his family originally came. Using this as a starting point he travelled from the centre of Punjab outwards.

To study a plant in detail is to make a fascinating journey of discovery. Even plants we think we know well will often surprise us as we look at the intricacy of their structure and how they are put together. This fascinating guide explains what flowering plants are and their relationship to other groups of plants. With drawings, paintings and photographs throughout, it advises on how to carry out a botanical study and will prove essential reading for botanical artists, photographers and all those wishing to gain a greater understanding of flowering plants.

From jewellery designers to scientists, graphic artists to naturalists, the range of people inspired by Ernst Haeckel's illustrations continues to grow. Following up on Prestel's Art Forms in Nature and Art Forms from the Ocean, this new collection features startlingly beautiful images created by Haeckel, who was commissioned to contribute to the report of the HMS Challenger expedition, which circumnavigated the world from 1872-76. The Challenger's achievements were unparalleled, with nearly 5,000 new species discovered and catalogued from the depths of Earth's oceans. Full-page reproductions bring these organisms colourfully to life, drawing readers into a world at once hypnotic and highly ordered. Divided into three sections-Siphonophores, Medusae and Radiolarians-these illustrations display Haeckel's remarkable artistic skill and understanding of the architecture of organic matter. The authors provide a brief history of the Challenger expedition, background on Haeckel's scientific and artistic accomplishments, as well as informative texts on each group of organisms.A guide to the natural world and an inspiration to artists of every stripe, this collection of Haeckel's work is a fitting tribute to a 19th century genius.

Through stunning digital photography, Roger Camp creates glorious collages of color to present five hundred of the world's most beautiful flowers. A feast for the eye, this is a fine art photographer's rendition of the natural world.

Details of the five hundred flowers displayed are included in an informative index.

The book showcases 75 beautiful words evocative of the wild, from all around the world, that describe natural happenings in nature. It includes words that describe weather, or a feeling you have when in nature as well as sensory words that explain the smell or sound of a place. The words used to express what is seen in the world are vital to an appreciation of it - language is a key component in the call of the wild. As words vanish from a language, it follows that what they describe may disappear. Words deepen understanding of what is seen, and what is seen comes more vividly to life through the words used to describe it. As the natural world and the time spent in it diminish in the face of modern life, it's more vital than ever to recall it into being with the magic of language. Each of the 75 words will have a 100-word description, including its pronunciation, a geographical/historical/cultural background, as well as reflecting on the emotional/mindful response the natural phenomenon can inspire. Each word will be paired with an illustration Examples of words: Mangata. Sweden. Noun. The path of light that the moon makes on water. Sugar weather. Canada. Noun. A period of warm days and cold nights - the perfect weather to start the sap flowing in maple trees. Rudenja. Lithuania. The way nature begins to feel as autumn takes hold and the vestiges of summer disappear. Komorebi. Japan. Noun. Beams of sunlight filtering down through the trees.

Following on from Dinosaur Art, this new volume showcases 10 amazing artists whose work represents the cutting edge of paleoart. Many are rising stars in the field; others have embraced digital technology and continue to assert long-standing reputations as leaders in the discipline. This volume also includes state-of-the-art modellers, allowing the reader to explore restoring prehistoric animals in three as well as two dimensions. All accompanied by insights into the cutting of paleontological researcher and the very latest discoveries, with commentaries by respected scientists at the top of their fields.

Trees have inspired artists for generations. This unique watercolour artist's guide offers easy-to-follow, plant-specific information on how to paint a wonderful selection of the most popular species of trees. Beginning with a useful section on materials, the book then comprises an illustrated directory of 24 trees, from Acer to Zelkova. Step-by-step sequences show how to paint each one in a fresh, lively style with all the essential details of shape and form beautifully captured. The author explores the overall shapes and masses of branches and leaves, outlines in full foliage, winter trees, branch and twig details, and presents stunning leaf and flower portraits shimmering with life. A source of inspiration, as well as a manual of techniques, this book is a must-have for every tree painter. Purchase of this book supports the vital work of Kew - saving plants and fungi around the world that might one day save us.

In Geninne's Art: Birds in Watercolor, Collage, and Ink, popular Santa Fe artist Geninne Zlatkis presents a personal field guide to how she creates her charming paintings and collages of birds and nature. Brimming with inspiring examples of the artist's work, this beautiful book takes you inside Geninne's studio for an in-depth look at how she creates. You will discover, step by step, how this devoted artist spends time photographing nature, selecting her materials, and developing her personal imagery. Explore: How her studio is set up, how she works, and what materials and tools she uses How she captures nature with both a camera and phone for reference Her artistic process through the step-by-step creation of 5 watercolor paintings, 5 collages, and 5 ink drawings, with notes on each medium and technique As a special bonus, the book includes 32 pages of collage papers, painted and selected by Geninne, for you to use as you explore and develop your own artistic voice. Vibrant, detailed, and richly imaginative, Geninne's interpretation of the birds she has observed so closely will inspire you to use the natural world as fodder for your paintings, drawings, and collages.

Caterpillage is a study of seventeenth-century Dutch still life painting. It develops an interpretive approach based on the author's previous studies of portraiture, and its goal is to offer its readers a new way to think and talk about the genre of still life. The book begins with a critique of iconographic discourse and particularly of iconography's treatment of vanitas symbolism. It goes on to argue that this treatment tends to divert attention from still life's darker meanings and from the true character of its traffic with death. Interpretations of still life that focus on the vanity of human experience and the mutability of life minimize the impact made by the representation of such voracious pillagers of plant life as insects, snails, and caterpillars. The message sent by still life's preoccupation with these small-scale predators is not merely vanitas. It is rapacitas. Caterpillage also explores the impact of this message on the meaning of the genre's French name. We use the conventional term nature morte ("dead nature") without giving any thought to how misleading it is. Because so many portrayals of still life involve cut flowers, which, although still in bloom, are dying, it would be more accurate to name the genre nature mourant. The subjects of still life are plants that are still living, plants that are dying but not yet dead.

Perfect for display or close observation, the posters in this elegantly produced collection of Ernst Haeckel's exquisite illustrations of natural forms demonstrate his exceptional artistry. Biologist, physician, philosopher, and artist, Ernst Haeckel was also a prescient observer of the natural world. His highly detailed and expertly rendered illustrations, first published at the turn of the 20th century, are not only beautiful works of art, but also have scientific underpinnings. Now available as a series of large format posters sumptuously printed and suitable for framing, Haeckel's most elaborate and captivating works illustrate his fundamental notion of the unity of all living things. From otherworldly radiolaria to psychedelic sea anemones, Haeckel's science and artistry continue to provide inspiration for 21st-century illustrators, architects, graphic designers, and anyone interested in exploring nature's perfect geometry.