One of the most unexpectedly useful things we can do when we're feeling glum or out of sorts is to look at pictures. The best works of art can lift our spirits, remind us of what we love and return perspective to our situation. A few moments in front of the right picture can rescue us. This is a collection of 100 of the world's most consoling and uplifting images, accompanied by small essays that talk about the works in a way that offers us comfort and inspiration. The images in the book range wildly across time and space: from ancient to modern art, east to west, north to south, taking in photography, painting, abstract and figurative art. All the images have been carefully chosen to help us with a particular problem we might face: a broken heart, a difficulty at work, the meanness of others, the challenges of family and friends We're invited to look at art with unusual depth and then find our way towards new hope and courage. This is a portable museum dedicated to beauty and consolation, a unique book about art which is also about psychology and healing: a true piece of art therapy.

Painting buildings is an exciting and versatile genre - it allows you to enjoy the lines of architecture but also to add feeling and context to a picture. This practical book explains the full depth of the subject, from first sketches to final presentation. Using a range of examples, it is packed with advice and information, and follows the riches of painting the built landscape. Not just a handy reference, this is a beautiful and inspirational guide for every artist who wants to capture and interpret a scene. Topics covered include: Drawing - practise observation and sketching to identify the principal lines of view. Perspective - understand three-dimensional structures and their position to each other and in space. Oils - use the versatility of the paint to express and experiment with your ideas. Location - develop your paintings outdoors and in the studio. Style - add figures, weather and atmosphere to your work to give it character and mood. Finally, Inspiration - learn new ideas and themes from finished examples by a number of leading artists.

Learn to capture the beauty and drama of the sky. A good sky is the essence of successful landscape and seascape paintings. This practical book covers everything you will need to know to paint a sky that captures the mood and atmosphere of a scene. With over 200 paintings, it explains techniques, demonstrates the painting process including step-by-step instruction on painting in oils with the alla prima technique. Advice is given on using alternative colours and creative interpretations and gives ideas to inspire and develop skills and a personal style. There is also detailed instruction on equipment, tone, composition and perspective and finally, practical advice on painting en plein air and travelling light.

Sold in packs of 6. Gorgeous, foiled, handmade greeting cards, blank inside and shrink-wrapped with a gold envelope. Themed with our art calendars, foiled notebooks and illustrated art books. Our greeting cards are printed on FSC paper and wrapped in biodegradeable cellobag, and are themed with our art calendars, foiled notebooks and illustrated art books. This example features Jean and Ron Henry's Moon Maiden. The vogue for fairy painting grew out of the Romantic movement, when there was a revival of interest in the nation's cultural heritage, including such mythological beings as fairies. The magic of these creatures continues to inspire artists to this day and Jean and Ron Henry's Moon Maiden is a charming, modern slant on the fairy world.

A concise and informative introduction to airbrushing methods for modellers, which contains a number of useful, graded projects which enable the beginner to develop airbrushing skills. There are chapters that cover techniques for use with both scale and non-scale models and even full size custom cars. The book contains a great deal of information on types of airbrushes, sprayguns and their maintenance, plus useful discussions dealing with the different types of compressors used in airbrushing, how to choose or build a compressor and their safe use. Safety is always paramount with the author, with a chapter dedicated to health and safety considerations covering the use of a compressor, types of paint and dope, masks and respirators. He also explains the different materials that can be used in airbrushes and their application. This is a useful resource for a beginner to the art and techniques of airbrushing, providing a complete overview of the subject.

Glasgow Museums has the finest collection of Italian paintings of any civic museums service in the UK. It includes some 150 paintings ranging from the late 14th century to the late 19th century. This catalogue begins with an historical introduction to the collection and its donors, and includes 192 colour reproductions.

Reference materials on European painting of the seventeenth century are generally restricted to a roster of a few dozen great masters such as Rembrandt, Rubens, Caravaggio, and Velazquez, but this Golden Age produced hundreds of prodigiously talented painters. Almost 300--mainly Dutch, Flemish, Italian, and Spanish--are here given biographical coverage based on an extensive bibliography of contemporaneous, later, and recent scholarship. Attention is focused on training, travel, commissions, stylistic influences and legacy, and pupils. For each artist, the oeuvre is analyzed with reference to major works, and a detailed list of additional works with museum holdings is appended. References are keyed to the backmatter bibliography, and museum citations refer to a list of 183 collections around the world. An appendix groups the featured artists by nationality, and an index completes the volume.

Having travelled extensively throughout his life, Grant has drawn inspiration from landscapes from Antarctica to the tropics, While attracted to northerly territories (he has lived in Norway since 1996), the subject matter of Grant's bold images varies from marine volcanoes and rainforests to icebergs and glaciers. Dynamic and vital, elemental palettes conjure up abstracted fiery drama to figurative icy stillness. Seen collectively, the work reveals a creative energy that finds many forms of expression. This translates into an original visual language that questions and probes how we see the world around us. Much more than images, Grant's remarkable artistic contribution not only provides paintings that capture the world's beauty, but also extend our understanding of the environment, climate and the fundamental importance of nature. 

Fleshing out surfaces is the first English-language book on skin and flesh tones in art. It considers flesh and skin in art theory, image making and medical discourse in seventeenth to nineteenth-century France. Describing a gradual shift between the early modern and the modern period, it argues that what artists made when imitating human nakedness was not always the same. Initially understood in terms of the body's substance, of flesh tones and body colour, it became increasingly a matter of skin, skin colour and surfaces. Each chapter is dedicated to a different notion of skin and its colour, from flesh tones via a membrane imbued with nervous energy to hermetic borderline. Looking in particular at works by Fragonard, David, Girodet, Benoist and Ingres, the focus is on portraits, as facial skin is a special arena for testing painterly skills and a site where the body and the image become equally expressive. -- .

A discussion of sensibility, sensation, perception and painting, Scotland and the Origins of Modern Art is an original work which argues that the eighteenth-century Scottish philosophy of moral sense played a central role in shaping ideas explored by figures such as Cezanne and Monet over one hundred years later. Proposing that sensibility not reason was the basis of morality, the philosophy of moral sense gave birth to the idea of the supremacy of the imagination. Allied to the belief that the imagination flourished more freely in the primitive history of humanity, this idea became a potent inspiration for artists. The author also highlights Thomas Reid's method in his philosophy of common sense of using art and artists to illustrate how perception and expression are intuitive. To be truly expressive, artists should unlearn what they have learned and record their raw sensations, rather than the perceptions that derive from them. Exploring the work of key philosophical and artistic protagonists, this thought-provoking book unearths the fascinating exchanges between art, philosophy and literature during Enlightenment in Scotland that provided the blueprint for modernism.

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 ARTIST. Vincent van Gogh is considered one of the world's greatest painters, his work having had a huge and far-reaching influence on 20th-century art as well as remaining visually and emotionally powerful to this day. THE FINAL WORD. As William Morris said, "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

Bereits in der Malerei des 18. Jahrhunderts wird die Ölskizze in verstärktem Maß zu einem Experimentierfeld für Motiv und Form. Zugleich häufen sich Versuche, Ölskizze und Bild einander anzunähern. Die Studie untersucht die weitere Entwicklung dieser Tendenzen auf der Grundlage von Werken John Constables, Eugène Delacroix' und Adolph Menzels. Innerhalb der schwer definierbaren Sphäre zwischen Ölskizze und Bild tritt bei diesen Künstlern nicht nur die zunehmende Individualisierung der Darstellungsmittel prägnant hervor. Hier werden auch die Methoden für eine Synthese der beiden Bereiche deutlich. Die Arbeit analysiert Entstehung und Form ausgesuchter Werke und versucht die Fragen bezüglich deren Funktion und Status im jeweiligen OEuvre zu erhellen.

One of the most visible, popular, and significant artists of his generation, William Hogarth (1697-1764) is best known for his acerbic, strongly moralising works, which were mass-produced and widely disseminated as prints during his lifetime. This volume is a fascinating look into the notorious English satirical artist's life, presenting Anecdotes of William Hogarth, Written by Himself-a collection of autobiographical vignettes supplemented with short texts and essays written by his contemporaries, first published in 1785.

Featuring over 100 images, including step-by-step examples illustrating how to improve costume renderings. This is an invaluable resource for students in Costume Rendering and Costume Design courses, along with professional costume designers looking to improve their rendering skills. Written to complement any rendering style.

Despite numbering at just 35, his works have prompted a New York Times best seller; a film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth; record visitor numbers at art institutions from Amsterdam to Washington, DC; and special crowd-control measures at the Mauritshuis, The Hague, where thousands flock to catch a glimpse of the enigmatic and enchanting Girl with a Pearl Earring, also known as the "Dutch Mona Lisa". In his lifetime, however, the fame of Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) barely extended beyond his native Delft and a small circle of patrons. After his death, his name was largely forgotten, except by a few Dutch art collectors and dealers. Outside of Holland, his works were even misattributed to other artists. It was not until the mid-19th century that Vermeer came to the attention of the international art world, which suddenly looked upon his narrative minutiae, meticulous textural detail, and majestic planes of light, spotted a genius, and never looked back. This 40th anniversary edition showcases the complete catalog of Vermeer's work, presenting the calm yet compelling scenes so treasured in galleries across Europe and the United States into one monograph of utmost reproduction quality. Crisp details and essays tracing Vermeer's career illuminate his remarkable ability not only to bear witness to the trends and trimmings of the Dutch Golden Age but also to encapsulate an entire story in just one transient gesture, expression, or look. About the series TASCHEN is 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program-now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.

This second volume from Titan Books is a collection of world-renowned visionary artist John Harris' unique paintings captures breath-taking, otherworldly vistas on a massive scale. The Art of John Harris II: Into the Blue is the third collection (second collection published by Titan) of world-renowned visionary artist John Harris' unique paintings that capture future worlds on a massive scale, from vast landscapes and towering cities to breath-taking vistas. Readers will get a unique insight into the creative process behind the worlds depicted in the paintings as Harris takes them on a journey from sketch to finished painting, as well as his striking covers for a variety of esteemed science fiction authors, including John Scalzi, Ben Bova, Jack McDevitt, Orson Scott Card, Ann Leckie and many more.

Collaborations during the Great Depression between the Mexican artist and Communist activist Diego Rivera and institutions in the United States and Mexico were fraught with risk, as the artist occasionally deviated from course, serving and then subverting his patrons. Catha Paquette investigates controversies surrounding Rivera’s retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, his Rockefeller Center mural Man at the Crossroads, and the Mexican government’s commissioning of its reconstruction at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City. She proposes that both the artist and his patrons were using art for extraordinary purposes, leveraging clarity and ambiguity to weigh in on debates concerning labor policies and speech rights; relations between the United States, Mexico, and the Soviet Union; and the viability of capitalism, communism, and socialism. Rivera and his patrons’ shared interest in images of labor—a targeted audience—made cooperative ventures possible. In recounting Rivera’s shifts in strategy from collaboration/exploitation to antagonism/conflict, Paquette highlights the extent to which the artist was responding to politico-economic developments and facilitating alignment/realignment among leftist groups for and against Stalin. Although the artwork that resulted from these instances of patronage had the potential to serve conflicting purposes, Rivera’s images and the protests that followed the destruction of the Rockefeller Center mural were integral to a surge in oppositional expression that effected significant policy changes in the United States and Mexico.