Best of
Art

2017

The Lost Words


Robert Macfarlane - 2017
    Words like Dandelion, Otter, Bramble, Acorn and Lark represent the natural world of childhood, a rich landscape of discovery and imagination that is fading from children's minds.The Lost Words stands against the disappearance of wild childhood. It is a joyful celebration of the poetry of nature words and the living glory of our distinctive, British countryside. With acrostic spell-poems by peerless wordsmith Robert Macfarlane and hand-painted illustrations by Jackie Morris, this enchanting book captures the irreplaceable magic of language and nature for all ages.

The Atlas of Beauty: Women of the World in 500 Portraits


Mihaela Noroc - 2017
    The Atlas of Beauty is a collection of her photographs that celebrates women from fifty countries across the globe and shows that beauty is everywhere, regardless of money, race or social status, and comes in many different sizes and colours. Mihaela's portraits feature women in their native environments, from the Amazon rain forest to markets in India, London city streets and parks in Harlem, creating a mirror of our varied cultures and proving that beauty has no rules.'Stunning . . . aims to challenge the ideals of beauty dictated by the women's fashion magazine industry' Independent'A startling and revealing project' Daily Mail'Scrolling through "The Atlas of Beauty", beauty becomes not a universal standard, but a complicated tapestry' Huffington Post

The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals


Joel Sartore - 2017
    His powerful message, conveyed with humor, compassion, and art: to know these animals is to save them.Sartore intends to photograph every animal in captivity in the world. He is circling the globe, visiting zoos and wildlife rescue centers to create studio portraits of 12,000 species, with an emphasis on those facing extinction. He has photographed more than 6,000 already and now, thanks to a multi-year partnership with National Geographic, he may reach his goal. This book showcases his animal portraits: from tiny to mammoth, from the Florida grasshopper sparrow to the greater one-horned rhinoceros. Paired with the eloquent prose of veteran wildlife writer Douglas Chadwick, this book presents a thought-provoking argument for saving all the species of our planet.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — Creating a Champion


Nintendo - 2017
    Witness the making of a champion!This book features: * Nearly 50 pages of sketches and official illustrations from Takumi Wada * 296 Pages of design artwork and commentary about the making of the game from creators * 55 Page historical section that divulges an in-depth history of the Hyrule of Breath of the Wild. * Interviews with key members of the development team including Hidemaro Fujibayashi, Satoru Takizawa, Takumi Wada, and Eiji AonumaMake sure to check out the other installments in this unparalleled collection of historical information on The Legend of Zelda franchise with the New York Times best selling The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts, and The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia which detail the first 30 years of this historic video game franchise!

Steven Universe: Art & Origins


Chris McDonnell - 2017
    The eponymous Steven is a boy who—alongside his mentors, the Crystal Gems (Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl)—must learn to use his inherited powers to protect his home, Beach City, from the forces of evil. Bursting with concept art, production samples, early sketches, storyboards, and exclusive commentary, this lavishly illustrated companion book offers a meticulous written and visual history of the show, as well as an all-access tour of the creative team’s process. The Art of Steven Universe reveals how creator Rebecca Sugar, the writers, the animators, and the voice actors work in tandem to bring this adventure-packed television series to life.

The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts


Nintendo - 2017
    This book includes rare promotional pieces, game box art, instruction booklet illustrations, official character illustrations, sprite art, interviews with the artists, and much, much more! The Legend of Zelda(TM) Art and Artifacts collects many of your favorite masterpieces from the storied franchise, as well as rare and never before seen content, presented in one handsome hardcover.Select artwork from the entirety of the franchise!A nostalgic look at the past!An exciting look at the future!Interviews with some of the artists behind The Legend of Zelda(TM) series!

Obama: An Intimate Portrait: The Historic Presidency in Photographs


Pete Souza - 2017
    senator, in January 2005, and served as the chief official White House photographer for the President's full two terms. Souza was with President Obama more often, and at more crucial moments, than any friend or staff member, or even the First Lady--and he photographed it all. Souza captured nearly 2 million photographs of Obama, in moments ranging from classified to disarmingly candid.This large-format (12"x10"), exquisitely produced book presents more than 300 of Souza's favorite and most iconic images from these historic years; many have never been seen before. This seminal work on the Obama presidency documents moments of national importance--including the historic image of the President and his advisors watching tensely in the Situation Room as the Bin Laden mission unfolded--alongside unguarded moments with the President's family, his many encounters with children, and his time spent interacting with world leaders, members of Congress, White House staff, artists, musicians and more.The photographs are paired with captions and stories providing behind-the-scenes context for each, and offer insight into the special relationship Souza and the President forged during their time together. The result is a stunning record of a landmark era in American history.Souza's work enabled us to feel that we knew the President. This book puts us in the White House with him.

The Art of Over the Garden Wall


Sean Edgar - 2017
    From the original Tome of the Unknown: Harvest Melody pilot, through each of the episodes, and beyond, take a strange and wonderful journey with Wirt, Greg, and Beatrice. Learn how the award-winning backgrounds were created, see animation storyboards, and even take a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the Mondo vinyl soundtrack and "For Sara" mix tape, as well as the ongoing Boom! Studios comics. Sean Edgar guides the tour, which includes commentary from creators Patrick McHale and Nick Cross. "I'm so happy Sean and Dark Horse got this book to happen! It's been really interesting going through all my old sketchbooks, notes, and file folders in search of lost bits and pieces from the show's development," said Patrick McHale. "This handsome volume will contain a nice mixture of beautiful drawings and paintings from the series, amusing anecdotes about the process, unseen and unused artwork that didn't make the final cut, other mysterious odds and ends, and a whole lot of horrible ugly early development sketches that should inspire people to say, 'Hey, I could do better than that!'"

Terry Pratchett's Discworld Imaginarium


Paul Kidby - 2017
    Now, Paul Kidby has collected the very best of his Discworld illustrations in this definitive volume, including 40 pieces never before seen, 30 pieces that have only appeared in foreign editions, limited editions and BCA editions, and 17 book cover illustrations since 2004 that have never been seen without cover text.If Terry Pratchett's pen gave his characters life, Paul Kidby's brush allowed them to live it, and nowhere is that better illustrated than in this magnificent book.

The Art of Harry Potter


Marc Sumerak - 2017
    Beautifully crafted and presented in a deluxe, large-format with lavish production values, these pages present a visual chronicle of the work by artists and filmmakers to bring the wizarding world to life onscreen. Bursting with hundreds of rare and unpublished works of art, including production paintings, concept sketches, storyboards, blueprints, and more, this collectible book is the definitive tome on the visual legacy of the Harry Potter films. Fans will recognise beloved characters, creatures, locations, and more as they embark on a journey through the wizarding world, from Gringotts to the Quidditch pitch.

Chasing Light: Michelle Obama Through the Lens of a White House Photographer


Amanda Lucidon - 2017
    In Chasing Light, former White House photographer Amanda Lucidon, who spent four years covering the First Lady, shares a rare insider’s perspective, from documenting life at the White House to covering domestic and overseas travel. This collection of 150 candid photos—many previously unreleased—and Amanda’s narrative reflections reveal just what makes Mrs. Obama so special. From an affectionate moment with her daughters atop the strikingly empty Great Wall of China to exuberant moments with schoolchildren and quiet moments between the First Lady and President Obama, the photos are a vibrant, candid, and beautiful celebration of the First Lady, capturing the qualities and strengths that have made Mrs. Obama so beloved.

You Are Here: An Owner's Manual for Dangerous Minds


Jenny Lawson - 2017
    Elaborate doodles, beautiful illustrations, often with captions that she posts online. At her signings, fans show up with printouts of these drawings for Jenny to autograph. And inevitably they ask her when will she publish a whole book of them. That moment has arrived.You Are Here is something only Jenny could create. A combination of inspiration, therapy, coloring, humor, and advice, this book is filled with Jenny’s amazingly intricate illustrations, all on perforated pages that can be easily torn out, hung up, and shared. Drawing on the tenets of art therapy—which you can do while hiding in the pillow fort under your bed—You Are Here is ready to be made entirely your own.Some of the material is dark, some is light; some is silly and profane and irreverent. Gathered together, this is life, happening right now, all around, in its messy glory, as only Jenny Lawson could show us.

The Art of Coco


John Lasseter - 2017
    Filled with concept art and insights from the creative team who worked on the film, this book overflows with insights into the process behind Pixar's unique and engaging vision. The Art of Coco explores the behind-the-scenes details about the making of the film and production art that brings the mesmerizing story to life in a brand new way.• A must-have companion book to the feature film• See the world of Coco in detail through intriguing storyboards and spellbinding colorscripts• Filled with exclusive interviews with the production teamPacked with colorful artwork and energetic character sketches, this comprehensive volume showcases the stunning artwork from the film's creation. The Art of Coco is part of the fan-favorite, collectible Art of series—books that explore production art and exclusive making-of details.• A perfect gift for fans of Coco and Pixar, animators, animation and filmmaking students, film buffs, and more• Reveals exclusive details and facts that you can't read anywhere else• Add it to the shelf with books like The Art of Zootopia by Jessica Julius, The Art of Moana by Jessica Julius and Maggie Malone, and The Art of Pixar: The Complete Color Scripts and Select Art from 25 Years of Animation by Amid Amidi©2017 Disney Enterprises, Inc.All Rights Reserved.

The Chronicles of Exandria, Vol. I: The Tale of Vox Machina.


Matthew MercerBrian “Sensej” Terrero - 2017
    The cast and team behind the show have curated a breathtaking book composed of art created by the Critter community, titled The Chronicles of Exandria, Vol. I: The Tale of Vox Machina.Published by Hunters Books, you’ll find this amazing volume in the Geek & Sundry online store in both standard and deluxe editions on November 9, 2017.

Pocket Full of Colors: The Magical World of Mary Blair, Disney Artist Extraordinaire


Amy Guglielmo - 2017
    At a time when studios wanted to hire men and think in black and white, Mary painted twinkling emerald skies, peach giraffes with tangerine spots, and magenta horses that could fly.

Niko Draws a Feeling


Bob Raczka - 2017
    But no one appreciates his art. Until one day, Niko meets Iris . . .

The Book of Mistakes


Corinna Luyken - 2017
    That was a mistake.The weird frog-cat-cow thing? It made an excellent bush.And the inky smudges... they look as if they were always meant to be leaves floating gently across the sky.As one artist incorporates accidental splotches, spots, and misshapen things into her art, she transforms her piece in quirky and unexpected ways, taking readers on a journey through her process.

The Art of Horizon Zero Dawn


Paul Davies - 2017
    The Art of Horizon Zero Dawn is the ultimate gallery of the hotly anticipated new IP from Guerrilla Games (Killzone series). It focuses on the stunning artwork used to develop the game, and includes over 300 images, sketches, and concept art, commentary throughout from the artists and creators. This is an in-depth insight into a world as beautiful as it is dangerous. Over 1000 years ago a cataclysm destroyed life as we know it, forcing humans to the brink of extinction. In our place machines rose, and nature took back our cities, until all that was left of our world was the rumours of the old ones and the ruins of a civilisation long past. The tribes of the new world live scattered, some small and humble, some as powerful as kings. If Aloy, an outcast and hunter, is to find her true place in this world she must combat the great robotic creatures of the land and uncover the mysteries of a lost civilisation.

Broad Strokes: 15 Women Who Made Art and Made History (in That Order)


Bridget Quinn - 2017
    Aligned with the resurgence of feminism in pop culture, Broad Strokes offers an entertaining corrective to that omission. Art historian Bridget Quinn delves into the lives and careers of 15 brilliant female artists in text that's smart, feisty, educational, and an enjoyable read. Replete with beautiful reproductions of the artists' works and contemporary portraits of each artist by renowned illustrator Lisa Congdon, this is art history from 1600 to the present day for the modern art lover, reader, and feminist.

Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors


George W. Bush - 2017
    A vibrant collection of oil paintings and stories by President George W. Bush honoring the sacrifice and courage of America's military veterans. With forewords written and read by former First Lady Laura Bush and General Peter Pace, 16th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.Growing out of President Bush's own outreach and the ongoing work of the George W. Bush Institute's Military Service Initiative, Portraits of Courage brings together sixty-six full-color portraits and a four-panel mural painted by President Bush of members of the United States military who have served our nation with honor since 9/11--and whom he has come to know personally.Our men and women in uniform have faced down enemies, liberated millions, and in doing so showed the true compassion of our nation. Often, they return home with injuries--both visible and invisible--that intensify the challenges of transitioning into civilian life. In addition to these burdens, research shows a civilian-military divide. Seventy-one percent of Americans say they have little understanding of the issues facing veterans, and veterans agree: eighty-four percent say that the public has "little awareness" of the issues facing them and their families.Each painting in this meticulously produced hardcover volume is accompanied by the inspiring story of the veteran depicted, written by the President. Readers can see the faces of those who answered the nation's call and learn from their bravery on the battlefield, their journeys to recovery, and the continued leadership and contributions they are making as civilians. It is President Bush's desire that these stories of courage and resilience will honor our men and women in uniform, highlight their family and caregivers who bear the burden of their sacrifice, and help Americans understand how we can support our veterans and empower them to succeed. President Bush will donate his net author proceeds from PORTRAITS OF COURAGE to the George W. Bush Presidential Center, a non-profit organization whose Military Service Initiative works to ensure that post-9/11 veterans and their families make successful transitions to civilian life with a focus on gaining meaningful employment and overcoming the invisible wounds of war.

100 Hugs


Chris Riddell - 2017
    This is the perfect gift for a loved one, or to cheer yourself up on a dark day when all you need is a hug. The one hundred beautiful and intricate illustrations from the three-times winner of the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal includes a hug for every emotion and occasion. But one thing is for certain: every hug will touch your heart.In a perfect pocket-sized format, 100 Hugs is certain to comfort and raise a smile.

The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi


Phil Szostak - 2017
    Featuring concept art, costume sketches, and storyboards, this book takes fans on a deep dive into the development of the fantastic worlds, characters, and creatures—both old and new—of The Last Jedi. Exclusive interviews with the filmmakers and with the Lucasfilm visualists provides a running commentary on this unforgettable art, and reveals the inspirations behind moviemaking magic at its finest.

Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines


Jeanne Walker Harvey - 2017
    She explored the forest in her backyard, observing woodland creatures, and used her house as a model to build tiny towns out of paper and scraps. The daughter of a clay artist and a poet, Maya grew up with art and learned to think with her hands as well as her mind. From her first experiments with light and lines to the height of her success nationwide, this is the story of an inspiring American artist: the visionary artist-architect who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Leonardo da Vinci


Walter Isaacson - 2017
    He shows how Leonardo's genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy. He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and technology. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history's most creative genius

A Book That Takes Its Time: An Unhurried Adventure in Creative Mindfulness


Irene Smit - 2017
    Take time to create. Take time to reflect, take time to let go. A book that’s unique in the way it mixes reading and doing, A Book That Takes Its Time is like a mindfulness retreat between two covers. Created in partnership with Flow, the groundbreaking international magazine that celebrates creativity, beautiful illustration, a love of paper, and life’s little pleasures, A Book That Takes Its Time mixes articles, inspiring quotes, and what the editors call “goodies”—bound-in cards, mini-journals, stickers, posters, blank papers for collaging, and more—giving it a distinctly handcrafted, collectible feeling. Read about the benefits of not multitasking, then turn to “The Joy of One Thing at a Time Notebook” tucked into the pages. After a short piece on the power of slowing down, fill in the designed notecards for a Beautiful Moments jar. Make a personal timeline. Learn the art of hand-lettering. Dig into your Beginner’s Mind. Embrace the art of quitting. Take the writing cure. And always smile. Move slowly and with intention through A Book That Takes Its Time, and discover that sweet place where life can be both thoughtful and playful.

I'm NOT just a Scribble...


Diane Alber - 2017
    Then, after being left out because he didn't look like everyone else. Scribble teaches the other drawings how to accept each other for who they are. Which enables them to create amazing art together!

Jim and the Universe


D.M. Green - 2017
    One day, walking home from school, he meets a woman who introduces him to the magical power of the Universe and soon his whole life changes. This is a heartwarming, funny story that carries an important message about how to live. One reader said: 'It has brought a tear to my eye; made me laugh out loud; taken me back to some bad memories of many, many years ago; and resonated with my life now. Inspired, truly inspired.' Some have hailed it 'food for the soul', while others believe it 'reveals the simplicity and magic of life.' This is a book for everyone, adults and children alike. It may just change your life. To find out more about the book, you can follow the author's blog here: https://faithisyoursafeplace.wordpres... or follow him on Twitter @JimsDMGreen

Draw Your Weapons


Sarah Sentilles - 2017
    But this utterly original meditation on art and war might transform the way you see the world—and that makes all the difference."How to live in the face of so much suffering? What difference can one person make in this beautiful, imperfect, and imperiled world?"Through a dazzling combination of memoir, history, reporting, visual culture, literature, and theology, Sarah Sentilles offers an impassioned defense of life lived by peace and principle. It is a literary collage with an urgent hope at its core: that art might offer tools for remaking the world.In Draw Your Weapons, Sentilles tells the true stories of Howard, a conscientious objector during World War II, and Miles, a former prison guard at Abu Ghraib, and in the process she challenges conventional thinking about how war is waged, witnessed, and resisted. The pacifist and the soldier both create art in response to war: Howard builds a violin; Miles paints portraits of detainees. With echoes of Susan Sontag and Maggie Nelson, Sentilles investigates images of violence from the era of slavery to the drone age. In doing so, she wrestles with some of our most profound questions: What does it take to inspire compassion? What impact can one person have? How should we respond to violence when it feels like it can't be stopped?Praise for Draw Your Weapons"A collage of death, savagery, torture, and trauma across generations and continents, Sarah Sentilles's Draw Your Weapons is painful to read, hard to put down, and impossible to forget."—O: The Oprah Magazine"In her dynamic, impressionistic (and cleverly titled) book, Sentilles focuses on language and images-particularly photography-and considers what role they play in peace and war. Eschewing a traditional narrative, Sentilles focuses on two men-one a World War II conscience objector who makes violins, and the other an Abu Ghraib prison guard who paints detainee portraits. In brief, delicately layered pieces rather than a narrative, Sentilles has created a collage that explores art, violence, and what it means to live a principled life."—The National Book Review"It's the kind of book that, after reading just half, you have to stop and catch your breath, because reading it changes you, not just in terms of what you know-it changes the way you think and how you feel-so much so that, halfway in, I wanted to go back and start again because I felt I was already a different person to the person I was when I began."—Turnaround

The Art of Overwatch


Blizzard - 2017
    Now, in this beautiful hardcover, Blizzard Entertainment reveals the creative process behind one of the most popular FPS games of all time! Filled with never-before-seen art as well as commentary provided by the game's development team, this book is sure to please any Overwatch fan.- Never-before-seen artwork!- Essential companion to the international best-selling game Overwatch!- Introduction and commentary provided by the game's development team!- Overwatch is a global phenomenon with 30 million players!- Produced in close partnership with Blizzard Entertainment!- Behind-the-scenes look at your favorite characters!- Overwatch creation revealed!

If Picasso Painted a Snowman


Amy Newbold - 2017
    Then you would add black dots for eyes, an orange triangle for a nose, and a black dotted smile. But if Picasso painted a snowman…From that simple premise flows this delightful, whimsical, educational picture book that shows how the artist’s imagination can summon magic from a prosaic subject. Greg Newbold’s chameleon-like artistry shows us Roy Lichtenstein’s snow hero saving the day, Georgia O’Keefe’s snowman blooming in the desert, Claude Monet’s snowmen among haystacks, Grant Wood’s American Gothic snowman, Jackson Pollock’s snowman in ten thousand splats, Salvador Dali’s snowmen dripping like melty cheese, and snowmen as they might have been rendered by J. M. W. Turner, Gustav Klimt, Paul Klee, Marc Chagall, Georges Seurat, Pablita Velarde, Piet Mondrian, Sonia Delaunay, Jacob Lawrence, and Vincent van Gogh. Our guide for this tour is a lively hamster who—also chameleon-like—sports a Dali mustache on one spread, a Van Gogh ear bandage on the next.  “What would your snowman look like?” the book asks, and then offers a page with a picture frame for a child to fill in. Backmatter thumbnail biographies of the artists complete this highly original tour of the creative imagination that will delight adults as well as children.Fountas Pinnell Level O

Walt Disney's Disneyland


Chris Nichols - 2017
    Together, artists, architects, and engineers transformed a dusty tract of orange groves about an hour south of Los Angeles into one of the world’s most beloved destinations.Today, there are Disney resorts from Paris to Shanghai, but the original Disneyland in Anaheim, California, which has been visited by more than 800 million people to-date, remains one of America’s most popular attractions. From the day it opened on July 17, 1955, Disneyland brought history and fairy tales to life, the future into the present, and exciting cultures and galaxies unknown to our imaginations.This bountiful visual history draws on Disney’s vast historical collections, private archives, and the golden age of photojournalism to provide unique access to the concept, development, launch, and enjoyment of this sun-drenched oasis of fun and fantasy. Disneyland documents Walt’s earliest inspirations and ideas; the park’s extraordinary feats of design and engineering; its grand opening; each of its immersive “lands” from Main Street, U.S.A., to Tomorrowland; and the park's evolution through the six decades since it opened. It is a treasure trove of Disney original documentation and expertise, with award-winning writer Chris Nichols drawing on his extensive knowledge of both Disneyland and Southern California history to reveal the fascinating tale of “the happiest place on Earth.”

Happy Little Accidents: The Wit and Wisdom of Bob Ross


Bob Ross - 2017
    His style and encouraging words are a form of therapy for the weary, but with Bob it is always about more than painting. There is a hidden depth within his easy chatter, another layer to everything he says. When he talks about painting, he's using it as a metaphor for life!Happy Little Accidents: The Wit and Wisdom of Bob Ross opens with an introduction and brief biography of Ross, followed by a collection of Ross's greatest quotes and most majestic works of art.Relax. Unwind. Be inspired.“Just let your imagination go. You can create all kinds of beautiful effects, just that easy…”

Dazzle Ships: World War I and the Art of Confusion


Chris Barton - 2017
    Dazzle camouflage transformed ordinary British and American ships into eye-popping masterpieces.

The Shape of Ideas: An Illustrated Exploration of Creativity


Grant Snider - 2017
    Whether you are a professional artist or designer, a student pursuing a creative career, a person of faith, someone who likes walks on the beach, or a dreamer who sits on the front porch contemplating life, this collection of one- and two-page comics will provide insight into the joys and frustrations of creativity, inspiration, and process—no matter your age or creative background.

Liartown: The First Four Years 2013-2017


Sean Tejaratchi - 2017
    The collected posts of surreal website LiarTownUSA satirizing weird vintage books, albums, posters, and other printed ephemera of pop culture.

Claymates


Dev Petty - 2017
    Things might get a little crazy.In this photographic friendship adventure, the claymates squish, smash, and sculpt themselves into the funniest shapes imaginable. But can they fix a giant mess before they're caught in the act?

Silent Days, Silent Dreams


Allen Say - 2017
    He was deaf, mute, autistic, and probably dyslexic. He didn't walk until he was four; he would never learn to speak, write, read, or use sign language.Yet, today Castle's artwork hangs in major museums throughout the world. The Philadelphia Museum of Art opened "James Castle: A Retrospective" in 2008. The 2013 Venice Biennale included eleven works by Castle in the feature exhibition "The Encyclopedic Palace." And his reputation continues to grow.Caldecott Medal winner Allen Say, author of the acclaimed memoir Drawing from Memory, takes readers through an imagined look at Castle's childhood, allows them to experience his emergence as an artist despite the overwhelming difficulties he faced, and ultimately reveals the triumphs that he would go on to achieve.

The Moomins: The World of Moominvalley


Tove Jansson - 2017
    Find out all about Moomintroll's adventures, Moominmamma's handbag and Moominpappa's diary and discover all the favourite Moomin characters, including Snork Maiden, Snufkin, Sniff and Little My.Get a glimpse behind the studio door of the uniquely talented Tove Jansson. Featuring original Moomin drawings, colour studies and stunning sketches of her iconic characters, as well as family photographs and Tove's childhood drawings.With a luxuriously designed die-cut cover featuring gold foil, this breathtaking hardback is the perfect addition to the collection of any Moomin fan.Written by the winner of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, Philip Ardagh, with contributions from bestselling children's author, screenwriter and Moomin devotee, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, The Moomins: The World of Moominvalley is a highly illustrated, beautifully designed gift book for all Moomin fans to treasure.

The Art of Rick and Morty


Justin Roiland - 2017
    Now, take a deep trans-dimensional dive into the creation of these many insane universes with The Art of Rick and Morty!This new book is a must-have, not only for followers of the series, but for fans of animation as well! Featuring intimate commentary from the show's creators accompanying a vast collection of process, concept, and production art, this striking volume offers a tantalizing exploration of one of the most outlandish and beloved shows on television. Don't miss your chance to see the amazing art that goes into creating this twisted and fantastic Adult Swim series!

Wonder Woman: The Art and Making of the Film


Sharon Gosling - 2017
    Wonder Woman: The Art & Making of the Film celebrates the creation of this groundbreaking movie, taking fans on a voyage of discovery through the world of Wonder Woman. Showcasing the earliest concept art, set and costume designs, sketches and storyboards, the book delves deep into the filmmaking process, from creating the stunning island of Themyscira to the war-torn trenches and towns of First World War Europe.This official companion explores the Amazons rigorous training regimens, their weaponry, armor, Themysciran culture, and the amazing women themselves. With exclusive insights from cast and crew, including director Patty Jenkins, production designer Aline Bonetto, and Diana herself, Gal Gadot, this volume is the ultimate guide to the past, present, and future of one of the most iconic heroes in the world Wonder Woman.WONDER WOMAN and all related characters and elements (c) and TM DC Comics and Warner Bros. Entertainment. (s16)

Death: A Graveside Companion: A Graveside Companion


Joanna Ebenstein - 2017
    Throughout the centuries, humanity has sought to understand this sobering thought through art and ritual. The theme of memento mori informs medieval Danse Macabre, the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Renaissance paintings of dissected corpses and “anatomical Eves,” Gothic literature, funeral effigies, Halloween, and paintings of the Last Judgment. Deceased ancestors are celebrated in the Mexican Day of the Dead, while the ancient Egyptians mummified their dead to secure their afterlife.A volume of unprecedented breadth and sinister beauty, Death: A Graveside Companion examines a staggering range of cultural attitudes toward death. The book is organized into themed chapters: The Art of Dying, Examining the Dead, Memorializing the Dead, The Personification of Death, Symbolizing Death, Death as Amusement, and The Dead After Life. Each chapter begins with thought-provoking articles by curators, academics, and journalists followed by gallery spreads presenting a breathtaking variety of death-related imagery and artifacts. From skulls to the dance of death, statuettes to ex libris, memento mori to memorabilia, the majority of the images are of artifacts in the astonishing collection of Richard Harris and range from 2000 BCE to the present day, running the gamut of both high and popular culture.Table of Contents1. The Art of Dying2. Examining the Dead3. Memorializing the Dead4. The Personification of Death5. Symbolizing Death6. Death as Amusement7. The Dead After LifeEssays: Death in Ancient and Present-Day Mexico, Eva Aridjis,The Power of Hair as Human Relic in Mourning Jewelry - Karen Bachmann, Medusa and the Power of the Severed Head, Laetitia Barbier, Anatomical Expressionism, Eleanor Crook, Poe and the Pathological Sublime, Mark Dery, Eros and Thanatos, Lisa Downing, Death-Themed Amusements, Joanna Ebenstein, The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, Bruce Goldfarb, Theatre, Death and the Grand Guignol, Mel Gordon, Holy Spiritualism, Elizabeth Harper, Playing dead – A Gruesome Form of Amusement, Mervyn Heard, The Anatomy of Holy Transformation, Liselotte Hermes da Fonseca, Collecting Death, Evan Michelson, Art and Afterlife: Ethel le Rossignol and Georgiana Houghton, Mark Pilkington, The Dance of Death, Kevin Pyle, Art, Science and the Changing Conventions of Anatomical Representation, Michael Sappol, Spiritualism and Photography, Shannon Taggart, Playing with Dead Faces, John Troyer, Anatomy Embellished in the Cabinet of Frederik Ruysch, Bert van de Roemer

Unseen: Unpublished Black History from the New York Times Photo Archives


Dana Canedy - 2017
    None of them were published by The Times--until now. UNSEEN uncovers these never-before published photographs and tells the stories behind them.It all started with Times photo editor Darcy Eveleigh discovering dozens of these photographs. She and three colleagues, Dana Canedy, Damien Cave and Rachel L. Swarns, began exploring the history behind them, and subsequently chronicling them in a series entitled Unpublished Black History, that ran in print and online editions of The Times in February 2016. It garnered 1.7 million views on The Times website and thousands of comments from readers. This book includes those photographs and many more, among them: a 27-year-old Jesse Jackson leading an anti-discrimination rally of in Chicago, Rosa Parks arriving at a Montgomery Courthouse in Alabama a candid behind-the-scenes shot of Aretha Franklin backstage at the Apollo Theater, Ralph Ellison on the streets of his Manhattan neighborhood, the firebombed home of Malcolm X, Myrlie Evans and her children at the funeral of her slain husband , Medgar, a wheelchair-bound Roy Campanella at the razing of Ebbets Field.Were the photos--or the people in them--not deemed newsworthy enough? Did the images not arrive in time for publication? Were they pushed aside by words at an institution long known as the Gray Lady? Eveleigh, Canedy, Cave, and Swarms explore all these questions and more in this one-of-a-kind book. UNSEEN dives deep into The Times photo archives--known as the Morgue--to showcase this extraordinary collection of photographs and the stories behind them.

The Faerie Handbook: An Enchanting Compendium of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes, and Projects


Carolyn Turgeon - 2017
    In this exquisite anthology, Editor in Chief Carolyn Turgeon and the editors of Faerie Magazine welcome you into an enchanted realm rich with myth, mystery, romance, and abundant natural beauty. Organized into four sections—Flora and Fauna, Fashion and Beauty,  Arts and Culture, and Home, Food, and Entertaining—this gorgeous volume offers an array of exquisite vintage4 and contemporary fine art and photography, literature, essays, do-it-yourself projects, and recipes that provide hours of reading, viewing, and dreaming pleasure, along with a multitude of ideas for modern-day living and entertaining with a distinctive fairy touch.

The Art of Persona 5


Prima Games - 2017
    Character Gallery: Includes compelling artwork of the main characters and their personas, plus personal data never before released in English!Concept Art: Loaded with initial character concepts, rough sketches, original drafts, and illustrations-a must-have for Persona fans!Game Visuals: Chronicles the inspiration behind graphics seen in the game, including setting illustrations, story scenarios, and other key images.Illustration Gallery: Magazine covers and posters collected in one convenient location.Creator Commentary: Interspersed with exclusive details and little-known tidbits straight from character creator Shigenori Soejima!

Beautiful Brain: The Drawings of Santiago Ramon y Cajal


Larry W. Swanson - 2017
      Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852–1934) was the father of modern neuroscience and an exceptional artist. He devoted his life to the anatomy of the brain, the body’s most complex and mysterious organ. His superhuman feats of visualization, based on fanatically precise techniques and countless hours at the microscope, resulted in some of the most remarkable illustrations in the history of science. Beautiful Brain presents a selection of his exquisite drawings of brain cells, brain regions, and neural circuits with accessible descriptive commentary.   These drawings are explored from multiple perspectives: Larry W. Swanson describes Cajal’s contributions to neuroscience; Lyndel King and Eric Himmel explore his artistic roots and achievement; Eric A. Newman provides commentary on the drawings; and Janet M. Dubinsky describes contemporary neuroscience imaging techniques. This book is the companion to a traveling exhibition opening at the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis in February 2017, marking the first time that many of these works, which are housed at the Instituto Cajal in Madrid, have been seen outside of Spain.  Beautiful Brain showcases Cajal’s contributions to neuroscience, explores his artistic roots and achievement, and looks at his work in relation to contemporary neuroscience imaging, appealing to general readers and professionals alike.

The Complete Art of Fullmetal Alchemist


Hiromu Arakawa - 2017
    Includes an exclusive interview and a special step-by-step illustration creation discussion with Hiromu Arakawa.

The Dark Crystal: The Ultimate Visual History


Caseen Gaines - 2017
    For the first time, this deluxe and highly comprehensive book tells the complete story of this deeply personal Henson project, highlighting the unique creative journey and groundbreaking techniques that brought the film to the screen. Drawing from unseen archive interviews with Jim Henson and new interviews with the film’s behind-the-scenes creative team, Dark Crystal: The Ultimate Visual History leaves no stone unturned in chronicling the entire production, from the initial concept based on themes close to Henson’s heart to the ingenious conceptual design, puppet construction, and logistics of the shoot itself. The book also delves into the wider world of Dark Crystal, exploring the creation of comics, novels, and other official projects inspired by the film.  This deluxe coffee-table book contains an in-depth look at the day-to-day production of the film and showcases a huge range of incredible visuals, including candid set photography, previously unseen concept art, storyboards, production notes, and more. The book also features a plethora of amazing removable items, such as script pages, notes and sketches from Henson, and other unique treasures. Definitive, enthralling, and revelatory, Dark Crystal: The Ultimate Visual History is the last word on an enduring modern classic and the book that fans of the film have been waiting for.

The Art of the Witcher: Gwent Gallery Collection


Katarzyna RedesiukIlker Serdar Yildiz - 2017
    Now, Dark Horse is proud to present each cards' gorgeous artwork in a stunning hardbound volume. Celebrate wondrous artistry and cutthroat gameplay with The Gwent Gallery: Art of the Witcher Card Game!

Generation Wealth


Lauren Greenfield - 2017
    Greenfield has traveled the world - from Los Angeles to Moscow, Dubai to China - bearing witness to the global boom-and-bust economy and documenting its complicated consequences. Provoking serious reflection, this book is not about the rich, but about the desire to be wealthy, at any cost.

Complete Guide to Bible Journaling: Creative Techniques to Express Your Faith


Joanne Fink - 2017
    Complete Guide to Bible Journaling is your go-to guide to the latest lettering, drawing, painting, and crafting techniques for bringing God's Word to life. Learn all about the different types of tools that today's Bible journalers use to connect their faith with creativity. Discover wonderful ways to express your spirit by tracing, drawing, and patterning. Get tips on using stencils, colored pencils, watercolors, acrylic paints, rubber stamps, washi tape, and much more. Meet some of the world's leading Bible journaling artists who share the stories of their personal faith journeys. A colorful gallery offers inspiring examples of journaling both inside and outside the Bible. A bonus section--worth more than $50 retail--provides hundreds of exciting stickers, index tabs, vellum overlays, and illustrations to trace and color.

Annie Leibovitz: Portraits 2005-2016


Annie Leibovitz - 2017
    Afterword by Annie Leibovitz.Annie Leibovitz: Portraits 2005-2016 is the photographer's follow-up to her two landmark books, Annie Leibovitz: Photographs, 1970-1990 and A Photographer's Life, 1990-2005. In this new collection, Leibovitz has captured the most influential and compelling figures of the last decade in the style that has made her one of the most beloved talents of our time. Each of the photographs documents contemporary culture with an artist's eye, wit, and an uncanny ability to personalize even the most recognizable and distinguished figures.

Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing


Kay Haring - 2017
    It sheds light on this important artist's great humanity, his concern for children, and his disregard for the establishment art world. Reproductions of Keith's signature artwork appear in scenes boldly rendered by Robert Neubecker. This is a story to inspire, and a book for Keith Haring fans of all ages to treasure.

The Art of Mondo


Mondo - 2017
    Over the years, the company has received global recognition for its incredible art posters that bring to life classic films, television shows, and comics in a refreshing and utterly striking new way, offering a unique perspective on everything from Star Wars to Robocop, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, Game of Thrones, Godzilla, Kill Bill, and many, many more. For the first time, The Art of Mondo brings together this highly sought-after art in one deluxe volume that showcases the incredible ingenuity of the studio’s diverse stable of artists whose vastly different styles are united by one guiding principle: limitless passion for their subject matter.  Adored by the creative talents to whom Mondo’s art pays tribute—including Paul Thomas Anderson, Guillermo del Toro, Zack Snyder, Quentin Tarantino, and Edgar Wright, to name but a few—this richly imaginative work is fueled by a love of pop culture that fans recognize and identify with, giving Mondo’s output a rare and valuable synergy with its audience. While these posters are normally produced in a limited quantity and sell out in minutes, The Art of Mondo allows fans to explore the studio’s remarkable back catalog, including Olly Moss’s iconic Star Wars trilogy work, Laurent Durieux’s brilliantly subtle Jaws poster, and Tyler Stout’s evocative Guardians of the Galaxy art. Other key Mondo artists such as Jock, Martin Ansin, and Aaron Horkey will also feature. Definitive, visually stunning, and filled with art that celebrates some of the biggest and best-loved properties in pop culture, The Art of Mondo is the ultimate book for cult art fans everywhere.

The Short Story of Art: A Pocket Guide to Key Movements, Works, Themes, Techniques (Art History Introduction, A Guide to Art)


Susie Hodge - 2017
    Simply constructed, the book explores 50 key works, from the wall paintings of Lascaux to Damien Hirst installations, and then links these to sections on art movements, themes and techniques.The design of the book allows the student or art enthusiast to easily navigate their way around key periods, artists and styles. Accessible and concise, it simplifies and explains the most important and influential concepts in art, and shows how they are connected. The book explains how, why and when art changed, who introduced certain things, what they were, where they were produced, and whether they matter. It demystifies artistic jargon, giving readers a thorough understanding and broad enjoyment of art.'Susie Hodge has culled through hundreds of art movements to highlight and present 36 that illustrate transitions of art, its ideas, representations, characteristics, and production from Prehistoric times up to the dynamic shifts of the 1960s and '70s. As complex as art history is, this book is a welcome, succinct introduction to some classic Western masters.' Cindy Helm, New York Journal of Books'Excellent introduction to the subject. A good quality book, tightly bound, and well illustrated.'– Colin, Amazon reviewer 'The Short Story of Art is an attractive volume that serves as a convenient introduction to major movements, works, themes, and techniques of Western art. The works within are featured more for their seminal or illustrative nature than their fame per se, so the "story" part of the title is apt. The cross referencing and "Other works by…" sections makes it clear that this book is encouraging the reader to explore art on his own.' –Tommy Grooms, Goodreads reviewer

The Art of Splatoon


Nintendo - 2017
    . . and that's only an inkling of what's inside. We're not squidding around: this is a must have for all fans of Splatoon!Character illustrations!Concept art!Behind the scenes notes!All the content that splatters most!

Blind Spot


Teju Cole - 2017
    Even in the most vigilant eye, there is a blind spot. What is missing?”When it comes to Teju Cole, the unexpected is not unfamiliar: He’s an acclaimed novelist, an influential essayist, and an internationally exhibited photographer. In Blind Spot, readers follow Cole’s inimitable artistic vision into the visual realm as he continues to refine the voice, eye, and intellectual obsessions that earned him such acclaim for Open City.Here, journey through more than 150 of Cole’s full-color, original photos, each accompanied by his lyrical and evocative prose, forming a multimedia diary of years of near-constant travel: from a park in Berlin to a mountain range in Switzerland, a church exterior in Lagos to a parking lot in Brooklyn; landscapes, beautiful or quotidian, that inspire Cole’s memories, fantasies, and introspections. Ships in Capri remind him of the work of writers from Homer to Edna O’Brien; a hotel room in Wannsee brings back a disturbing dream about a friend’s death; a home in Tivoli evokes a transformative period of semi-blindness, after which “the photography changed. . . . The looking changed.”As exquisitely wrought as the work of Anne Carson or Chris Marker, Blind Spot is a testament to the art of seeing by one of the most powerful and original voices in contemporary literature.Praise for Blind Spot“This lyrical essay in photographs paired with texts explores the mysteries of the ordinary. Cole’s questioning, tentative habit of mind, suspending judgement while hoping for the brief miracle of insight, is a form of what used to be called humanism.”—New York Times Books Review (Editors’ Choice)“An eye-opening exploration of the world, time, and how the two connect.”—Nylon“[Teju] Cole’s fiction and essays are incredible, unexpected, and beautiful; he’s also a spectacular photographer. His first collection of photographs, each image accompanied by his stunning prose, promises to show us the world through his eyes, which always seem to see things in a brilliant new light.”—Lisa Lucas, National Book Foundation“Once you get a taste of [Cole’s] writing, you can quickly (and hungrily) burn through what’s available. Thankfully, Blind Spot will indulge the senses by combining both of Cole’s loves in this . . . full-color collection of Cole’s photos, accompanied by his prose.”—The Week“Many artists have felt the lure of juxtaposing photographs and text, but few have succeeded as well as Teju Cole. He approaches this problem with an understanding of the limitations and glories of each medium.”—Stephen Shore, author of Uncommon Places“Cole’s deeply affecting work juxtaposes tragedy with hidden-in-plain-sight beauty as he embraces ‘poetic possibility’ in every scene and moment.”—Booklist “Memoir meets museum catalog . . . A strange, cerebral, and very beautiful journey.”—Kirkus Reviews“This ambitious study deserves a spot on the shelf next to Roland Barthes’s Camera Lucida and Susan Sontag’s On Photography.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Middle-earth from Script to Screen: Building the World of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit


Daniel Falconer - 2017
    R. R. Tolkien’s magic world was brought to vivid life on the big screen in the record-breaking film trilogies The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy and The Hobbit Motion Picture Trilogy. Drawing on resources, stories, and content from the archives of the companies and individuals behind the films, much of which have never appeared in print before, as well as interviews with director Peter Jackson and key members of the Art Department, Shooting Crews, Park Road Post, and Weta Digital teams who share their personal insights on the creative process, this astonishing resource reveals: How the worlds were built, brick by brick and pixel by pixel; How environments were extended digitally or imagined entirely as computer generated spaces; How the multiple shooting units functioned; How cast members and characters interacted with their environments. Daniel Falconer takes fans from storyboard concepts to deep into the post-production process where the films were edited, graded, and scored, explaining in depth how each enhanced the films. He also discusses how the processes involved in establishing Middle-earth for the screen have evolved over the fifteen years between the start and finish of the trilogies. Going region by region and culture by culture in this fantasy realm, The Making of Middle-Earth describes how each area created for the films was defined, what made it unique, and what role it played in the stories. Illustrated with final film imagery, behind-the-scenes pictures and conceptual artwork, including places not seen in the final films, this monumental compilation offers unique and far-reaching insights into the creation of the world we know and love as Middle-earth.

Monograph by Chris Ware


Chris Ware - 2017
    While illustrator Chris Ware's singular body of work is often categorized as comics, his trailblazing work defies genre. Whether he is writing graphic novels, making paintings, or building sculptures, Ware explores universal themes of social isolation, emotional torment, and depression with his trademark self-effacing voice. The end result is wry, highly empathetic, and identifiable to all walks of life. Ware, like Charles Schulz, Art Spiegelman, and R. Crumb, has elevated cartooning to an iconic art form. This volume is a personal, massive, never-before-seen look at how the artist's life and work combine, beginning with his newspaper family and the influence of their work; his art-school days in Austin and Chicago; to his career from the early 1990s to the present day. It also delves into how, as a storyteller and builder, his near-compulsion to build in three dimensions feeds into the thinking of his innovative narrative art. The book contains a comprehensive collection of his work, including many previously unpublished examples, and is an intimate window into a comics master sure to appeal to fans of art and storytelling.

Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water: Creating a Fairy Tale for Troubled Times


Gina McIntyre - 2017
    In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is trapped in a life of silence and isolation. Elisa’s life is changed forever when she and coworker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment. Rounding out the cast are Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Doug Jones.Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water: Creating a Fairy Tale for Troubled Times chronicles the entire filmmaking journey, from development to design to filming. Featuring interviews and commentary from key actors and members of the creative team, the book also showcases the amazing concept art and design work created for the film. For del Toro fans and movie lovers everywhere, it’s the perfect way to explore this exciting new movie from a master filmmaker known for his poignant storytelling and visual grandeur.

The Van Gogh Deception


Deron R. Hicks - 2017
    As the stakes continue to rise, the boy must piece together the disjointed clues of his origins while using his limited knowledge to stop one of the greatest art frauds ever attempted. Digitally interactive, this museum mystery offers QR codes woven throughout the book that bring renowned paintings to readers’ fingertips.

The Book of the Cat: Cats in Art


Angus Hyland - 2017
    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.

Fred Herzog: Modern Color


Fred Herzog - 2017
    In this respect, his photographs can be seen as prefiguring the New Color photographers of the 1970s. The Canadian photographer worked largely with Kodachrome slide film for over 50 years, and only in the past decade has technology allowed him to make archival pigment prints that match the exceptional color and intensity of the Kodachrome slide, making this an excellent time to reevaluate and reexamine his work.This book brings together over 230 images, many never before reproduced, and features essays by acclaimed authors David Campany, Hans-Michael Koetzle and artist Jeff Wall. Fred Herzog is the most comprehensive publication on this important photographer to date.

Ren Hang


Ren Hang - 2017
    Slight of build, shy by nature, prone to fits of depression, the 28-year-old Beijing photographer was nonetheless at the forefront of Chinese artists' battle for creative freedom. Like his champion Ai Weiwei, Ren was controversial in his homeland and wildly popular in the rest of the world. He said, -I don't really view my work as taboo, because I don't think so much in cultural context, or political context. I don't intentionally push boundaries, I just do what I do.- Why? Because his models, friends, and increasingly, fans, are naked, often outdoors, high in the trees or on the terrifyingly vertiginous rooftops of Beijing, stacked like building blocks, heads wrapped in octopi, body cavities sprouting phone cords and flowers, whatever enters his mind at the moment. He denies his intentions are sexual, and there is a clean detachment about even his most extreme images: the urine, the insertions, the many, many erections. In a 2013 interview VICE magazine asked, -there are a lot of dicks ... do you just like dicks?- Ren responded, -It's not just dicks I'm interested in, I like to portray every organ in a fresh, vivid and emotional way.- True though that may be, the penises Ren photographed are not just fresh and vivid, but unusually large, making one wonder just where he met his friends. In the same piece, Hang also stated, -Gender isn't important when I'm taking pictures, it only matters to me when I'm having sex, - making him a pioneer of gender inclusiveness. Young fans still eagerly flock to his website, Facebook, Instagram, and Flickr accounts. His photographs, all produced on film, have been the subject of over 20 solo and 70 group shows in his brief six-year career, in cities as disparate as Tokyo, Athens, Paris, New York, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Vienna, and yes, even Beijing. He self-published 16 monographs, in tiny print runs, that now sell for up to $600. TASCHEN's Ren Hang is his only international collection, covering his entire career, with well-loved favorites and many never-before-seen photos of men, women, Beijing, and those many, many erections. We take solace remembering Ren's joy when he first held the book, shared by his long-time partner Jiaqi, featured on the cover.Text in English, French, and German

Are We Human? Notes on an Archaeology of Design


Beatriz Colomina - 2017
    Beatriz Colomina and Mark Wigley offer a multilayered exploration of the intimate relationship between human and design and rethink the philosophy of design in a multi-dimensional exploration from the very first tools and ornaments to the constant buzz of social media. The average day involves the experience of thousands of layers of design that reach to outside space but also reach deep into our bodies and brains. Even the planet itself has been completely encrusted by design as a geological layer. There is no longer an outside to the world of design. Colomina's and Wigley's field notes offer an archaeology of the way design has gone viral and is now bigger than the world. They range across the last few hundred thousand years and the last few seconds to scrutinize the uniquely plastic relation between brain and artifact. A vivid portrait emerges. Design is what makes the human. It becomes the way humans ask questions and thereby continuously redesign themselves.

Morpho: Anatomy for Artists


Michel Lauricella - 2017
    In more than 1000 illustrations, the human body is shown from a new perspective—from bone structure to musculature, from anatomical detail to the body in motion. Morpho is a rich, fascinating, and helpful book that can go with you everywhere on your sketching journey.

Ivy and the Inky Butterfly: A Magical Tale to Color


Johanna Basford - 2017
    Ivy embarks on a quest through its many realms in pursuit of her inky butterfly, meeting whimsical characters and discovering many wondrous things along the way. A charming story that interacts playfully with beautiful, colorable artwork in Johanna's signature style, Ivy and the Inky Butterfly is a one-of-a-kind adventure for readers of all ages to customize, color, and cherish.Printed on specially selected ivory paper. This paper has been specifically created for Johanna Basford's coloring books. It has a medium tooth which is perfect for creating beautiful colored pencil effects or chalk pastel backgrounds but also wonderful for pens, which will glide effortlessly over its surface.

Bloodborne Official Artworks


FromSoftware - 2017
    Bloodborne: Official Artworks collects the hair-raising artwork behind this modern action role-playing classic. Included are character concepts, creature designs, location illustrations, weapons, items, and more!

Stolen Beauty


Laurie Lico Albanese - 2017
    Wealthy in everything but freedom, Adele embraces Klimt’s renegade genius as the two awaken to the erotic possibilities on the canvas and beyond. Though they enjoy a life where sex and art are just beginning to break through the façade of conventional society, the city is also exhibiting a disturbing increase in anti-Semitism, as political hatred foments in the shadows of Adele’s coffee house afternoons and cultural salons.Nearly forty years later, Adele’s niece Maria Altmann is a newlywed when the Nazis invade Austria—and overnight, her beloved Vienna becomes a war zone. When her husband is arrested and her family is forced out of their home, Maria must summon the courage and resilience that is her aunt’s legacy if she is to survive and keep her family—and their history—alive.Will Maria and her family escape the Nazis’ grip? And what will become of the paintings that her aunt nearly sacrificed everything for?Impeccably researched and a “must-read for fans of Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale and Paula McLain’s Circling the Sun” (Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author), Stolen Beauty intertwines the tales of two remarkable women across more than a hundred years. It juxtaposes passion and discovery against hatred and despair, and shines a light on our ability to love, to destroy, and above all, to endure.

Paris in Bloom


Georgianna Lane - 2017
    From elegant floral boutiques to lively flower markets to glorious blooming trees and expansive public gardens, flowers are the essential ingredient to the lush sensory bouquet that is Parisian life. With beautiful photography, Paris in Bloom transports readers on a stunning floral tour of the city, and provides recommendations to the best flower markets and a detailed guide to spring blooms. Timeless in content, Paris in Bloom is a book for Paris lovers to savor again and again, one to keep on the nightstand to conjure fond memories of their first visit and inspire dreams of the next. Also Available: Paris in Bloom 2019 Wall Calendar (ISBN: 978-1-4197-3004-7)

Jamie Hewlett


Julius Wiedemann - 2017
    With influences ranging from hip hop to zombie slasher movies, Hewlett emerged in the mid 1990s as cocreator of the zeitgeist-defining Tank Girl comic. With then-roommate, Blur frontman Damon Albarn, he went on to create the unique cartoon band Gorillaz, a virtual pop group of animated characters, which recorded four studio albums and mounted breathtaking live spectacles. Since then, Hewlett has continued to collaborate with Albarn on projects including an elaborate staging of the Chinese novel Monkey: Journey to the West by Wu Cheng en, complete with circus acrobats, Shaolin monks, and Chinese singers. In 2006, he was named Designer of the Year by the Design Museum in London, and in 2009, Hewlett and Albarn won a Bafta for their Monkey animated sequence for the Beijing Olympic Games. More recently, an exhibition of prints at the Saatchi Gallery in London demonstrated an exciting new direction in Hewlett s practice. This new TASCHEN edition, Hewlett s first major monograph, illustrates this thrilling creative journey with over 400 artworks from the Tank Girl era through Gorillaz and up to the present day. Through stories, characters, strips, and sketches, we trace Hewlett s exceptional capacity for invention and celebrate a polymath artist who refuses to rest on his laurels, or to be pigeonholed into a particular practice.Text in English, French, and German"

All about Saul Leiter


Saul Leiter - 2017
    This collection takes a Japanese perspective into the secrets of his appeal, from his life philosophy and lyricism to masterful colors and compositions reminiscent of ukiyo-e. Some two hundred works—including early street photographs, images for advertising, nudes, and paintings—cover Leiter’s career from the 1940s onward, accompanied by quotations from the artist himself that express his singular worldview. Saul Leiter was born in 1923 in Pittsburgh. He pioneered a painterly approach to color photography in the 1940s and produced covers for fashion magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar before largely withdrawing from public attention in the 1980s. The publication of his first collection, Early Color, by Steidl in 2006 inspired an avid “rediscovery” that has since led to worldwide exhibitions and the release of a documentary, In No Great Hurry: 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter (2014). He died in New York in 2013.size: 210 × 148 × 28 mmbinding: softcoverlanguage: english/japanese

Momentary: The Art of Ilya Kuvshinov


Ilya Kuvshinov - 2017
    In this first book collection of his work, readers can see a fascinating combination of adorable girls with large, manga-influenced eyes, and soulful Japanese landscape illustrations. Momentary features never-before-published finished work and sketches, as well as written commentary (in both Japanese and English) from the artist himself.Kuvshinov has a significant social media following on Instagram, Twitter and DeviantArt. On Instagram alone, 785,000 followers from all over the world eagerly await his latest posts.

France is a Feast: The Photographic Journey of Paul and Julia Child


Alex Prud'Homme - 2017
    Paul and Julia moved to Paris in 1948 where he was cultural attaché for the US Information Service, and in this role he met Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Brassai, and other leading lights of the photography world. As Julia recalled: “Paris was wonderfully walkable, and it was a natural subject for Paul.”Their wanderings through the French capital and countryside, frequently photographed by Paul, would help lead to the classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and Julia’s brilliant and celebrated career in books and on television. Though Paul was an accomplished photographer (his work is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art), his photographs remained out of the public eye until the publication of Julia’s memoir, My Life in France, in which several of his images were included. Now, with more than 200 of Paul’s photographs and personal stories recounted by his great-nephew Alex Prud’homme, France is a Feast not only captures this magical period in Paul and Julia’s lives, but also brings to light Paul Child’s own remarkable photographic achievement.

Ink Paint: The Women of Walt Disney's Animation


Mindy Johnson - 2017
    Yet perhaps as a reflection of the transparent canvas they created on, the contributions and history of these animation artists have remained virtually invisible and largely undocumented, until now. Walt Disney's pioneering efforts in animation transformed novelty cartoons into visual masterpieces, establishing many "firsts" for women within the entertainment industry along the way. Focusing on talent, Disney sought female story specialists and concept artists to expand the scope and sensibility of his storytelling. Upon establishing the first animation-training program for women, ink pens were traded for pencils as ladies made their way into the male-laden halls of animation. World War II further opened roles traditionally held by men, and women quickly progressed into virtually every discipline within animation production. Disney's later development of the Xerox process and eventual digital evolution once again placed women at the forefront of technological advancements applied to animated storytelling. In her landmark book, Ink & Paint, author Mindy Johnson pulls back the celluloid curtain on the nearly vanished world of ink pens, paintbrushes, pigments, and tea. From the earliest black-and-white Alice Comedies to the advent of CAPS and digital animation, meet the pioneering women who brought hand-rendered animated stories to vibrant, multicolored life at Walt Disney Studios and beyond. Extensively researched with the full support of the entire Walt Disney Studios archival resources, plus a multitude of private collections, firsthand accounts, newly discovered materials, and production documentation, as well as never-before-seen photography and artwork, this essential volume redefines the collective history of animation.Searching for that perfect gift for the animation fan in your life? Explore more behind-the-scenes stories from Disney Editions:The Art of Mulan: A Disney Editions ClassicWalt Disney's Ultimate Inventor: The Genius of Ub IwerksOne Day at Disney: Meet the People Who Make the Magic Across the GlobeThe Walt Disney Studios: A Lot to RememberFrom All of Us to All of You: The Disney Christmas CardOswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons, Revised Special EditionDisney Villains: Delightfully Evil - The Creation, The Inspiration, The FascinationThe Art and Flair of Mary Blair: An Appreciation, Updated Edition Illusion of Life: Disney Animation (By Disney Legends Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston)

How to Draw Modern Florals: An Introduction to the Art of Flowers, Cacti, and More


Alli Koch - 2017
    She shares her expertise in How To Draw Modern Florals, a step-by-step guide that teaches everything you need to know about modern florals, including:Tools of the trade Where to find inspiration The anatomy of a flower The basic shapes for drawing a flower You'll feel as though you're sitting down with Alli at a coffee shop as she walks you through the process of drawing and designing all aspects of modern florals. You'll learn designs from classic favorites like the rose to today's trendiest florals, as well as succulents and cacti--some of Alli's favorites!How to Draw Modern Florals is an introduction, so no experience is needed! If you can draw an S or a C with a pen, Alli can teach you to draw a beautiful, modern floral design.

The Movie Art of Syd Mead: Visual Futurist


Syd Mead - 2017
    His career boasts an incredible array of projects from designing cars to drafting architectural renderings, but he is most famous for his work as a concept artist on some of the most visually arresting films in the history of cinema. Since working on Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1978 as a production illustrator Syd Mead has always aimed to render “reality ahead of schedule,” creating evocative designs that marry believable content with a neofuturistic form. It is this ability to predict technological potential that has helped Mead create such a distinctive and influential aesthetic. From his work with Ridley Scott on Blade Runner, to his striking designs for the light cycles in Tron, to his imposing concept art for the U.S.S. Sulaco in James Cameron’s Aliens, Syd Mead has played a pivotal role in shaping cinema’s vision of the future. The Movie Art of Syd Mead: Visual Futurist represents the most extensive collection of Mead’s visionary work ever printed, compiling hundreds of images, sketches and concept arts from a career spanning almost 40 years, many of which have never been seen in print before. Each entry provides a unique insight into the processes involved in Mead’s practice as well as illuminating the behind-the-scenes work involved in creating a fully realized, cinematic depiction of the future. With such a plethora of images from the many genre-defining films Mead has worked on, this is essential reading for film fans, artists and futurologists alike.

Explorers' Sketchbooks: The Art of Discovery & Adventure


Huw Lewis-Jones - 2017
    Often private, they are records of immediate experiences and discoveries, and in their pages we can see what the explorers themselves encountered. This remarkable book showcases 70 such sketchbooks, kept by intrepid men and women as they journeyed perilous and unknown environments—frozen wastelands, high mountains, barren deserts, and dense rainforests—with their senses wide open. Figures such as Charles Darwin and Sir Edmund Hillary are joined here by lesser-known explorers such as Adela Breton, who braved the jungles of Mexico to make a record of Mayan monuments. Here are profiles, expedition details, and the artwork of pioneering explorers and mapmakers, botanists and artists, ecologists and anthropologists, eccentrics and visionaries. Here is the art of discovery.

The Art of Overwatch Limited Edition


Blizzard Entertainment - 2017
    Now, in this beautiful hardcover, Blizzard Entertainment reveals the creative process behind one of the most popular FPS games of all time! Filled with never-before-seen art as well as commentary provided by the game's development team, this book is sure to please any Overwatch fan.- Deluxe limited edition comes packaged in a beautiful clamshell box with magnetic closure and includes an acetate slipcover featuring the game's most popular hero, Tracer.- Two portfolios containing a total of three prints chosen by the Overwatch team!- Introduction and commentary provided by the game's development team!- Essential companion to the international best-selling game Overwatch!- Overwatch is a global phenomenon with 30 million players!- Produced in close partnership with Blizzard- Overwatch creation revealed!- Behind-the-scenes look at your favorite characters!- Beautiful hard cover book filled with never-before-seen Overwatch artwork!

Awaking Beauty: The Art of Eyvind Earle


Eyvind Earle - 2017
    From fanciful backgrounds for Disney classics such as Sleeping Beauty to bold experiments in multimedia art, from ambitious commercial animations to lush and otherworldly oil landscapes, Earle's oeuvre never fails to please the eye and engage the imagination. And here, collected in Awaking Beauty—the official catalog for the 2017 Walt Disney Family Museum exhibition of the same name—is a definitive exploration of his life's full work.Born in New York City in 1916, Earle showed early talent, hosting his first solo exhibition at the age of fourteen. After traveling in Mexico and Europe as a teenager, he bicycled across the United States, painting watercolors to pay his way. In the late 1930s, he began designing Christmas cards—which have sold more than 300 million copies over the years—while continuing to exhibit his fine art. Earle's transformative moment, however, came in 1951, when he was hired at The Walt Disney Studios as a background painter. Again, he proved a quick study, lending his talents to the Academy Award-winning short Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, beloved full-length feature Sleeping Beauty,  and many other time-honored Disney animated films. After his tenure at Disney ended in 1958, Earle turned his attention to commercial animation and advertising, then returned ot fine art full-time in 1966. Here, in the last three decades of his life, Earle created an immense and impressively varied body of work. He became an expert at the silkscreen-printing process known as serigraphy, a painstaking art form that could require up to 200 individual screens. He also created dozens of graphic and arresting scratchboards—engravings carved into boards primed with white clay and black ink—for his autobiography, Horizon Bound on a Bicycle. In addition to his multimedia experiments, Earle painted dazzling oil works of the natural world, capturing the rolling hills, lacy and voluminous trees, and crashing blue waves of California in a nearly transcendental light. A moving and lyrical writer, he often accompanied his mesmerizing landscapes with equally meditative and intriguing poems. After a long and esteemed career, Earle passed away in 2000 in Carmel-y-the-Sea, California, leaving behind a formidable legacy in animation and fine art. Today, his work is in the permanent collections of several prominent museums (including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York), while his memory continues to inspire new generations of aspiring creatives around the globe.

Everyday Watercolor: Learn to Paint Watercolor in 30 Days


Jenna Rainey - 2017
    This beautifully illustrated and inspiring guided watercolor-a-day book is perfect for beginning watercolor artists, artists who want to improve their watercolor skills, and visual creatives. From strokes to shapes, this book covers the basics and helps painters gain confidence in themselves along with inspiration to develop their own style over the course of 30 days. Featuring colorful contemporary art from Mon Voir design agency founder and Instagram trendsetter Jenna Rainey, this book's fresh perspective paints watercolor in a whole new light.

National Geographic Night Vision: Magical Photographs of Life After Dark


National Geographic Society - 2017
    The world is a different place after dark, and this breathtaking book illuminates the mesmerizing realm of all things nocturnal, with more than 250 glorious images. Page after page of vivid photographs explore the many nuances of night vision--from the sea by moonlight to night markets in Laos to the face of a child lit up by a screen in a darkened room. The range of images in these pages is breathtaking: A smoky jazz club. Flowers that bloom only at night. Phosphorescent fish. Lions photographed with infrared cameras. The Eiffel Tower, all lit up. Faces around a campfire. A stadium lit by floodlights. Earth from space. Elegant, sexy, and a little mysterious, this richly illustrated book is a stunning pathway to some of the world's most captivating sights.

Botanical Shakespeare: An Illustrated Compendium of All the Flowers, Fruits, Herbs, Trees, Seeds, and Grasses Cited by the World's Greatest Playwright


Gerit Quealy - 2017
    With a foreword by Dame Helen Mirren—the first foreword she has ever contributed.In this striking compilation, Shakespeare historian Gerit Quealy and respected Japanese artist Sumié Hasegawa combine their knowledge and skill in this first and only book that examines every plant that appears in the works of Shakespeare.Botanical Shakespeare opens with a brief look at the Bard’s relationship to the plants mentioned in his works—a diversity that illuminates his knowledge of the science of botany, as well as the colloquy, revealing his unmatched skill for creating metaphorical connections and interweaving substantive philosophy. At the heart of the book are "portraits" of the over 170 flowers, fruits, grains, grasses, trees, herbs, seeds and vegetables that Shakespeare mentions in his plays and poems. Botanical Shakespeare features a gorgeous color illustration of each, giving a "face" to the name, alongside the specific text in which it appears and the character(s) who utter the lines in which it is mentioned.This fascinating visual compendium also includes a dictionary describing each plant—such as Eglantine, a wild rose with a slight prickle, cherished for its singular scent, superior to any other rose; and the difference between apples and apple-john—along with indices listing the botanical by play/poem, by character, and genus for easy reference, ideal for gardeners and thoughtful birthday gift-giving.This breathtaking, incomparable collection of exquisite artwork and companion quotes offers unique depth and insight into Shakespeare and his timeless work through the unusual perspective of the plants themselves.

House Industries: The Process Is the Inspiration


Andy Cruz - 2017
    Presented in House's honest, authentic, and often irreverent style, and covering topics ranging from fonts and fashion to ceramics and space technology, this beautifully useful 400-page volume offers a personal perspective on the origin of ideas for creative people in any field. Most important, this book shows that there's no sense in waiting for inspiration because inspiration is already waiting for you.

Creative Inspiration: Van Gogh


Vincent van Gogh - 2017
    His writings have been edited and selected to create an enlightening, uplifting, and helpful book for art lovers and creatives, amateur and professional alike.

Kawaii Doodle Class: Sketching Super-Cute Tacos, Sushi, Clouds, Flowers, Monsters, Cosmetics, and More


Zainab Khan - 2017
    Popular kawaii artist Zainab Khan—known for her YouTube channel, Pic Candle—gives you simple step-by-step illustrations and instructions for drawing 75 supercute characters, organized into these fun categories:Adorable Food & DrinksLovable NatureCheerful Doodle MonstersEveryday CuteCharming Holiday DecorationsShe also shares captivating search-and-find puzzles that you can also use as coloring pages, and inspiration boards that show you how to give your characters different facial expressions and zany accessories. If you know Pic Candle, then you already love her cute, simple drawings, and no doubt want to doodle right along with her. Now is your chance! Thanks to this adorable crash course in doodling all things kawaii, soon you will be enhancing your notebooks, stationery, artwork, and anything else you can put a marker to—you'll just need a little help from Kawaii Doodle Class! Also available from Pic Candle’s Kawaii Doodle series, doodle to your heart’s content with:Kawaii Doodle Cuties,Kawaii Doodle World, Mini Kawaii Doodle Class, and Mini Kawaii Doodle Cuties.

The Silver Way: Techniques, Tips, and Tutorials for Effective Character Design


Stephen Silver - 2017
    Whether you're a professional artist interested in improving your drawing skills, or an aspiring designer fresh out of high school looking to add to your portfolio, The Silver Way will help you build your confidence and strengthen your work in order to successfully design characters for any project, in any style. Chockfull of helpful--and entertaining!--drawing techniques and easy-to-follow tutorials developed through his decades of experience as an artist on popular animated shows (Kim Possible, Danny Phantom, The Fairly OddParents) and as the owner of Silver Drawing Academy, The Silver Way is the kind of educational art book you'll revisit again and again for guidance, encouragement, and inspiration.

Colored Pencil Painting Portraits: Master a Revolutionary Method for Rendering Depth and Imitating Life


Alyona Nickelsen - 2017
    In this truly comprehensive guide packed with step-by-step demonstrations, Nickelsen considers working from photo references versus live models; provides guidance on posing and lighting, as well as planning and composing a work; discusses tools, materials, and revolutionary layering techniques; and offers lessons on capturing gesture and expression and on rendering facial and body features of people of all age groups and skin tones.

Create Your Life Book: Mixed-Media Art Projects for Expanding Creativity and Encouraging Personal Growth


Tamara Laporte - 2017
    Tamara’s kind, non-judgmental voice guides your way. What is holding you back? Where do you want to go? Let go of the past! Use these expressive exercises to help you recognize your personal challenges and other obstacles, then work through them. Let go of limiting beliefs, find courage, feel gratitude, heal pain, and develop self-love as you playfully create. Each themed chapter presents four to five two-part projects. First, you will explore a common issue that hampers creativity and/or positive self-worth. The second portion is a step-by-step mixed-media art project designed to help you work through that issue. Just a few of the explorations:Let go of what no longer serves you by taking stock of what’s holding you back, then create a zentangle butterfly to symbolize you flying away from those limiting things.Embrace and love your inner quirky bird by taking an inventory of your quirky traits, then create a bird that celebrates them.Heal old wounds by writing a letter to yourself as a child, then create a house to keep your inner child safe.Adding rich variety to the messages and art inspiration, some of the project outlines have been contributed by Tamara's guest teachers: Roxanne Coble, Andrea Gomoll, Alena Hennessy, Mystele Kirkeeng, Ivy Newport, and Effy Wild, each of whom are noted mixed-media artists in their own right. The final chapter presents a simple binding method for creating a keepsake book of your Life Book projects. Steeped in inspirational images and uplifting affirmations, Create Your Life Book can help you achieve both personal and creative growth.

Two-Dimensional Man


Paul Sahre - 2017
    Sahre explores his mostly vain attempts to escape his "suburban Addams Family" upbringing and the death of his elephant-trainer brother. He also wrestles with the cosmic implications involved in operating a scanner, explains the disappearance of ice machines, analyzes a disastrous meeting with Steely Dan, and laments the typos, sunsets, and poor color choices that have shaped his work and point of view. Two-Dimensional Man portrays the designer's life as one of constant questioning, inventing, failing, dreaming, and ultimately making.

Duty Free Art: Art in the Age of Planetary Civil War


Hito Steyerl - 2017
    They extend from a region where the audience is pumped for tweets to a future of "neurocurating," in which paintings surveil their audience via facial recognition and eye tracking to assess their popularity and to scan for suspicious activity.In Duty Free Art, filmmaker and writer Hito Steyerl wonders how we can appreciate, or even make art, in the present age.What can we do when arms manufacturers sponsor museums, and some of the world's most valuable artworks are used as currency in a global futures market detached from productive work? Can we distinguish between information, fake news, and the digital white noise that bombards our everyday lives? Exploring subjects as diverse as video games, WikiLeaks files, the proliferation of freeports, and political actions, she exposes the paradoxes within globalization, political economies, visual culture, and the status of art production.

The Art of Winnie-the-Pooh: How E. H. Shepard Illustrated an Icon


James Campbell - 2017
     But before they appeared in many millions of books and in nearly fifty languages, they started life in the 1920s as the product of a unique collaboration between A. A. Milne and E. H Shepard; author and illustrator wove images and text together in a way that was utterly original for the time. For Shepard, it was a process that he relished, creating artwork for new editions right up until his death in 1976 at the age of ninety-six.In this beautifully presented, full-colour volume, readers will not only discover the story behind this remarkable partnership, but also follow the evolution of Shepard's work, from those first tentative sketches through to the illustrations we know and love, and even on to the characters' later incarnations at Disney.Presenting over 125 full colour images - including never-before-published sketches, finished artwork, personal family photographs and memorabilia - this is the perfect gift for those of us who grew up loving the books.

Growing Gills: How to Find Creative Focus When You’re Drowning in Your Daily Life


Jessica Abel - 2017
     If you feel like you’re floundering in the deep end (Not waving, drowning!), and anxiety over the complexity and enormousness of your creative projects overwhelms you, stop scrambling to fit everything in and feeling stretched thin. DIVE DEEP AND SWIM Sustain the energy you feel when thinking of how awesome your projects could be. Value your own creative work as highly as work you do for other people. Build a reusable structure and process that will consistently get you to the finish line. Blast through your stuck-ness. Focus. Finish. Move on to the next project. You’re a creative person. Even if you have a hard time calling yourself a “writer” or an “artist” in public, making your creative work is core to who you are and how you see the world. You may be harboring a big, ambitious idea for a project. Possibly a lot of them. And it’s killing you. You lie awake thinking about it…and hating yourself for not doing more to make it real. And then in the morning you’re exhausted, and you can’t believe you “wasted” more time on this stupid idea. Who ever told you you were creative anyway? You try to shove your idea away, to forget it. But your creative work is what keeps you sane. You can’t not do this. So you live with guilt and anxiety all the time. You’ve tried to carve out the time and attention you need to devote to your creative work. You’ve made ambitious goals, you’ve written lists, you’ve scheduled calendars…you’ve installed shackles on your desk chair. But chaining yourself to your work only seems to make you more distractible and more miserable. (And those unsightly leg sores!) Maybe you've even tried to borrow time-management tips from the business world. Get things done! Build seven habits! Eat that frog! But following business-minded productivity systems just doesn’t work for you. The issue isn’t simply getting “things” done, it’s allowing yourself to devote precious time and attention to the vital, self-generated creative work that builds toward your vision for the future. The problem is, the life you’re living is already full. You’ve made a lot of promises, to yourself, your family, your friends, and your community, that you’ll be there for them. You probably have a job; you may have kids. You may well have many competing ideas for your creative work. Where, exactly, can you find that mythical Creative Focus Unicorn? In Growing Gills, you’ll discover that the power is already within you to make your work. The biggest obstacles to your getting your important creative work done lie in the unknowns you’re facing. Growing Gills takes you step by step through the process of pinning down exactly what’s stopping you from finishing your beautiful, inventive, and potentially game-changing projects. Using the power of conscious decision, you’ll build your own unique system for fitting creative work into your existing life, taking into consideration how you work best.

The Tiny Book of Tiny Pleasures


Irene Smit - 2017
    Little things like sharing tea with a friend. An ice cream cone with sprinkles. Finding a forgotten item of clothing in the closet. The smell in the air right after a summer rain. Created by the editors of Flow magazine, The Tiny Book of Tiny Pleasures is a celebration of slowing down and appreciating the simple moments of life—all you have to do is take notice.

David Bowie: The Man Who Fell to Earth


Paul Duncan - 2017
    A tour-de-force of science fiction as art form, the movie brought not only hallucinatory visuals and a haunting exploration of contemporary alienation, but also glam-rock legend David Bowie in his lead role debut as paranoid alien Newton. Based on Walter Tevis's 1963 sci-fi fable of the same title, The Man Who Fell to Earth follows alien Newton from his arrival on earth in search of water; his transition to wealthy entrepreneur, leveraging the advanced technologies of his native planet; his sexual awakening with the young Mary-Lou; and then the discovery of his alien identity, his imprisonment, abandonment, and descent into alcoholism. Throughout, Roeg coaxed a beguiling performance from his cast, presenting not only Bowie in ethereal space-traveler glory, but also pitch-perfect supporting performances from Candy Clark, Rip Torn, and Buck Henry. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of this cult movie, TASCHEN's The Man Who Fell to Earth presents a plenitude of stills and behind-the-scenes images by unit photographer David James, including numerous shots of Bowie at his playful and ambiguous best. A new introductory essay explores the shooting of the film and it's lasting impact, drawing upon an exclusive interview with David James, who brings firsthand insights into the making of this sci-fi masterwork.About the series: Bibliotheca Universalis-- Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe at an unbeatable, democratic price!Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, the name TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible, open-minded publishing. Bibliotheca Universalis brings together nearly 100 of our all-time favorite titles in a neat new format so you can curate your own affordable library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia.Bookworm's delight -- never bore, always excite!Text in English, French, and German

Wise Trees


Diane Cook - 2017
    Supported by grants from the Expedition Council of the National Geographic Society, Cook and Jenshel spent two years traveling to fifty-nine sites across five continents to photograph some of the world’s most historic and inspirational trees. Trees, they tell us, can live without us, but we cannot live without them. Not only do trees provide us with the oxygen we breathe, food gathered from their branches, and wood for both fuel and shelter, but they have been essential to the spiritual and cultural life of civilizations around the world. From Luna, the Coastal Redwood in California that became an international symbol when activist Julia Butterfly Hill sat for 738 days on a platform nestled in its branches to save it from logging, to the Bodhi Tree, the sacred fig in India that is a direct descendent of the tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment, Cook and Jenshel reveal trees that have impacted and shaped our lives, our traditions, and our feelings about nature. There are also survivor trees, including a camphor tree in Nagasaki that endured the atomic bomb, an American elm in Oklahoma City, and the 9/11 Survivor Tree, a Callery pear at the 9/11 Memorial. All of the trees were carefully selected for their role in human dramas. This project both reflects and inspires awareness of the enduring role of trees in nurturing and sheltering humanity. Photographers, environmentalists, history buffs, and nature-lovers alike will appreciate the extraordinary stories found within the pages of Wise Trees! Also Available: Wise Trees 2020 Wall Calendar

Botanical Line Drawing: 200 Step-by-Step Flowers, Leaves, Cacti, Succulents, and Other Items Found in Nature


Peggy Dean - 2017
    It's used widely among artists of many types with both fine and bold lines, creating different variations. Botanical Line Drawing teaches you how to start with the simplest doodles, building into more elaborate, delicate illustrations. This book focuses on the extremely popular subject matter of the natural world and includes flowers, leaves, succulents, houseplants, trees, branches, mushrooms, and more. These simple line drawings will allow you to branch out and have fun with your own personal style, as well as inspire you to add flourishes to other projects.

Microsculpture: Portraits of Insects


Levon Biss - 2017
    Levon Biss’s photographs capture in breathtaking detail the beauty of the insect world and are printed in large-scale format to provide an unforgettable viewing experience. Each picture in Microsculpture is created from approximately 8,000 individual photographs. Segments of the specimen are lit and photographed separately using microscope lenses, then “stacked” to maintain sharp focus throughout. These images are then combined to create a single high-resolution file. From start to finish, each portrait takes approximately 4 weeks to create. The project has captured the attention of the world with features in WIRED and New Scientist. Microsculpture has been exhibited at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and the Xposure 2016 International Photography Festival in Sharjah, U.A.E. It has been viewed by over half a mil­lion people so far and will be touring museums around the world from 2017 onward. The entomology collection has significant cultural and historical value, containing the world’s oldest pinned insect specimen and many thousands of insects collected by pioneering Victorian explorers and biologists such as Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace.

The Art of Assassin's Creed Origins


Paul Davies - 2017
    The Art of Assassin’s Creed 7 collates hundreds of concept arts, including sketches, final paintings, and 3D Renders, alongside in-depth commentary from the artists and developers, representing the ultimate insight into the design processes behind the game.

Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos


Monica Brown - 2017
    Her artwork brought attention to Mexican and indigenous culture with images renowned in celebrating the female form.Brown's story recounts Frida's beloved pets—two monkeys, a parrot, three dogs, two turkeys, an eagle, a black cat, and a fawn—and playfully considers how Frida embodied the many wonderful characteristics of each animal.

Vincent Can't Sleep: Van Gogh Paints the Night Sky


Barb Rosenstock - 2017
    . .out, out, out he runs! flying through the garden--marigold, geranium, blackberry, raspberry--past the church with its tall steeple, down rolling hills and sandy paths meant for sheep, He dives at last into the velvety, violet heath, snuggles under a blanket of sapphire sky, and looks up, up, up . . . to visit with the stars. Vincent van Gogh often found himself unable to sleep and wandered under starlit skies. Those nighttime experiences provided the inspiration for many of his paintings, including his most famous, The Starry Night. Van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime--but he continued to pursue his unique vision, and ultimately became one of the most beloved artists of all time.