Best of
Visual-Art

2010

Botany for the Artist: An Inspirational Guide to Drawing Plants


Sarah Simblet - 2010
    The author follows the trail of the early plant explorers and shows how the exotic specimens they brought home with them were depicted in botanical illustrations, anthologies, and decorative designs.The main part of the book examines the structure of plants, with visually stunning chapters on roots and stems, shoots and leaves, buds and flowers, and seeds and fruit, mosses and lichens, and trees. As in Anatomy for the Artist, beautiful, specially commissioned photographs complement Sarah's drawings, illustrating how an understanding of botany really helps you to draw plants. Drawing classes provide a wealth of practical advice on how to draw, and pages from Sarah's sketchbooks show how she records her favorite plants throughout the seasons. Inspirational master classes in each chapter focus on how other artists, from 17th century masters to contemporary botanical illustrators, have portrayed plants.This lavishly illustrated book will not only be the definitive guide for those wishing to master the art of drawing plants, but a sumptuous gift book for all those passionate about plants and how they are portrayed in art.

Rebus


James Jean - 2010
    Rebus showcases new work as well as important creative milestones including the eerie dreamscapes of his oil paintings, the elaborate installations and animations he created for Prada in 2008, his gorgeous illustration work, as well as never-before-published pages from his detailed sketchbooks. Page after page, this monumental book reveals new ideas and explorations from an artist whose voice, influence, and vision remain simply unparalleled.

Dr. Seuss: The Cat Behind the Hat


Caroline M. Smith - 2010
    Seuss as an iconic American artist. Illustrator by day, surrealist by night, Dr. Seuss created a body of little-known work that he called his “Midnight Paintings.” For sixty years, this work allowed Geisel to expand his artistic boundaries outside the confines of commercial influences and deadlines.A handsome slipcase holds the cloth-covered edition of The Cat Behind the Hat, along with four lithographs ready for framing. The book exuberantly juxtaposes Geisel’s “Midnight Paintings” with his best-loved children’s books. Though he fiercely protected his “Midnight Paintings” from criticism during his lifetime, his intention all along was for these works to be seen when he was gone. This comprehensive look at the art that he created over his lifetime is an eye-opening peek behind the public persona into the real story of the man who was Dr. Seuss.

Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver The Official Pokémon Kanto Guide National Pokédex: Official Strategy Guide


Pokémon Company International - 2010
    Everything you want to know about all of your favorite Pokemon!Now that you've journeyed to Johto why not find out what awaits you in Kanto?And while you're at it, check out the complete Pokedex of all 493 Pokemon!  This is your guide to...• Where to catch every Pokemon! • A full list of each Pokemon's Learned Attacks, Battle Moves, and Egg Moves! • Everything you need to know to explore the entire post-story Kanto region!

Botanical Portraits with Colored Pencils


Ann Swan - 2010
    This lavishly illustrated volume offers practical, step-by-step instruction for creating professional quality colored pencil illustrations of flowers, foliage, fruits, and other botanical subjects. Colored pencils serve as an excellent alternative to the traditional practice of rendering botanical art in watercolors because pencils are far easier to use and control, yet can produce equally outstanding results. The author instructs in the use of both water-soluble and oil-based colored pencils, and presents progressive illustrations that demonstrate the rendering of an artwork from start to completion. She advises on choosing materials and offers guidelines for getting to know each flower or plant before starting an illustration. All aspects of working with colored pencils are covered, including underpainting, layering and burnishing, mixing and building up color, and adding those finishing touches that bring a botanical subject fully to life. She also presents works by other botanical artists to show students a wide range of styles. The book features approximately 200 beautiful and instructive color illustrations.

Botanical Drawing in Color: A Basic Guide to Mastering Realistic Form and Naturalistic Color


Wendy Hollender - 2010
    Whether you’re just broaching this unique skill or are already an expert, these step-by-step instructions are an invaluable reference guide, written by one of the nation’s leading experts in the field, Wendy Hollender.  Each lesson here increases in complexity to build your skill set in a clear, concise, and accessible way. With a focus on the natural world through the botanical life-cycle, each project is not only a technical study, but a beautiful piece of artwork in and of itself.  Learn:    • Single light source toning technique   • Principles of perspective for drawing flowers   • The fundamentals of plant anatomy   • Colored pencil techniques and color theory of the natural world

Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present


Klaus Biesenbach - 2010
    Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present accompanies an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art that documents approximately 50 of the artist's ephemeral time- and media-based works from throughout her career. The book also discusses a unique element of the Museum's retrospective, live performance: a new work created for the occasion, and performed by Abramovic herself; and re-creations of the artist's works by other performers-the first such to be undertaken in a museum setting. The book spans over four decades of Abramovic's early interventions and sound pieces, video works, installations, photographs, solo performances and collaborative performances made with the Dutch artist Ulay (Uwe Laysiepen). Essays by Klaus Biesenbach, Chief Curator of Media and performance art at MoMA, and four distinguished scholars examine Abramovic's ideas of time, duration and the reperformance of performance art as a way to extend it into posterity. The Artist Is Present also includes a CD with audio commentary by the artist that guides the reader through the publication. The artist is present not only in the exhibition but also in the experience of the book.Born in Belgrade just after the end of the Second World War, Marina Abramovic was raised in the Serbian Orthodox Church (her great uncle was a Patriarch and a canonized saint in the Church) and left Yugoslavia in 1976, having already established herself as a performance artist, living in Amsterdam and eventually New York, where she presently lives.

Pre-Raphaelites


Heather Birchall - 2010
    Fascinated by the romantic aspects of medieval culture and the vivid, jewel-like colors of Quattrocento art, the movement abhored the Classical poses and composition of Raphael and those influenced by him—hence the group's name—and the influence of Sir Joshua Reynolds. Founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the original Pre-Raphaelites were joined by William Michael Rossetti, James Collinson, Frederic George Stephens and Thomas Woolner to form a seven-member "brotherhood". Its influence on many later British artists was extensive, and Rossetti's work is now seen as a precursor of the wider European Symbolist movement. This book examines the group's emergence, development, influence, and subsequent demise.About the Series: Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Genre Series features:a detailed introduction with approximately 35 photographs, plus a timeline of the most important events (political, cultural, scientific, etc.) that took place during the time period a selection of the most important works of the epoch; each is presented on a 2-page spread with a full-page image and, on the facing page, a description/interpretation of the work and brief biography of the artist as well as additional information such as a reference work, portrait of the artist, and/or citations

Pixar: 25 Years Of Animation


Walt Disney Company - 2010
    Originally exhibited at MoMA in 2005 and featuring over 500 works of original art on loan for the first time from Pixar Animation Studios, the show included paintings, concept art, sculptures, and digital art. This edition is revised, updated and expanded to include Pixar films for the years 2006-2010."Published on the occasion of the exhibition, organized by Rene é de Guzman, senior curator of art, and Cherie Newell, director of professional services, at the Oakland Museum of California, July 31, 2010-January 9, 2011."

A-Z of Flower Portraits: An Illustrated Guide to Painting 40 Beautiful Flowers in Watercolour


Billy Showell - 2010
    Each of the four project chapters offer insightful case studies, close-up details, and explanations of various styling techniques and finishing methods that give more than 30 flower portraits an organic feel, emphasizing their botanical nature. Arranged in alphabetical order, this comprehensive all-in-one guidebook includes tips for buying the best materials for successful results as well as basic brushstroke and surface techniques—such as wet-into-wet, color blending, lifting out, layering glazes, and dry brushing—that build confidence and motivate aspiring artists.

John Cage: Every Day Is a Good Day: The Visual Art of John Cage


John Cage - 2010
    As with his music, the use of chance operations--in particular via the Chinese Book of Changes, or I Ching--was central to Cage's approach to visual art, determining technique, the placement of forms and even tonal values. Every Day is a Good Day provides the first broad assessment of Cage's art, and is fully illustrated with plates of his drawings, watercolors and prints, including series such as Where R=Ryoanji (1983-92). Cage's working methods and philosophies are brought to light in new interviews with key collaborators: printmaker and writer Kathan Brown, founder of Crown Point Press; Laura Kuhn, Director of the John Cage Trust; artist Ray Kass; and Julie Lazar, curator of Cage's composition for a museum, Rolywholyover: A Circus. Extracts from a 1966 interview between John Cage and critic Irving Sandler are also reproduced. At the heart of the book is a "Companion to John Cage," a selection of quotes by Cage and notes on key themes and influences, all of which make it essential reading on this important figure of the twentieth-century avant garde.

Art of Maynard Dixon, The


Donald J. Hagerty - 2010
    Profusely illustrated with numerous new images of paintings and other artwork, this book traces the emergence of Dixon as a transitional figure in the art history of America. Poems, letters, and essays written by Dixon support his responses to the dynamic changes in American art from the early decades of the twentieth century.

David Lynch: Dark Splendor


David Lynch - 2010
    Lynch's photographs, paintings, prints, drawings, and more recently, musical compositions, are an indispensable part of his oeuvre and frequently a source of inspiration for his films. Fans of such classics as Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive will readily conjure the director's keen eye for lush but menacing neo-Surrealist tableaux, for instance, which are directly nourished by his artworks. Other hallmarks of the Lynchian style, such as cryptic messages and inscriptions, foreboding atmospherics and a famously left-field sense of humor likewise appear in the paintings, drawings and photographs collected in David Lynch: Dark Splendor--a landmark publication that reveals the breadth and accomplishment of his work in this realm. It contains such marvels as his matchbook drawings--pen-and-ink images of shrouded dreamscapes and interiors, inscribed on the inside of matchbooks--his wonderfully foreboding lithographs, in which scrawled captions jostle among murky figures, his photographs of industrial wastelands and his sinister paintings that incorporate materials and objects to further advance their gothic appeal. Dark Splendor presents these works in excellent reproductions, and will seduce fans of contemporary film and art alike.

Curious Cats


Mitsuaki Iwago - 2010
    In this irresistibly adorable collection, Iwago has chosen his favorite cat photosand proves that the nuances of a cats life are indeed as magical and glorious as the most exotic wildlife. Curious Cats is a captivating exploration of what makes felines such incredibly stunning creatures.

The Ultimate Guide To Colored Pencil: Over 40 Step By Step Demonstrations For Both Traditional And Watercolor Pencils


Gary Greene - 2010
    Whether you're new to colored pencils or perfecting advanced techniques, you'll find the answers you need here in dozens of complete step-by-step demonstrations, including: Simple techniques for achieving amazingly realistic compositions, including layering, burnishing and underpaintingProven methods for working successfully with water-soluble colored pencilsA full range of inspiring subject matter, from flowers and animals to landscapes and still-life compositionsTips for solving common problems, fixing mistakes and taking sharp, clear reference photosExpert guidance in choosing the right materials and colors, including complete color charts from all the major manufacturersIt's all here in the "The Ultimate Guide to Colored Pencil"--the solutions and secrets you need for your own colored pencil success

Sweethearts


Emmett Williams - 2010
    Among them is the book-length concrete poem Sweethearts, first published by Something Else Press (where Williams was editor in chief) in 1968, and back in print for the first time, still sporting its classic cover by Marcel Duchamp. Sweethearts is an anagrammatic erotic encounter between a "he" and a "she," whose entire vocabulary is derived from the word "sweethearts." The letters maintain the same spacing in every word on each page, lending the volume a flipbook dimension that Williams enhances by organizing the text to read backwards, so that the reader can flip the book with her or his left hand (thus the front cover is on the back, and vice versa). Richard Hamilton described Sweethearts as being "to concrete poetry as Wuthering Heights is to the English novel... compelling in its emotional scope, readable, a sweetly heartfelt, jokey, crying, laughing, tender expression of love."

Joseph Beuys: Parallel Processes


Johannes Stuttgen - 2010
    A highly controversial artist during his lifetime, for whom artistic practice, teaching and political activism were were wedded to each other, he is considered today one of the most important figures of 20th century avant-garde art, mentioned in the same breath as Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol. He revolutionized sculpture by using new materials such as felt, honey and grease, which enabled him to explore and represent psychological subjects of unparalleled breadth and intensity. Making our notion of sculpture flow and expand, he also dissolved it by translating his vision into actions that oscillated between happenings and mime and reminded many viewers of shaman rituals. In his early drawings based on abstract forms Beuys developed an idiosyncratic iconography palpitating between fairy tale and fantasy.

Shirin Neshat


Marina Abramović - 2010
    Since then, the Iranian-born artist has continued to explore difficult subjects: the boundaries between East and West, men and women, the sacred and the profane, exile and belonging. Her work is marked by its graphic boldness and stirring imagery: photographs of women cloaked in black veils with excerpts of Farsi poetry inscribed across the surface; videos of clans of men and women in barren landscapes chanting or groups of men and women listening to rousing moralistic sermons in a public hall; and, as in her most recent projects, magical realist works in which women fly or plant themselves in gardens to ensure their fertility.Renowned art critic and historian Arthur C. Danto explores the entirety of the artist’s rich and varied oeuvre, from the earliest photographs to her latest work, the film Women Without Men. Her first feature film, for which she was awarded the prestigious Silver Lion for Best Director at the Venice Film Festival, is based on the novella of the same name that was banned in Iran; it has taken nearly seven years to complete. In addition to the important essay by Danto, the book includes a foreword in the form of a letter by artist Marina Abramović and commentaries for each series of work by Neshat herself, allowing a glimpse into the creative process of one of the most unique artists of her time.

What the Hell Are You Doing?: The Essential David Shrigley


David Shrigley - 2010
    It is a celebration of the surreal world of one of Britain's finest contemporary artists.