Fantasy Art Now: The Very Best in Contemporary Fantasy Art Illustration


Martin McKenna - 2007
    Whether you are a fantasy artist looking for ideas and inspiration, or a fan of the genre interested in following the work of the finest, freshest, and most exciting talents in the world of fantasy art today, Fantasy Art Now gives you all you need in one lush full-color volume.Inside you'll find:An inspirational showcase of images from leading fantasy artists and rising starsMany pieces of never-before-presented fantasy artArtwork from the latest cutting-edge fantasy media, including graphic novels, book coves, card games, role-playing games, and moreThe art of talents such as Clint Langley, Benita Winckler, Uwe Jarkling, Melanie Delon, Patrick Reilly, Soa Lee, Cyril Van Der Haegen, Anne Stokes, Francis Tsai, Robert Change, and many moreEach artist's inspirations, techniques, and the stories behind their work

A World of Art


Henry M. Sayre - 1994
    College level text for art appreciation.

Paul Klee, 1879-1940


Paul Klee - 1991
    His works stand out for the variety in their forms of artistic expression. His Tunisian water-colours depicting landscape, architecture and, above all, the North African light of this Mediterranean land constitute the true beginning of Klee's painting career. Although these paintings still fall under the heading of "objective", they already exhibit indications of his tendency toward abstraction and a language of forms. Geometrical figures and hieroglyphic elements characterize the majority of these works, which for this reason seem reminiscent of "naive" and playful children's painting. In reality, however, his paintings have their roots in theoretical considerations, their recurrent symbols conveying personal and at times political content.

Window Seat: Reading the Landscape from the Air


Gregory Dicum - 2004
    Broken down by region, this unusual guide features 70 aerial photographs; a fold-out map of North America showing major flight paths; profiles of each region covering its landforms, waterways, and cities; tips on spotting major sights, such as the Northern Lights, the Grand Canyon, and Disney World; tips on spotting not-so-major sights such as prisons, mines, and Interstates; and straightforward, friendly text on cloud shapes, weather patterns, the continent's history, and more. A terrific book for kids, frequent flyers, and armchair travelers alike, Window Seat is packed with curious facts and colorful illustration, proving that flying doesn't have to be a snooze. When it's possible to "read" the landscape from above, a whole world unfolds at your feet.

Fairies, Gnomes & Trolls: Create a Fantasy World in Polymer Clay


Maureen Carlson - 2006
    Featuring 15 step-by-step projects for creating clay fairies, gnomes, trolls, and other enchanting figures, this beautiful instructional book shows readershow to create an entire fantasy land.

The Monster Book of Manga: Draw Like the Experts


Estudio Joso - 2006
    Estudio Joso creates the ultimate guide to illustration—384 pages of manga instruction. The Monster Book of Manga is divided into sections focusing on the most figures and themes—Girls, Boys, Samurais, Monsters, and more. Each illustration is broken down into six stages accompanied by step-by-step instructions, taking the artist from initial back-and-white sketches to the final color piece. They are all accompanied by practical suggestions, hints, and tips.

Just My Type: A Book about Fonts


Simon Garfield - 2010
    Whether you’re enraged by Ikea’s Verdanagate, want to know what the Beach Boys have in common with easy Jet or why it’s okay to like Comic Sans, Just My Type will have the answer. Learn why using upper case got a New Zealand health worker sacked. Refer to Prince in the Tafkap years as a Dingbat (that works on many levels). Spot where movies get their time periods wrong and don’t be duped by fake posters on eBay. Simon Garfield meets the people behind the typefaces and along the way learns why some fonts – like men – are from Mars and some are from Venus. From type on the high street and album covers, to the print in our homes and offices, Garfield is the font of all types of knowledge.

Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth Behind the Masterpieces


Philip Steadman - 2001
    Vermeer left no record of his method and indeed we know almost nothing of the man nor of how he worked. But by a close and illuminating study of the paintings Steadman concludes that Vermeer did use the camera obscura and shows how the inherent defects in this primitive device enabled Vermeer to achieve some remarkable effects--the slight blurring of image, the absence of sharp lines, the peculiar illusion not of closeness but of distance in the domestic scenes. Steadman argues that the use of the camera also explains some previously unexplainable qualities of Vermeer's art, such as the absence of conventional drawing, the pattern of underpainting in areas of pure tone, the pervasive feeling of reticence that suffuses his canvases, and the almost magical sense that Vermeer is painting not objects but light itself.Drawing on a wealth of Vermeer research and displaying an extraordinary sensitivity to the subtleties of the work itself, Philip Steadman offers in Vermeer's Camera a fresh perspective on some of the most enchanting paintings ever created.