Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts


Debra J. Dewitte - 2011
    Short chapters can be read in any order, with new vocabulary defined on the page as it occurs. Eight “Gateways to Art” images (from around the world and all eras) support the common course goal of learning to interpret art in multiple ways and help students build on what they already know. The text is balanced and global, with over 1,000 illustrations—from around the world, and from everyday life.

In Progress: See Inside a Lettering Artist's Sketchbook and Process, from Pencil to Vector


Jessica Hische - 2015
    See everything, from Hische's rough sketches to her polished finals for major clients such as Wes Anderson, NPR, and Starbucks. The result is a well of inspiration and brass tacks information for designers who want to sketch distinctive letterforms and hone their skills. With more than 250 images and metallic silver ink printed throughout to represent her penciled sketches, this highly visual book is an essential—and entirely enjoyable—resource for those who practice or simply appreciate the art of hand lettering.

Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing From Life: Over 1,000 Illustrations


George B. Bridgman - 1971
    “It will...meet a deeply felt need to draw the human figure from a vantage point of understanding and visual acuity.”—Arts & Activities.

Art for Dummies


Thomas Hoving - 1999
    Art For Dummies is the book that will have you and everyone you know clamoring outside the doors of your local museum. Thomas Hoving, former director of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, is credited with revolutionizing the Met, doubling its size during his tenure, and bringing art to the masses. Let him bring art to you as well. In Art For Dummies, Thomas Hoving provides a how-to guide to the art world. First, he guides you through an introduction to art appreciation, pointing out the details that you've always noticed but have never been able to explain. Next, Hoving takes you on a ride through art history. (Have you ever regretted not taking those art history classes in school With Art For Dummies, you'll feel all caught up and ready to spar with the local intellectuals.) Hoving even includes a guide to the world's top art cities and centers, a listing that can help you prepare for your next artistic voyage. With this guide, you can discover where to go in order to see the greatest works of art, and you can also find out about hidden treasures in nearby art museums.You also get a great start for seeking out art with Hoving's lists of the greatest works of Western civilization, the most interesting artists, and the contemporary artists to watch. Don't wait another day to introduce yourself to the art world!

Drawing and Painting Beautiful Faces: A Mixed-Media Portrait Workshop


Jane Davenport - 2015
    Author Jane Davenport is a beloved artist and international workshop instructor known by her thousands of students and fans for her over-the-top, enthusiastic, happy, and encouraging style. In Drawing and Painting Beautiful Faces, Davenport guides you, step by step, through the foundations of drawing a face, developing successful features, creating skin tones, playing with bright colors, shading, highlighting, and much more as you learn to create amazing mixed-media portraits.With this elegantly designed guidebook, you will quickly master a variety of techniques in a variety ofmediums, including:PencilMarkerPenWatercolorAcrylic paintInkPastelEphemeraDrawing and Painting Beautiful Faces will have you dancing your way through the exercises. In no time at all, you will have a selection of beautifully faced portraits ready to view, display, or even sell to a fashion designer.

Medieval Art


Marilyn Stokstad - 1986
    The monumental arts and the diverse minor arts of the Middle Ages are presented here within the social, religious, and political frameworks of lands as varied as France and Denmark, Spain and Turkey. Marilyn Stokstad also teaches her reader how to look at medieval art-which aspects of architecture, sculpture, or painting are important and for what reasons. Stylistic and iconographic issues and themes are thoroughly addressed with attention paid to aesthetic and social contexts. Significantly updated, this second edition of Medieval Art spans the period from the second to the fifteenth centuries and includes over 4000 illustrations, over 100 in color, detailed maps, a time-line, glossary, bibliography, and index-all in a larger 8 by 10 inch trim size.

Wreck This Journal


Keri Smith - 2007
    Acclaimed illustrator Keri Smith encourages journalers to engage in "destructive" acts-poking holes through pages, adding photos and defacing them, painting with coffee, and more-in order to experience the true creative process. Readers discover a new way of art and journal making-and new ways to escape the fear of the blank page and fully engage in the creative process.

Keys to Drawing


Bert Dodson - 1985
    Anyone who can hold a pencil can learn to draw.In this book, Bert Dodson shares his complete drawing system--fifty-five "keys" that you can use to render any subject with confidence, even if you're a beginner.These keys, along with dozens of practice exercises, will help you draw like an artist in no time.You'll learn how to:Restore, focus, map, and intensifyFree your hand action, then learn to control itConvey the illusions of light, depth, and textureStimulate your imagination through "creative play"

Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera


Bryan Peterson - 1990
    Peterson stresses the importance of metering the subject for a starting exposure, and then explains how to use various exposure meters and different kinds of lighting. The book contains lessons on each element of the exposure-aperature, shutter speed, iso-and how it relates to the other two in terms of depth of field, freezing and blurring action, and shooting in low light or at night. A section on special techniques explores such options as deliberate under- and overexposures, how to produce double exposures, bracketing, shooting the moon, and the use of filters. Understanding Exposure demonstrates that there are always creative choices about how to expose a picture-and that the decision is up to the photographer, not the camera.

The Decorated Journal: Creating Beautifully Expressive Journal Pages


Gwen Diehn - 2005
    It simply brims with suggestions and instructions. Find out about the wealth of contemporary supplies, from papers and adhesives to paints, pens, and pastels. See how to create the actual journal from scratch, including a quick-to-complete Three Minute Pamphlet. Use the tips for customizing a store-bought book that could use a little flair. Build layered pages, take advantage of the creative potential of transparencies, and more.

Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators


Michael D. Mattesi - 2006
    He has been a professional production artist and instructor for the last fifteen years with clients including Disney, Marvel Comics, Hasbro Toys, ABC, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, DreamWorks and Nickelodeon.Audience level: Intermediate to advanced

One Drawing a Day: A 6-Week Course Exploring Creativity with Illustration and Mixed Media


Veronica Lawlor - 2011
    Each spread in the book features a beautiful drawing by one of 8 professional illustrators, with a description and comments by the illustrator as well as a companion exercise. Each exercise includes suggestions for various mediums or mixed-media solutions, advice on how to approach and execute the drawing, as well as professional tips. The book also includes exercises designed to spark new ideas and increase creativity.

Making Handmade Books: 100+ Bindings, Structures Forms


Alisa Golden - 2011
    Thanks to the 100 ideas in this volume, the craft is now available to everyone. In as little as an afternoon, beginners will be on their way to folding, gluing, and sewing handmade books in a variety of shapes and styles, from rolled scrolls to Jacobs ladders, folded flexagons to case bindings. Complete with photographs of the authors own master books and statements by more than 40 established book artists, this collection is sure to inspire. Culled from the authors best-selling books Creating Handmade Books, Unique Handmade Books, and Expressive Handmade Books, these projects will fuel bookbinding adventures for years to come.

Typography Sketchbooks


Steven Heller - 2011
    It's at the heart of all visual communication and is one of the purest forms of design, one that can always be improved and refined. Typography Sketchbooks gets into the minds of designers who create typefaces, word images and logos through their private sketchbooks. The result of these wide-ranging typographic musings provide fascinating insights into the expressive quality of letters and words. Aimed at all those who use type, whether by hand or on-screen, this pleasing compendium stresses the importance of good typography at a time when reading habits are changing and celebrates a craft that has endured for centuries.

The Ultimate Brush Lettering Guide: A Complete Step-By-Step Creative Workbook to Jump-Start Modern Calligraphy Skills


Peggy Dean - 2018
    From choosing the best pens and paper and knowing the different styles of lettering, to adding color to your finished pieces--this book covers it all. The book includes templates for labels, cards, handmade bunting, and word collages. It even includes a how to guide for posting your best work on social media. Each lesson builds on itself, unlocking endless opportunities inside the playful art of brush lettering. As a self-taught artist who left her day job to pursue a creative life, Peggy Dean is the ideal teacher for artists and non-artists alike.