Art Starts with a Line is approachable for artists of any skill level, no prior drawing experience needed! This form of art requires minimal tools, making it both affordable and portable.   Following a brief introduction to tools and materials, as well as some easy exercises and techniques for warming up to basic drawing tools, you will explore a variety of subject matter. You'll draw plants and flowers, architecture and cityscapes, animals, and everything in between. These projects aren't restricted to black and white either! You'll find techniques for adding color with colored pencil, marker, pen, even digitally.  Art Starts with a Line presents everything you'll need to know to learn how to successfully create line drawings of all types. Whether your goal is to create a custom logo for a client, or to simply decorate your planner, it's all here.

    With over 101 of the most popular, interesting, and indispensable tricks for working with acrylic-each with its own step-by-step demonstration-there is literally page after page of acrylic instruction and inspiration for readers to discover. A gallery of finished art at the back of the book will show readers how to combine different tricks to use in their artwork offering them real-life applications for acrylic techniques.

    Intimate and often unseen, sketchbooks document the sources of inspiration as well as the journey to final execution. They showcase ideas and how these evolve and change into accomplished works. Fresh and spontaneous, their style connects directly with current illustration trends. The material is complemented by interviews where artists explain how they use their sketchbooks and how these relate to finished works. These, along with the sketchbooks themselves, will give readers a direct and unmediated insight into the process of research and creation.

    Inside Inner Excavation, author Liz Lamoreux will be your guide, along with eleven inspiring artists, as you discover more about who you are, how you got here and where you wish to go. Prompts and exercises will show you how to express who you are through the photos you take, the words you write and the art you create.Find encouragement and fresh ideas in these pages as you:Uncover prompts to use your senses for exploring and capturing where you are in any particular moment.Tap into the poet's voice that's whispering inside of you, even if you've never written poetry before.Be given permission to spend time "Delving into the Quiet," being still and listening to the mindful voice inside of you through meditation to create a balance in your daily moments.Bring words and art together in self-portrait expression that is as layered as you are.Take a fresh look inside today; become inspired, through Inner Excavation, to see more than the smiling reflection in the mirror.

    Why then has creativity been given a back seat in our culture?  No longer. Creativity is a force inside every person that, when unleashed, transforms our lives and delivers vitality to everything we do. Establishing a creative practice is therefore our most valuable and urgent task - as important to our well-being as exercise or nutrition.  The good news? Renowned artist, author, and CreativeLive founder, Chase Jarvis, reminds us that creativity isn't a skill—it's a habit available to everyone:  beginners and lifelong creators, entrepreneurs to executives, astronauts to zookeepers, and everyone in between. Through small, daily actions we can supercharge our innate creativity and rediscover our personal power in life.Whether your ambition is a creative career, completing a creative project, or simply cultivating a creative mindset, Creative Calling will unlock your potential via Jarvis’s memorable “IDEA” system: ·      Imagine your big dream, whatever you want to create—or become—in this world.·      Design a daily practice that supports that dream—and a life of expression and transformation.·      Execute on your ambitious plans and make your vision real.·      Amplify your impact through a supportive community you’ll learn to grow and nurture.

    The quirks are what show the maker’s intimate involvement in the process, and it’s that unique quality that first attracted textile designer and illustrator Lena Corwin to hand-printing. Even though decorative prints are more in vogue than ever, there was until now no up-to-date hand-printing guide—no single source explaining the tools and materials that are used today, or reflecting a contemporary aesthetic. Corwin has given us that guide. Using step-by-step instructions and up-close photos, Corwin teaches crafters everything they need to know to master stamping, stenciling, and screen printing, from making their own printing devices to trouble-shooting when plans go awry. Her inimitable collection of projects ranges from stamped stationery and simple-to-sew pouches, to stenciled tote bags and furniture, to screen-printed bed linens and upholstery fabric. There’s even a silk-screened dog bed. The author has created original artwork for each project (full-size patterns are included in an envelope at the back of the book), so that every crafter can achieve the same beautiful results. Or maybe not quite the same. Remember: It’s the subtle differences that make hand-printing so special and alluring.

     Meet Spills, Bea Silly, Albert, and Marge. No, they aren't TV's latest cartoon characters. They're just a few of the new and improved Muses. Combining the whimsical and spiritual appeal of Sark with the concrete step-by-step approach of The Artist's Way, The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard) presents a fresh approach toward accessing your creativity, and is designed specifically for our frazzled and time-sensitive era. Creativity coach Jill Badonsky takes the nine classical Greek Muses and updates them for our time. Along with a little help from their no-nonsense bodyguard, Arnold, they personify ten principles designed to overcome creative blocks and embrace the wonders of self-expression. Meet Aha-Phrodite, the inspired Muse of paying attention to possibility and new ideas. And Audacity, the uninhibited Muse of the courage to take risks. Lull gives you permission to let go of the process and take a break; Marge brings common sense and a call to action; while nurturing Muse Song sings your praises. Arnold acts as protection against such intruders as discouragement, creativity blocks, and mindless TV. With these and other encouraging, supportive, and practical Muses as your guides, you'll discover how to view your talents and creative potential in a positive light, with passion and self assurance. Each Muse will take you on a journey and share with you: o Empowering exercises to awaken creativity o Brainstorming o Muse rituals to inspire faith and confidence o Muse walks o Spiritual affirmations o Quotes from mortals who've been inspired by the Muses o Journaling and much more. This entertaining, inspirational, and practical book is an indispensable handbook for the twenty-first-century seeker.

    Readers will love the opportunity to practice the creative art of hand-lettering in a way that inspires them and helps them relax.As an example of what’s inside, Workshop 1 encourages readers to renew & recharge by writing, “It’s me time,” with the easiest technique for a scripted, calligraphy look. Workshop 2 builds on the theme as readers use their skills from Workshop 1 to write, “Practice makes progress,” and add a new skill of drawing laurels and wreaths that take their calligraphy to the next level. With each workshop, readers are inspired with a brief introduction reminding them to relax and cultivate joy, then learn step by step how to letter each word of an example lettered design and draw embellishments. With plenty of practice space and a page to draw their own final design, this interactive workbook meets readers’ every need. High-quality, thick watercolor paper with perforated edging allows readers to tear out their finished hand-lettered art to display. This book goes beyond basic hand-lettering books to calm and relax, and goes beyond adult coloring books to teach a usable creative skill. It’s the perfect gift for yourself or friends and family who love crafts and coloring.

    Gestalt theory and the psychology of visual perception form the basis for an analysis of art and its basic elements.

    Learn about depth, scale, contrast, composition, and more.

    This easy, breezy handbook is full of insight that will help regular people begin a more inspiring and less stressful relationship with art. With tips on how to visit museums, how to talk about art at cocktail parties, and how to let art wake you up to the world around you, this little guide makes it possible for anyone to fall in love with art, whether for the first time or all over again.

    The author's objective is to offer an understanding of what leads to these moments, be it the excitement of the artist at the easel or the scientist in the lab, so that knowledge can be used to enrich people's lives. Drawing on 100 interviews with exceptional people, from biologists and physicists to politicians and business leaders, poets and artists, as well as his 30 years of research on the subject, Csikszentmihalyi uses his famous theory to explore the creative process. He discusses such ideas as why creative individuals are often seen as selfish and arrogant, and why the tortured genius is largely a myth. Most important, he clearly explains why creativity needs to be cultivated and is necessary for the future of our country, if not the world.

    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.

    Her new work, The True and the Questions, invites readers to allow themselves to "spill open" and create their own illustrated journal, and leaves plenty of space for them to do so. Sabrina's gorgeous art and moving text are interspersed with thought-provoking prompts to readers, encouraging them to draw, paint, collage, and journal.

    The better news is that by celebrating the inner strengths and uniqueness of being an "innie" THE INTROVERT ADVANTAGE shows introverts, and the extroverts who love them, how to work with instead of against their temperament to enjoy a well-lived life. Covering relationships, parenting - including parenting the introverted child - socialising, and the workplace, here are coping strategies, tactics for managing energy, and hundreds of valuable tips for not only surviving but truly thriving in an extrovert world.