Handbuilt Pottery Techniques Revealed: The Secrets of Handbuilding Shown in Unique Cutaway Photography


Jacqui Atkin - 2012
    The author instructs in coil, slab, mold, and pinch techniques to produce pots, bowls, vases, tiles, and other decorative pieces. She also advises on acquiring basic tools, mixing and preparing clay, and using coloring agents. Newcomers to pottery crafting will especially appreciate her tips for making projects easier to accomplish, such as use of a hairdryer at regular intervals for drying out too-wet clay, and easy methods for keeping clay soft and pliable. Step-by-step color photos with detailed captions guide handcrafters through each project from start to finish. Many photos are of the cutaway type to show correct hand positions for controlling the clay, both inside and outside the form. Here's the book that takes the mystery out of handbuilding in clay, demonstrating each step in the pottery-making process. More than 400 color photos.

Anatomy for the Artist


Jenő Barcsay - 1953
    Jenö Barcsay, a professor who taught applied anatomy at the Budapest Academy of Fine Arts, offers a detailed portrayal of the body for the fine artist in 142 full-page plates. From the entire skeleton and the joints in and out of motion to all the muscles and even facial characteristics, every body part appears in close-up and from varying perspectives. Accompanying the images are brief discussions of male and female anatomical construction, explaining precisely the articulations and movement of the foot, the arm, the trunk, the spinal column, and the skull. In many cases, two sketches appear side by side: one just lightly traced in, and marked with letters to show how proportions and perspective were figured, and another fully finished drawing. Without the indispensable information contained on these illuminating pages, painters cannot observe with understanding all the attitudes, positions, and movements of which the body is capable—and produce a truly magnificent work of art. Features a new concealed spiral that keeps the book open as you work!

Daily Painting: Paint Small and Often To Become a More Creative, Productive, and Successful Artist


Carol Marine - 2014
    Author Carol Marine was herself suffering from painter's block--until she discovered "daily painting." The idea is simple: do art (usually small) often (how often is up to the individual) and, if you desire, post it and sell it online. Today Marine is among the best and most celebrated daily painters, and the curator of the popular online gallery dailypaintworks.com. In her debut, "Daily Painting," Marine reveals the tips and tricks that helped her and other daily painters pick up the paintbrush and start creating beautiful, bountiful, marketable work.

Art Lab for Kids: 52 Creative Adventures in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Paper, and Mixed Media-For Budding Artists of All Ages


Susan Schwake - 2012
    This step-by-step book offers 52 fun and creative art projects set into weekly lessons, beginning with drawing, moving through painting and printmaking, and then building to paper collage and mixed media. Each lesson features and relates to the work and style of a contemporary artist and their unique style. The labs can be used as singular projects or to build up to a year of hands-on fine art experiences. Grouped by medium, the labs are set up loosely to build skills upon the previous ones; however, you can begin anywhere. Have fun exploring:drawing by creating a whimsical scene on a handmade crayon scratchboard.painting by using watercolors and salt to create a textured landscape.printmaking by using lemons, celery, mushrooms, and other produce to make colorful prints.paper by creating an expressive self-portrait using pieces of colored tissue paper.mixed media by making insects from patterned contact paper and watercolor pencils.Color photos illustrate how different people using the same lesson will yield different results, exemplifying the way the lesson brings out each artist’s personal style. Art Lab for Kids is the perfect book for creative families, friends, and community groups and works as lesson plans for both experienced and new art teachers. The popular Lab for Kids series features a growing list of books that share hands-on activities and projects on a wide host of topics, including art, astronomy, clay, geology, math, and even how to create your own circus—all authored by established experts in their fields. Each lab contains a complete materials list, clear step-by-step photographs of the process, as well as finished samples. The labs can be used as singular projects or as part of a yearlong curriculum of experiential learning. The activities are open-ended, designed to be explored over and over, often with different results. Geared toward being taught or guided by adults, they are enriching for a range of ages and skill levels. Gain firsthand knowledge on your favorite topic with Lab for Kids.

Read This if You Want to Be Great at Drawing: {The Drawing Book for Aspiring Artists of All Ages and Abilities}


Selwyn Leamy - 2017
    Through fifty drawings by great masters past and present, the techniques and ideas behind their master sketches will put you on the path to making your own great drawings.The entries also feature exercises with step–by–step instructions as well as simple diagrams providing further visual explanation to the jargon–free discussion.For aspiring artists of all ages and abilities, Read This if You Want to Be Great at Drawing will motivate and strengthen your drawing talent.Read This if You Want to Be Great at Drawing is part of the internationally–bestselling 'Read This' series, which has sold over half–a–million books worldwide and has been translated into over 20 languages.More titles in the 'Read This' series:Read This if You Want to Be Great at Drawing People by Selwyn LeamyUse This if You Want to Be Great at Drawing by Selwyn Leamy (9781786274052)Read This if You Want to Take Great Photographs by Henry Carroll (9781780673356)Read This if You Want to Take Great Photographs of People by Henry Carroll (9781780676241)Read This if You Want to Take Great Photographs of Places by Henry Carroll (9781780679051)Use This if You Want to Take Great Photographs: A Photo Journal by Henry Carroll (9781780678887)Read This if You Want to Be a Great Writer by Ross Raisin (9781786271976)Read This if You Want to Be Instagram Famous edited by Henry Carroll (9781780679679)

Cut It Out


Banksy - 2005
    Full color, and including some of most famous/notorious works to date, including 'exhibiting' his work at the Tate Gallery in London. Quite superb.

Creativegirl: Mixed Media Techniques for an Artful Life


Danielle Donaldson - 2015
    Danielle Donaldson shows you how to draw the pretty pictures from your imagination, infuse your art with delightful color combinations and work through creative frustration with simple fixes. You'll learn how to paint with watercolor, tell visual stories with and without words and add depth with layers using mixed-media techniques and little details--all while finding inspiration and gaining confidence in your own artistic style.Draw, paint, layer and create!- More than 30 techniques and projects including drawing, painting and adding layers for artists and aspiring artists of all levels. - Learn how do draw and paint figures such as creativeGIRL, busyGIRL and tutuGIRL. Then create your own girl to channel your story. - Find even more inspiration in a gallery filled with extraLOVE from the artist.

Confident Color: An Artist's Guide to Harmony, Contrast and Unity


Nita Leland - 2008
    Nita Leland brings logic and intuition together to create a foundation for color selections that allow you to be more inventive, break out of old habits and experiment with new colors. Her approach eliminates time-wasting trial and error while giving you the freedom to use color in personal, meaningful and exciting ways.Features:Artwork from more than 50 contributing artists that illustrates many personal approaches to color85 -Try It- activities that will help to develop your awareness of the colors and combinations that resonate with youStep-by-step demonstrations that show how 7 different artists choose palettes and make color decisions as they paint a range of subjectsLearn to use harmonious color schemes, dynamic contrasts and compatible colors to say what you want in your art. With engaging instruction, as well as art and lessons and applicable to any medium, this book will show you how to take your work to the next level.

Artist Trading Card Workshop: Create. Collect. Swap.


Bernie Berlin - 2006
    Unique statements, passionate emotions and favorite interests can all be expressed in these miniature works of art that are always traded, never sold."Artist Trading Cards Workshop" will not only teach you how to create your own cards, combining one or more of the 25+ techniques demonstrated in step-by-step photos, it will also share the ins and outs of trading, finding and organizing card swaps and how to trade with others across the miles or even the continents.Discover ways to create colorful collage backgrounds, make cards from fabric, incorporate painting, stamping, phone book pages, tissue paper, string, stencils and much moreall is revealed in step-by-step photos, but that's not all. You'll also: Learn the ins and outs of tradingwhere to look, what to swap.Find creative ways to store the cards you'll soon be collecting.Be inspired by the cards from 60 talented contributors and over 200 beautiful cards.Become a part of the world-wide phenomenon that starts with "Artist Trading Cards Workshop," and share a piece of yourself today! Create. Collect. Swap."

The Art Book


Phaidon Press - 1997
    Each artist is represented by a full-page colour plate of a definitive work, accompanied by explanatory and illuminating information on the image and its creator. Glossaries of artistic movements and technical terms are included, making this a valuable work of reference as well as a feast for the eyes. By breaking with traditional classifications, The Art Book presents a fresh and original approach to art: an unparalleled visual sourcebook and a celebration of our rich and multi-faceted culture.

The Big Awesome Book of Hand & Chalk Lettering


Dina Rodriguez - 2017
    It also includes chalk lettering, fun prompts for writing, and 15 projects and gift ideas, ranging from gift tags to a lettered poster to chalk-lettered signs for special events. The Big Awesome Book of Hand & Chalk Letteringcovers 15 lettering styles-from Black Letter and "melting" to circus and Victorian, as well as serifs and scripts-along with numerous borders, corners, banners, bursts, frames and other accents. Author Bio: Dina Rodriguez is a freelance hand lettering artist. With an educational and professional background in digital arts, design, and marketing, she specializes in commercial illustration and branding for creative businesses. Dina has been hand lettering full time for four years, working with brands such as Invision, GE, American Greetings, and Wacom. She does both traditional ink and chalk lettering, as well as tablet lettering using digital tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator. Her teaching experience includes giving workshops and talks at universities and creative conferences such as Full Sail University and Creative South. She also teaches hand lettering on her blog for free to over 15,000 students and live streams her process on Twitch three times a week.

20 Ways to Draw a Cat and 44 Other Awesome Animals: A Sketchbook for Artists, Designers, and Doodlers


Julia Kuo - 2013
    This is not a step-by-step technique book--rather, the stylized animals are simplified, modernized, and reduced to the most basic elements, showing you how simple abstract shapes and forms meld to create the building blocks of any item that you want to draw. Each of the 20 interpretations provides a different, interesting approach to drawing a single item, providing loads of inspiration for your own drawing. Presented in the author’s uniquely creative style, this engaging and motivational practice book provides a new take on the world of sketching, doodling, and designing.

Your Artist's Brain: Use the Right Side of Your Brain to Draw and Paint What You See - Not What You Think You See


Carl Purcell - 2010
    Your Artist's Brain shows you how to portray even the most complex subjects by focusing on what you really see - not what you think you see.Expert art instructor Carl Purcell shows you how to overcome dependency on the intellectual brain and listen carefully to the more observant artist's brain.With Your Artist's Brain, you'll learn visual skills and artistic techniques that will instantly make you a better artist, no matter what your medium.- 22 step-by-step demonstrations on key relationships between shapes, spaces, subjects, backgrounds, angles, sizes, values and more - Easy examples and fun exercises teaching you how to see and design great compositions - Points to Remember sidebars that allow you to quickly grasp each conceptMaximize the power of your artist's brain today and embark on the path to creating better art.

Write Useful Books: A modern approach to designing and refining recommendable nonfiction


Rob Fitzpatrick - 2021
    

You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination


Katharine Harmon - 2003
    But maps need not just show continents and oceans: there are maps to heaven and hell; to happiness and despair; maps of moods, matrimony, and mythological places. There are maps to popular culture, from Gulliver's Island to Gilligan's Island. There are speculative maps of the world before it was known, and maps to secret places known only to the mapmaker. Artists' maps show another kind of uncharted realm: the imagination. What all these maps have in common is their creators' willingness to venture beyond the boundaries of geography or convention.You Are Here is a wide-ranging collection of such superbly inventive maps. These are charts of places you're not expected to find, but a voyage you take in your mind: an exploration of the ideal country estate from a dog's perspective; a guide to buried treasure on Skeleton Island; a trip down the road to success; or the world as imagined by an inmate of a mental institution. With over 100 maps from artists, cartographers, and explorers, You are Here gives the reader a breath-taking view of worlds, both real and imaginary.