Starting with Giotto's Arena Chapel frescoes and continuing through Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, as well as works by Monet, van Gogh, Cassatt, Cezanne, Dali, Kahlo, Hopper, Pollock, Rothko, and O'Keeffe, nearly every important painter is represented in this book. It features works that may be familiar to the eye, but whose histories are even more fascinating. Readers will learn about the painters who created them, the reasons for their importance and the places the paintings can be found. As entertaining as it is informative, this beautiful book is the perfect introduction to great paintings that have stood the test of time.

    This is the how-to guide for becoming a better artist and a more attentive naturalist. In straightforward text complemented by step-by-step illustrations, dozens of exercises lead the hand and mind through creating accurate reproductions of plants and animals as well as landscapes, skies, and more. This book provides clear, practical advice for every step of the process for artists at every level, from the basics of choosing supplies to advanced techniques. While the book’s advice will improve the skills of already accomplished artists, the emphasis on seeing, learning, and feeling will make this book valuable—even revelatory—to anyone interested in the natural world, no matter how rudimentary their artistic abilities.Ways to use your journal to enhance curiosity, creativity, and sharpen your naturalist’s eye.Simple techniques to improve your visual memory and help you draw what you see.Lessons on how to use graphite, pen, watercolor and gouache for fast field sketches.Lessons on how to draw wildflowers, trees, mushrooms, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, landscapes, seascapes, and skies.Paperback, 8.5 x 11, 368 pages, with full-color and black-and-white illustrations throughout.

    Even his contemporaries found the Dutch painter’s work difficult to decipher—and it still presents riddles to contemporary art historians. Part of the problem in analyzing his shocking and richly allegorical paintings is that virtually nothing is known of the artist himself, apart from his birthplace. There is no record of his life or training, no personal letters, diaries or notebooks, and no contemporary insights into his personality or his thoughts on the meaning of his art. Even his date of birth can only be guessed at, and that based on a drawing assumed to be a self-portrait, made shortly before his death in 1516, which supposedly shows the artist in his late sixties. Bosch remains as mysterious as the worlds he painted. Although rooted in the Old Dutch tradition, Bosch developed a highly subjective, richly suggestive formal language. With a mixture of religious humility and satanic wit, he illustrated both the joys of heaven and the cruelly imaginative tortures of hell. In his pictorial world teeming with surrealistic nightmares, the medieval imagination catches fire in a moment of final brilliance before succumbing to humanism and modern rationalism. Though the man himself remains a mystery, this book pulls together the elusive threads of Bosch’s work into a cohesive and comprehensive analysis of his work and methods.

    Therein lies the trouble with drawing them from life. Make your dragon portraits more authentic (while avoiding loss of life and limbs) with the help of this guide. A follow-up to the fiercely popular DragonArt, this book features ALL NEW dragons and EVEN MORE detailed dragon anatomy instruction.- 60+ step-by-step demonstrations cover a variety of dragons, including medieval, fairy and sea-dwelling varieties - In-depth advice for drawing every part of the beast--eyes, ears, horns, wings, scale patterns, limbs and more - Extra tips and tricks provided by your dragon guide, DolosusaIt's everything you need to draw a variety of dragons--from enormous, ancient beasts with broken scales and fractured horns, to sleek, sinuous creatures with leathery skin and fancy frills. So steel your heart, prepare your trusty inking pen, and venture forth, brave artist--unleash the ferocious, extraordinary, original beasts that dwell within your fiery imaginings!

    Important Symbolist painters were at work in places as remote from one another as Munch in Oslo, Klimt in Vienna, and the young Picasso in Barcelona. It is through Symbolism, too, that the relationship between the English painting of the later nineteenth century and what was taking place in Europe can be explained. Edward Lucie-Smith's important study throws light upon the origins of Modernism, and upon the development of painting and sculpture in the final years of the century. 185 illus., 24 in color. Bibliography and index.

    The Devil and Dr. Barnes traces the near-mythical journey of a man who was born into poverty, amassed a fortune through the promotion of a popular medicine, and acquired the premier private collection of works by such masters as Renoir, Matisse, Cézanne, and Picasso. Ostentatiously turning his back on the art establishment, Barnes challenged the aesthetic sensibilities of an uninitiated, often resistant and scoffing, American audience. In particular, he championed Matisse, Soutine, and Modigliani when they were obscure or in difficult straits. Analyzing what he saw as the formal relationships underlying all art, linking the old and the new, Barnes applied these principles in a rigorous course of study offered at his Merion foundation. Barnes's own mordant words, culled from the copious printed record, animate the narrative throughout, as do accounts of his associations with notables of the era--Gertrude and Leo Stein, Bertrand Russell, and John Dewey among them--many of whom he alienated with his appetite for passionate, public feuds. In this rounded portrait, Albert Barnes emerges as a complex, flawed man, who--blessed with an astute eye for greatness--has left us an incomparable treasure, gathered in one place and unforgettable to all who have seen it.

    Author Freddie E Williams is one of DC Comics' hottest artists and a leader in digital penciling and inking–and here, in clear, step-by-step directions, he guides readers through every part of the digital process, from turning on the computer to finishing a digital file of fully inked comic art, ready for print. Creating a template, sketching on the computer, penciling, and finally inking digitally are all covered in depth, along with bold, timesaving shortcuts created by Williams, tested by years of trial and error. Step into the digital age, streamline the drawing process, and leap over the limitations of mere physical drawing materials with The DC Guide to Digitally Drawing Comics.

    In other words, to observe and draw what we actually see, rather than what we think we see. When it comes to drawing the human figure, this means letting go of learned ideas and expectation of what the figure should look like. It means carefully observing the interplay of form and light, shape and line, that combine to create the actual appearance of human form. In The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing, amateur and experienced artists alike are guided toward this new way of seeing and drawing the figure with a three-step drawing method.The book's progressive course starts with the block-in, an exercise in seeing and establishing the figure's shape. It then build to the contour, a refined line drawing that represents the figure's silhouette. The last step is tonal work on the inside of the contour, when light and shadow are shaped to create the illusion of form. Separate chapters explore topics critical to the method: gesture, which expresses a sense of living energy to the figure; light, which largely determines how we see the model; and form, which conveys the figure's volume and mass. Examples, step-by-steps, and special "tips" offer helpful hints and practical guidance throughout.Lavishly illustrated with the author's stunning artwork, The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing combines solid instruction with thoughtful meditations on the art of drawing, to both instruct and inspire artists of all levels.

    Pencil Drawing Techniques brings together six of today's best artists, all of whom are incredibly fine instructors as well.The artists show you how to develop your skill and ability in handling pencil technique. Ferdinand Petrie shows you how to handle pencils and produce a controlled variety of lines, values, and textures. Then he shows you exactly how to use these techniques to draw landscapes in a range of styles and compositions.Rudy De Reyna explains pencil basics, and explores perspective, size relationships, form, and structure. Douglas grave teaches you how to begin drawing portraits by building a drawing step-by-step. Norman Dams and Joe Singer demonstrate how you can use the pencil to produce spectacular drawings of animals. John Blockley and Richard Bolton show you how pencil drawings can capture the essence of a subject and help you work out a plan for painting it. Finally, Bet Borgeson teaches you all the secrets of colored pencil work and demonstrates a whole new dimension. The book is divided into seven sections: how to handle a pencil, fundamentals of drawing, drawing landscapes, drawing portraits, drawing animals, drawing for watercolors, and handling color pencils. The copious illustrations show in detail how the artists use their techniques. For the artist who uses the pencil, Pencil Drawing Techniques is an an excellent instructional book of ideas for using the pencil creatively.

    This friendly and informative guide is the essential how-to book for shooting gorgeous instant pictures with personal panache and a touch of romance. Packed with tips on how to shoot with various cameras, details about the different types of film available, advice on composition and lighting techniques, plus creative projects to transform snapshots into keepsake mementos and portfolios of beautiful images for inspiration, this is the ultimate companion for capturing instant memories.

    No theories! Only actual techniques! The ultimate HOW TO screenwriting book! Creating the ultimate villain, harvesting the audience's secrets desires or hidden fears to create a hit film, how to write a plot twist, the four kinds of suspense, using reversals to keep your descriptions exciting, four ways to explode cliches, the two types of heroes, ten ways to create exciting action scenes, using secrets and lies, weapons for weirdos, instant character identifiers, your script's DNA, 16 steps to better description, pacing secrets, rugpulls, visual characterization, "Popeye" points, and more! "Secrets Of Action Screenwriting" was written by a working professional screenwriter with seventeen produced films. He knows what works!

    During his more than forty years in the business, Williams has been one of the true innovators, winning three Academy Awards and serving as the link between Disney's golden age of animation by hand and the new computer animation exemplified by Toy Story. Perhaps even more important, though, has been his dedication in passing along his knowledge to a new generation of animators so that they in turn could push the medium in new directions. In this book, based on his sold-out master classes in the United States and across Europe, Williams provides the underlying principles of animation that every animator--from beginner to expert, classic animator to computer animation whiz --needs. Urging his readers to "invent but be believable," he illustrates his points with hundreds of drawings, distilling the secrets of the masters into a working system in order to create a book that will become the standard work on all forms of animation for professionals, students, and fans.

    He is a mentor, teacher, and trailblazer to many photographers, and a hero to those who feel Jay's teaching has changed the way they see and create their own photography. He is a living legend whose work is studied around the world, and whose teaching style and presentation garner standing ovations and critical acclaim every time he takes the stage.Now, for the first time ever, Jay puts his amazing insights and learning moments from a lifetime behind the lens into a book that communicates the three most important aspects of street photography: light, gesture, and color. Each page unveils something new and challenges you to rethink everything you know about the bigger picture of photography. This isn't a book about f-stops or ISOs. It's about seeing. It's about being surrounded by the ordinary and learning how to find the extraordinary. It's about training your mind, and your eyes, to see and capture the world in a way that delights, engages, and captivates your viewers, and there is nobody that communicates this, visually or through the written word, like Jay Maisel.Light, Gesture & Color is the seminal work of one of the true photographic geniuses of our time, and it can be your key to opening another level of understanding, appreciation, wonder, and creativity as you learn to express yourself, and your view of the world, through your camera. If you're ready to break through the barriers that have held your photography back and that have kept you from making the types of images you've always dreamed of, and you're ready to learn what photography is really about, you're holding the key in your hands at this very moment.

    Always have a fresh fill on hand with this catalog of basic fills and patterns. The Fast Freehand Fills series provides zen expressionists with a repertoire of found and unique basic patterns that are easy to draw freehand. Wavy checkerboards, fishnets, pinstripe pajamas and dog bones are all waiting inside this catalog of fills. Great for zen drawing, mandalas and artistic journaling.

    Coverage explores the on-board effects, low-light settings, and automatic HDR shooting. Clear explanations detail the ways in which you can use the new features of the Nikon D5100 to add unique shots to your portfolio while an explanation of photography terms gets you confident and savvy with this fun DSLR camera.Covers basic camera controls and functions, shooting in auto mode, setting photo quality, and navigating menus and the view screen Introduces the basics of photography, including the settings that control lighting, exposure, focus, and color Addresses the new low-light and HDR settings Encourages you to use the new onboard effects features and shares tips for improving images with editing software Get a grasp on the fun Nikon D5100 with this fun and friendly guide!