Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art


Scott McCloud - 1993
    Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics is a seminal examination of comics art: its rich history, surprising technical components, and major cultural significance. Explore the secret world between the panels, through the lines, and within the hidden symbols of a powerful but misunderstood art form.

Vincent Van Gogh


Victoria Charles - 2008
    While observing his paintings we see a panorama of his life story-a story that is now considered a legend. Van Gogh is the incarnation of the suffering, misunderstood martyr of modern art, the emblem of the unconventional artist.

The Magic Mirror of M.C. Escher


Bruno Ernst - 1976
    Escher, I am absolutely crazy about your work. In your print Reptiles you have given such a striking illustration of reincarnation.' I replied, 'Madame, if that's the way you see it, so be it, '" An engagingly sly comment by the renowned Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972)--the complex ambiguities of whose work leave hasty or single-minded interpretations far behind. Long before the first computer-generated 3-D images were thrilling the public, Escher was a master of the third dimension. His lithograph "Magic Mirror" dates as far back as 1946. In taking that title for this book, mathematician Bruno Ernst is stressing the magic spell Escher's work invariably casts on those who see it. Ernst visited Escher every week for a year, systematically talking through his entire oeuvre with him. Their discussions resulted in a friendship that gave Ernst intimate access to the life and conceptual world of Escher. Ernst's account was meticulously scrutinized and made accurate by the artist himself. Escher's work refuses to be pigeonholed. Scientific, psychological, or aesthetic criteria alone cannot do it justice. The questions remain. Why did he create the pictures? How did he construct them? What preliminary studies were necessary before he could arrive at the final version? And how are the various images Escher created interrelated? This book, complete with biographical data, 250 illustrations, and explications of mathematical problems, offers answers to these and many other questions, and is an authentic source text of the first order.

Francis Bacon: 1909-1992


Luigi Ficacci - 1999
    Mixing realism and abstraction, Bacon delves deep beneath the surfaces of things, opening up the human body to reveal the chaos that lies within and struggling with all that is inexplicable. Erotic and grotesquely beautiful is the work of this legendary painter whose haunting, distorted figures have inspired entire generations of painters who seek to emulate his highly original style.

The Rescue Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece


Edward Dolnick - 2005
    They snatched one of the world's most famous paintings, Edvard Munch's The Scream, and fled with their $72 million trophy. The thieves made sure the world was watching: the Winter Olympics, in Lillehammer, began that same morning. Baffled and humiliated, the Norwegian police called on the world's greatest art detective, a half-English, half-American undercover cop named Charley Hill. In this rollicking narrative, Edward Dolnick takes us inside the art underworld. The trail leads high and low, and the cast ranges from titled aristocrats to thick-necked thugs. Lord Bath, resplendent in ponytail and velvet jacket, presides over a 9,000-acre estate. David Duddin, a 300-pound fence who once tried to sell a stolen Rembrandt, spins exuberant tales of his misdeeds. We meet Munch, too, a haunted misfit who spends his evenings drinking in the Black Piglet Café and his nights feverishly trying to capture in paint the visions in his head. The most compelling character of all is Charley Hill, an ex-soldier, a would-be priest, and a complicated mix of brilliance, foolhardiness, and charm. The hunt for The Scream will either cap his career and rescue one of the world's best-known paintings or end in a fiasco that will dog him forever.

Illustration School: Let's Draw Cute Animals


Sachiko Umoto - 2008
    Sachiko Umoto’s engaging, relaxing techniques include a primer on drawing basics, plus detailed steps for creating animals from start to finish, including deer, sheep, horses, giraffes, dolphins, and more. Learn about essential materials, then discover the best methods for starting and adding onto a drawing, and incorporating shading and color. Sachiko’s instructions are so easy to follow, you’ll be creating a whole menagerie in your sketchbook in no time. Create a marching dog, a sleepy bear, and a bouncy bunny. Trace or copy the designs, then enhance them with unique doodles and details to make them your own. Add color for even more punch. Sachiko’s illustrations will inspire you to incorporate drawings into art journal pages, book art, planners, scrapbooks, and cards. Connect with the world and share your creations with friends and family. Using these techniques, you’ll discover how to:Draw cute character faces that come aliveEasily incorporate details such as fur, patterns, wings, and hornsGet ideas for taking your illustrations further with cute poses and facial expressionsBe inspired by ideas for drawing animals in their surroundingsAdd fun scene-setting extras, such as footprints, food, plants, and moreTake this book with you wherever you, and have fun practicing drawing the cutest animals around. Grab a pencil and get started! Discover how the Illustration School series of books makes drawing enjoyable and stress-free. Using Sachiko Umoto’s fun, easy techniques for sketching quirky animals, plants, landscapes, and people in the Japanese character style, you’ll fill pages with charming illustrations that are uniquely you.

Walking with Jack: A Father's Journey to Become His Son's Caddie


Don J. Snyder - 2013
    . .A poignant diary that chronicles the journeyWhen Don Snyder was teaching the game of golf to his young son, Jack, they made a pact: if one day Jack became good enough to play on a pro golf tour, Don would walk beside him as his caddie. Years later, Jack had developed into a standout college golfer, and Don, at the age of fifty-eight, left the comfort of his Maine home and moved to St. Andrews, Scotland, to learn from the best caddies in the world. He worked loops on famed courses like the Old Course and Kingsbarns, fought his way onto the rotation as a full-time caddie, and recorded the fascinating stories of golfers from every station in life. All the while, he lived like a monk and sent his earnings back home.     A world away, Jack endured his own arduous trials, rising through the ranks and battling within the college golf system. At times, the question for the teenage athlete wasn’t how to continue . . . but whether to continue at all. Finally, Don and Jack approached the moment when they would reunite—and not only tackle an extraordinarily high level of golf competition but also confront the challenges of a father-son relationship that had inevitably changed since the days when their journey began.     Walking with Jack is a truly compelling golf story and a one-of-a-kind narrative that makes you appreciate the lengths to which a father will go to support his son.

Creative Authenticity: 16 Principles to Clarify and Deepen Your Artistic Vision


Ian Roberts - 2004
    These crippling fears are laid to rest through insightful discussions of personal experiences, the struggles of famous artists, and the rewards of producing art that comes from an authentic creative core. Providing sensitive reassurances that these struggles are normal, these essays encourage artists to focus on the development of their crafts and find inspiration to work through self-doubt.

Juxtapoz Illustration


Roger Gastman - 2007
    In this volume artists such as Mode 2, KozynDan, Mike Giant, James Jean, Evan Hecox, Grotesk, Alex Pardee and Morning Breath are briefly profiled, then allowed the space to let their work do the talking.

The Fantastic Art of Frank Frazetta


Frank Frazetta - 1975
    of Cover: Back to the Stone Age 1973)Indomitable • (1967) • interior art (variant of Cover: Conan the Warrior)Man-Ape • (1967) • interior art (variant of Cover: Conan)Swamp Demon • (1972) • interior art (variant of Cover: Witch of the Dark Gate)Middle Earth • interior art (variant of Lord of the Rings Portfolio Plate 3)The Bear • interior art (variant of Cover: The Oakdale Affair 1974)Sun Goddess • (1972) • interior art (variant of Cover: Savage Pellucidar)Chained • (1967) • interior art (variant of Cover: Conan the Usurper)The Barbarian • (1966) • interior art (variant of Cover: Conan the Adventurer)The Barbarian (detail) • interior artSea Witch • interior artConan the Usurper cover • interior art (variant of Cover: Conan the Usurper 1967)

Make Ink: A Forager's Guide to Natural Inkmaking


Jason Logan - 2018
    In Make Ink, Logan delves into the history of inkmaking and the science of distilling pigment from the natural world. Readers will learn how to forage for materials such as soot, rust, cigarette butts, peach pits, and black walnut, then how to mix, test, and transform these ingredients into rich, vibrant inks that are sensitive to both place and environment. Organized by color, and featuring lovely minimalist photography throughout, Make Ink combines science, art, and craft to instill the basics of ink making and demonstrate the beauty and necessity of engaging with one of mankind’s oldest tools of communication.

Fucked Up + Photocopied: Instant Art of the Punk Rock Movement


Christopher T. Miller - 1999
    Many were created by the musicians themselves and demonstrate the emphasis within the punk scene on individuality and the manic urge of its members to create things new. Images were compiled out of whatever material could be found, often photocopied and, still warm, stapled to the nearest telephone pole to warn the world about next week's gig. One glance and you can sense the fury of live performances by bands such as Black Flag, the Dead Kennedys and The Minutemen, and, through the subtext the reader is exposed to the psyche of a generation of musicians stripped bare: The Germs, J.F.A, NOFX, X, The Circle Jerks, Devo, The Exploited, The Screamers, The Cramps, The Dils, The Avengers and more.

Misery Obscura: The Photography of Eerie Von (1981-2009)


Eerie Von - 2009
    Beginning as the unofficial photographer for punk legends The Misfits and later taking charge of the bass guitar as a founding member of underground pioneers Samhain and metal gods Danzig, the evil eye of Eerie Von's camera captured the dark heart of rock's most vital and bleeding-edge period, a time when rock and roll was not only dangerous, but downright menacing. Eerie Von's lens has documented everything from The Misfits' humble beginnings in Lodi, New Jersey, to the heights of Danzig's stadium-rock glory alongside metal superstars Metallica. As well as an essential visual document of music history, Eerie's road stories of triumph and damnation bring to life an era the likes of which will never again be seen.

American Utopia


David Byrne - 2020
    Don't miss the Spike Lee film of the Broadway hit American Utopia--on HBO.A Beat Most Anticipated Graphic Novel of Fall 2020A joyful collaboration between old friends David Byrne and Maira Kalman, American Utopia offers readers an antidote to cynicism, bursting with pathos, humanism, and hope--featuring his words and lyrics brought to life with more than 150 of her colorful paintings.The text is drawn from David Byrne's American Utopia, which has become a hit Broadway show and is now a film from Spike Lee on HBO. The four-color artwork, by Maira Kalman, which she created for the Broadway show's curtain, is composed of small moments, expressions, gestures, and interactions that together offer a portrait of daily life and coexistence.With their creative talents combined, American Utopia is a salvo for kindness and a call for jubilation, a reminder to sing, dance, and waste not a moment. Beautifully designed and edited by Alex Kalman, American Utopia is a balm for the soul from two of the world's most extraordinary artists.

The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expression


Gary Faigin - 1990
    It centres on the muscles of expression and their effects as a basis for understanding and analyzing those expressions they see on models and in photographs. Artists will be aided in understanding expression and in creating expression. The book is organized around three parts - part one analyzes the basic structures of the head, the fundamental forms of the skull and recurring proportions, all in preparation for understanding full facial expression in part three. Part two describes the muscles of expression in the three key parts of the face. In part three, the basic facial forms from part two are combined to form the six basic human expressions - joy, sadness, anger, fear, disgust and surprise. Each expression is depicted in steadily increasing intensity. Examples of facial images are drawn from a variety of photographic art and artistic sources.