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Secrets to Painting Beautiful LandscapesPainting the landscape can be fun and rewarding--if you make the right decisions as you paint. After all, it is the artist's greatest challenge to somehow capture a sense of it all--the grandness, the majesty, the splendor of nature--with just a few strokes of paint on a canvas. Popular art instructor Johannes Vloothuis makes the process a whole lot easier with the essential techniques, key concepts and expert advice he shares in this book.Learn straightforward strategies to make your paintings more interesting and dramatic, such as simplifying the foreground, composing with abstract shapes and harmonizing colors.Discover speci?c techniques for painting landscape elements including mountains, water, foliage, snow and more.9 step-by-step demonstrations walk you through all the techniques necessary to create successful landscape paintings.Landscape Painting Essentials is packed with practical information. You'll make the critical shift from painting what you see to painting as an artist sees. You'll learn to strategically edit shapes, rearrange elements and enhance color. You'll gain a better understanding of what to include in your painting, what to change and what to leave out. Most importantly, you'll gain the skills necessary to turn nature's bounty of inspiration into original, stunning landscape paintings.

Ever wondered how you could become a character designer for video games, film or animation? Veteran art director and concept artist Marc Taro Holmes shares proven methods for honing the skills and building the portfolio necessary to become a pro gaming artist. This is the first and only work-at-your-own pace home study program that teaches the crucial insider knowledge needed to break into the entertainment-design industry and develop your own style--all you need are a pencil, paper and your imagination.The projects within this straightforward guide are constructed to help you apply your existing drawing and digital art skills to character design. Or, if you're still working on your skills, it will help you improve while at the same time turning your mind into an idea-generating machine.Unlock the Secrets to Character and Creature DesignFollow the creature design process from start to finish: 35 projects are divided into 4 challenge levels, ranging from brainstorming and drawing character blueprints to completing market-ready illustrations. As the levels advance, the projects become more complex.Learn to solve design problems: Every project introduces you to an open-ended fictional assignment inspired by industry experience. Each project has a list of minimum deliverables--the basics to get to the next stage--plus bonus goals. You receive virtual merit badges for each achievement you complete.Think like a pro: Over the 155 possible artistic achievements, you'll be asked to find a solution to every type of conceptual problem you might encounter as a professional creature or character designer.Build your portfolio: Work toward creating an outstanding portfolio. Improve your skills and push yourself to create a fine-tuned presentation that could get you your eventual dream job."This is a workout for the imagination, a boot camp for creativity." --Marc Taro Holmes

BoldExcitingPowerfulA new level of artistic expression!Every artist strives to achieve the kind of painting that commands attention from across the room and delights the eye up close. In this book, artist and workshop teacher Patti Mollica walks you through surprisingly simple and efficient strategies for achieving that kind of powerful composition, whatever your subject.Complete with timed exercises and start-to-finish painting demonstrations, this book is for any artist who feels overwhelmed by where to start or daunted by the urge to paint everything in sight. Patti Mollica's mindful approach will lead you to better, bolder results, as well as greater confidence and joy in the process. So load your palette with ample paint, grab some fat brushes and get ready to paint fast, paint loose, paint bold.Start with a strong, simple value statementGet expressive with colorBe brave with your brushwork5 technique exercises5 start-to-finish painting demonstrationsPaint fearlessly!

Unlock the secrets to gorgeous, expressive, unforgettable color!Finding color combinations that not only work but excite the eye is one of the greatest challenges artists face. This updated and expanded 30th anniversary edition of the North Light classic Exploring Color teaches artists of all mediums and skill levels how to use and control color in their artwork and shows how exhilarating and enjoyable the ride can be.Popular art instructor and best-selling author Nita Leland will help you take any artwork you make to new color heights. Memorable paintings from more than 30 contributing artists are inside towill inspire you, along with 75+ hands-on exercises, 8 step-by-step demonstrations and countless nuggets of color knowledge--all in your own private workshop!Learn how to master color mixing, assemble the perfect palette for your artistic goals, select just the right color scheme, and communicate color in a way that elevates your designs way beyond the ordinary. Start a handy journal to keep track of your discoveries, with customized mixtures, color wheels, reference charts and other tools designed to uncover your color personality and help you work with color more efficiently.Nita knows that the quest for perfect color can be fun, and it can be yours. So stop guessing, and start exploring!"Beautiful color is no happy accident. Color can be learned." --Nita Leland

Capture the bustle and beauty of life in your town.Experience life as only an artist can! Join the rapidly growing, international movement of artists united by a passion for drawing on location in the cities, towns and villages where they live and travel. Packed with art and advice from Marc Taro Holmes, artist and co-founder of Urbansketchers.org, this self-directed workshop shows you how to draw inspiration from real life and bring that same excitement into your sketchbook. Inside you'll fi nd everything you need to tackle subjects ranging from still lifes and architecture to people and busy street scenes.* 15 step-by-step demonstrations cover techniques for creating expressive drawings using pencil, pen and ink, and watercolor.* Expert tips for achieving a balance of accuracy, spontaneity and speed.* Practical advice for working in the field, choosing subjects, coping with onlookers, capturing people in motion and more.* Daily exercises and creative prompts for everything from improving essential skills to diverse approaches, such as montages, storytelling portraits and one-page graphic novels.Whether you are a habitual doodler or a seasoned artist, The Urban Sketcher will have you out in the world sketching from the very first page. By completing drawings on the spot, in one session, you achieve a fresh impression of not just what you see, but also what it feels like to be there . . . visual life stories as only you can experience them.

This inspiring book makes drawing in a realistic style easier than you may think and more fun than you ever imagined!Authors Mark and Mary Willenbrink (Watercolor for the Absolute Beginner) cover it all-from choosing materials and the correct way to hold your pencil, to expert advice on the tricky stuff, like getting proportions and perspective right, drawing reflections, and designing strong compositions. (It's not as scary as it sounds...not with Mark and Mary as your guide!)At the heart of this book, a series of fun, hands-on exercises help you practice and perfect your strokes-24 mini-demos lead up to 9 full step-by-step demos. Each exercise builds on the previous one as you develop your skills, build your confidence, and enjoy yourself along the way. The lessons you learn by drawing simple subjects such as coffee mugs, clouds and trees will help you take on progressively more challenging matter like animals, still lifes, landscapes and portraits...the kinds of subjects and scenes you've always dreamt of drawing.This book is just the ticket for budding artists of any age. It's never too early and never too late to discover the pure joy of drawing!

A guidebook to using art and creativity for working through life's questions on personal growth and soul change.

Meet your dream plate and fall in love with a faster, friendlier approach to printmaking.For artists and crafters who love the creative possibilities of monoprinting on gelatin but not the prep time, mess and inconvenience that comes with it, the Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate is a dream come true! It's durable, reusable, stored at room temperature, and ready to get creative whenever you are. Simply apply paint with a soft rubber brayer, make your marks and pull your print. It's that simple! Wipe the plate down with a spritz of water and a paper towel, and you're ready to go again.In this premier guide, artist Joan Bess--inventor of the concept for the Gelli plate--unleashes the fun through more than 50 step-by-step techniques. Create intriguing patterns using tools like sponges, textured rollers and homemade combs. Learn how to incorporate stencils and rubber stamps. Experiment with metallic paint, dimensional paint and gel medium. Become a texture-hunter, creating a wide world of effects using embossed papers, natural objects, rubber bands, lace, corrugated cardboard, metal tape, die cut letters...anything goes!Even beginners can enjoy immediate gratification--just grab a textured surface, smoosh it into your painted Gelli plate, and you'll have a stack of amazing prints in no time. For experienced printmakers, the inspirations in these pages will push you to experiment, adapt, combine and layer. It's easy, fun and totally addicting!Printmaking just got easier!Expert tips from the creator of the Gelli plate50+ awesome step-by-step techniquesIdeas for incorporating stamps and stencils, using ghost prints, salvaging uninspired prints, and more26-page gallery shows the many wonderful ways artists are incorporating Gelli printing into their work

Recharge your creative spirit and rediscover the magic that is watercolor! Every watercolorist needs a creative kick in the pants now and then--to keep seeking inspiration when feeling uninspired, to keep going when a painting has stalled, to keep trying when a technique isn't easy to master...sometimes just to keep painting, period.When your artistic well has run dry, you must replenish it. Whether you have spent decades painting in watercolor or are just beginning, the tips and secrets shared by best-selling author and artist Gordon MacKenzie provide the perfect guide when the going gets tough. Get excited about watercolor again as he shows you how to:Find better approaches to a tired compositionEngage viewers more fully with color, value and well-placed "wee people"Reinvent a scene that outshines your reference photographsDramatize a landscape by focusing on the weatherNurture your own growth by sharing what you know with others"You don't have to paint the way you paint now. You don't have to paint what you paint now." --Gordon MacKenzie

This special 10th-anniversary collection combines two of the best-loved North Light watercolor guides available: The Watercolorist's Essential Notebook and The Watercolorist's Essential Notebook: Landscapes. Clarifying and simplifying the various aspects of painting with watercolor, Gordon MacKenzie's The Complete Watercolorist's Essential Notebook will encourage and challenge you with new possibilities.Rather than a list of rules, this is a collection of principles, concepts and general information designed to expand your creative process. Mackenzie shares with you tips, techniques, ideas and lessons for a sure path to creative fulfillment and better watercolor paintings.

Splatter, stamp, scrape, repeat. A quick-start guide to beautifully layered and textured abstracts!While there are many approaches to painting abstract art, Jodi Ohl's philosophy is to simply start. In this book, the successful, self-taught artist helps you "dive in with an open mind and fearless heart." Everything inside is geared toward kick-starting your creativity:An exciting series of 22 fun-to-follow, step-by-step projects.A tantalizing variety of approaches and inspirations for applying and manipulating paint, crayons, pencils, ink, paper, photos and more.Quick and loose exercises for building a library of ideas, color palettes, patterns and designs to use in future paintings.Loads of practical advice, including how to stock your studio without going broke, the five must-haves mediums, and how to finish and protect your artwork.For beginners eager to get to the "good stuff" and for artists looking to expand their repertoire, it just doesn't get any better.Every action-packed page will have you trying something new and pushing your boundaries!Make marbled acrylic skins * Add a stain * Discover instant gratification with Yupo paper * Achieve the wonderfully aged look of image transfers * Play with graffiti-style art * Experiment with gel mediums * Incorporate non-commercial add-ins like eggshells and netting * Create incredible abstract landscapes and cityscapes * And so much more!

Overcome your artist's block and explore what drives you artistically! Artist and teacher Nita Leland shows how to be creative in daily life to develop and strengthen your natural curiosity, flexibility, independence and playfulness--all with the end-goal of creating more inspired, unique personal artwork. Enjoy a variety of fun activities designed to exercise your creative muscle, including how to make an autobiographical collage, creating an idea jar for when you need a random jumpstart, and how to make "dull" subjects more interesting. Learn to push your creative boundaries by trying new methods in dozens of types of media including paper crafts, Japanese brush painting, creative quilting, inventive photography, grown-up finger painting, monotype and more.110+ activities that inspire creativityArtists of all skill levels and mediums can tap into their creativity through exciting techniques and exercisesInspirational tips and advice for taking creative risks to make more meaningful artistic statementsInspiring art from 100 contributing fine artists and crafters in every medium coaching readers to creative success

How to paint oil portraits like the Old MastersMona Lisa. Girl with a Pearl Earring. Madame X. The infinite variety and beauty of humankind--like the mysteries behind sparkling eyes, a sly smile or an averted gaze--has captivated artists since the beginning of time. This expanded edition of Chris Saper's best-selling guide, Classic Portrait Painting in Oils, reveals keys for mastering how to paint beautiful portraits in oil to create soulful works of art. Through easy-to-follow lessons and expert oil painting tips and techniques, you'll find secrets for working from life, using reference photos and more to create rich, realistic portraits imbued with timeless character.14 step-by-step demonstrations teach how to paint 7 diverse subjects of varying skin tones from life and from photographic referenceAdditional exercises reveal expert oil painting techniques for defining facial details, like eyes, mouths, wrinkles, facial hair and eyeglassesProfessional tips for working from life, including ideal session times, posing, seeing and mixing color and even how to work with childrenThe basics of using natural, artificial, creative and "Rembrandt" lighting to light your subject and convey a moodExpanded key concepts of "perfect practice," the importance of regularly painting subjects in real time and an insistence on excellent photographic reference material, including a checklist for how to take--and self-edit--your own quality photosNew material on how to approach and execute paid commissions, including step-by-step demonstrations for painting both corporate and family subjectsThrough Saper's universal techniques, painters of all skill levels will learn to render more realistic portraits of every subject they paint, with predictable and joyful results.

The power of creation is at your fingertips!Orcs prepare for battle against high Elves, Dwarves retreat to the mountains and men march to the sea to reclaim crumbling fortresses. Fortunes are decided. Kingdoms are lost. Entire worlds are created. This book will teach you to bring your fictional realm to life with simple step-by-step instructions on how to draw authentic fantasy maps. Set the stage for adventure by illustrating domains, castles and battle lines, mountains, forests and sea monsters! Learn to create completely unique and fully functional RPG maps time and time again on which your world can unfold.All the skills necessary to create awe-inspiring maps are covered!Landscapes. Add depth, balance and plausibility with rocky coastlines, towering mountains, dark forests and rolling plains.Iconography. Mark important places--towns and cities, fortresses and bridges--with symbolic iconography for easy-to-understand maps.Typography. Learn how to place readable text and the basics of decorative script. Bonus instruction teaches you to create fonts for Orcs, Elves, Vikings and dragons.Heraldry and shield design. Depict cultural and political boundaries with shields and colors.Advanced cartography. Includes how to draw landmarks, country boundaries and political lines. Build roads to connect merchants and troops, troll cairns and dragon lairs. And complete your maps with creative backgrounds, elaborate compasses and thematic legends.30+ step-by-step demonstrations illustrate how to construct an entire fantasy world map from start to finish--both digitally and by hand!

Create authentic-looking maps of fantasy cities, hamlets, fortifications and more in a popular tabletop, RPG style.30+ step-by-step demonstrations show you how to create your own unique RPG mapsLearn how to draw fantasy cities, medieval settlements and more from a professional gaming illustratorTips and techniques for drawing fences, stone walls, forests, fields, bridges, footpaths, mountains, harbors, shields, coats of arms and other cartography elementsPut your design and drawing skills on the map!

Improving your artwork can be as simple as learning how to trust your eyes. 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". You will learn visual skills and artistic techniques that will instantly make you a better artist, no matter what your medium. Maximize the power of your artist's brain today and embark on the path to creating better art.

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"

Make your first steps in watercolor fun and rewarding! Watercolor's vivid colors and fresh, direct brush strokes make it the most exciting way to paint. "But," you think, "Learning to paint must be hard and frustrating." Not with Cathy Johnson as your teacher! Here, she makes learning to paint in watercolor fun—even easy!With Painting Watercolors, you'll learn to paint by picking up a brush and painting—not by reading about a bunch of confusing theories.Cathy tells you everything you need to begin—including:Which tools and materials you should buy to get off to a good, affordable startWhen, what, even where to paintExplanations of watercolor terms (such as "washes" and "puddles")Easy and useful painting tricks—such as glazing and drybrush.Exercises help you loosen up and learn the ins and outs of putting paint on paper. Easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions show you how to paint water, believable skies, a variety of trees in different seasons and other popular elements. Plus, a dozen demonstrations show you how paintings come together, from initial sketch to final brushstrokes. With Cathy's help, you can start painting right away!

Having trouble drawing a nose that looks like a nose? In this step-by-step guide, Lee Hammond will teach you how to draw realistic-looking portraits of your favorite people—more easily than you ever thought possible.Really!The secret is in the blending: With pencil and paper, Lee shows you how to create gradual, smooth shadings of light and dark to replicate the subtle contours of skin…and how to use these simple shading techniques to make any shape look three-dimensional.After you've got the basics down, you'll see how to draw every part of the face. It's made easy by looking at each feature as simple, interlocking shapes, then adding the right highlights and shadows. In no time, you'll be drawing realistic noses, mouths, eyes, ears…even facial expressions.Then you'll see how to put all those features together to create an expressive portrait that actually looks like your subject! Step-by-step demonstrations guide you all the way.

So you want to try acrylics, but have little (or no) painting experience? No problem! Not with this book by your side!In this book, you'll find everything you need to get off to a strong start—from what supplies to buy to how to make the most of acrylics bright colors. Easy-to-follow exercises show you how to paint flowers, trees, bricks, skies, fur and other simple subjects, while teaching you a variety of application techniques.Step-by-step demonstrations help you apply what you've learned to make your first paintings good ones. You'll get plenty of specific instructions—color suggestions, what size brush to use, even which direction to make your strokes.