Challenging tutorials, 35 imaginative projects to complete, and tips from professional artists introduce beginning students to the building blocks of art. This profusely illustrated book teaches serious beginners the fundamental skills of graphic design as an introduction to their formal study in fine art, illustration, computer game design, interior design, animation, and virtually all other avenues in the visual arts. The author advises on setting up a proper workspace and assembling the needed materials--everything from sketchpads and paints to affordable computer software. Chapters that follow present themes and related projects that instruct readers in

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Strange Planet and NYC Basic Tips and Ettiquette and Strange Planet comes 99 Stories I Could Tell, a guided journal with 99 prompts plus a customizable cover. Nathan Pyle takes journalers for a creative ride through the pages of this product--each prompt comes with a mix of black lines (solid boundaries to color) and blue lines (to trace and use as a jumping off point for further imagination. The prompts move from extremely suportive towards the start of the journal (giving the journaler lots of structure so as not to intimidate them) to more free-form, the idea being that the journaler's skills will increase the more they progress.

The prompts themselves are a collection of inventive and humorous trips down memory lane, helping journalers curate and draw their most prized recollections, and also to unearth memories they didn't know they had (a lie you were told as a child that you believed until recently, or the first fictional death you experienced). With a well-honed sensibility for what shares well online and what people are searching for, each of the 99 stories has been chosen because it prompts emotional resonance and will be content people will be excited to share on their social media. The prompts can also be mixed and matched to create all new narratives, the way musical notes can be lined up differently to make new tunes.

Package wise, this journal is a large square, big enough to satisfy doodlers, but light enough to easily fit in a backpack or totebag. The book's jacket is a silk-screened PVC case which adds to the nostalgic feel (reminiscent of a toy); the jacket is also removeable to reveal an uncoated cover where journalers can embellish the design in their own way, making each and every journal totally customizable.

Behind every successful venture, there's a great idea. Based on the notion that creativity is a life skill that must be continually cultivated, Ayan offers ten strategies for finding and harnessing inspiration.

Assembled from the wisdom of 36 legendary art teachers - all of them artists or critics at the top of their field - Akademie X: Lessons in Art + Life is an ideal curriculum for the aspiring artist.

Each of the book's "tutors" has provided a unique lesson that aims to provoke, inspire and stimulate the aspiring artist. These lessons cover some combination of the following: technical advice (e.g. don't make a sculpture bigger than your studio door), assignments (some of which will take five minutes to complete, others five years), tips for avoiding creative ruts (including suggestions for mind‐expanding materials to read, watch or listen to), principles of careful looking (demonstrated with images of artworks, photographs, films or even billboard advertisements), advice on the daily practice of art (how to balance time alone in the studio with building an artistic community), career pointers (how to prepare for a studio visit from a curator or gallerist) and personal anecdotes (e.g. stories from the instructor's own humble beginnings). Taken together, these lessons offer the reader a set of tools for thinking, seeing and living as an artist.

Not only is Akademie X: Lessons in Art + Life the first illustrated text book of its kind for artists, but it will also appeal to anyone interested in contemporary art, providing first hand revelations into the philosophies and techniques of some of the world's best artists and writers.

What do Aldous Huxley and Elmore Leonard have in common? Why do most successful writers employ humor in significant ways to enhance their work? Writing Humor answers these questions and more. While it cannot give you a sense of humor, the book teaches you to perfect the one you have using practical techniques. Through analysis of published works, it demonstrates how writers develop humorous situations and characters. From Dave Barry's exaggerations, to the dark humor of Joseph Heller, to the carefully plotted episodes of Cheers, the reader will learn to define elements that made these funny and to put them to work in their own writing.

Writing Humor will also teach different types of humor (satire, comedy of manners, parody) and suggest which type is appropriate for the reader's work. The book will also emphasize the difference between humor writing and jokes. This distinction sets the book apart, as humor plays an important part in much literature that has endured while jokes disappear quickly.

The writer will learn to develop comic lead characters, narrative comic voice, and for the serious novelist seeking comic relief, the humorous incidental character or humorous interlude. Television or movie scriptwriters will learn, via interviews with successful writers and actual script samples, the techniques they used.

"This is a book about making art. Ordinary art. Ordinary art means something like: all art not made by Mozart. After all, art is rarely made by Mozart-like people; essentially--statistically speaking--there aren't any people like that. Geniuses get made once-a-century or so, yet good art gets made all the time, so to equate the making of art with the workings of genius removes this intimately human activity to a strangely unreachable and unknowable place. For all practical purposes making art can be examined in great detail without ever getting entangled in the very remote problems of genius."
---from the Introduction

Art & Fear explores the way art gets made, the reasons it often doesn't get made, and the nature of the difficulties that cause so many artists to give up along the way. The book's co-authors, David Bayles and Ted Orland, are themselves both working artists, grappling daily with the problems of making art in the real world. Their insights and observations, drawn from personal experience, provide an incisive view into the world of art as it is expeienced by artmakers themselves.

This is not your typical self-help book. This is a book written by artists, for artists --- it's about what it feels like when artists sit down at their easel or keyboard, in their studio or performance space, trying to do the work they need to do. First published in 1994, Art & Fear quickly became an underground classic. Word-of-mouth response alone--now enhanced by internet posting--has placed it among the best-selling books on artmaking and creativity nationally.

Art & Fear has attracted a remarkably diverse audience, ranging from beginning to accomplished artists in every medium, and including an exceptional concentration among students and teachers. The original Capra Press edition of Art & Fear sold 80,000 copies.

An excerpt:

Today, more than it was however many years ago, art is hard because you have to keep after it so consistently. On so many different fronts. For so little external reward. Artists become veteran artists only by making peace not just with themselves, but with a huge range of issues. You have to find your work...

Secrets for quilting success are presented through a variety of techniques, exercises, and insider tips to inspire novice quilters and experienced textile artists to make genuine works of art. Simplifying the basic fundamentals of art and teaching the underlying principles of the visual language, this guide explores texture, shape, line, color, and value with examples and hands-on exercises. Essential principles--such as focal point, balance, repetition, scale, and space--are paired with creativity exercises while guest essays, guest artwork, and inspiring artwork from the author allow readers to analyze how other artists utilize key artistic elements or principles and see how to successfully use these elements in their own work. Both a personal creativity coach and a guide for a hobbyist or professional artist, this reference clarifies quilting goals and takes the craft to the next level through design and composition.

The primal role of art in awakening and liberating the soul of humanity

"Whenever illness is associated with loss of soul," writes Shaun McNiff, "the arts emerge spontaneously as remedies, soul medicine." The medicine of the artist, like that of the shaman, arises from his or her relationship to "familiars"--the themes, methods, and materials that interact with the artist through the creative process. Art As Medicine demonstrates how the imagination heals and renews itself through this natural process. The author describes his pioneering methods of art therapy--including interpretation through performance and storytelling, creative collaboration, and dialoguing with images--and the ways in which they can revitalize both psychotherapy and art itself.

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What is art's purpose? In this engaging, lively, and controversial new book, bestselling philosopher Alain de Botton and art historian John Armstrong propose a new way of looking at familiar masterpieces, suggesting that they can be useful, relevant, and - above all else - therapeutic for their viewers. De Botton argues that certain great works offer clues on managing the tensions and confusions of everyday life. Chapters on Love, Nature, Money, and Politics outline how art can help with these common difficulties - for example, Vermeer's Girl Reading a Letter helps us focus on what we want to be loved for; Serra's Fernando Pessoa reminds us of the importance of dignity in suffering; and Manet's Bunch of Asparagus teaches us how to preserve and value our long‐term partners. Art as Therapy offers an unconventional perspective, demonstrating how art can guide us, console us, and help us better understand ourselves.