Art:

Landscape Painting
Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice
Written by Mitchell Albala

Format: Hardcover, 192 pages
On Sale: November 17, 2009
Price: $35.00

Because nature is so expansive and complex, so varied in its range of light, landscape painters often have to look further and more deeply to find form and structure, value patterns, and an organized arrangement of shapes. In Landscape Painting, Mitchell Albala shares his concepts and practices for translating nature's grandeur... Read more >

Chinese Animal Painting Made Easy

Written by Rebecca Yue

Format: Trade Paperback, 176 pages
On Sale: August 18, 2009
Price: $24.95

A complete guide to painting pandas, horses, elephants, and 47 other beloved creatures in the traditional Chinese brush-style. Chinese animal painting is an ancient form characterized by its simplicity and natural elegance. Chinese masters spent years, if not lifetimes, mastering the time-honored technique. For artists interested in learning it, acclaimed author... Read more >

Painting for the Absolute and Utter Beginner

Written by Claire Watson Garcia

Format: Trade Paperback, 160 pages
On Sale: August 18, 2009
Price: $21.99

Based on the author’s successful courses and workshops, Painting for the Absolute and Utter Beginner really does start at the beginning, helping new painters find "what works" while providing information on all the necessary tools, tips, and techniques they’ll need to create a representational painting.

The chapters follow a progressive sequence... Read more >

Painting the Impressionist Landscape
Lessons in Interpreting Light and Color
Written by Lois Griffel

Format: Trade Paperback, 144 pages
On Sale: January 6, 2009
Price: $24.95

Master Impressionism with an art-instruction classic. Impressionism has inspired generations of American artists. And no one has done more for the cause of American Impressionism than Charles Hawthorne, the founder of the Cape Cod School of Art. In Painting the Impressionist Landscape, author and artist Lois Griffel explores Hawthorne’s theories about... Read more >

Watermedia Painting with Stephen Quiller
The Complete Guide to Working in Watercolor, Acrylics, Gouache, and Casein
Written by Stephen Quiller

Format: Trade Paperback, 176 pages
On Sale: October 14, 2008
Price: $24.95

Inspiring ideas from one of the world’s great art teachers



• Top author—more than 100,000 books sold worldwide


• Solid instruction from a watermedia expert


• Tips and techniques for developing a personal style and vision



Join renowned artist Stephen Quiller, the creator of the famous Quiller Wheel, the Quiller Palette, and the Quiller lines... Read more >

Classical Painting Atelier
A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Studio Practice
Written by Juliette Aristides

Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
On Sale: April 1, 2008
Price: $35.00

Want to paint more like Manet and less like Jackson Pollock?


Students of art hailed Classical Drawing Atelier, Juliette Aristides’s first book, as a dynamic return to the atelier educational model. Ateliers, popular in the nineteenth century, teach emerging artists by pairing them with a master artist over a period of years... Read more >

Chinese Landscapes Made Easy

Written by Rebecca Yue

Format: Trade Paperback, 176 pages
On Sale: June 26, 2007
Price: $24.95

Study Chinese brush painting for years and years—or create stunning landscapes in just days with this book!



Learning Chinese brush painting takes long years of dedicated study, right? Not any more! Now, with just six essential Chinese brushes and a little time, anyone can paint stunning landscapes in the classic style. Author... Read more >

Freud at Work
Lucian Freud in Conversation with Sebastian Smee
Written by Bruce Bernard and David Dawson

Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
On Sale: November 7, 2006
Price: $65.00

Freud at Work is a rare glimpse into the life of one of the most celebrated—and most private—artists working today. Though in his eighties, this great figurative artist continues to paint with undiminished energy and discipline.

In 120 revealing black-and-white and color photographs taken in Lucian Freud’s London studio, and in a... Read more >

The Murals of John Pugh
Beyond Trompe L'Oeil
Written by Kevin Bruce

Format: Hardcover, 168 pages
On Sale: August 1, 2006
Price: $35.00

John Pugh has created more than 200 murals and is considered to be the leading proponent, authority, and practitioner of Narrative Illusionism, a term coined to describe his particular mural style. This full-color collection showcases Pugh's most famous pieces, discusses how he revitalized the trompe l'oeil ("trick of the eye") genre... Read more >

Painter's Handbook
Revised and Expanded
Written by Mark David Gottsegen

Format: Trade Paperback, 352 pages
On Sale: April 1, 2006
Price: $24.95

Much more than just another guide to artists’ materials, The Painter’s Handbook is an amazingly useful resource, with information on everything from the canvas up: the canvas itself, plus paper, sizes and grounds, pigments and binders, solvents and thinners, varnishes and preservatives. Dozens of step-by-step recipes for make-it-yourself paints, pastels, varnishes... Read more >

Still Looking
Essays on American Art
Written by John Updike

Format: Hardcover, 240 pages
On Sale: November 8, 2005
Price: $45.00

When, in 1989, a collection of John Updike’s writings on art appeared under the title Just Looking, a reviewer in the San Francisco Chronicle commented, “He refreshes for us the sense of prose opportunity that makes art a sustaining subject to people who write about it.” In the sixteen years since... Read more >

How to Draw and Paint Fairies
From Finding Inspiration to Capturing Diaphanous Detail, a Step-By-Step Guide to Fairy Art
Written by Hazel Harrison and Linda Ravenscroft

Format: Trade Paperback, 128 pages
On Sale: October 1, 2005
Price: $19.95

How do you draw a fairy? It’s not like you can convince one to do life modeling in your studio. How to Draw and Paint Fairies confronts the fairy labor shortage directly, explaining all the techniques needed to bring fairy art to life. For beginners, explanations of basic techniques and easy-to-follow... Read more >

Abstract Painting
Concepts and Techniques
Written by Vicky Perry
Introduction by Barry Schwabsky

Format: Trade Paperback, 160 pages
On Sale: September 1, 2005
Price: $24.95

"Abstraction allows man to see with his mind what he cannot physically see with his eyes...Abstract art enables the artist to perceive beyond the tangible, to extract the infinite out of the finite. It is emancipation of the mind. It is an explosion into unknown areas."
- Arshile Gorky

Abstract Painting: Concepts and... Read more >

Landscape Meditations

Written by Elizabeth Mowry

Format: Trade Paperback, 160 pages
On Sale: March 1, 2005
Price: $24.95

Landscape Meditations examines the process of capturing a sense of place through a series of views of a single landscape subject, like Van Gogh did with sunflowers or Monet did with haystacks and cathedrals. Topics explored include using mist, wildflowers, the beach, fields, trees, and roads and pathways. Each of these... Read more >

Classic Still Life Painting
A Contemporary Master Shows How to Achieve Old Master Effects Using Today's Art Materials
Written by Jane Jones

Format: Trade Paperback, 144 pages
On Sale: July 1, 2004
Price: $24.95

Classic Still Life Painting shows artists how to create paintings of sparkling brilliance and jewel-like color that look like they have been lit from within-just like the exquisite paintings of the Renaissance masters of the 16th and 17th centuries. Artists learn techniques similar to those used by Rembrandt, Raphael, Rubens, and... Read more >

The Sumi-E Dream Book
An Impressionist Approach to the Art of Japanese Brush Painting
Written by Yolanda Mayhall

Format: Trade Paperback, 128 pages
On Sale: January 1, 2003
Price: $22.95

Sumi-e is the classic painting style of Japan, and its graceful simplicity is admired around the world. A natural follow-up to the best-selling The Sumi-e Book, The Sumi-e Dream Book demonstrates how to take the classic brushstrokes of sumi-e to a new level of painting, where creativity is inspired by deeply... Read more >

Oil Pastel for the Serious Beginner
Basic Lessons in Becoming a Good Painter
Written by John Elliot

Format: Trade Paperback, 144 pages
On Sale: October 1, 2002
Price: $21.99

Oil pastels offer artists a virtually unlimited treasury of creative potential. They’re also considered a safe alternative to soft pastels. Oil Pastel for the Serious Beginner shows both new and veteran artists how to make the most of this fabulous medium.

Lessons progress simply and clearly from easy subjects and techniques to... Read more >

Acrylic Painting Techniques

Written by Stephen Quiller

Format: Trade Paperback, 144 pages
On Sale: April 1, 2002
Price: $21.95

Who would have thought that synthetic acrylic paint, a still-young medium with a plastic polymer base, would become the most versatile and exciting painting medium in the twenty-five years since it appeared? Today, acrylics are being used by more painters—and with more dazzling results—than any other medium.



Acrylic Painting Techniques shows... Read more >

The Art of Encaustic Painting
Contemporary Expression in the Ancient Medium of Pigmented Wax
Written by Joanne Mattera

Format: Trade Paperback, 144 pages
On Sale: June 1, 2001
Price: $29.95

Encaustic is a waxed-based painting medium characterized by luminous color and a lush surface. It's an ancient art, dating as far back as Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, and today is enjoying a revival.

Here is the first comprehensive guide available on mastering this beautiful yet demanding medium. In The... Read more >

Painting the Landscape in Pastel

Written by Albert Handell and Anita Louise West

Format: Trade Paperback, 128 pages
On Sale: November 1, 2000
Price: $22.95

Known for his use of luminous color, Albert Handell, whose lush landscapes light up these pages, provides lucid instructions to help first-time pastelists achieve impressive results as soon as they begin working with the medium.

After reviewing pastel supplies, the author discusses landscape composition and how to establish large shapes first... Read more >