The Big Book Of Painting Nature In Pastel

Introduces the tools, materials, and techniques of pastel drawing, and presents a series of demonstrations with photographs of the original scene for comparison

Depict the play of light on spring foliage silhouetted against a dark sky. Paint a vivid sunset over a lake. Capture the drama of waves surging toward the shore. The Big Book of Painting Nature in Watercolor provides 135 stimulating demonstrations in painting trees, skies, and water from beautiful photographs by one of the world's leading nature photographers. This book will be invaluable to landscape artists. The 600 magnificent illustrations and engaging text cover the entire range of watercolor techniques and give the artist in-depth instruction in painting beautiful images of the natural world in all seasons, weather, geographical variety, and at every time of day. Many of the lessons are followed by assignments designed to help you apply what you have just learned to new situations. The Big Book of Painting Nature in Watercolor is a must for everyone who wants to master the techniques for becoming a first-rate landscape painter.

Capture the magic of nature in pastel. From the first ferns unfurling in spring to the flaming red foliage of fall and the snow-blanketed quiet of winter, master pastel artist and teacher Elizabeth Mowry offers both beginners and seasoned artists alike a fresh approach to creating light-filled landscape paintings. Using her decades of experience and gift for observation, Mowry infuses every page with time-tested pastel techniques to convey the distinctive mood, color and majesty of the natural world. You'll learn to translate the magic of what you see into what you paint through palette selection, use of materials, value and composition, blending your emotional response to nature's beauty with an ever-growing mastery of a pastelist's skill. This book is loosely based on previously published title The Pastelist's Year by Elizabeth Mowry with revamped content and 8 ALL-NEW demonstrations. Inside you'll find: • The fundamentals of pastel. Detailed information about selecting materials, plus exercises and explanations of basic techniques for beginners. Additional master tips and secrets will push intermediate to advanced readers in their art. • 20 step-by-step demonstrations. Capture the exciting ways nature changes and achieve the painterly effects that light up spring, summer, fall and winter landscapes. Plus learn how to artfully render difficult subjects like fog, bodies of water, reflections and clouds. • How to keep a nature journal. Track the vivid impact of the seasons to add depth to your work and translate seasonal impressions into personal expressions. Learn how Mowry selects her subjects, color and mood, with additional information on field studies and reference photographs. • The basics of composition. Learn how to establish a focal point, simplify your subject, portray distance and more to create a beautiful, balanced painting. • A five-step method for critiquing your own work. Develop your personal style and achieve successful results with this time-proven exercise.

"The Landscape Painter's Workbook takes a modern approach to the time-honored techniques and essential elements of landscape painting, from accomplished artist, veteran art instructor, and established author Mitchell Albala"--

Secrets to Painting Beautiful Landscapes Painting 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.