Things That Art

Lochlann Jain’s debut non-fiction graphic novel, Things That Art, playfully interrogates the order of things. Toying with the relationship between words and images, Jain’s whimsical compositions may seem straightforward. Upon closer inspection, however, the drawings reveal profound and startling paradoxes at the heart of how we make sense of the world. Commentaries by architect and theorist Maria McVarish, poet and naturalist Elizabeth Bradfield, musician and English Professor Drew Daniel, and the author offer further insight into the drawings in this collection. A captivating look at the fundamental absurdities of everyday communication, Things That Art jolts us toward new forms of collation and collaboration.

Lessons, demonstrations, definitions, and tips on what to expect in art school, what it means to make art, and how to think like an artist. What is the first thing to learn in art school? “Art can be anything.” The second thing? “Learn to draw.” With 101 Things to Learn in Art School, artist and teacher Kit White delivers and develops such lessons, striking an instructive balance between technical advice and sage concepts. These 101 maxims, meditations, and demonstrations offer both a toolkit of ideas for the art student and a set of guiding principles for the artist. Complementing each of the 101 succinct texts is an equally expressive drawing by the artist, often based on a historical or contemporary work of art, offering a visual correlative to the written thought. “Art can be anything” is illustrated by a drawing of Duchamp's famous urinal; a description of chiaroscuro art is illuminated by an image “after Caravaggio”; a lesson on time and media is accompanied by a view of a Jenny Holzer projection; advice about surviving a critique gains resonance from Piero della Francesca's arrow-pierced Saint Sebastian. 101 Things to Learn in Art School offers advice about the issues artists confront across all artistic media, but this is no simple handbook to making art. It is a guide to understanding art as a description of the world we live in, and it is a guide to using art as a medium for thought. And so this book belongs on the reading list of art students, art teachers, and artists, but it also belongs in the library of everyone who cares about art as a way of understanding life.

How do you sum up the amazing world of art in just 100 words? This striking book takes on the challenge! From pottery to Pointillism, each of the carefully chosen 100 words has its own 100-word long description and quirky illustration, providing a fascinating introduction to art. Basically, everything you need to know in a nutshell. Along with some classic methods, such as painting and sketching, you'll also discover less predictable aspects of art that will give you a fresh perspective. Featuring materials, elements, methods, art movements, styles, and places this book covers a wide range of topics and themes, as well as some key artists of the past and present. With a clean, contemporary design, each word occupies a page of its own. A large striking illustration neatly encapsulates the accompanying 100 words of text. Other titles in the 100 Things to Know About series include: Ancient World, World Politics, Inventions.

Because Everything Looks Better with a Butt In Brian Cook’s debut collection of fun, offbeat illustrations, beers have rears, Tetris® becomes Butris and balloons bear backsides. Hot dog buns have buns of their own, and condiments are down-right cheeky. Shatter your assumptions about who and what can rock a rump because with a little imagination, anything is possible. Whether you’re seeking a good chuckle, are into unconventional art or are simply looking to get to the bottom of an eccentric curiosity, you won’t want to put this gem of a book down.

Part memoir, part essay collection, Megan Dunn’s ingenious, moving, hilariously personal Things I Learned at Art School tells the story of her early life and coming-of-age in New Zealand in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. From her parents’ divorce to her Smurf collection, from the mean girls at school to the mermaid movie Splash!, from her work in strip clubs and massage parlours (and one steak restaurant) to the art school of the title, this is a dazzling, killer read from a contemporary voice of comic brilliance. Chapters include: The Ballad of Western Barbie; A Comprehensive List of All the Girls Who Teased Me at Western Heights High School, What They Looked Like and Why They Did It; On Being a Redhead; Life Begins at Forty: That Time My Uncle Killed Himself; Good Girls Write Memoirs, Bad Girls Don’t Have Time; Videos I Watched with My Father; Things I Learned at Art School; CV of a Fat Waitress; Nine Months in a Massage Parlour Called Belle de Jour; Various Uses for a Low Self-esteem; Art in the Waiting Room and Submerging Artist. Praise for Tinderbox: “Tinderbox is deadpan hilarious and Megan Dunn is a comic genius.” - Susanna Andrew, Metro “Megan Dunn's wry, whip-smart memoir about Fahrenheit 451, literary ambition & the last days of Borders Bookstores is funny & insightful as hell. Like Kathy Acker meets Sue Townsend. The read of the summer! ... already one of my favourite New Zealand books.” - Hera Lindsay Bird “Witty, highly entertaining.” - Philip Matthews, Stuff "Tinderbox is such a shape-shifter, such a sui generis work, that to call it a memoir does it a disservice ... [Dunn’s] voice is hard to resist – sardonic, brazen, sagacious – recalling, in places, Nora Ephron, John Jeremiah Sullivan, and Maggie Nelson.” - James Cook, Review 31

Based on the Webby Award–winning Tumblr site, Things Organized Neatly is thoughtfully composed of everyday objects, all displayed beautifully for the neat freak. Things Organized Neatly takes the messiness of the everyday world and recasts it in neat and appealing designs. On one page a massive collection of cellphones from the past twenty years is laid out on the floor and photographed from above; on the next, a collection of candy is pleasingly arranged by color. Things Organized Neatly capitalizes on our current obsession with photographing and cataloguing all the objects that we interact with on a daily basis. It has many images of food laid out in visually appealing, often humorous designs, as well as images of GI Joes standing at attention and old Nintendo cartridges arranged in the colors of the rainbow. Whether you’re a design aficionado, an obsessive cleaner and straightener, a social media maven constantly documenting your day, or someone just looking to be swept away for an afternoon in a book full of beautiful images, Things Organized Neatly offers every reader a chance to revel in the beauty of everyday life.

Many people think leadership is a higher calling that resides exclusively with a select few who practice and preach big, complex leadership philosophies. But as this practical book reveals, what’s most important for leadership is principled consistency. Time and again, small things done well build trust and respect within a team. Using stories from his time at Netscape, Apple, and Slack, Michael Lopp presents a series of small but compelling practices to help you build leadership skills. You’ll learn how to create teams that are highly productive, highly respected, and highly trusted. Lopp has been speaking and writing about this topic for over a decade and now maintains a Slack leadership channel with over 13,000 members. The essays in this book examine the practical skills Lopp learned from exceptional leaders—as a manager at Netscape, a senior manager and director at Apple, and an executive at Slack. You’ll learn how to apply these lessons to your own experience.

Over 200 artists present their own unique visions of Stranger Things in a stunning, full-color celebration of the runaway hit Netflix series. In honor of Stranger Things, the innovative pop culture enthusiasts at Printed In Bloodare proud to present the latest release in their ongoing series of artbooks. More than two hundred artists, drawn from the earthly dimensions of comics, illustration, fine art, videogames, and animation, have come together to bring us a unique vision of the world of Hawkins, Indiana. Come dig into this collection of more than two hundred brand-new images and see what new worlds you might discover lurking just beneath the surface. Includes art by: ORLANDO AROCENA MATT BUSCH BUTCHER BILLY RIAN HUGHES JOHN McCREA MATT NEEDLE GARY PULLIN BILL SIENKIEWICZ EILEEN STEINBACH & MORE!