Art

Only 22 when he lost his life on assignment in Somalia, photojournalist Dan Eldon left behind much more than the journals that became the basis for Chronicle's best-seller The Journey Is the Destination. He left a lifetime of adventures that continue to inspire. Raised in Kenya, he took numerous expeditions across Africa that helped him to understand and love the continent. Through his safaris and benevolent crusades--and with interludes of study and work in the US and London, and trips around the world--he crafted a philosophy of curiosity, creativity, adventure, and charity. Intensely visual, like the life it describes, Dan Eldon: The Art of Life is more than a biography. It is an exploration of one man's will to take in everything life has to offer; an example of a life lived for art, and art experienced as lif

Imagery is powerful and evocative. It is one of the most important cornerstones of successful visual communication, and working with imagery is a vital skill for every designer. This authoritative book shows how successful sourcing, creation, and use of imagery can be applied to professional graphic design. As a new addition to the Design Elements series, this essential volume covers when, where, and how to use imagery and explores the unique power images have over an audience.

In these pages, you'll learn:

- How to choose the best photos and illustrations for a project

- The most effective ways to alter images

- Composition techniques

- Strategies for sourcing images on a tight budget

- And more

With eye-opening examples of real-world projects, Design Elements, Using Images to Create Graphic Impact is filled with valuable tips and practical strategies for using imagery to create memorable and effective design.

Features designs to copy - from aliens and robots to dragons and monsters - as well as space for children to draw their own doodles. This book also features a friendly Doodle Bug, to help guide children through the pages, as well as the introduction pages to teach children about letters and numbers.

From initial concept to finished art, the "Learn to Draw" series provides young and beginning artists with practical step-by-step instruction in a warm, friendly voice.

Perfect for young minds in a constant state of learning, Drawing Animals from A to Z teaches children about their favorite furry, scaly, and feathered animals through art, ABCs and shapes. This fun, educational book opens with easy warm-up drawing exercises and an introduction to the basic shapes: circle, oval, square, rectangle, and triangle. From there, children are invited to follow simple step-by-step instructions to draw each A to Z animal, starting with a basic shape and progressing to a finished color final piece of art. Projects include children's favorite domestic and exotic animals, including a dolphin, ferret, jaguar, koala, puppy, toad, and many more, while a paper pad includes an unfinished drawing of each featured animal with a prompt for children to complete, as well as the capital and lowercase letter representing the animal. Drawing Animals from A to Z educates children as they draw these wild and tame animals found all over the world, providing an enjoyable, well-rounded artistic and educational experience.

This affordable picture-a-day compilation -- based on Abrams' international best-seller Earth from Above -- presents 365 aerial photographs that offer the most revealing, eye-popping view of our world ever created. Accompanied by informative captions, each breathtaking full-color image by renowned photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand makes it clear why Hemispheres said, "Life on Earth will never look quite the same again once you've seen Earth from Above."

Daniel Webster, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Jefferson Davis, John Brown. We know their names and recall the place of each in our nation's history. But do we recognize their faces and those of the dozens of their contemporaries who forged a new and forward-looking America during the Civil War era?

Faces of Discord is a look into the real faces of the leading historical figures of this turbulent and transformative time. Compiled from the collections of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, these depictions include those of Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, John S. Mosby, George Armstrong Custer, and many others who were painted, sculpted, and photographed by the foremost artists of the day.

More than just arresting pictures in a book, these "faces of discord" represent historical portraits of the period, some of which were once owned by the famous sitters themselves and passed down to the Smithsonian by their descendants. The National Portrait Gallery is a fitting repository for these images, in part because the gallery occupies the building that was used as a barracks and hospital for Federal troops during the war and was the site of Lincoln's second inaugural ball.

Faces of Discord also tells the stories of the extraordinary lives behind the faces that changed the course of American history. Selected exclusively from Smithsonian collections and illustrated within Faces of Discord are rarely seen personal possessions and memorabilia associated with many of these historical figures who still command our attention and so vividly animate these pages.

From the revelations of classical statuary pulled from the Roman soil as the popes began rebuilding the city in the fifteenth century, to the myth of serenity that Venice constructed to conceal its physical and political fragility, to bloody yet cultured Florence under the Medici, Ingrid D. Rowland traces the worldly, unworldly, and otherworldly strivings of artists, writers, popes, and politicians during that great "outburst of mental energy" we know as the Renaissance.Here are Botticelli, whose illustrations for the Divine Comedy reveal him to be one of Dante's most careful readers; the multifaceted genius of Leonardo; the astonishing mastery of Titian and the erratic brilliance of artists like Correggio, Caravaggio, and Artemisia Gentileschi; the enigmatic erotic novel Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, the decoding of which was the subject of the recent novel The Rule of Four; the Western fascination with the mysteries of Egypt; and the glittering spiritual ferment of late Byzantium, which as it collapsed passed on so many ideas to Renaissance Italy.But beyond its artistic accomplishments, Rowland writes, "Renaissance life at its most distinctive was the intangible, unworldly life of the mind." In her pages astronomers and astrologists, poets and philosophers, pornographers and prostitutes jostle for attention with painters and sculptors. Among them the inquisitive Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher stands out as a polymath who ranged over nearly every field of knowledge. Even though his commingling of scientific observation and hermetic symbolism is now obsolete, he remains for Rowland "a builder of connections who insisted on seeing harmony in the midst of disorder"-and thus one of the most exemplary Renaissance figures of all.

The editor of Hugs from Obama presents this photographic celebration of the former first lady's elegance and strength in Go High: The Unstoppable Presence and Poise of Michelle Obama.

Featuring more than 50 full-color photographs illustrating her warmth, wisdom, and belief in a bright future, this one-of-a-kind collection highlights Michelle Obama's compassion, verve, and dynamic approach to unifying people from all walks of life. Each picture is accompanied by some of her most compelling words--inspirational quotes sharing her earnest expression that the United States of America is a place of unity, fairness, vitality, and optimism.

A perfect gift book for mothers and graduates, Go High revisits the beloved first lady's heartfelt embrace of the American people, and her persistent encouragement to always lift one another up, reach higher, and rise to the occasion.

In this armchair tour through 500 years of British interior design, readers can view the grand interiors of many of Great Britain's finest country houses, great estates, and castles.

Learn to Draw Disney's Phineas and Ferb helps young artists capture the likenesses of their favorite characters, including Phineas Flynn, Ferb Fletcher, Candace Flynn, Agent P, and Dr. Doofenshmirtz.

School is out for summer, and stepbrothers Phineas and Ferb decide to make each day an adventure! Their bold escapades always end up cramping the style of their teenaged sister, Candace, who makes every attempt to reveal their plans to mom and expose what is really going on, but somehow always seems to fail. Meanwhile, the family's pet platypus leads a double life as secret "Agent P" and faces off with the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz to save the world. Fans of the show will enjoy learning to draw all of their favorite characters from this animated adventure show using the easy-to-follow step-by-step method of instruction in this book. This beautifully illustrated, full-color 64-page drawing guide also features a brief synopsis of the show and drawing tips from professional Disney artists.

All you'll need to start drawing are a few art supplies. The easy-to-follow instructions in this book will guide you through each step, showing you how each step builds upon the next to create a finished piece of art. You just need to grab a pencil, a piece of paper, and your copy of Learn to Draw Disney's Phineas and Ferb, and flip to the character you want to draw. You'll draw the basic shapes shown in step one, and move on to step two, step three, and keep going! The new lines in each step are shown in blue, so you'll know exactly what to draw. After adding all the details in each step, darken the lines you want to keep and erase the rest. Finally, add color to your drawing with felt-tip markers, colored pencils, watercolors, or acrylic paints.

Plus, learn some fun facts about the characters as you learn to draw them. Included in this book are drawing projects for Phineas Flynn, Ferb Fletcher, Candace Flynn, Buford Van Stomm, Baljeet Rai, Jeremy Johnson, Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, Perry the Platypus, Agent P, Linda Flynn-Fletcher, Lawrence Fletcher, Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, and Vanessa Doofenshmirtz. Brief character descriptions and art instruction from professional Disney animators round out this exciting artistic adventure.

Learning to draw has never been so fun and easy! Now budding artists can dive under the sea to join Ariel, Sebastian, Flounder, and other favorite characters on a fun-filled artistic adventure thanks to Learn to Draw Disney's The Little Mermaid. With the simple-to-follow step-by-step instructions in this beautifully illustrated colorful book, young fans will enjoy learning how to draw Ariel and her friends from the time-cherished classic Disney animated film, The Little Mermaid. The book opens by introducing artists to a small selection of essential drawing tools and materials, as well as a range of options for adding color, such as crayons, markers, colored pencils, and paint. Next, artists are directed to warm-up with some quick and easy sketching exercises before moving on to the step-by-step drawing projects. Each drawing lesson begins with a basic shape, such as a circle or an oval; then each step builds upon the last and eventually progresses to a finished final color artwork. Additionally, each new drawing step is shown in blue for a helpful guide so young artists know exactly what to draw next. Along the way, professional Disney artists and illustrators share helpful tips and tricks for bringing each character to life so they look just like they appear on the big screen. With a range of fun and exciting characters in a variety of poses, Learn to Draw Disney's The Little Mermaid book will have young artists drawing their favorite characters in no time!

The mystery and awe inspired by wizards and sorcery have captivated audiences for centuries. Now anyone can learn to bring these mythical characters to life through drawing and painting. How to Draw Wizards covers everything from rendering cauldrons and skulls to dungeons and forests. The book also contains several step-by-step projects featuring a mix of pencil, paint, and digital image-editing instruction, allowing artists to replicate each scene in detail. An enchantress, a medicine man, a druid, and a necromancer merely scratch the surface of subjects in this enchanting title.

Certain visual images scream their message to us loud and clear: a stop sign, a skull-and-crossbones, a handicapped parking sticker. The ability to take ideas and information and create visuals that allow us to "read" them is perhaps the most basic and difficult skill of the graphic designer.

Information Graphics and Visual Clues argues that this way of seeing and creating is one that is part innate and part learned -- and that without it, even the most technologically sophisticated designer is merely a technician. Through stunning visual images and highly accessible descriptions, the book explains the theory behind this type of visual "translation, " walks the reader through examples of graphics ranging from signs and logos to advertising, packaging, and events publicity, and explains how each image was conceived and why it succeeds.

With its vivid focus on how to actually convey ideas, this hands-on book shows how designers of every type or style of graphic work can become skilled visual translators.