Discover the artist within and unleash your creative abilities with this inspirational course in the visual arts. Explore the rich tradition of artistic conventions, increase your technical skills and immerse yourself in a world of colour, shape and form.

A Study Guide for Mark Strand's "Keeping Things Whole", excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students.This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.

Want to learn to draw, but stuck for how to get started? 'Sketch Your Stuff' shows you how to turn everyday objects that fill your home into subjects for your sketchbook - allowing you to work on your drawing skills at any moment of the day.

In this student-centered book, Debrah C. Sickler-Voigt provides proven tips and innovative methods for teaching, managing, and assessing all aspects of art instruction and student learning in today’s diversified educational settings, from pre-K through high school. Up-to-date with the current National Visual Arts Standards, this text offers best practices in art education, and explains current theories and assessment models for art instruction. Using examples of students’ visually stunning artworks to illustrate what children can achieve through quality art instruction and practical lesson planning, Teaching and Learning in Art Education explores essential and emerging topics such as: managing the classroom in art education; artistic development from early childhood through adolescence; catering towards learners with a diversity of abilities; integrating technology into the art field; and understanding drawing, painting, paper arts, sculpture, and textiles in context. Alongside a companion website offering Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, assessments, and tutorials to provide ready-to-use-resources for professors and students, this engaging text will assist teachers in challenging and inspiring students to think creatively, problem-solve, and develop relevant skills as lifelong learners in the art education sector.

Learn how to improve your art skills by using Drawing & Sketching Secrets as your guide. In this marvelous book, you will find over 200 tips and techniques for drawing and sketching the easy way. Rediscover the joy of sketching and drawing. This beautifully illustrated book is an indispensable compendium of essential know-how and stimulating projects. Both inspirational and practical, the book includes over 200 tips and step-by-step techniques organized to help you build on each skill you learn. The expert advice and tried-and-true techniques that fill these pages have been gleaned from the author’s more than 30 years of experience. Beginners can follow processes step-by-step, while more experienced artists can dip in and out for help with specific problems or to get some fresh ideas. “Try it” and “fix it” panels placed throughout the book suggest ways to practice and develop new skills and avoid or correct common mistakes. Learn how to: Use lines, contours, and shading to create subtle and dramatic effects Use household materials to save money Pick the right pencils, pens, crayons, paper, sketchbooks, and other equipment to suit your projects Choose interesting subjects Design captivating compositions Use essential techniques such as crosshatching, scumbling, smudging, and using lost edges Each topic, self-contained in a one- or two-page spread, is fully explained and illustrated with photographs and more detailed diagrams where helpful. Advance your artistic understanding, dexterity, and ingenuity with the over 200 secrets included to help you practice the skills you’ve learned. Open these pages and uncover a love affair with drawing and sketching.

Librarians have always been responsible for creating graphic designs but in the digital age the need for visual communication skills has multiplied significantly. The quantity of graphic design tasks has increased, so has the demand and expectation of the quality of the products that are produced. Graphic Design: A Practical Guide for Librarians gives librarians the help they need. Written by an artist and graphic design instructor the book has the tools and information librarians want and need to know to make their job easier and to give them confidence in creating professional looking designs. Valerie Colston makes graphic design easy to understand and fun to learn. The book outlines what you need to know as a librarian designer in a simple way, and provides an abundant about of resources and examples of good design models. This book addresses the lack of training that many librarians feel and strives to empower them with confidence and practical skills. Librarians will learn the language of design, discover resources and where to find them, explore line, color, shape, texture, and space, discover the role and importance of fonts, learn where to locate images, and get tips for creating an artist’s portfolio.