Turn up your creativity a notch, and have fun discovering new ways to express yourself with the colors and textures of watercolors, acrylics, and inks

Using the author's luminous work as an inspiring point of departure, participants in this traditional and experimental master class learn to work with a broad range of watermedia, pushing beyond realism to build images that have urgency and power. 277 illustrations, 244 in color.

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 of paints, on a journey of art discovery and exploration. Watermedia Painting with Stephen Quiller is an in-depth look at all the watermedia paints available to today’s artists. Part One looks at watercolors, with illustrations of the visual characteristics of the mineral (sedimentary) and transparent (staining) and their effects with different paper surfaces. Part Two focuses on acrylics, gouache, and casein. In Part Three, Quiller shares his secrets for the most difficult aspect of painting—developing a personal style and vision. Packed with Quiller’s thoughts and ideas on painting philosophy, the meditative and spiritual aspects of art, photographing art, travel, and building a studio, this is an inspiring guide to living a creative life and creating art.

Start every painting the right way - with a composition and design that works! Good composition and design is the underlying foundation of any successful painting. Let Pat Dews show you what good design really is while detailing the principles that can improve your work with every stroke. You can learn how successful painters use the fundamentals of composition in unique ways to create gorgeous works of art in a variety of media, including watercolor, pastel, collage and more: • Let light and shadow lead your composition • Tell a story with the elements of design • Construct a composition with color • Allow a composition to evolve as you paint • Move from literal interpretation to Impressionism • Use your computer as a tool for creative design Some use different techniques to decide what will work before committing to a final composition; others design their paintings before even picking up a brush. A few combine the two approaches. Dews helps you discover the method that's best for you! She also illustrates how to bring every painting to a great finish through an invaluable critique of student work. It's all the information you need to start composing beautiful art the moment your brush hits the paper.

Overcome your artist's block and explore what drives you artistically! Artist and teacher Nita Leland shows how to be creative in daily life to develop and strengthen your natural curiosity, flexibility, independence and playfulness--all with the end-goal of creating more inspired, unique personal artwork. Enjoy a variety of fun activities designed to exercise your creative muscle, including how to make an autobiographical collage, creating an idea jar for when you need a random jumpstart, and how to make "dull" subjects more interesting. Learn to push your creative boundaries by trying new methods in dozens of types of media including paper crafts, Japanese brush painting, creative quilting, inventive photography, grown-up finger painting, monotype and more. • 110+ activities that inspire creativity • Artists of all skill levels and mediums can tap into their creativity through exciting techniques and exercises • Inspirational tips and advice for taking creative risks to make more meaningful artistic statements • Inspiring art from 100 contributing fine artists and crafters in every medium coaching readers to creative success

Artist and workshop teacher Marilyn Hughey Philis shows how artists can develop their artistic vision to turn an ordinary subject into an extraordinary painting--Jacket.

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, complexity, and color dynamics into convincing representations of space and light. Concise, practical, and inspirational, Landscape Painting focuses on the greatest challenges for the landscape artist, such as: • Simplification and Massing: Learn to reduce nature's complexity by looking beneath the surface of a subject to discover the form's basic masses and shapes.• Color and Light: Explore color theory as it specifically applies to the landscape, and learn the various strategies painters use to capture the illusion of natural light.• Selection and Composition: Learn to select wisely from nature's vast panorama. Albala shows you the essential cues to look for and how to find the most promising subject from a world of possibilities. The lessons in Landscape Painting—based on observation rather than imitation and applicable to both plein air and studio practice—are accompanied by painting examples, demonstrations, photographs, and diagrams. Illustrations draw from the work of more than 40 contemporary artists and such masters of landscape painting as John Constable, Sanford Gifford, and Claude Monet. Based on Albala's 25 years of experience and the proven methods taught at his successful plein air workshops, this in-depth guide to all aspects of landscape painting is a must-have for anyone getting started in the genre, as well as more experienced practitioners who want to hone their skills or learn new perspectives.