Artist Tools

Through her bestselling coloring books and distinctive illustrations, Johanna Basford's beautiful forests, ocean depths, and hidden magical kingdoms have enchanted millions of people around the world. In this lovely and accessible guide, she shares the fun, simple, no-skills-needed secrets to creating your own wondrous realms through fanciful, expressive line drawing.

With step-by-step exercises, inspiring prompts, and still plenty of pages to color, you'll be free to let your creativity run wild. How to Draw Inky Wonderlands invites you to develop your personal drawing style and master creating marvelous creatures and landscapes using only the pen or pencil in your hand and the wildest reaches of your imagination.

There are some doozies in THIS ABOVE ALL: HOW TO LIVE AN ARTISTIC LIFE that straight-up revolutionized my thinking. It is a guidebook to both theater and life that needs to live on every creative person's nightstand.

--Sarah Bierstock, Artistic Director of Pass the Salt Productions

Jason Cannon's book is a must-read. Especially if you are an artist, want to be reminded why you become an artist in the first place - or just have always wondered if you could lead a more artistic life. Its honest and transparent and yet deeply witty and insightful look into this entire profession made me want to get back out there and do it even better. Easily the most truthful and yet inspiring book out there on the making of theatre.

--Sean Daniels, Artistic Director, Arizona Theatre Company

Don't hang your head if you answered yes to any of those questions. Chin up and crack open THIS ABOVE ALL.

In this galvanizing, pull-no-punches examination of the obstacles and rewards to living an artistic life, award-winning actor, director, playwright, and author Jason Cannon shows readers how to harness their creativity, rediscover their courage, and break free of the forces holding them back.

Even if you've never picked up a paintbrush, even if you can't carry a tune in a bucket, even if just the thought of getting up on a stage makes you break out in a cold sweat, THIS ABOVE ALL will inspire you to unleash your inner artist and live true.

THIS ABOVE ALL is brimming with philosophical insights and practical advice for young artists starting out in the world. Cannon shares the wisdom gained from many years of artistic practice, providing the reader with powerful reflections on art, life and truth-telling. Essential reading for anyone wanting to harness their passion into a meaningful and sustainable creative practice.

--Deborah Brevoort, playwright and librettist

Cannon focuses on artists (especially directors, actors, and writers) in the world of theater, but his penetrating insights apply to anyone in any profession. The book is a series of short chapters filled with exhilarating ideas about how to live artistically, which is to say how to live passionately, how to live, as Cannon puts it, "with all your heart." You will be tempted to read the book through at top speed because Cannon's quick, exuberant prose pulls you along. But then go back to read slowly, to pause on the many epiphanies about living and learning and refusing to be false to oneself or to anyone (the keen analysis of the speech in Hamlet by Polonius, from which Cannon takes his book's title, is worth the price of admission). Reflect on each gem for an hour or two-and then keep on reflecting for the rest of your life.

-Jeffrey Couchman, author of The Night of the Hunter: A Biography of a Film

Those who are struggling to make it in their chosen profession, are questioning what's missing, and haven't found their artistic mojo yet, will reap great benefit from reading THIS ABOVE ALL. THIS ABOVE ALL reminded me that the world of business can be much more meaningful when you slow down, take a beat, enjoy the scenery, and re-examine your purpose.

--Joel Ehrenpreis, CEO, Business Therapeutics

A contemporary look at flowers, flower pressing, and floral arranging, The Modern Flower Press is a stunning collection of pressed flower techniques and the art you can make with them. Exploring a range of specific blooms, authors Amy Fielding and Melissa Richardson take readers through the process of pressing flowers, the proper techniques to use, the tools needed, and most importantly, the lovely works you can create.

Filled with projects inspired by the changing seasons, this book is both a catalog of gorgeous flowers and a practical guide to working with their beauty. Fielding and Richardson offer detailed information, with a specific focus on composition, color, and form. From decorated window panes to letters and postcards, the end results are simply enchanting. Whether you're a gardener, floral enthusiast, or simply a nature lover, this incredible gift book has something for everyone.

Beautiful and unique package design makes a product stand out, attracting a customer's attention quickly and effectively. In this era of e-commerce, high-impact design is extremely important in recreating the in-store experience of seeing, touching and feeling the actual product virtually online. This book focuses on innovative "paper folding techniques" which create "captivating forms." The examples showcased in this book, together with detailed diagrams, are actual, successful product designs currently on the market. Designs are categorized into Decorative Design (introducing designs that focus on unique and decorative forms), Motif Design (showcasing package design that imitates objects and things) and Design with a Handle.

This book is the best inspirational reference book for package designers, artists and others seeking to create captivating packages.