Crafts

Adebanji Alade believes that everything in art begins as a sketch, and his mission is always the same - to instil his work with the power and immediacy of the sketch. This book will show you how.

Giving an insight into how this inspiring and talented artist works, The Addictive Sketcher passes on Adebanji Alade's infectious enthusiasm and will have the reader reaching for a pencil or pen to have a go. Adebanji has a skill and a passion for speaking and motivating his audience in a fun and engaging way, and this is reflected in his writing style.

Lively, stimulating and instructive, it is packed with numerous examples of the author's sketches as well as examples of his vibrant finished paintings. Covering pencils, coloured pencils, charcoal and graphite, along with finished oil paintings, this book provides a fascinating insight into the author's techniques.

Adebanji's work covers a broad range of subjects, including landscapes, portraits, crowd scenes, urban scenes and seascapes. He's particularly well known for his portraits and scenes of London. This book includes examples from a range of subject areas.

An instructive guide to creating an illustrated journal based on artist and Instagram sensation Samantha Dion Baker's unique creative process, featuring information on materials, creative inspiration and instruction, prompts, and helpful tips and tricks.

Samantha Dion Baker is a widely admired and followed artist on Instagram, where she shares her "sketch journal," an illustrated daily record of her life, drawn in a fresh, modern style. In Draw Your Day, Baker guides you through her inspirational practice and provides guidance for starting your own. Part instructional guide and part encouraging manifesto about how making art--even art that's not museum-worthy--can make your life more mindful and meaningful, Draw Your Day is ideal for both seasoned artists looking for fresh inspiration, as well as aspiring artists who need a friendly nudge to get started.

Award-winning animal artist Vic Bearcroft presents his versatile and complete guide to all aspects of drawing and painting wild animals of all types. Learn how to draw tigers, zebras, pandas, elephants, chimpanzees, wolves and even sloths- learning new techniques, selecting the right paint media and getting the essence of the animal in the wild.

In this reissue of his popular book, Vic Bearcroft shares his love of drawing and painting wild animals, showing how to capture the personality and distinctive features of a variety of creatures. Using simple steps and plenty of detail, this guide shows you how to create beautiful artworks, from drawing the basic shapes through to realizing your favourite animals in your preferred medium.

Drawn from Life offers bite-size lessons that will help anyone master the classic practice of life drawing. Over 100 pieces of art by contemporary artists illustrate fundamentals such as line, contour, and color, plus surprising and innovative techniques that will take your drawings to the next level. Showcasing a wide range of styles and methods, this is a refreshing new guide to a timeless art form.

This gorgeous volume offers readers everything they need to know to capture, in paper, the perfect geometry and delicate beauty of snowflakes, sunbursts, and stars. Ayako Brodek (Origami and Kirigami) and Shannon Voigt (Quilling), two of today's leading papercrafters, provide all the techniques for creating seventy-five exquisite shapes that can then be used to fashion a multitude of decorative and practical pieces.

The book opens with an overview of the three different styles and goes on to explain, in detail, the core techniques of each. Step-by-step photos complement the instructional text, covering paper selection, fundamental skills, and tools. The next section is organized by style (Origami, Kirigami, Quilling), with designs for the three motifs, as well as twenty-five projects for each style.

The last section is an Inspiration Gallery, with beautiful, full-color photographs showcasing the finished works and providing a list of supplies and detailed instructions. Here the reader will learn how to use strings or ribbons to turn their crafted shapes into gift tags and toppers, napkin rings, and garlands; how to paste their snowflakes, sunbursts, and stars onto greeting cards, canvas bags, glass, etc. Also in this section are instructions for making stencils and wearable art such as earrings, pins, and other accessories.

Read This if You Want to Take Great Photographs is ideal for the new wave of snapshooters using DSLR, compact system and bridge cameras, looking for top photography tips.

- A bestselling photography book with over 300,000 copies sold!
- Learn top photography tips from 50 famous photographers
- A must-have guide for amateur photographers and professional photographers

Read This if You Want to Take Great Photographs contains no graphs, no techie diagrams and no camera-club jargon. Instead, it inspires readers through iconic images and playful copy, packed with hands-on tips.

Split into five sections, the book covers composition, exposure, light, lenses and the art of seeing. Masterpieces by acclaimed photographers - including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sebastião Salgado, Fay Godwin, Nadav Kander, Daido Moriyama and Martin Parr - serve to illustrate points and encourage readers to try out new ideas.

Today's aspiring photographers want immediacy and see photography as an affordable way of expressing themselves quickly and creatively. This handbook meets their needs, teaching them how to take photographs using professional techniques.

Read This If You Want to Take Great Photographs is part of the internationally-bestselling 'Read This' series, which has sold over half-a-million books worldwide and has been translated into over 20 languages.

More titles in the 'Read This' series:

Read This if You Want to Take Great Photographs of People by Henry Carroll (9781780676241)

Read This if You Want to Take Great Photographs of Places by Henry Carroll (9781780679051)

Use This if You Want to Take Great Photographs: A Photo Journal by Henry Carroll (9781780678887)

Read This if You Want to Be Great at Drawing by Selwyn Leamy (9781786270542)

Use This if You Want to Be Great at Drawing by Selwyn Leamy (9781786274052)

Read This if You Want to Be Great at Drawing People by Selwyn Leamy (9781786275127)

Read This if You Want to Be a Great Writer by Ross Raisin (9781786271976)

Read This if You Want to Be Instagram Famous edited by Henry Carroll (9781780679679)

Read This If You Want to Be YouTube Famous by Will Eagle (9781786275134)

A beautifully visual and informative guide to drawing the human form from the bestselling and renowned Italian life-drawer Giovanni Civardi.

From the bestselling, world-renowned life-drawer Giovanni Civardi comes this latest edition of the concise guide to drawing the human form.

To become a successful artist in figure drawing, it is essential to understand the inner workings of the human body; but the complex nature of our anatomy makes the process of learning to draw it often daunting. In Drawing Human Anatomy, Giovanni Civardi breaks down the numerous components that make up our bodies into easy, absorbable chunks - from the skin right down to the skeleton. Beginning with easy-to-follow summaries on the makeup of human anatomy, along with advice on how to depict the human figure on paper, the book delves straight into our inner mechanics to get you started on your drawing journey right away. In addition, each muscle and skeletal structure is accompanied by a clear diagram indicating its location on the body, and a drawing of the form in Giovanni's much-loved drawing style.

With dozens of illustrations explaining the relationships between our bones and muscles, and with a wide range of body positions covered - front and back, and rest and motion - this is an exceptional, practical guide to producing anatomically correct drawings for artists of all abilities.

A revised edition of the classic bestselling how to draw book. A life-changing book, this fully revised and updated edition of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is destined to inspire generations of readers and artists to come.

Translated into more than seventeen languages, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is the world's most widely used instructional drawing book. Whether you are drawing as a professional artist, as an artist in training, or as a hobby, this book will give you greater confidence in your ability and deepen your artistic perception, as well as foster a new appreciation of the world around you. This revised/updated fourth edition includes:

- a new introduction;
- crucial updates based on recent research on the brain's plasticity and the enormous value of learning new skills/ utilizing the right hemisphere of the brain;
- new focus on how the ability to draw on the strengths of the right hemisphere can serve as an antidote to the increasing left-brain emphasis in American life-the worship of all that is linear, analytic, digital, etc.;
- an informative section that addresses recent research linking early childhood "scribbling" to later language development and the importance of parental encouragement of this activity;
- and new reproductions of master drawings throughout

Complete impressive origami projects in just 10 steps with this beautiful and easy origami book.

10-Fold Origami features a completely original take on a very classic subject in this papercraft book, which features beautiful full-colored illustrations and easy-to-follow diagrams for 26 wide-ranging origami models.

This origami book includes:

96 page, full-color origami book

26 original origami projects

Easy-to-follow directions

Helpful diagrams and photographs

Paper folding basics and tips

A difficulty rating is assigned to each paper crafts project, so you choose how advanced your next piece will be. For a rewarding craft that calms the spirit and sharpens the mind, look no further than 10-fold Origami.

Origami projects include:

Pinwheel

Sunny Side Up

Picture Frame

Wedding Ring

Goose and Golden Egg

Fabulous Paperfolds You Can Make in Just 10 Steps!: Origami Book with 26 Projects: Perfect for Origami Beginners, Children

A visual guide to beautiful botanic watercolour painting from life for artists.

Botanical artists hold a unique status: they can record plants and show them to the world, unlocking science for people outside that world, enabling them to be seduced by the most beautiful images, drawn and painted by very skilled hands.

In this beautiful book, award-winning botanical artist, Işık Güner, shares with you her experiences of looking at wild species from around the world, how she does her research, and how she composes her illustrations from live specimens. She will guide you on your own journey, show you how to look for plant samples, and then record them. Straddling the scientific and art worlds, Isik's illustrations help to raise awareness of the valuable knowledge that scientists have been researching and discovering for many years and provide a wonderful inspiration for budding botanical artists.

Observe, draw, paint, explore and master this wonderful art under Işık's careful guidance. Being inspired by the nature around you is the first step to becoming a botanical artist.

The essential beginner's guide to knitting successfully, with more than 200 illustrated knitting stitches and techniques.

A ball of yarn can become anything you want it to be with Knit Step by Step. Taking you through simple skills, including how to knit, purl, and cast on and off, this simple handbook helps you decode knitting patterns and build intricate designs with eye-catching rib and cable stitches, structural effects, and multicolored Fair Isle and intarsia techniques.

Alongside more than 200 clearly photographed stitch patterns and techniques, including using circular needles and creating structural effects, Knit Step by Step features 10 fun knitting projects to put your newfound skills into practice. Create a simple scarf, eye-catching home decor, and other items to keep you and your loved ones warm and cozy.

Easy-to-use and fully illustrated, this book is ideal for beginners picking up their first pair of knitting needles, as well as more experienced knitters looking to build on their skills and refresh their technique.

Captivating package designs are based on innovative ideas. Discover the secrets of how to use paper folding design tricks to create high-impact packaging in Captivating Forms.

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.

Screen printing is made accessible in this beautiful step-by-step guide featuring twelve projects.

In this Beginner's Guide to Screen Printing, Erin Lacy shows you how to make your own screen using an embroidery hoop and silk fabric, and demonstrates how to create beautiful designs that are easy to achieve. Using modern techniques, screen printing is an accessible and affordable craft!

Discover how to print onto different surfaces such as wood, cork and fabric, and create twelve stunning, botanical and coastal-themed projects through bright and colourful step-by-step photography.

The photography, by Belgian talent Virginie De Man, is taken on location at Erin's own studio in St. Ives, Cornwall, as well as in and around the coastal town itself. The book includes full-size templates and inspiration on how to design your own templates and motifs.

Conceived by Instagram's daily sketch sensation @augustwren, this guided journal encourages carving out a moment of self-expression every day.

To conquer the intimidating prospect of filling 365 blank pages, Draw Every Day, Draw Every Way is divided into monthly themes, with undated daily prompts that suggest what to draw each day. You can work through the journal from front to back, or jump around and draw whatever appeals to you at the time. Monthly themes include:

A month of nature

A month of your favorite things

A month of characters

A month of print and patterns

Jennifer Orkin Lewis (aka @augustwren) encourages experimentation with a one-page tutorial at the beginning of each month that outlines accessible ways to draw with different materials, such as ballpoint pens, colored pencils, paint, and collage. Coupled with sections of varying paper types, there is an unlimited canvas available to flourish artistically; brown craft paper pairs well with black ink and white pencil, black paper is great for white and metallic gel pens, and heavy white paper is included for painting.

The journal is not only useful as a stress-reliever and as a mode of personal exploration, but also as a way of changing visual thinking. And when completed, it will serve as a reflection of its owner.

With prompts, tutorials, and unique packaging, Draw Every Day, Draw Every Way is a must-have for those looking to sketch and doodle their way out of an inspirational rut.

Not sure how to start your drawing of a flamingo or a flying squirrel? Businessman? Bat? Baobab tree? How to Draw Almost Everything is here to help!

With over 2,000 images, this visual reference book offers instructions for drawing animals, people, plants, food, everyday objects, buildings, vehicles, clothing, and more. The section on people gives simple tricks for showing emotion (angry, surprised) and action (skipping, doing a handstand). There's also a section on clothing that shows how to draw coats and jackets, shoes and boots, bell-bottoms and skinny jeans. From tricycles to tanker trucks, the book gives tips on drawing all kinds of moving vehicles.

At then end of each chapter, author and artist Chika Miyata challenges you to synthesize what you've learned and create a scene. At the end of the chapter on animals, the challenge is to draw a zoo. At the end of the chapter on food, the challenge is to keep an illustrated food journal.

Each entry is broken down with step-by-step illustrations, making this book perfect for beginners or experienced artists in need of a quick refresher and a great resource for those who want to express themselves through illustration or cartooning.

Each book in the Almost Everything series offers readers a fun, comprehensive, and charmingly illustrated visual directory of ideas to inspire skill building in their creative endeavors.

A collection of 100 writing and crafting papers with European flower designs selected by the well-known Japanese designer Reiko Harajou.

This book is a collection of carefully selected rare and antique European illustrations, from classic botanical art to floral calligraphy and frames. The beauty of the European floral art in the collection makes this book a perfect gift. All 100 pages are removable and each pattern is printed on a variety of textured papers.

50 pages x 50 stickers per page = 2,500 bright, beautiful stickers for any occasion!

There's no such thing as too many stickers, and this GIANT collection ticks alllllll the boxes. Add them to your stash, use them in your planner, decorate snail mail, or share with your besties!

A magical collection of modern crewelwork embroidery designs inspired by fairytales.

Embroidery enthusiasts all over the world have been discovering the exquisite work of renowned Ukrainian embroiderer, Tatiana Popova. In this beautiful book she shows the reader how to create stunning crewelwork embroideries inspired by traditional fairytales, including The Wizard of Oz, Karolcia, the Wild Swans and Cinderella.

This magical collection takes as it central theme a magnificent embroidery depicting the 'Tree of Happiness'. Each part of the embroidery is then explored in detail through stitch diagrams, explanations of the threads used, and alternative ways of working. There are seven wonderful designs in total, each dedicated to one of Tatiana's favourite fairytales, and all illustrated with gorgeous photographs and informative diagrams.

In total, over 90 stitches are described in the book, all worked using stranded cotton and cotton pearl thread rather than traditional crewel wool, which gives the embroideries a fresh, modern appeal. Whether you are new to embroidery or an experienced embroiderer looking for inspiration and expert guidance, Tatiana's beautiful book is one you will turn to again and again.

Teddy bears are an iconic symbol of childhood. They are often our first and best-loved toys right through to adulthood, often passed on to our own children to enjoy. This beautifully illustrated, comprehensive guide takes you into the magical world of teddy bear making and shows you how to create your own traditional bear to hand down through the generations.

The book begins with a short history of the teddy bear, followed by detailed information on tools, materials and essential bear-making techniques. There's guidance on finding design inspiration, and three complete step-by-step projects to get you started. There's then detailed guidance on how to create different eyes, ears, noses and mouths to give your bear a unique personality, and sewn outfits to dress them in. The book ends with notes on care and repair, ensuring your treasured creation will last a lifetime.

Sketching has become an extremely popular pastime. For example, on YouTube, "Tips to Draw Better in 6 Minutes" has 1.7 million views, and "How to Draw Better in 2 Minutes", has 2 million views. Every day, the website @Sketch_Dailies tweets an "inspiration" to 45,000 followers who can upload their work for juried selection. Why the rage? Simply put, drawing is a fun, meaningful and inexpensive way to spend precious time. It's a renaissance of paper and pencil, an escape from digital overload.

5-Minute Sketching -- People can help artists of all abilities to nurture their creativity and to develop skills and speed. Each spread features six expert tips and ideas. Examples of amazing 5-minute sketches inspire readers who are short on time or short on ideas, showing how easy it is to make drawing a part of everyday life. There are tips on how to focus on the key elements of a scene, how to capture faces and features quickly, how a variety of techniques can help to create mood and movement.

Here is some of what the book's four sections cover:

How to See -- Perspective, scale, foreshortening, viewpoint and resources distance, basic shapes, perfect profiles, proportion, facial features, hair, posture, composition, background, negative space, how to deconstruct figures and faces quickly

Who to Draw -- Passers-by, crowd scenes, commuters, children, urban scenes, conversation, quick direct poses, master poses (seated, repetitive, dynamic), dance, sports

Useful Techniques -- Basic shapes, proportion, minimal lines, loose lines, tight lines, thick lines, mark-making, contour drawing, negative space, shading hatching and crosshatching, scribbling, texture, shading, light, tonal values, contrast, color

Tools and Materials -- Ink, pencil, graphite, colored pencils, markers, paint, pastels, watercolor wash, paper, digital sketching.

Sketching has gone global. The Urban Sketchers community has 62 chapters around the world plus 42,000 members on Facebook and 8,200 Twitter followers. The actual number is surely higher. 5-Minute Sketching -- People is an ideal introduction to a rewarding pastime and a source of inspiration for new, experienced and lapsed sketchers alike.

This pack contains 48 high-quality origami sheets printed with 12 different traditional Japanese designs.

This origami paper pack includes durable, authentic origami paper folding sheets with a variety of colors. It's perfect for any folder who wants to add a distinctive flair to their origami projects.

This origami paper pack includes:

48 sheets of high-quality origami paper

12 traditional Japanese patterns

Double-sided color

Large 8 1/4'' (21cm) squares

Origami basics and folding techniques

Instructions for 6 easy origami projects

Aimed to fashion students and designers, Palette Perfect is both a practical guide and an inspirational book that proposes a reflection on the universe of colour combinations, the moods and atmospheres they evoke and how we associate particular places and emotions to special colours. Each chapter explores a particular mood and describes the corresponding feelings and color combinations, using as examples exquisite photographs of objects, still-lives, landscapes, interiors and fashion. At the end of each chapter, a wide variety of palettes representing the chapter's particular mood or atmosphere is included.