Search Results for: books

The highly successful Retronaut blog looks at the past as it has never been looked at before. Here, in the second of a new series of Retronaut books, the site’s founder, Wolfgang Wild, brings you a thought-provoking collection of photographs from our hidden history. Often witty and entertaining, but also thought-provoking and at times puzzling, the images are chosen to shift our perceptions, making us think-and look again. Discover what our ancestors considered to be good parenting in the days before the ‘care’ was put into childcare, from dangerous sports to the best brand of cigarette for your baby. A perfectly reassuring gift for today’s new parent, this book will also appeal to anyone who likes pictures of babies in sunglasses.

<h3>Stop Look Breathe Create is a simple four-step process for exploring mindfulness through creativity, and in turn, developing creativity through mindful practice.

The book engages the reader with ten everyday subjects, from ‘The Ground Beneath Our Feet’ to ‘Returning Home’ and for each of these there are three projects: one drawn, one photographic, one written. All are based on the effective mindfulness techniques that Wendy Ann has developed in her successful workshops and courses, and the book is filled with simple techniques and ideas to help the reader enjoy their artistic endeavours while being in the moment.

A timely introduction to the benefits of mindfulness through creativity, Stop Look Breathe Create offers an oasis of calm in a frantic world.

Any photographer with a modern digital camera can be a moviemaker, and this book shows you all the skills you’ll need to shoot everything, from a video-blog to a feature film. Build on your photographic skills – this knowledge predisposes you to create great cinematography – and understand the technical and practical necessities of high-definition video.

The Moviemaking With Your Camera Field Guide shows you how you can build on what you already know to create truly spectacular movies with your DSLR in whatever genre you choose. It introduces everything from the language of film and basic equipment you will need, to the art of post-production and publishing your new work.

Exclusive video content to accompany this book is available online.

All stories have characters, and whether its a film, game, book, or comic, all characters need to be designed. Character design has become a distinct discipline in the entertainment industry, and character designers are employed by film and game companies across the globe to bring life to scripts and ideas. In this book, illustrator and character designer Kevin Crossley provides a complete overview of character design. Starting with the basics of materials, equipment, and sofware, Kevin will explain the processes professional character designers follow to develop characters for publishing, games, and film. From ideas and thumbnails, anatomy and reference, through effective drawing, 3D mock-ups and full turnarounds, Kev explains how a character designer works to achieve professional results.

The thirty-two styles in this beautiful book give you the repertoire you need to make every day a good hair day; whether you desire tumbling tresses, cute braids, seductive swirls or fierce fishtails.

Bringing you looks that can be done in minutes to looks that impress with every tress, Hayley Mallinder helps you to become your very own super stylist, giving you the confidence to create looks that surprise and delight every time.

Paired with Hayley is top fashion illustrator Emma Leonard, who has created all the looks and steps in her seductive illustrations, making this an attractive and desirable book.

Have fun, feel good, and turn those heads!

Whichever side of the camera you like to be on, this book will show you how – with some simple camera techniques and inexpensive items of wardrobe – you can revolutionise your portfolio!

That’s always been the mission of photographer Mark and presenter/model Imogen in their smash-hit YouTube channel WeeklyImogen, and their expertise has attracted 160,000 subscribers with well over a million views a month (and growing).

In this book they’ll turn the practical wisdom so popular with thousands of photographers worldwide into a simple and accessible guide. You won’t need to spend a fortune on props, studios or equipment; photographers and models alike will quickly learn how to create an exciting, varied portfolio of fresh portrait photography.

Artists & Illustrators magazine’s Book of the Month

Taking inspiration from iconic paintings in the Tate collection, discover the techniques of the masters and improve your own painting skills with 30 guided projects. As you work through the exercises, you’ll learn how to work ‘wet into wet’ with Maggi Hambling, master colour temperature with John Singer Sargent and create rhythm and unity in your paintings with John Nash.

Whether you are looking to reinvigorate your watercolour practice with new techniques, try your hand at a wide variety of painting styles, or discover a new, inspiring master of the art, this book offers something new for every watercolourist.

Not suitable for children.

This book of scratch-off colouring cards offers a great way to relax. Make yourself comfortable then make a start and find how your stress levels reduce as you gradually reveal these stunning unicorns using the stylus provided. You can then use the finished cards to decorate your walls or give to others.

Not suitable for children.

This book of scratch-off colouring cards offers a great way to relax. Make yourself comfortable then make a start and find how your stress levels reduce as you gradually reveal these stunning cats using the stylus provided. You can then use the finished cards to decorate your walls or give to others.

Spiroglyphics is even more incredible than anything Thomas has done before. Each oversized design starts its life as a featureless spiral, but as you fill in the lines you find yourself creating a surprising, eye-popping portrait of a wonderful animal. Fun to create and amazing to look at, Spiroglyphics will blow your mind, and make amazing artworks for your wall!

In this book, Thomas creates incredible puzzles of animals.

Includes:
Alpaca
Butterfly
Cat
Dog
Duckling
Eagle
Fox
Lion
Tiger
And many more!

This contemporary craft book is packed with easy, affordable projects to help you make unique baby gifts with a French-chic twist.

From simple cotton bibs, shorts and soft toys, to a basic cushion and straightforward knitted blanket, the projects are clearly explained and easy-to-follow. Other crafty step-by-steps include a hanging mobile, finger puppets, soft rattles and sensory toys.

Whether you’re expecting a baby and want to add a personal touch to their bedroom, or you’d like to make something special for your grandchild or friends’ babies, Make, Stitch & Knit for Baby is the go-to book for creating handmade, stylish baby items.

Each project is set out with easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions and range from curious beginner, to providing inspiration for the more experienced crafter.

One of the most popular cameras on the market is called the Digital Rebel, yet many photographers use it and its brethren following tired old rules from tired old photographers. This book shows new and intermediate photographers that they can move beyond the dogma and shoot more creatively, right now. If youre just starting out with a camera, or are starting to think about switching away from auto, this is the perfect book for you. Not only will you find within all the classical rules useful basic knowledge that can sharpen anyones eye for a great photograph but you’ll simultaneously be shown how you can push the boundaries that many teachers erroneously set, filling your memory card with exciting, refreshing pictures every time.

Web Design Start Here takes you from novice to fully fledged web designer in just 224 pages. From planning, design, development and testing, to promotion, search engine optimization and vistor analytics, the book covers every stage with concise explanations, clear illustrations and plenty of useful and memorable tips along the way. The reader learns a no-nonsense approach to open-source design, covering HTML5 and CSS3, and is introduced to Javascript and PHP. They are also taught how to find, insert, and customise pieces of downloadable code to make their site more dynamic. Each chapter ends with a mini project to enable the reader to practice their new skills. By the end of the book they will have the knowledge and confidence to produce a beautiful, dynamic, multi-page site, opening the way to a new career in web design.

Anyone can draw, and anybody who can already draw can always learn to draw better. In this book, best-selling author and art tutor Jake Spicer gives you all the skills you need to sketch the human figure in just 15 minutes.

Good drawings aren’t always the ones that you’ve spent a lot of time over; some of the best pieces are swift, energetic studies that capture the feel of the subject in a few well-placed lines. This book contains a series of exercises that develop the core skills for drawing people, all of which can be completed in a quarter of an hour.

· Master the basic figure.
· Build confidence in mark making.
· Understand anatomy.
· Play with proportion and foreshortening.
· Capture details such as hair, hands and feet.

Long gone are the days of lining people up for predictable staged group shots; modern brides want photos, and photo-books, that’ll let them dive back into the experience of their special day.

In this book Turner shares the secrets that have propelled her to the top of her game. With inspiring and illuminating images in a candid photojournalistic style, you’ll have all accompanying details you need to capture similar images.

Readers will find a wealth of information on the crucial practicalities of capturing the day; a good wedding photographer will seem to be in many places at once so they can capture everything the guests will remember – from the special moment the bride puts on the dress, to the venue, place settings and memorable speeches.

Readers will also find advice on getting up and running as a business.

Art Life

is an invitation to take a creative journey – making your own fantastic art along the way.

This is a completely original way to unleash your creativity, with an engaging structure based around four distinct categories for exploring ideas – line, book, traces, and marks.

For each of these there are numerous projects and accessible methods for creating art, and you are encouraged to try whatever inspires you, without pressure or any preconceptions. Enjoy the element of surprise and satisfaction in creating something that evolves, rather than following a rigid plan. You will be amazed by what you can achieve.

Introducing work in every conceivable medium with sensational art and new photos, this book will let you enjoy the creative process, relax, and enjoy the art escape.

There’s no one secret to taking beautiful photos. But good photographers do have a few tricks up their
sleeves… They know that clouds, far from ruining a photo, give a great soft natural light for portraits. They know that unusual angles draw the eye, and that their feet are just as effective as a zoom lens.

This book packs 62 of the most important creative ideas into one place. Beautifully presented, easy-to-read and packed with example photos. None of these ideas need an expensive camera, fancy lens or a over-priced flash. The purpose of this book is to help you tell stories with your camera (or phone).

Whatever you want to shoot, Why Photographers Prefer Cloudy Days is packed full of ideas to inspire you, and tips that will help you take better, more original photos.

The New York Times Bestseller

“I wish I had read these rules forty years ago and carried them around like a bible. By chance or design I’ve followed most of them at some point but it took me a lifetime as an artist to find what worked. They are the generous, loving, enthusiastic, bullshit-free advice of a master communicator, just reading them makes me want to charge back into the studio” – Grayson Perry

“Being an artist is a lonely pursuit – twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, for the rest of your life. Most of the time it hurts. This book will help the pain” – Tracey Emin

One of Elizabeth Gilbert’s 2020 Quarantine Book Recommendations

“Joy is palpable in these pages. We need such thinking right now” – Apollo Magazine

As the witty and passionate chief art critic for New York magazine, Jerry Saltz is often approached by artists, both amateur and professional, asking him for advice: How do I get started? How do I get better? Is what I’m doing even art at all? They want to know, in short, how to be an artist.

Now, expanding on his viral cover story for New York magazine – and drawing on his decades of immersion in the art world – Saltz has the answers. How to Be An Artist is an indispensable book of practical inspiration for creative people of all kinds. Brimming with dozens of brand new rules, prompts, exercises, and tips designed to break through creative blocks, ignite motivation, and conquer bad habits, this book is designed to help artists of all kinds – painters, photographers, writers, performers – realize their dreams.

Includes such advice as:
– Make art for now, not the future
– No, you don’t need graduate school
– Recognize convention, and resist constraint
– Get lost
– Listen to the wildest voices in your head
– Know what you hate (it’s probably you)
– Finish the damn thing!
– How to recover from critical injuries

When Britain’s most lovable prince met America’s most beautiful legal-drama actress, a fairytale came to life.

Re-enact this captivating love story in the comfort of your own home with these handy royal paper dolls.

· Say “yes” to the dress as Meghan tries on stylish wedding gowns.

· Enjoy a royal Christmas as the couple kick back in an elf suit and a reindeer onesie.

· Relive that intimate marriage proposal, accessorised with a Union-Jack apron and a roast chicken.

· Join the prince at his imaginary Las Vegas Bachelor Party complete with speedos, cocktails and an inflatable unicorn.

· Help America’s finest Hollywood export into her incognito anti-paparazzi outfit (hat, sunglasses, handbag as shield).

Having a website built can be complicated and expensive. For large businesses this is a necessary expense, but for an ever-increasing number of independents and small businesses it can easily be handled by the intrepid amateur. In Create Your Own Website Using WordPress in a Weekend, author Alannah Moore draws on her extensive experience to show how, in just a weekend, almost anyone can create a website in WordPress that looks professional, and is entirely tailored to their needs and preferences. Through carefully structured step-by-step tutorials the book takes the reader through every stage of the process. Illustrated with fabulous examples, it features checklists and tips throughout. This book is conceived for the non-professional, and no specialist knowledge is needed to follow the simple steps from start to finish. The promise is that every reader will be able to achieve their aim of getting themself or their business online in just a couple of days.

Take your passion for photography and close the gap between what you hope to achieve and what you do, following one of the world’s most highly regarded photographers.

This book will help you think about your photography and find a visual voice. It follows a clear structure which will make it useful for any reader, and is fully illustrated with Simon’s own inspiring photography and some work from the historical greats.

Simon’s understanding of photography makes for a book filled with tips you can immediately fold into your own shooting, quickly establishing your own vision, learning what to concentrate on in a shot, and pushing you beyond your comfort zone. It also includes “lessons learned” from Steve’s experience, so you can neatly side-step some problems even the pros have had to endure.

Fashion photography is one of the most appealing markets for any new photographer, but also one of the most challenging, combining as it does a group of disciplines, from the more technical makeup and editing roles to the photography itself.

With digital technology and good planning, however, you can tackle as many of these as you please, and offer the best possible service to your client, whether that’s an international magazine taking your career to the next level, or a friend needing to look good on Facebook. After all, they’re just as important to you.

This book will teach you everything there is to know about fashion photography in the digital age, including the roles of the whole creative team, making it the only book you’ll ever need, whether you’re taking your first ever shot, working with a pro model for the first time, or taking on major clients.

Choosing the exposure for a photograph is both alarmingly simple and infinitely complex; in fact, it’s one of photography’s most absorbing paradoxes.

Exposure is at the very heart of photography. It has always been a subject of fascination to aspiring amateurs and professional photographers alike. Developments in digital technology have transformed the ways in which exposures can be manipulated, and this in turn has forced photographers to think about what they can achieve by understanding the variables of aperture, ISO, and time.

In this book Michael Freeman takes you through this difficult and fast-moving area using unique workflow illustrations, histograms, and clear, visual examples to explore the subtleties of the subject and enable you to shoot with confidence.

Divided into six sections – Fast-track & Foolproof, Technical, The Twelve, Style, Post-processing, and Reference – the book will provide you with the necessary instruction to get perfect exposure anywhere and with any subject matter.