Archives: Walter Foster Books
The perfect tactile and environmentally conscious art form, papier mache uses simple, affordable, and recyclable tools and can be made easily at home. This accessible guide covers the tools, materials, and techniques for making papier mache, followed by step-by-step projects for making quirky, whimsical, folk art–inspired:
- Home decor
- Gifts
- Jewelry
- Dolls
- Animal figurines
- And much more
Art Makers: Papier Mache is the perfect book for anyone wanting to get started with this fun, easy technique, or for those who want to revisit the joy of making papier mache from their childhood.
The Art Makers series is designed for beginning artists and arts-and-crafts enthusiasts who are interested in experiencing fun hands-on mediums, including polymer clay and embroidery.
While animators must first know how to draw, the animation process involves much more than just good drawing skills. In this new edition, acclaimed cartoon animator Preston Blair shares his vast practical knowledge to explain and demonstrate the many techniques of cartoon animation. Learn the knowledge and skills animators must have, including:
- How to construct original cartoon characters by developing a character’s shape, personality, features, and mannerisms
- How to animate movements such as running, walking, dancing, posing, skipping, and more
- How to create realistic-looking mouth movements during dialogue, as well as body movements and facial expressions while the character is speaking
- The finer points of animating a character, including drawing key character poses and in-betweens
THIS REVISED EDITION INCLUDES:
Chapter 1: Getting Started
Tools & Materials
Drawing Basics
Animation Methods
Chapter 2: Cartoon Construction
Parts of a Cartoon Character
The Body
The Head
Facial Expressions
The Hands
Chapter 3: Character Design & Development
Cartoon Examples
The Cute Character
The Screwball Type
The “Pugnacious” Character
More Animal Characters
Fictional People
Children
Chapter 4: Basic Character Movement
Comics to Life
Line of Action
Rhythm & Design
Basic Movement
Chapter 5: Animation
Principles
Beyond Simple Movements
Rough Sketches
Balance
Paths of Action
Animation Effects
Chapter 6: Animated Acting
Expressing an Attitude
Three Rules for Actors
Body Language
Dialogue
The Collector’s Series offers a broad range of projects across a variety of mediums and genres, such as drawing, oil, acrylic, watercolor, cartooning, calligraphy, and others. This series is suitable for beginning to intermediate artists, and each title features in-depth instruction about how to work with the tools of the trade, master techniques, and use newfound skills in practical application.
Aspiring artists, illustrators, art students, and art hobbyists will discover how to use basic carving tools and techniques to design and create custom lino prints for distinctive works of art. Practical instruction combined with approachable step-by-step projects and inspirational imagery guide readers on an engaging, easy-to-follow exploration of block printing.
Following an introduction to essential materials, such as printmaking inks, linoleum blocks, carving tools, and papers, Block Print for Beginners demonstrates how to get from uncarved block to finished print, including transferring a drawing, carving the block, working with inks, and achieving the best print results. Once comfortable with the basics, aspiring printmakers can move on to explore a series of step-by-step tutorials for creating a variety of lino prints with blocks they can use over and over again.
From basic block prints to more advanced techniques, such as printing in repeated patterns and creating stationery, wrapping paper, wallpaper, and more, Block Print for Beginners provides a fresh, contemporary, and enjoyable approach to learning this time-treasured art form.
The Inspired Artist series invites art hobbyists and casual art enthusiasts to have fun learning basic art concepts, relaxing into the creative process to make art in a playful, contemporary style. Also from the series, find even more artistic inspiration with: Draw Every Little Thing, Paint Every Little Thing, and Watercolor Painting at Home.
In Nature Painting in Watercolor, beginning and aspiring artists can learn to paint their favorite ferns, leaves, trees, florals, as well as animals, in a contemporary style using the popular watercolor medium. Start by learning about the tools and materials needed to paint in watercolor; then dive into a thorough and fun painting techniques section, which covers washes, glazes, how to add detail in watercolor, and much more. If you’d like to spend more time outside (who doesn’t?), check out the section on finding inspiration outside for tips on viewing and gathering natural painting subjects, such as trees, grasses, flowers, and many other plants.
And if you can’t get outside, we’ve got you covered as well, with suggestions for where to find images online and photos to use as references. Also learn to sketch and keep a detailed sketchbook—skills that will help you when you get started on the step-by-step painting projects in the largest section of the book.
The step-by-step projects cover popular natural painting subjects, including the ones already listed here as well as rocks, mushrooms, buds, blooms, big and small trees, and forest animals. All are illustrated and painted in the author/artists’s signature contemporary watercolor style.
Nature Painting in Watercolor offers a fun, refreshing look at painting plants for today’s artist.
With Art Makers: Empowered Embroidery, learn to sketch and stitch strong, recognizable women from all walks of life.
Featuring sketching and illustration instructions, basic stitches, embroidery techniques, and 6 projects with portraits of famous women, this book is a must-have tool for hands-on artists and crafters.
If you’re a beginning embroiderer, start with the basic stitches and embroidery instructions at the beginning of the book. Essential tools, warm-up exercises, tips for embroidering facial features and hair, and general information on embroidery will give you the know-how you need to get started. Then dive into sketching your favorite female cultural and historical icons:
- Frida Kahlo
- Eleanor Roosevelt
- Maya Angelou
- Harriet Tubman
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Michelle Obama
Once you’ve sketched your figures, follow along with the step-by-step embroidery projects as you learn to stitch the women featured in the book—and anyone else you admire! All of the projects are beautifully paired with large photos so that you can easily mimic the techniques at home while relaxing with your embroidery.
The author is a professional illustrator, designer, and embroiderer uniquely suited to give instruction on this fun, trending embroidery technique. With her expert tips, you’re sure to enjoy learning a new hobby, or advancing your skills if you’re already familiar with embroidery.
Art Makers: Empowered Embroidery makes it easy to sketch, stitch, and create your favorite female icons, from empowering women of today to icons of the past.
The Art Makers series is designed for beginning artists and arts-and-crafts enthusiasts who are interested in experiencing fun hands-on mediums, including polymer clay and papier-mache.
With Ten-Step Drawing: People, learn to draw the figure from head to toe, step by easy step. From eyes, lips, noses, and ears to hands, feet, and clothing, beginning artists will delight in rendering a variety of poses and expressions; as well as how easy it is to recreate them in ten simple drawing steps. Handy prompts help encourage artistic individuality and include helpful tips for drawing other subjects not featured in the book. Approachable text and step-by-step drawings make learning to draw fun and easy, and the portable format allows for spontaneous drawing wherever you may be. So grab a pencil and start drawing!
Designed especially for aspiring illustrators, doodlers, and art hobbyists, the fun and approachable books in the Ten-Step Drawing series encourage new artists to get acquainted with the basic principles of drawing so they can learn to create art with confidence. Ten-Step Drawing: People is sure to encourage even the most reluctant artist to break out a sketchbook and doodle to their heart's content.
Also available in the Ten-Step Drawing series: Flowers, Animals, and Nature.
With Ten-Step Drawing: Nature, learn to create an array of animals, insects, and plants, step by easy step. From dragonflies and birds to flowers, feathers, and shells, nature lovers will delight in the varied selection of subjects; as well as how easy it is to recreate them in ten simple drawing steps. Handy prompts help encourage artistic individuality and include helpful tips for drawing other subjects not featured in the book. Approachable text and step-by-step drawings make learning to draw fun and easy, and the portable format allows for spontaneous drawing wherever you may be.
Designed especially for aspiring illustrators, doodlers, and art hobbyists, the fun and approachable books in the Ten-Step Drawing series encourage new artists to get acquainted with the basic principles of drawing so they can learn to create art with confidence. Ten-Step Drawing: Nature is sure to encourage even the most reluctant artist to break out a sketchbook and doodle to their heart's content. So grab a pencil, get out in nature, and start drawing!
Also available in the Ten-Step Drawing series: Flowers, Animals, and People.
The Art of Figure Drawing for Beginners features instruction for learning how to render the head, body, and extremities using very basic shapes, as well as drawing mannequins placed in a variety of configurations. The book's informative, easy-to-follow content covers figure drawing essentials, including:
- An overview of basic anatomy
- Natural variations in shape, texture, and proportion
- Helpful techniques for rendering humans in single and group poses
- Information for working with the tools of the trade
The Collector's Series offers approachable, step-by-step art instruction for a variety of mediums and subjects, such as drawing, oil, acrylic, watercolor, cartooning, calligraphy, and more. Perfect for beginning artists, each title features artist tips for drawing or painting anything and everything from people, animals, and still life to flowers, trees, and landscapes.
Whether you're an experienced artist or just starting out, The Complete Book of Textures for Artists features a wide variety of both traditional and contemporary techniques. After an introduction to the basic tools and materials, discover a variety of drawing and painting techniques, such as hatching, crosshatching, shading, blending, layering, burnishing, and more. Organized into sections based on subject matter and media, each page features easy-to-follow steps demonstrating how to create each specific texture. Not only will you learn a variety of techniques, but you’ll also discover new ideas and inspiration for using the techniques in your own projects.
Packed with easy-to-follow instructions and plenty of helpful artist tips, The Complete Book of Textures for Artists is the perfect resource for beginning and established artists who are ready to master the intricacies of rendering realistic texture in their artwork.
Perfect for both aspiring and established artists, this easy-to-understand guidebook shows you the secrets to drawing lifelike still life artwork in the dynamic medium of colored pencil.
*Named One of the 54 Best Colored Pencil Drawing Books of All Time by BookAuthority*
Rendering artwork that leaves your viewers contemplating whether a piece might actually be a photograph is no easy task! But if you want to learn how to render realistic still lifes using a wide range of techniques, the approachable and engaging Realistic Still Life in Colored Pencil is just the resource. After an introduction to the basic tools and materials, you will discover a variety of basic colored-pencil techniques, such as:
- Hatching
- Crosshatching
- Shading
- Blending
- Layering
- Burnishing
- And much more!
In addition, you will find more complex techniques for creating realistic still lifes, including how to render various textures like glass, wood, porcelain, flower petals, and others. Throughout the book, expert artist and art instructor Cynthia Knox offers tips and techniques for using layers to build color and depth, establishing dramatic and moody backgrounds, and working with “hidden” colors to achieve realistic effects. Also included is valuable information for connecting all of the elements for polished and professional results. Each project comes with a list of the colored pencils that are needed to complete the project.
Packed with easy-to- follow instructions, plenty of helpful tips, and beautiful artwork and photographs to inspire, Realistic Still Life in Colored Pencil is the perfect resource for taking your colored-pencil art to the next level.