Archives: Walter Foster Books
In The Little Book of Rock Painting, aspiring artists will discover how to gather and prepare their rocks to create masterpieces that are truly one with nature. Written and illustrated by three talented rock-painting artists, the book features a range of contemporary designs to experiment with, from patterns and animals to mandalas and dots. The instructions are easy to follow and invite creativity and originality.
Grab your colors, head outside, and start painting beautiful works of art on stones!
The Little Book of … series focuses on delivering fun, approachable, and interesting art instruction in a fresh, portable format. With its contemporary design, open practice pages, creative exercises, and prompts that encourage interactivity, beginning artists learn the fundamentals of their craft, often with immediate results.
Also available from the series:The Little Book of Sketching, The Little Book of Lettering & Word Design, The Little Book of Manga Drawing, The Little Book of Cartooning & Illustration, and The Little Book of Drawing Dragons & Fantasy Characters.
Mixed media enthusiasts will enjoy learning the essential concepts for creating their own mixed media art—whether they are experienced in its approaches or just starting out. 101 Mixed Media Techniques features a wide variety of traditional and eclectic techniques, including drawing and painting, stamping, stitching, using photos, prepping backgrounds, working with wax, using different kinds of inks, collaging, journaling, and working with encaustics.
Multiple ways to use each technique are provided to inspire and nurture creative freedom in every artist. Each technique is presented in a step-by-step format, beginning with an overview of the required tools and materials. The instructions are straightforward and approachable, so artists of all levels can master them with ease.
The engaging and accessible format caters to individual learning preferences, allowing artists to focus on a single technique or several at a time. Readers will not only learn a variety of techniques, but will also discover new ideas and inspiration for using the techniques in their own projects.
With so many options to choose from, 101 Mixed Media Techniques has something for every artist and is sure to inspire new forms of creativity.
Half the battle of achieving precise, realistic results in oil and acrylic painting comes down to one’s ability to accurately render surfaces and textures—a challenging feat for even experienced artists. Although many art instruction books focus on learning to paint specific subjects, many fall short when it comes to offering instruction on techniques that help one capture textures adequately.
In 101 Textures in Oil & Acrylic, experienced and talented artist Mia Tavonatti provides artists with the essential skills required to render realistic surfaces in oil and acrylic. Artists will discover tips and tricks for working with both mediums, as well as a variety of techniques, including blending, layering, working with oil and acrylic mediums, creating an underpainting, and more. In addition to valuable step-by-step instructions, general color recommendations offer a quick start guide. This helpful guide includes an index for fast and easy reference, while a short gallery at the end of the book represents various textures in finished works of art.
With its broad range of coverage, easy-to-follow instruction, and helpful tips, 101 Textures in Oil & Acrylic is a must-have art instruction book for artists of all skill levels, sure to be referenced time and again.
“All you need is the desire to make beautiful things happen on canvas…” —Bob Ross
In 1982, The Joy of Painting made its debut on public television. The unrehearsed, unedited show soon became a favorite among aspiring artists and painters. Almost 40 years and 403 episodes after his on-air debut, and decades after his untimely passing, Bob Ross still has enormous global popularity as a beloved painter, affable TV personality, and cultural icon.
With this guide, you can learn to paint a happy tree in seconds, just like Bob Ross! Painting with Bob Ross introduces you to the tools and materials you need to paint beautiful landscapes, as well as basic painting techniques, such as how to load your brush and how to paint with a knife.
Following the introduction are 16 painting projects, each with a complete list of tools and materials needed and instructions for preparing the canvas. Jump into painting with step one, then follow the full-color painting progressions and clearly written instructions until you’ve reached the final step—and your new, joyful work of art! This is the only Bob Ross book with all-color images.
Even if you’re brand new to painting, remember that Bob said, “Talent is nothing more than a pursued interest. All you need to paint is a few tools, a little instruction, and a vision in your mind.” Throughout this book, Bob’s quotes encourage you to keep going.
So grab your copy of Painting with Bob Ross, relax and unwind, and paint a Bob Ross-inspired landscape! You can paint graceful mountains, ocean waves crashing onto rocks, a winter cabin, a lakeside path, a deep forest river, and many more breathtaking views. And don’t forget to sign each of your masterpieces once you’ve completed the last step!
Polymer Clay for Beginners introduces artists, art hobbyists, and polymer clay enthusiasts to the versatile, accessible polymer clay medium. Because polymer clay does not require the use of a kiln and needs only baking in the oven, it is an easy, approachable art form for even the most inexperienced artist to learn, as well as kids, families, teachers, and anyone else looking for a fun, boredom-busting hobby or craft.
Professional artist and owner of Cat Bear Express, Emily Chen, demonstrates how to make adorable animal figurines, flowers, cookies, cakes, beads, and more through easy step-by-step projects. Each project features colorful, styled photographs demonstrating how finished pieces can be used, displayed, and gifted. A comprehensive tools and materials section and detailed information on techniques, baking, and glazing guide artists in their quest to become polymer clay pros.
A modern approach to sculpture art, polymer clay is the perfect choice for beginners and crafting enthusiasts.
The Art Makers series is designed for beginning artists and arts-and-crafts enthusiasts who are interested in experiencing fun hands-on mediums, including embroidery and papier-mache.
Visual notetaking is the perfect skill for journaling, class lectures, conferences, and any other time that retaining information is key. Also referred to as sketchnoting, visual notetaking is ideal for documenting processes, planning projects, outlining ideas, and capturing information. And as you'll learn in The Art of Visual Notetaking, this approach doesn't require advanced drawing or hand-lettering skills; anyone can learn how to use simple lines, connectors, shapes, and text to take dynamic notes.
In The Art of Visual Notetaking, aspiring sketchnoters and journalers will find helpful "Getting Started" pages of icons and badges for common note-taking purposes, with tips and encouragement for creating you own unique icons. You'll go on to discover instruction and how-to techniques, tips, and tutorials that focus on visual notetaking for different settings, from a business meeting, workshop, or convention, to a college lecture or sermon. Expert instruction from a professional sketchnote artist and educator demonstrates how to visually arrange and compile ideas, focal points, and key concepts.
En Plein Air: Acrylic introduces beginning artists and fine-art lovers alike to the core concepts of painting on location. This hardworking guide features everything you'll need to get started, including expert tips on what to pack and how to maximize your time outdoors. You'll also learn how to choose a subject once you're on-site and then interpret it for a complex and pleasing composition.
Painting on location in the open air is a unique challenge, but with En Plein Air: Acrylic, you will learn to deal with the challenges of shadows and natural light and hone your skills in a fun, refreshing way. Perfect for artists looking to grow beyond the studio, this one-stop guide is an excellent resource for expanding upon the peace and joy that comes with painting.
From selecting the appropriate tools, such as pens, nibs, brushes, inks, and papers, to learning optimal hand positioning and understanding the intricacies of lettering angles, heights, spacing, and strokes, The Complete Book of Calligraphy & Lettering will help lettering enthusiasts swiftly master their craft.
Step-by-step lessons, practice templates, and a range of stunning alphabets demonstrate the breadth of artistic achievement that comes with practice and dedication. Four professional artists guide you through traditional calligraphy techniques, as well as an introduction to contemporary hand-lettering art forms, such as brush lettering and mixed media, for a well-rounded approach to the craft.
Additionally, a short section on Chinese brush lettering and several mixed media lettering projects inspire creativity and demonstrate how calligraphy and lettering can be used in wider artistic contexts and projects. Including practice templates for several featured alphabets in addition to mixed media "bonus" projects designed to inspire artistic creativity, The Complete Book of Calligraphy & Lettering will inspire lettering enthusiasts of all skill levels to strengthen their existing skills and delve into new, lesser-known variations of the trend.
From handling the pencil and mastering basic techniques to learning about value, form, and shading, Basic Textures in Pencil teaches beginning artists all of the elements they need to achieve realistic results in their drawings.
Intuitive step-by-step lessons then demonstrate how you can put your newfound skills to use by rendering everything from metal, glass, and wood textures to fur and feathers. Each concept is clearly explained in easy-to-comprehend language, making this book an accessible and approachable resource for beginning artists and art enthusiasts.
Designed for beginners, the How to Draw & Paint series offers an easy-to-follow guide that introduces artists to basic tools and materials and includes simple step-by-step lessons for a variety of projects suitable for the aspiring artist. Basic Textures in Pencil allows artists to widen the scope of their abilities, demonstrating basic pencil drawing techniques that allow beginners to re-create a variety of common textures and surfaces.
A perfect resource for new artists and art hobbyists, Basic Color Theory demonstrates the color wheel at work and covers all the essentials, including complementary, primary, secondary, and tertiary colors; hue, saturation, and value; color mood, temperature, and schemes; and how to create a color chart.
Each concept is clearly explained in easy-to-comprehend language so beginning artists can put their newfound knowledge to immediate use. Also included are step-by-step tutorials, as well as techniques for basic color mixing in different mediums.
Designed for beginners, the How to Draw & Paint series offers an easy-to-follow guide that introduces artists to basic tools and materials and includes simple step-by-step lessons for a variety of projects suitable for the aspiring artist. Basic Color Theory allows artists to widen the scope of their abilities, demonstrating how to create color and value charts, basic color mixing techniques, and a comprehensive approach to understanding color relationships.