Have you ever experienced the peace of walking through the woods or the excitement of a storm gathering on a beach? Drawing Nature for the Absolute Beginner will help you capture these moments in artwork and share them others. In their fun and friendly teaching style, Mark and Mary Willenbrink offer a great beginner's course on drawing nature, showing you how to realistically capture the world around you. All you need to get started are some simple supplies, basic techniques, and inspiration. From field to forest, beach or mountain, begin with a structural sketch, apply values and textures, and, before you know it, you'll be drawing everything you see. You'll even learn how to render favorite wildlife such as chipmunks, deer and eagles! • Follow along with easy step-by-step demonstrations to draw rocks, seashells, butterflies and even more developed nature scenes. • Gain a working understanding of key concepts such as perspective, value and composition. • Discover simple tools and tips you can use right away to improve your art.

Illustrations and step-by-step instructions help demonstrate the different techniques that are used to draw nature scenes, including clouds, mountains, water, and trees.

In straightforward text complemented by step-by-step illustrations, dozens of exercises lead the hand and mind through creating accurate reproductions of plants and animals as well as landscapes, skies, and more. Laws provides clear, practical advice for every step of the process for artists at every level, from the basics of choosing supplies to advanced techniques.

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This classic of art instruction is the work of James Duffield Harding (1798-1863), who served as drawing master and sketching companion to the great Victorian art critic, John Ruskin. Generations of students have benefited from the teachings of this 19th-century master, who sought always to "produce as near a likeness to Nature, in every respect, as the instrument, or material employed, will admit of; not so much by bona fide imitation, as by reviving in the mind those ideas which are awakened by a contemplation of Nature . . . The renewal of those feelings constitutes the true purpose of Art." This volume consists of direct reproductions of Harding's sketches of vignettes from natural settings. Each is accompanied by a series of lessons emphasizing both practical and theoretical considerations. The edition features the added attraction of 23 outstanding plates from the author's Lessons on Trees.

When students are given fixed and finalized abstractions from the beginning, they do not have to use their own inner forces to overcome the resistance of the world to arrive at truth or to create beauty. The result is that their inner pictures are devoid of life. To arrive at a truth or to create beauty that reflects the order and harmony of the Creator, we must always begin humbly, in ignorance and ugliness. By striving out of ignorance and ugliness toward the true and beautiful, both scientists and artists can bring new, creative forces into the world. Neither memorizing data nor copying a beautiful drawing engages the true imagination of students as it is by drawing a flower from life. It is precisely this lack of an active, striving inner creativity that can result in the frequently overwhelming feelings of anxiety and alienation experienced by so many people today. As a counterbalance, education must--in all areas of knowledge--increasingly focus on the personal creation of what, through its beauty, speaks truth and through its truth radiates beauty. Drawing from the Book of Nature is about both drawing and the natural world of plants and animals. It is a valuable resource for teachers, students, and anyone who wants to develop a capacity for artistic observation of natural phenomena. Dennis Klocek provides a refreshing combination of depth and clarity, offering a wealth of insight into the lives that constitute living nature. The text is supported by easy-to-follow lessons that help the reader bring the kingdoms of nature to life on paper. This book is a resource through which teachers, students, and others can find their own way toward reuniting with beauty and truth.