Old Masters Rock is a book for parents and children to look at together. It introduces the type of questions that help us discover things about a work of art and how we feel about it. Whether you are an adult or a child, curiosity should be your starting point, as it reveals what interests you in a painting. Features such as "Art Detectives" encourage children to solve clues and "Fun Facts" help them remember the pictures. Throughout, the emphasis is on looking at the paintings and drawing one's own conclusions about what one is seeing. Grouped into 13 themes, such as Animals, the Natural World, Action Heroes, Myth & Magic, Fabulous Faces, and more, 50 paintings from the 14th century through to the early 20th century are featured. Different styles, from the early Renaissance, through Baroque, Mannerist, Realist, and Impressionist, are included. Well-known artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Holbein, Rubens, Velasquez, Constable, Degas, Manet, Van Gogh, and Munch are featured, as well as less familiar artists who will quickly become favorites.

The noted archaeologist explores the varieties of prehistoric cave art across the world and offers surprising insights into its purpose and meaning. What drew our Stone Age ancestors into caves to paint in charcoal and red hematite, to watch the likenesses of lions, bison, horses, and aurochs as they flickered by firelight? Was it a creative impulse, a spiritual dawn, a shamanistic conception of the world? In this book, Jean Clottes, one of the most renowned figures in the study of cave paintings, pursues an answer to the “why” of Paleolithic art. Discussing sites and surveys across the world, Clottes offers personal reflections on how we have viewed these paintings in the past, what we learn from looking at them across geographies, and what these paintings may have meant—and what function they may have served—for their artists. Steeped in Clottes’s shamanistic theories of cave painting, What Is Paleolithic Art? travels from well-known Ice Age sites like Chauvet, Altamira, and Lascaux to visits with contemporary aboriginal artists, evoking a continuum between the cave paintings of our prehistoric past and the living rock art of today. Clottes’s work lifts us from the darkness of our Paleolithic origins to reveal surprising insights into how we think, why we create, why we believe, and who we are

- This breathtakingly intricate, beautiful book accompanies an exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh and extensive publicity surrounding it. The exhibition runs 19 May to 28 October and there will be a BBC tv program exploring the work of Raqib Shaw this spring Raqib Shaw is one of the most extraordinary and sought-after artists working in the world today. Born in Calcutta in 1974 and raised in Kashmir, he came to London to study in 1998 and has lived there ever since. Inspired by a broad range of influences, including the old masters, Indian miniatures, Persian carpets and the Pre-Raphaelites, his paintings are infused with memories and longing for his homeland in Kashmir. His technique constitutes a completely unique kind of enamel painting. Spending months on preparatory drawings, tracings and photographic studies, he then transfers the composition onto prepared wooden panels, establishing an intricate design with acrylic liner, which leaves a slightly raised line. He adds the enamel paint using needle-fine syringes and a porcupine quill, with which he maneuvers the paint. The finished works are intricate, magical and breathtaking in their color and complexity. This book accompanies an exhibition of eight paintings by Raqib Shaw at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, alongside two paintings which have long obsessed him and have influenced specific works: Sir Joseph Noel Paton's The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania, 1849 (National Gallery of Scotland) and Lucas Cranach's An Allegory of Melancholy, 1528 (private collection). The book includes the first full-length biographical study of the artist.

Paint Lab for Kids is an inspiring collection of 52 fresh, kid-friendly projects for nurturing an artistic spirit and a love of art through working and playing with paint. Popular artist and author Stephanie Corfee offers an exciting resource of easy-to-follow instructions supported throughout with step-by-step, full-color photographs for projects that teach techniques, stimulate new ideas, explore color, combine materialsin interesting ways, and encourage self-expression. Each project sequence includes a complete materials list, finished sample, and the inspiring work of a noted artist. Have fun exploring: painting techniques by making folded paper insect monoprints. your imagination with a marbled paper galaxy painting. color with pencil eraser pointillism. mixed media art by embellishing a family photo mounted on canvas. This book is perfect for anyone who teaches or leads hands-on art experiences: creative, DIY-inspired parents, families, friends, homeschoolers, scouting, community, and youth group leaders. The popular Lab for Kids series features a growing list of books that share hands-on activities and projects on a wide host of topics, including art, astronomy, clay, geology, math, and even how to create your own circus—all authored by established experts in their fields. Each lab contains a complete materials list, clear step-by-step photographs of the process, as well as finished samples. The labs can be used as singular projects or as part of a yearlong curriculum of experiential learning. The activities are open-ended, designed to be explored over and over, often with different results. Geared toward being taught or guided by adults, they are enriching for a range of ages and skill levels. Gain firsthand knowledge on your favorite topic with Lab for Kids.