Nothing creates a stronger sense of "life" in your wildlife art than realistic textures. This book, a collection of some of the finest art instruction ever published by North Light Books, will show you proven ways to paint fur, feathers and other realistic wildlife textures. You'll find easy-to-follow instruction and step-by-step demonstrations from top wildlife artists in a variety of mediums, including acrylic, oil, watercolor and pastel. No matter what your medium or how long you've been painting, these "keys" will unlock new possibilities in your wildlife art.

In this book, readers will discover an array of special, easy-to-follow tips and techniques for wielding colors and values in a variety of mediums with confidence. They'll begin by learning to master the application of tonal values--the foundation of lights and darks upon which colors depend. Next they'll find clear, concise guidelines for imbuing their work with color--everything from hue, intensity and shadow to color temperature and "broken colors." Finally, they'll learn how to use value and color together to create evocative moods and stunning special effects, such as time of day, the seasons, weather, fog, mist and clouds. Step-by-step demonstrations make learning easy and fun, no matter what the artist's skill level!Rachel Rubin Wolf is a freelance writer, editor and artist. She is the author of more than 20 books including the Acrylic Painter's Book of Styles and Techniques, the Best of Flower Painting and Art from the Parks. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Professional artist Foster Caddell takes you through the process of painting typical portraits and then analyzes the mistakes most commonly made by students. This guide covers all the bases for helping artists bring their portraits to life!

Shows how light can can bring drama, emotion, and power to your painting.

Provides down-to-earth, lighthearted instructions for developing basic painting design skills, sharing step-by-step demonstrations and game-like tips while placing an emphasis on watercolor techniques.

No matter what medium you are working in, you can create paintings that are interesting to your viewer. Popular painter and instructor Tony Couch shows you how! Tony Couch maintains that the key to producing credible work lies within the mastery of two basic skills: drawing and design. There are only a few simple principles of design at the foundation of any successful painting, and Tony Couch demonstrates how you can apply these principles to create visually appealing paintings. Once you begin to understand and use the principles taught in this book, you can consciously incorporate them into your work. You'll learn to make your paintings interesting through color harmony, repetition, balance, and dominance, but at the same time create visual appeal through variety, contrast, and gradation. Tony Couch's Keys to Successful Painting breaks down the fundamentals of painting design. Couch demonstrates how to arrange shapes, size, lines, color, and values to create stunning compositions. Because Tony Couch reduces design to a few rules applied to a limited number of elements, you'll find his ideas easy to remember. The sheer number of paintings included here that illustrate these principles allow you to see how they work in practice. Painters of all mediums can create unforgettable works with Tony Couch's invaluable design advice. Tony Couch received his bachelor's degree from the University of Tampa and studied with Edgar A. Whitney at the Pratt Institute in New York City. During a 31-year career as a commercial airline pilot, Couch advanced his watercolor painting skills at workshops with Ed Whitney, Milford Zornes, Robert E. Wood, Zoltan Szabo, and others. He has written articles on watercolor instruction for North Light, American Artist, and Palette Talk, and has produced a popular series of videos on watercolor painting. He teaches watercolor workshops worldwide and has won over 50 awards. Couch maintains membership to a number of art societies and is also the author of Watercolor: You Can Do It and Watercolor Techniques.

Provides basic tips and techniques on acrylic painting, from selecting the right acrylics and brushes to sealing and protecting the finished work. Includes special section on using acrylics for craft purposes.

Find out what you can do with oil paints. Make brushwork more expressive and add shadows. Try a full complement of creative techniques. Breathtaking examples of finished paintings, analyzed in detail, guide you through a range of themes, including architecture, figures, and landscapes.

Anyone who can hold a pencil can learn to draw. In this book, Bert Dodson shares his complete drawing system—fifty-five "keys" that you can use to render any subject with confidence, even if you're a beginner. These keys, along with dozens of practice exercises, will help you draw like an artist in no time. You'll learn how to: • Restore, focus, map, and intensify • Free your hand action, then learn to control it • Convey the illusions of light, depth, and texture • Stimulate your imagination through "creative play"