Field arts are the ways we translate the language of the wild into something we humans can understand and love: Writing in our field notebooks, map-making, sketching, watercoloring in situ . . . Field arts use primitive tools, compared to high-tech things such as cameras: A pen or pencil and paper, a few pigments and some water. Field arts use our brains in ways our cameras cannot approach: To study something to draw it, one must see, not just look . . . one learns the very essence of what makes the leaf or the flower, the deer or the house wren . . .Field arts go hand-in-hand with exploration: we use our observational and visual skills to document our world.And ultimately, field arts are, at their core, a direct link to science and knowledge and understanding and ultimately, appreciation and conservation.

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.

This collection offers field-defining work from 43 master book artists.

From the author of Ahead of the Curve, a revelatory look at successful selling and how it can impact everything we do The first book of its kind, The Art of the Sale is the result of a pilgrimage to learn the secrets of the world's foremost sales gurus. Bestselling author Philip Delves Broughton tracked down anyone who could help him understand what it took to achieve greatness in sales, from technology billionaires to the most successful saleswoman in Japan to a cannily observant rug merchant in Morocco. The wisdom and experience Broughton acquired, revealed in this outstanding book, demonstrates as never before the complex alchemy of effective selling and the power it has to overcome challenges we face every day.

An eight-time national chess champion and world champion martial artist shares the lessons he has learned from two very different competitive arenas, identifying key principles about learning and performance that readers can apply to their life goals. Reprint. 35,000 first printing.

When in their lives do great artists produce their greatest art? Do they strive for creative perfection throughout decades of painstaking and frustrating experimentation, or do they achieve it confidently and decisively, through meticulous planning that yields masterpieces early in their lives? By examining the careers not only of great painters but also of important sculptors, poets, novelists, and movie directors, Old Masters and Young Geniuses offers a profound new understanding of artistic creativity. Using a wide range of evidence, David Galenson demonstrates that there are two fundamentally different approaches to innovation, and that each is associated with a distinct pattern of discovery over a lifetime. Experimental innovators work by trial and error, and arrive at their major contributions gradually, late in life. In contrast, conceptual innovators make sudden breakthroughs by formulating new ideas, usually at an early age. Galenson shows why such artists as Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Cézanne, Jackson Pollock, Virginia Woolf, Robert Frost, and Alfred Hitchcock were experimental old masters, and why Vermeer, van Gogh, Picasso, Herman Melville, James Joyce, Sylvia Plath, and Orson Welles were conceptual young geniuses. He also explains how this changes our understanding of art and its past. Experimental innovators seek, and conceptual innovators find. By illuminating the differences between them, this pioneering book provides vivid new insights into the mysterious processes of human creativity.

Southern Arizona is a not only a world-class travel destination, it's also a region with so many natural attractions that even its residents never run out of places to explore. The Southern Arizona Nature Almanac reveals the incredible diversity of the desert Southwest by highlighting its most compelling features and natural phenomena for each month of the year: blooming plants, wildlife activity, places to visit, weather, and prominent constellations. From migratory birds to snakes to insects, the almanac will show you what to expect in the sky or under your feet, no matter what season you venture out.

The Art of Forgery: Case Studies in Deception explores the stories, dramas and human intrigues surrounding the world’s most famous forgeries – investigating the motivations of the artists and criminals who have faked great works of art, and in doing so conned the public and the art establishment alike.

Creativity, like information, is free to everyone who steps into a library. The Artist's Library offers the idea that an artist is any person who uses creative tools to make new things, and the guidance and resources to make libraries of all sizes and shapes come alive as spaces for art-making and cultural engagement. Case studies included in the book range from the crafty (pop-up books) to the community-minded (library galleries) to documentary (photo projects) to the technically complex ("listening" to libraries via Dewey decimal frequencies). The Library as Incubator Project was created by Erinn Batykefer, Laura Damon-Moore, and Christina Endres. It highlights the ways that libraries and artists can work together, and works to strengthen these partnerships. By calling attention to one of the many reasons libraries are important to our communities and our culture, it provides a dynamic online forum for sharing ideas. Erinn Batykefer is a librarian, a writer, and a lifelong do-it-yourselfer. She earned an MFA in writing and a Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her first poetry collection, Allegheny, Monongahela, won the Benjamin Saltman Poetry Prize. Laura Damon-Moore is a librarian, blogger, and avid art-maker in her spare time. Laura received her master's degree in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2012. Jessica Pigza is the assistant curator in the New York Public Library's Rare Book Division. She also writes on handmade material culture, DIY, and handicrafts at Hand-Made Librarian.