Equal parts mail art, data visualization, and affectionate correspondence, Dear Data celebrates "the infinitesimal, incomplete, imperfect, yet exquisitely human details of life," in the words of Maria Popova (Brain Pickings), who introduces this charming and graphically powerful book. For one year, Giorgia Lupi, an Italian living in New York, and Stefanie Posavec, an American in London, mapped the particulars of their daily lives as a series of hand-drawn postcards they exchanged via mail weekly—small portraits as full of emotion as they are data, both mundane and magical. Dear Data reproduces in pinpoint detail the full year's set of cards, front and back, providing a remarkable portrait of two artists connected by their attention to the details of their lives—including complaints, distractions, phone addictions, physical contact, and desires. These details illuminate the lives of two remarkable young women and also inspire us to map our own lives, including specific suggestions on what data to draw and how. A captivating and unique book for designers, artists, correspondents, friends, and lovers everywhere.

Drawing is not a talent, it's a skill anyone can learn. This is the philosophy of drawing instructor Brent Eviston based on his more than twenty years of teaching. He has tested numerous types of drawing instruction from centuries old classical techniques to contemporary practices and designed an approach that combines tried and true techniques with innovative methods of his own. Now, he shares his secrets with this book that provides the most accessible, streamlined, and effective methods for learning to draw.

Taking the reader through the entire process, beginning with the most basic skills to more advanced such as volumetric drawing, shading, and figure sketching, this book contains numerous projects and guidance on what and how to practice. It also features instructional images and diagrams as well as finished drawings. With this book and a dedication to practice, anyone can learn to draw!

"Drawing Your LIfe" is a unique guided journal that encourages you to discover the meaning and joy in the mundane. By creating a record of your days -- one object or event at a time -- you gain insight into your own life and come to understand how the ordinary becomes the extraordinary.

Within every picture is a hidden language that conveys a message, whether it is intended or not. This language is based on the ways people perceive and process visual information. By understanding visual language as the interface between a graphic and a viewer, designers and illustrators can learn to inform with accuracy and power. In a time of unprecedented competition for audience attention and with an increasing demand for complex graphics, Visual Language for Designers explains how to achieve quick and effective communications. New in paperback, this book presents ways to design for the strengths of our innate mental capacities and to compensate for our cognitive limitations. Visual Language for Designers includes: —How to organize graphics for quick perception —How to direct the eyes to essential information —How to use visual shorthand for efficient communication —How to make abstract ideas concrete —How to best express visual complexity —How to charge a graphic with energy and emotion

Learn to observe the world more deeply—with curiosity, empathy, and joy—as you sketch the stories unfolding all around you. In Drawn on the Way, Sarah Nisbett shares her techniques for creating captivating line drawings that capture the moments and moods that you encounter on the train, in a café, outdoors, anywhere: a young woman lost in thought, a pair of hands clasped on a lap, a peppy beagle, a pair of jeans-clad crossed legs. Sarah invites you to see the people, animals, places, and objects you draw with compassionate curiosity—as more than a stranger or inanimate object, but as someone or something with a story worth knowing or imagining. Even if you are inexperienced at drawing or don’t consider yourself an artist, you can learn how to create sketches from start to finish employing techniques such as contour drawing, using line work to add texture, and adding spot color—and discover how each sketch tells a story. You’ll begin to focus on important details that reveal something about the subject you’re drawing: the graceful drape of a hand over a purse, the shy way someone tucks their feet underneath them. As you unplug, set aside perfectionism, and explore the world through drawing, you’ll learn: How to translate what you see into a compelling drawing How to silence your inner critic and find joy in drawing what captures your interest Techniques for drawing figures and creating quick portraits How to find the emotion in objects by asking questions How to draw scenes and backgrounds without becoming overwhelmed How to quickly and expressively render the natural world, including plants and animals How key details can take a sketch from plain to captivating Ways to find the extraordinary in the everyday How to transform mistakes into likeable elements Tips for becoming a visual storyteller Life lessons learned from years of live drawing We spend most of our lives on the way, rushing and running from place to place, task to task. When we have a spare minute, we usually reach for our phones and shut everything else out. The techniques, projects, and ideas in Drawn on the Way are designed to help you be more mindful about drawing, to capture the people, places, and things you encounter each day. By doing that, you’ll connect with humanity in a deeper, more meaningful way—and discover a lot about yourself.

The 35th anniversary edition of the classic how-to book that has helped millions of artists learn to draw. When it was originally published in 1970, How to Draw What You See zoomed to the top of Watson-Guptill’s best-seller list—and it has remained there ever since. “I believe that you must be able to draw things as you see them—realistically,” wrote Rudy de Reyna in his introduction. Today, generations of artists have learned to draw what they see, to truly capture the world around them, using de Reyna’s methods. How to Draw What You See shows artists how to recognize the basic shape of an object—cube, cylinder, cone, or sphere—and use that shape to draw the object, no matter how much detail it contains.

This original analog activity kit, from the artist behind the Dear Data project, invites you to solow down and observe the smallest details of daily life, from digital activities to emotions. Each box contains blank postcards for two friends to draw and share. An eight-page booklet provides guided instruction on how to turn observations into beautiful and revealing patterns. A perfect gift for anyone interested in information design, creative expression, drawing, journaling, or living a creatively examined life.

Hello. I am a book. But I'm also a portal to the universe. I have 112 pages, measuring twenty centimetres high and twenty centimetres wide. I weigh 450 grams. And I have the power to show you the wonders of the world.

Concise guide features easy steps for realistic depictions of trees. Discover shading, composition, shadow, and outlining techniques that add vitality and expression. Over 100 illustrations spotlight Oak, Willow, Pine, Palmetto, more.