This is the book that can teach anyone to draw (yes, even you!) If you're not getting the kind of true-to-life results you want in your drawings (or if you can't even draw a straight line), Carrie and Rick Parks can help. As award-winning teachers, they have a proven game plan for helping artists of all levels overcome common problems and see immediate improvement in their work. As professional composite artists, they know the tricks and tools for achieving incredibly lifelike results. In this friendly, foolproof guide to drawing, they share it all: • Easy-to-master techniques for achieving a convincing sense of depth • How to draw challenging textures like metal and fur • Putting personality into your portraits • 40+ step-by-step demonstrations featuring a variety of people, animals and nature Easy enough so that beginners can jump right in, and comprehensive enough to help more accomplished artists refine their skills. This book covers all the essentials, teaching you the secrets of realistic drawing one step at a time, building the skills you need to tackle any subject convincingly--even those you've always thought were beyond your reach. Before you know it, you'll be turning out picturesque landscapes, stellar portraits--any subject that inspires you to put pencil to paper!

Anyone can draw - including you! Learn to draw today, even if you've never drawn before! Carrie Stuart Parks and Rick Parks, FBI-trained composite artists and drawing instructors, have taught thousands of people of all ages and skill levels how to turn out impressive realistic drawings. Discover how to: • Train your brain to re-create what you see through observation • Accurately capture main shapes and important details • Make your drawings incredibly lifelike with shading and blending • Identify and fix the parts of a drawing that look inaccurate With concise, memorable lessons and foolproof step-by-step instruction, this book makes learning to draw easy - and fun! Before you know it, you'll be creating picture-perfect illustrations of animals, still-lifes, people, landscapes and more. So if you think you can't draw, think again. Surprise yourself and others with your own spectacular drawings today!"With concise, memorable lessons and foolproof step-by-step instruction, this book makes learning to draw easy - and fun! Before you know it, you'll be creating picture-perfect illustrations of animals, still-lifes, people, landscapes and more. So if you think you can't draw, think again. Surprise yourself and others with your own spectacular drawings today!

Drawing children has never been easier! Maybe you can't stop your favorite child from growing up, but you can create timeless memories with pencil, paper and some simple drawing skills. Now you can capture your most cherished moments in a way no ordinary photograph can. Here to show you how are Carrie Stuart Parks and Rick Parks, professional composite artists and drawing instructors. In their friendly and foolproof teaching style, the Parks cover everything you need to know to create incredibly true-to-life pencil portraits of the children you love. You'll learn how to: • Take strong reference photos • Achieve correct facial proportions • Draw a face from different angles and bring it to life with shading • Master tricky facial features such as eyes, nose, ears, hair, lips and smiles • Make hair look realistic and shiny • Draw clothing, incorporate props, and work with light and shadows • Convey the true sense of character of your child Complete with step-by-step demonstrations and countless expert tips for striking results, this book will help you create drawings that capture the one-of-a-kind essence of a child, preserving forever that lovable, clownish, whimsical or impish nature that makes children so very special.

Everything you always wanted to know about oil painting...but were afraid to ask. Or maybe you weren’t afraid—maybe you just didn’t know what to ask or where to start. In The Oil Painting Course You’ve Always Wanted, author Kathleen Staiger presents crystal clear, step-by-step lessons that build to reinforce learning. Brush control, creating the illusion of three dimensions, foolproof color mixing, still-life painting, landscapes, and portraits—every topic is covered in clear text, diagrams, illustrations, exercises, and demonstrations. Staiger has taught oil painting for more than thirty-five years; many of her students are now exhibiting and selling their paintings. Everyone from beginning hobby painters, to art students, to BFA graduates has questions about oil painting. Here at last are the answers!

Carrie Stuart Parks shows you how to draw a realistic face step by step, as she guides you through several demonstrations of facial features. After learning how to measure and draw accurate proportions, chapters are broken down into individual features (eyes, nose, mouth, head shapes). You'll finish up with lessons on how to shade and draw hair. Carrie's friendly instruction and helpful tips will give you the skills you need to draw your own favorite faces. Includes 32 pages of bonus instruction 90 minutes of premier art demonstration

Having trouble drawing a nose that looks like a nose? In this step-by-step guide, Lee Hammond will teach you how to draw realistic-looking portraits of your favorite people—more easily than you ever thought possible. Really! The secret is in the blending: With pencil and paper, Lee shows you how to create gradual, smooth shadings of light and dark to replicate the subtle contours of skin…and how to use these simple shading techniques to make any shape look three-dimensional. After you've got the basics down, you'll see how to draw every part of the face. It's made easy by looking at each feature as simple, interlocking shapes, then adding the right highlights and shadows. In no time, you'll be drawing realistic noses, mouths, eyes, ears…even facial expressions. Then you'll see how to put all those features together to create an expressive portrait that actually looks like your subject! Step-by-step demonstrations guide you all the way.

Paint Lively, Expressive Watercolor Portraits Ready to unlock the secrets of watercolor? With the masterful instruction of Carrie Stuart Parks and Rick Parks, success is within your reach. In this beginner-friendly guide, Carrie and Rick shares their 30-plus years of experience as artists and instructors to give you the tools and techniques for painting lively, realistic watercolor portraits you can be proud of. Detailed step-by-step demonstrations and lots of tips and sidebars help you avoid mistakes, stay loose and have fun. In addition to complete information on supplies and materials, each chapter focuses on a specific aspect of watercolor portrait painting, visually teaching you how to: Handle watercolors with confidence using washes, masking, underpainting and a "less-is-more" approach Map out great compositions by using grids, transferring the drawing, choosing colors and applying masking in the right places Convey light and dark values with precision and impact for striking, lifelike portraits Paint beautiful hair in all styles, colors and textures by building tones gradually Avoid common watercolor missteps (and learn to fix the ones you couldn't help) by following a whole chapter of advice just for those "oops" moments Gain the confidence to "step out of your comfort zone" and work to establish your own distinct and expressive painting style Leave your frustration and fear of watercolor in the past. With Carrie Stuart Parks and Rick Parks you have all the guidance you need to paint the faces you love with skill and style. Get started today! "I want you to have every secret, every tool, every technique, every shortcut, and every success in your painting. I want you to feel that you've found your true artistic style and expression with this medium." —bestselling author and artist, Carrie Stuart Parks

Learning How to Draw Has Never Been Easier! Lee Hammond's All New Big Book of Drawing is the culmination of nearly forty years of teaching. No matter what your experience level YOU CAN DRAW by following along these easy step-by-step demonstrations. Whether you want to create drawings of flowers, learn how to draw animals or how to draw a person, these drawing techniques, all-new projects, and expert tips will show you how to get great results with both regular pencils and colored pencils. • Two books in one. The first half is a comprehensive course on using pencils to capture shape, form and likeness. The second half explores adding color using colored pencils • 88 step-by-step projects. You will learn to draw everything with this book! Starting with a simple sphere and working up to sea shells, sunsets, flowers, birds, horses, clothing, people--and so much more! • A lifetime of know-how! Lee covers it all--from big picture concepts (selecting tools, shading techniques, making sense of perspective) down to techniques for creating the look of feathers, capturing skin tones, and making surfaces look shiny or transparent. Using her straightforward, three-stage approach to lifelike drawings, Lee makes any subject approachable, from still life and landscapes to animals and even people. This project-driven tome will help you create realistic, frame-worthy artwork. Project by project and subject by subject, you will gain confidence and cultivate great joy in drawing.

Imagine having the ability to draw any subject with precision, detail and expression. With Claudia's help, you can do it! In How to See, How to Draw, you will discover how to tap into your powers of observation, strengthen your hand-eye connection, and draw the world around you with new skill and accuracy. Just take it one step at a time. Claudia is an expert teacher, breaking down complex compositions into a series of achievable shapes and values that even beginners will understand. Through dozens of mini demonstrations, fun-to-do exercises and complete step-by-step instruction, you'll learn everything from basic drawing techniques to more challenging methods for rendering wonderfully rich, in-depth compositions. Her visual instruction details how to: • Use a variety of drawing tools to suit your style and artistic intent • Learn to let go of preconceived ideas so you can observe lines, shapes and spatial relationships as they actually are • Create strong compositions through comparison and proportional control • Find, fix and avoid common mistakes by using simple grids and guide lines • Understand and work with perspective to create the illusion of depth • Reveal form through light and shadow • Explore the potential of texture to create mood and movement Claudia's drawings illuminate a range of subjects, including portraits, landscapes, animals and still life. You can practice using her reference photos and drawings, or you can apply her exercises to your own subjects. Start today, Claudia's way! Following her masterful guidance, you'll see the world through new eyes and draw better than you ever have before.

Everyone is capable of drawing, all it takes is patience and determination. Yet many people see drawing as a miracle that is beyond their reach. This book will inspire you and help you get started. You will learn how to draw and shade everyday objects, textures, patterns, facial features and even landscapes with the help of the experienced drawing instructor. The author and popular pencil artist, Jasmina Susak, builds drawings from scratch in a simple manner that is easy to follow and understand.