An introduction to the science of light and color and its applications to photography, art, natural phenomena, and other related areas. Explains the origin of phenomena commonly encountered in nature and art, emphasizing the physical aspects but also touching on aspects of physiology and psychology that directly influence how visual images are perceived. Covers the effect of mixing color, the notion of color spaces, how atoms and molecules affect light, how light can be measured, the effect of using a lens, and many other topics. Requires little or no mathematical background. Includes questions and references for further reading.
This book is ambitiously inter-disciplinary and may be divided into four main sections, defined in terms of the authors themselves. Firstly, there are two contributions by biologists. Secondly, the largest section is by practising artists. Thirdly, there are two engineering-based contributions. Finally, two contributions address some of the historical proponents of colour theory and art. These eleven works, in full colour, form a striking contribution to the commonwealth of colour studies and to a possible unification of Snow's two cultures.Colour and inter-disciplinarity go hand in hand. This so often involves the authors leaving the comfort zone of their original speciality and striving for excellence in another. The personal story of Franziska Schenk is but one good example.It seems that our perceptions of aesthetics and beauty must be very flexible indeed as to find absolute opposites equally fascinating. If so, it goes to show how wonderful are the construction and operation of the human brain. Does psychology win in the end? Does colour lead to a single culture?
This fully realized colour catalogue includes elegant contemporary illustrations of every animal, plant or mineral cited in Syme's edition of “Werner's nomenclature of colours”
Reconnect to Mother Earth and recharge your creativity by combining the healing energy of nature with the meditative process of drawing and painting mandalas. Explore Botanical Mandalas and watch your artistic expression flourish! Full of inspiration for reconnecting with natures beauty to inspire you to create expressive mandala artworks. Includes drawing, painting and mixed-media projects to find endless inspiration for your own botanical mandala journey.
My photographs are made with the same sunlight that powers all the earth's living systems. --Martin Hill * Reminiscent of the internationally best-selling Earth from Above, Martin Hill's Earth to Earth transforms the beauty of everyday items found in nature and elevates them to ecological art. Ecology is a science that is entering its renaissance as issues of global warming, greenhouse emissions, and ozone depletion make their way from scientific debates and newspaper headlines to family breakfast tables. Environmental photographer Martin Hill and project collaborator Philippa Jones visit remote locations around the globe to create a stunning array of evocative photographs that represent a visual circle of life promoting ecological sustainability and responsibility. In addition to an eloquent introduction by Sir Edmund Hillary, ecologically minded quotes and facts appear throughout the collection: * Each day more solar energy falls to the earth than the total amount of energy the planet's six billion inhabitants would consume in 25 years. * What use is a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on? In Earth to Earth Hill presents more than 70 transcendent four-color photographs that capture images of natural items found in nature, which he then transforms into exquisitely intricate sculptural masterpieces. Prior to leaving each location--whether at the top of a snow-covered mountain or on the sand-blown shores of a windy beach--Hill ensures that each site is left exactly as it was found.
In this stimulating, thought-provoking guide, a noted sculptor and teacher demonstrates how to discover a rich new design source in the abstractions inherent in natural forms. Through systematic study of such properties as line, form, shape, mass, pattern, light and dark, space, proportion, scale, perspective, and color as they appear in nature, students can learn to utilize the infinite variety and diversity of those elements as a wellspring of creative abstraction. The author invites students to learn the necessary techniques through a series of projects devoted to exploring and drawing plants, animals, birds, landscapes, seascapes, skies, and more. Lines of growth and structure, water and liquid forms, weather and atmospheric patterns, luminosity in plants and animals, earth colors and lightning are among the sources of abstraction available to the artist who is aware of them. This book will train you to see and use these elements and many more. An intriguing blend of art, psychology, and the natural sciences, Abstraction in Art and Nature is profusely illustrated with over 370 photographs, scientific illustrations, diagrams, and reproductions of works by the great masters. It not only offers a mind-stretching new way of learning and teaching basic design, but deepens our awareness of the natural environment. In short, Mr. Hale's book is an indispensable guide that artists, teachers, and students will want to have close at hand for instruction, inspiration, and practical guidance.
Over 70 stunning paintings showcasing master colored pencil artists from all over the globe. Every featured artist also generously shares tips, techniques and insights into their personal own style. CP Treasures will absolutely become a highly treasured volume in any colored pencil artist's library.
In this vivid and captivating journey through the colors of an artist’s palette, Victoria Finlay takes us on an enthralling adventure around the world and through the ages, illuminating how the colors we choose to value have determined the history of culture itself. How did the most precious color blue travel all the way from remote lapis mines in Afghanistan to Michelangelo’s brush? What is the connection between brown paint and ancient Egyptian mummies? Why did Robin Hood wear Lincoln green? In Color, Finlay explores the physical materials that color our world, such as precious minerals and insect blood, as well as the social and political meanings that color has carried through time. Roman emperors used to wear togas dyed with a purple color that was made from an odorous Lebanese shellfish–which probably meant their scent preceded them. In the eighteenth century, black dye was called logwood and grew along the Spanish Main. Some of the first indigo plantations were started in America, amazingly enough, by a seventeen-year-old girl named Eliza. And the popular van Gogh painting White Roses at Washington’s National Gallery had to be renamed after a researcher discovered that the flowers were originally done in a pink paint that had faded nearly a century ago. Color is full of extraordinary people, events, and anecdotes–painted all the more dazzling by Finlay’s engaging style. Embark upon a thrilling adventure with this intrepid journalist as she travels on a donkey along ancient silk trade routes; with the Phoenicians sailing the Mediterranean in search of a special purple shell that garners wealth, sustenance, and prestige; with modern Chilean farmers breeding and bleeding insects for their viscous red blood. The colors that craft our world have never looked so bright.
"Botanical Inspiration is a timeless collection of artwork and illustrations that feature flora and its many facets through a variety of visual concepts, styles, and techniques."--
Based on the intricate illustrations of Ernst Haeckel, one of the world's most celebrated naturalists and artists, this coloring book provides hours of absorbing and soothing entertainment. Ernst Haeckel's series of incredibly detailed prints have influenced designers and artists for over a century. Collected in books such as the perennial bestsellers Art Forms in Nature and Art Forms from the Ocean, they now form the basis of a beautiful coloring book that is suitable for any age. Each page contains boldly outlined designs based on Haeckel's original illustrations of Radiolaria, Foraminifera, and other forms of microscopic life; jellyfishes, starfishes, corals, and other sea life; mosses, lichens, orchids, and other plants. With nearly 100 pages to choose from, the variety of designs presented in the book is breathtaking. With coloring books quickly becoming a remedy for daily stress, this collection is certain to be a popular source for those seeking a relaxing pastime that is both artistic and satisfying.
