Pen & Ink

Creating Textured Landscapes With Pen, Ink & Watercolor

Texture makes the difference between run-of-the-mill landscapes, and paintings that spring to life. In Creating Textured Landscapes with Pen, Ink and Watercolor, pen and ink is used to add depth, impact and textural contrast - the key to realism in landscape painting. With the help of reference photos and field sketches, the author shows how to create realistic and colorful paintings of landscapes ranging from expansive mountain vistas to more intimate vignettes. Various components of landscape paintings are simplified for the reader and brought together throughout each chapter into full-page finished landscapes, giving readers a goal to work towards. The tools demonstrated are simple and fun to use plus pen and ink is used to enhance the more highly textured areas of the paintings.

The Gashlycrumb Tinies

"A is for Amy who fell down the stairs. B is for Basil assaulted by bears. C is for Clara who wasted away. D is for Desmond thrown out of a sleigh..." The rhyming couplets of this grim abecedarian are familiar, of course, to devotees of macabre humor, but the darkly crosshatched drawings are (as Poe put it) "the soul of the plot." Several years went by during which The Gashlycrumb Tinies: Or, After the Outing was not available in a small hardcover edition like this one, which is the true format for Edward Gorey's specialty, the adult picture book. (For those who wish to share the gloom there's a 10-copy assortment with The Curious Sofa.)

Great Book of Tattoo Designs: More than 500 Body Art Designs

Rendering in Pen and Ink: The Classic Book on Pen and Ink Techniques for Artists, Illustrators, Architects, and Designers (Practical Art Books)

The Doubtful Guest

Originally published in 1957, The Doubtful Guest serves as a prime example of the beauty, eccentricity, and brilliance of Edward Gorey's work. If the book was read aloud without revealing the accompanying black-and-white drawings, you might guess the tale came from the quirky genius of Dr. Seuss. The rhyming couplets and nonsensical verse (about an even more nonsensical creature) feel familiar, but in Gorey's skilled hands, the experience becomes altogether new.

The doubtful guest shows up unannounced and unwelcome, yet its presence is accepted after only a brief interlude of screaming. The staid, pale, Victorian inhabitants of the mansion alternately stare and glare at the doubtful guest as it tears out whole chapters from books, peels the soles of its white canvas shoes, and broods while lying on the floor ("inconveniently close to the drawing-room door"). Strangely, or rather, typically, as this is a Gorey book, the stymied occupants never ask the guest to leave--and in 17 years it has still "shown no intention of going away." Maintaining a matter-of-fact tone in spite of true oddity is pure, delicious Gorey, and his trademark drawings are not to be missed. The ghostly, stark, and undeniably amusing illustrations make The Doubtful Guest an entrancing tale in which reserved, insular lives meet with the unexpected and bizarre. (Ages 5 and older)

First Steps Drawing in Pen & Ink (First Step Series)

Painting Weathered Buildings in Pen, Ink & Watercolor (Artist's Photo Reference)

Using inks and liquid watercolor paints specially made for pens, Claudia Nice shows artists of all skill levels how to achieve the warm moods, rough textures and mellow hues of aging barns, farmhouses, mansions and more. Featuring dozens of step-by-step demonstrations along with her written instruction, Nice reveals simple methods for rendering a range of charming subjects.

Claudia is a multi-media artist, but prefers pen, ink and watercolor when working in the field. She has been an art consultant and instructor, has authored 15 art instruction books and travels across North America conducting workshops, seminars and demonstrations at schools, clubs, shops and trade shows. She has recently opened her own teaching studio near Mt. Hook, Oregon.

Creating Textures in Pen & Ink with Watercolor

Using picture after picture (and handwritten instructions, for a more intimate feel), Claudia Nice teaches artists how to use dots, fine lines, brush strokes, black & white and color-a mixture of mediums and techniques to create the gleaming transparency of glass, rolling surf and ocean waves, the warmth of brick and adobe, rainbows that glimmer, sunrises and sunsets that glow, dramatic wood grain, smoothed driftwood, foliage of distant trees, intricate leaf textures, the woven texture of basketry, lifelike animal hair and dozens of other textures!

Artists will learn how to use such diverse materials as technical pens, paint brushes, colored inks and liquid acrylics, along with ways to alter and combine ink and watercolor for exciting texturing effects.

Amphigorey Also

The Prince Valiant Page

The Prince Valiant Page is the first book collection featuring Gary Gianni’s work on Prince Valiant. This book gives a well-rounded informative look at both Gianni’s rendition of the Prince Valiant Sunday strip and his own working procedures. Further, he explains the usage of his tools and provides many tips learned during the course of his career.