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Now you can paint the secret world of nature--often unnoticed, but always full of life, drama, and beauty.
# What makes paintings of nature seem so intimate, so...mysterious? And how do you bring these qualities to your work? Artist John Agnew provides the answers, with step-by-step guidelines that work for whatever medium you use. He'll show you how to develop your ideas and create stunning compositions. You'll find demos for painting: scales and turtle shells
# fur, feathers and eyes
# leathery skin and translucent flesh
# midday, afternoon and dappled light
# clear skies and hazy days
# dried and green leaves
# bark, wood and flowers
# lichen, moss and mold
# stone, sand, dirt and mud
# water, snow and ice
You'll also find tips on using an airbrush and painting larger-than-life murals--all illuminating the hidden world of nature. A final extraordinary gallery will amaze and inspire you to create your own special works of art.
From the Introduction
My skills as an artist developed along with my love for science, and the craft of museum exhibit builder gave me respect for detail and accuracy. Perhaps this is why I have always strived for a very realistic style. People sometimes ask, "Why not take a photograph?" As an illustrator, my reply is that I want to have total control of the composition and lighting. Taking a good photo depends as much on luck as it does on skill and artistic sensibility. The best nature art combines accuracy and aesthetics to convey an expression of our rational thoughts and emotional feelings about our world. The result should be an emotional response from the viewer, followed by an appreciation of the information carried by the image. Knowledge of nature enhances our appreciation of it, and the information conveyed by nature art enhances our appreciation of both art and nature.
I hope that this book will help you develop the skills to convey your own messages about your experiences in nature. Each of us has something important to share, and I can't think of a better way to do it than art.
--John Agnew
Table of Contents
# Foreword
# Introduction <
# Chapter 1: Getting Started
collecting reference materials, finding a good composition, transferring your scetch, supplies, using an airbrush
# Chapter 2: Creating That "Secret" Feeling
composition, incidental touches, lighting, atmosphere, contrast, color, creating haze and fog and humidity with an airbrush, creating haze and fog and humidity with glazes, form and texture, afternoon light, midday light, dappled light, hard vs. soft edges
# Chapter 3: Painting the Textures of the Environment
dried leaves, green leaves, bark, wood, moss, lichen and molds, stone, sand, dirt, mud, flowers (hibiscus), water drops, insect damage, body of water, snow, ice
# Chapter 4: Painting Animal Textures
scales, snake scales, leathery and warty skin, eyes, frog eyes, translucent flesh, smooth fur on small mammals, shaggy fur on large mammals, feathers on a vermillion flycatcher, feathers on a little blue heron, turtle shell, incidental animals, animal tracks
# Chapter 5: Putting It All Together
painting a piece of nature
# Chapter 6: Painting Murals
materials and setup, painting an ancient landscape, mural gallery
# Gallery
# Conclusion
# Index
About the Author
John Agnew graduated from the University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Art, and Architecture in 1976. For the last twenty years he has designed exhibits, painted murals and produced illustrations for museums and zoos around the country and as far away as Moscow. Since the early 1980s, John has produced over twenty-thousand square feet (eighteen-hundred square meters) of murals and diorama paintings for the Cincinnatie Zoo and the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Science. In 1998, he was juried into the Society of Animal Artists, and his work has toured with them ever since. In 1998, 1999 and 2000, his work was selected for the Arts for the Parks show, sponsored by the National Park Academy of the Arts. |
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