Best-selling author and artist Claudia Nice shows readers how to create incredible art in watercolor, pen and ink. She makes it easy by covering all the drawing and painting basics--from materials and texture techniques to color theory and special effects. It's a one-of-a-kind course in making extraordinary art.

Nice provides guidelines, advice and techniques for rendering hundreds of favorite places, environments and animals with incredible detail, including:

-Transparent images such as glass, eyes and water -Silver, brass, gold, copper, bronze and rusted metal -Earth and stone textures, including soil, sand and gravel -Skies and weather -Fields, flowers, trees, forests and wood grain patterns -Tide pools, tropical reefs, fish and animals -Deserts, ponds, swamps, marshes and mountains

It's no exaggeration to say that this incredible volume--a compilation collecting some of the finest instruction from Nice's other best-selling books--contains enough instruction, inspiration and gorgeous art to keep readers drawing, painting and enjoying the outdoors for years to come....

Discusses the materials and basic techniques for drawing with ink and includes step-by-step exercises....

The only complete guide - for all types and levels of artists - on sketching from life in pen and ink, written by a master of the subject and presented in easy-to-follow, step-by-step fashion.

Claudia Nice teaches artists how to create powerful sketches of plants, skies, waterscapes, houses & buildings, animals, birds, faces & figures and more after discussing the basics of the medium from maintaining the pen, ink and paper to the seven simple strokes used. All subjects are illustrated by her beautiful sketches, showing artists what beauty can be achieved with just a pen and a bottle of ink. 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....

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....

Everyone, even those who claim they can't draw, can keep an illustrated sketchbook journal. Learning how to creatively illustrate their thoughts, ideas and feelings, readers will delight in recording the world around them as well as the events and details of their lives.

Claudia Nice, one of North Light's best-selling artists, begins by introducing readers to the wide variety of journals available and the materials they will need, then shows them how to make a sketch using basic art supplies like a pencil, colored pencils and pen & ink. She continues with instruction for using a basic watercolor palette and applying watercolor washes to a journal.

The remainder of the book deals with each type of journal individually, giving ideas and techniques to make every effort successful. Types include theme journals, discovery and exploration journals, travel journals, reference journals, in-depth study journals, fantasy journals, garden journals and life journals.

* Appropriate for all artistic levels
* Covers a range of journals for every style and taste
* Popular well-known author
* Friendly instruction and gorgeous art throughout...