120 Great Impressionist Paintings (Dover Electronic Clip Art) (CD-ROM and Book)

Van Gogh's famous sunflowers, Monet's beloved waterlilies, and scenes by Renoir and Manet of sun-dappled leisure —  all appear in this collection of the best and most popular Impressionist paintings. Additional contributors include Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, Pissarro, Cassatt, Seurat, and many others. Great for art, craft, and educational projects.

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120 Great Paintings CD-ROM and Book (Dover Electronic Clip Art)

This rich color treasury of famous paintings by the world's greatest artists provides inspiring images for use in a number of projects. Superb reproductions of more than 100 masterpieces from 5 centuries are included — from works by Fra Angelico, Hieronymus Bosch, and Albrecht Dürer to Thomas Gainsborough, Winslow Homer, and Edward Hopper.

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1-2-3 Draw Baby Animals

In this exciting collection of easy-to-follow, step-by-step lessons, Freddie Levin introduces budding artists to a variety of baby animals from around the world. Starting with simple shapes drawn in pencil, some drawings emerge in just a few steps. Others take more concentration, but the effort pays off.

This fun instructional book guides young artists through a successful drawing experience, and inspires them to continue to explore on their own. And you can bet they will with 1-2-3 Draw Baby Animals!

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1-2-3 Draw Cars, Trucks and Other Vehicles

Part of the 1-2-3 Draw Series--Ideal for children 6-10 years old! Whimsical, appealing drawings spring like magic from the page as young artists learn how to create charming animals from simple shapes. Each step is carefully shown and finished in full color. This offering in the growing list of titles by illustrator Freddie Levin puts kids in the driver's seat to explore the excitement of artistic creation. From highways to rails to construction sites, not only will children learn the various functions of the vehicles that whiz by them on their streets; they will discover how to detect and draw the simple shapes that form them, working step-by-step to realize a fun and satisfying finished project.

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1-2-3 Draw Cartoon Animals

Barr is stretching to make three how-to-draw books out of what surely could have been one. That's especially obvious in Faces and People (the first part of People is devoted to faces). Still, so many youngsters try their hand at drawing cartoons at one time or another that a little overlap probably won't matter. In People, Barr uses simple lines and shapes, mostly ovals and curved and straight lines, to show, step-by-step, how to create faces from the side and the front, add details such as hair, alter expressions to reflect emotion, attach a body, and depict walking and running. Faces, which also relies on basic shapes, expands a little on facial detailing, showing, for example, how to add glasses and create faces in three-quarter view. Animals is a riot of critters that look just like stuffed toys. Barr sets down instructions--usually four or five simple steps--for drawing a bird, a cat, a dog, a horse, a bear, a turtle, and more. Of course, having fun and experimenting should be part of each project, something Barr emphasizes at the get-go and reiterates through each volume. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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1-2-3 Draw Cartoon Cars

With "1-2-3 Draw Cartoon cars, Steve Barr serves up an irresistible and colorful collection for artists of all ages. Starting with a Silly Car reminiscent to Dr.Seuss, he proceeds to cover basic body shapes: sedan, square car, van, station wagon, antique car--"and then heads into more exotic racing and sports cars. Some vehicles include drivers (including the Rat Racer, driven by--"you guessed it!--"a rat), while others become the characters themselves, with bumpers or windshields sporting smiles. While the art is all done in pencil in deference to the elementary school environment, Barr encourages exploration of inking as one's skills develop

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1-2-3 Draw Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals

These two titles offer a nonthreatening approach to drawing based on readers' ability to draw circles, ovals, and eggs. The author advocates drawing "lightly" (erasing softly) and practicing the basic shapes so they can be combined to achieve the desired effects. Dinosaurs provides lessons for 24 creatures, including a stegosaurus, a maiasaurus, and a velociraptor. Each entry/lesson includes a pronunciation of the name as well as very basic information (two or three sentences) about the animal. There is also a simple time line for the different eras. Using the same three shapes, Pets contains step-by-step drawing lessons for 40 animals, including gecko, chameleon, bee, scarecrow (?), horse, and turkey. In both books, the indexes are essential because the activities are not in alphabetical order. Levin clearly understands the capability and interests of young children and encourages them to go beyond the instructions and add their own touches to their projects. The text is minimal but supportive, the steps are clearly defined, the results are attractive and doable. The examples are done in shaded colored pencil. This is not a cartoon approach to drawing like Lee J. Ames's Draw 50 Animals or Draw 50 Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals (both Doubleday, 1985). Here, young artists look at the author's samples and learn how to shade by trying to replicate the sample. Satisfying and helpful choices for beginning artists.

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1-2-3 Draw Dogs

Step by step drawing instruction for budding artists.

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1-2-3 Draw Knights, Castles and Dragons

Levin describes basic shapes such as squares, rectangles, circles, ovals, triangles, and trapezoids, and puts them together to create very simple drawings of people, animals, and castles. She admonishes readers to draw very lightly in order to make erasures and to be sure to practice, practice, practice. While showing step-by-step sketches, the author includes descriptions of medieval life and clothing and makes suggestions for what colors to use, e.g., purple, blue, red for royal garb as those dyes were expensive. Specific terms are used as well, such as the "kirtle" the princess wears; a knight's "hauberk" and "gauntlets"; the "portcullis" and "crenelations" of the castle. This book will appeal to competent readers who want to know how to draw while learning a little about life in the Middle Ages.

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1-2-3 Draw Horses

Whimsical, appealing drawings spring like magic from the page as young artists learn how to make charming creations from simple shapes. Each step is carefully shown and finished in full color. Fun examples and instructions all but guarantee success for budding cartoonists! Starting with simple shapes and the most basic materials, professional cartoonists Steve Barr and Freddie Levin show young artists the essential skills involved in combining shapes to make characters and objects, simplifying and coloring them. From draft to dressage, young artists will find the horse of their dreams in Freddie Levin's latest, "1-2-3 Draw Horses. Following the clear, step-by-step format that has made the other books in this series so popular, "Horses includes just about every type of horse a child can imagine, from circus to rodeo horses, Mustang, Palomino, Arabian, Appaloosa ... even horse relatives such as a donkey and a zebra! Each drawing starts with simple shapes and ends in full color, guaranteeing hours of fun--and some great drawings!

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1-2-3 Draw Ocean Life

Anyone familiar with Freddie Levin's previous titles will recognize her warm and inviting colored pencil drawing style in 1"1-2-3 Draw Ocean Life. After introducing basic shapes and fish vocabulary, she includes whales and dolphins, a sea turtle, a squid an octopus, a crab and a shrimp, a starfish, a sea cucumber and a jellyfish, and much more. In addition to their subject-matter appeal, the simplicity of many of th colorful drawings makes success easy for younger, less experienced artists, while at the same time the more challenging subjects (an eel and shark twisting away from the viewer), subtle colors and shading will engage those with moe finely-honed skills. Whimsical, appealing drawings spring like magic from the page as young artists learn how to make charming creations from simple shapes. Each step is carefully shown and finished in full color. Fun examples and instructions all but guarantee success for budding cartoonists! Starting with simple shapes and the most basic materials, these books show young artists the essential skills involved in combining shapes to make characters and objects, simplifying and coloring them.

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1-2-3 Draw People

*Features easy-to-follow beginner-level instruction for learning to draw the human form

*Includes a range of popular subject matter--readers will learn to draw figures in a variety of action poses from playing soccer and baseball to skateboarding and bicycling to doing ballet and martial arts

This enticing collection of easy-to-follow, step-by-step lessons gives budding artists a structured approach to drawing the human form. Readers will learn to draw the main components of the body from front and side views, and learn the importance of proportion. The book covers faces from front and side views, pays special attention to hands and feet, skin color, and hair, and then launches into numerous examples of people in action.

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1-2-3 Draw Pets and Farm Animals

These two titles offer a nonthreatening approach to drawing based on readers' ability to draw circles, ovals, and eggs. The author advocates drawing "lightly" (erasing softly) and practicing the basic shapes so they can be combined to achieve the desired effects. Dinosaurs provides lessons for 24 creatures, including a stegosaurus, a maiasaurus, and a velociraptor. Each entry/lesson includes a pronunciation of the name as well as very basic information (two or three sentences) about the animal. There is also a simple time line for the different eras. Using the same three shapes, Pets contains step-by-step drawing lessons for 40 animals, including gecko, chameleon, bee, scarecrow (?), horse, and turkey. In both books, the indexes are essential because the activities are not in alphabetical order. Levin clearly understands the capability and interests of young children and encourages them to go beyond the instructions and add their own touches to their projects. The text is minimal but supportive, the steps are clearly defined, the results are attractive and doable. The examples are done in shaded colored pencil. This is not a cartoon approach to drawing like Lee J. Ames's Draw 50 Animals or Draw 50 Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals (both Doubleday, 1985). Here, young artists look at the author's samples and learn how to shade by trying to replicate the sample. Satisfying and helpful choices for beginning artists.

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1-2-3 Draw Wild Animals

Whimsical, appealing projects spring like magic from the hand of illustrator Freddie Levin as she shows young artists how to create charming animals from simple shapes, such as eggs, ovals and circles. Each step toward the finished drawing is gradual and fully explained. Kids can choose from a menagerie of favorite subjects, including anteaters, armadillos, bison, deer, elephants, giraffes, hippos, jaguars, kangaroos, koalas, lions, orangutans, pandas, platypuses, polar bears, reccoons and more. Information about each animal helps make the book educational as well as fun.

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Art Works for Kids, Grades 1-6

Unleash the imagination in your child and begin nurturing a budding artist's creativity! Organized around a variety of media---painting, weaving, clay, printing, recyclables, nature---this innovative art course offers 68 inexpensive, high-quality projects requiring minimal preparation and cleanup. Beautiful full-color photos show actual children's artwork, and step-by-step illustrated instructions ensure successful experiences every time. Grades 1 to 6. 160 pages, softcover from Evan-Moor.

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The Usborne Art Ideas Pack

It's like a self-contained art school---all your students need to enroll is a little paper and plenty of imagination! They'll want to don their smocks as they learn about mixing colors, patterns, and painting techniques. Provides step-by-step instruction on projects including serene watercolors, vivid crayon creations, and I-made-it-myself cards. Includes brush, water colors, oil pastels, wax crayons, and 32-page spiralbound book. Ages 9 to 12.

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Museum of Art Masterpieces

Here's the perfect primer for museum field trips---an art history survey, a miniature gallery, and a hands-on lesson in portrait restoration all in one box! Providing a behind-the-scenes look at great art works, this activity kit includes a timeline featuring artist biographies and portraits; a booklet guiding you through a mini-gallery tour; reusable stickers to mount your own exhibit; and materials to restore a miniature painting. Ages 8 and up.

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Kids' Art Works!: Creating with Color, Design, Texture & More

Encouraging children to use their imagination, this inventive book shows them the joys of sculpting, weaving, drawing, and painting! Young artists explore the uses of color, texture, and pattern through more than 60 fun-filled activities. They'll create a beautiful butterfly, build a hot-air balloon, design a bean-and-seed pendant, and much more! Three levels of difficulty. Ages 6 to 12. 138 pages, softcover from Williamson.

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The American Girls Handy Book Centennial Edition

If Tom Sawyer had been a girl, Aunt Polly would certainly have seen to it that she had a copy of this book--and with a heartfelt blessing. It's a magical cornucopia of projects, devices, toys, gifts, dolls, recipes, decorations, perfumes, wax and clay modelling, oil and water-color painting and games, all with clear and practical directions for how to make and play them. Vintage Americana by the Beard sisters, two of the founders of Girl Scouting in the United States. A delightful gift from great-great-grandmother's house.

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Watercolor for the Artistically Undiscovered

If your last attempt at painting is still on your parents' refrigerator door, then this book's for you! Designed for folks who want to rediscover their creative side, this set includes a spiral-bound book with 48 pages of watercolor paper, a set of six artist-quality paints, and, of course a paintbrush. The colors are so fun to use and Hurd's artwork and instruction so goofily inspirational that soon your creations will be hanging on your own kitchen appliances! 72 pages, from Klutz Press.

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Lamb's Book of Art Pack, Revised

Introduce the basic principles of art with Barry Stebbings The Lamb's Book of Art series! This kit includes volumes 1 and 2, as well as the teacher's guide for a complete art course. Students will learn color theory, drawing, anatomy, perspective, nature studies, portraits, cartooning, lettering, creative writing, portraits, nature scenes and more through clearly explained lessons, step-by-step illustrations, comprehension questions, and plenty of practice room. Volume 1 is designed to take one year, with volume 2 as a complementary text; either volume may be started first. Designed for ages 8-13. Volume 1 includes over 65 lessons; Volume 2 includes over 70 lessons.

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Do You Doodle?

With all the pressure for kids to achieve at whatever they try, here is the perfect antidote-a book that simply invites them to enter and play. Nikalas Catlow has made a start on each of the generous-sized pages-a few beginning strokes of pictures and prompts like a boy looking into a bowl and asking what's in there. Doodlers go off from there on a liberating flight of mindless fancy. There are over 200 pages to complete and create. A book that will be as irresistible to overtaxed adults as it is to kids eager to enjoy its spirit of adventure, imagination, and creativity.

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