Right-brain Art in a Left-brain World. A beginner's guide to drawing nature.
Open this book & find the kind of instruction for creating realistic drawings you’ve always wanted, even if nature isn't your all-time hot interest.
Illustrating Nature contains bountiful illustrations, generous tips, & step-by-step tutorials focusing on natural objects you can find anywhere, anytime. It will give you a jump-start on any drawing project you choose, from still-life compositions to action figures to landscapes.
Illustrating Nature sets you off on a trail of adventure -- & who knows where it will lead! Dive in & discover how you can make your pencil do what you tell it to, watch images appear like magic, feel how your Right-brain works! & then use your new-found skills to improve every aspect of your world of art, from your paintings to field journal sketches to your diary & greeting cards, even to designing & illustrating your own business cards. Perfect for home school teaching.
Written by award-winning children’s nature author & college-level instructor in scientific illustration, Irene Brady has crafted a superb text illustrated by both herself & her students which is for all ages -– from college students, teens, & art-loving younger kids, to adults looking for a new career or simply wanting to develop their creative skills.
Some amazing things you can do with this book are:
• Improve the connections between your creative right brain & your organized left brain to create a stunning working partnership. You’ll be astonished at the things you can do!
• Discover techniques of observing a subject, so you can transmit instructions through your hand & pencil to the paper with accuracy, speed & style.
• Learn how to sketch living, moving animals to achieve vibrant finished drawings.
• Explore tricks that will enable you to draw fur, scales, wood, feathers, wrinkles, hair fuzz, & other textures found everywhere.
• See shadows & shading the way professional artists do, & learn how to give your drawings three-dimensional depth. Even children can learn how to do this.
• Master the mysteries of design to create handsome & interesting drawings, displays, & posters -- anything you want.
• Learn how to use a computer graphics program to improve your artwork in ways that would be difficult or impossible by hand.
There is a hunger in most people to draw what they see, & an almost universal despair of ever being able to do so. Now, Irene Brady in her Illustrating Nature: Right-brain Art in a Left-brain world, offers her expertise in a hands-on, understandable, illuminating guide toward reproducing those fascinating visions we catch sight of in nature, & our imagination.
I have often grabbed paper & pencil in an attempt to catch that gloriously forested hillside on the other side of the valley, or that Squirrel-nibbled fir cone I found on a walk, or the twigs, flowers & berries I bring home, even Buddy-dog or our Steller's Blue Jays & Chipmunks, only to produce a few limp squiggles. As a child I draw all the time, apart from not drawing every day, why was I having such a hard time with it now?
So I was eager to see what I could learn from Illustrating Nature, & I have not been disappointed. First of all, I'm rather dimwitted when it comes this Left Brain & Right Brain stuff, however, with Irene Brady's guidance I am now quite clear-headed about which is which. I mean, imagine a book showing you how your Right Brain works! Amazing, & fun too!
Illustrating Nature is an inter-active book -- you get to make your own symbols (icons in computer-speak). I was thrilled to see a set of exercises I've been doing with my children for years, & had completely forgotten about when they left the nest.
There is so much to learn from Irene Brady about using our brains to the best of their abilities, to really “seeing” our world, whether it be in nature or in our own rooms. & even though Nature Works Press publicizes this title for children, Illustrating Nature is for beginners of all ages, & perhaps especially for elders to keep their brains flexible!
I will be referring to Illustrating Nature for years to come for it has given me the guidance I needed to catch on paper the elusive visions that fill my rural life. If you have anyone who is considering a career in illustration, scientific or otherwise, then this book is a vital addition to their toolkit.
Irene Brady is a naturalist with a focus on art in the natural environment. She has taught college-level scientific illustration at Southern Oregon University for many years, & guides illustration & sketching workshops for both adults & children.
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