The quick-start guide to great results! Oil painting doesn't have to be rocket science although some books on the subject make it seem that way. Filled with encouraging easy-to-follow instruction Oil Painting for the Absolute Beginner is a no-fear no-experience-required guide to enjoyable painting & happy results. Focusing on the needs of the first-time painter this book covers everything from selecting brushes & setting up your palette to key principles of color & composition presented in a way that moves you confidently from first strokes to finished paintings. Mini demonstrations break down fundamental painting techniques in a clear common sense way 12 step-by-step painting projects progress from simple landscapes still life & flower paintings to more challenging subjects such as animals seascapes & portraits The bonus DVD-workshop features the author creating two paintings from start to finish You'll learn tricks for keeping the greens in your landscapes looking fresh advantages to working with water-soluble oil paints simple tips for dynamic compositions & other expert advice to make your introduction to oil painting the beginning of a beautiful friendship. ...

This is a practical & comprehensive guide for all oil painting enthusiasts from the beginner to the experienced artist. Starting with advice on materials painting from photographs colour & composition it goes on to describe basic & more advanced techniques such as wet on wet wet on dry scumbling dry brush sgraffito impasto & glazing & the wonderful effects they can produce. For those wanting to avoid the use of smelly additives like turpentine or white spirit there is a section on water mixable oils. For readers who would like to see quick results there is a section on instant oil painting or painting in an intuitive spontaneous way. Easy to follow step-by-step demonstrations show the reader how to paint landscapes sea & sky still life & flowers & each section is accompanied by a selection of inspirational paintings by the four featured artists in a rich variety of styles. ...

Opening in 2006 after ten years in the making British Petroleums $4 billion pipeline running from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean has become an icon of globalization. Over a thousand miles long it weaves a route around the Russian & Iranian borders transporting oil & gas to hungry Western markets. Bringing to bear a wealth of expertise on their subject the authors look at the reality behind the pipelines gleaming facade. Traveling along its route they trace the shadowy forces & institutions behind it meeting whistleblowers security forces local villagers & fishermen; in doing so they expose a story of cracked coatings new arms races & displaced local communities. They explore too the wider forces the pipeline represents from state repression investment banking & energy security to environmental degradation & social movements. A compelling travelogue The Oil Road explores the hidden history of an iconic project that is also a metaphor for our age. ...

This is a concise guide to mixing 25 popular Winsor & Newton Artists oil colours which gives an at-a-glance guide to over 2000 hues & shades. This is a complete visual reference enabling artists to re-create what they see on their palette & on their works of art. The 25 colours have been specially chosen as the most useful for a wide range of oil painting & the book shows how to match precisely any shade you want to reproduce in your work. This useful guide is intended for both amateur & professional artists & will prove invaluable in the studio & when painting on location. ...

Beauty of the beasts. This is Frans Lantings vibrant tribute to Old Africa revisited on its 20th anniversary. Botswana many say represents the last of Old Africa. & in the heart of this arid land lies a place as inspiring & as incongruous as the snow-capped summit of Kilimanjaro rising on the equator: that is the Okavango one of the greatest wetlands on earth whose very existence in the middle of a desert is nothing short of miraculous.
- Frans Lanting 1993 For a year between 1988 & 1989 Frans Lanting roamed the wetlands & deserts of northern Botswana living by the rhythms of the water & the movements of the animals as he captured them on film. The National Geographic" had sent him there on assignment but what he would take away was much more than a magazine story; it was a seminal & unparalleled collection of photographs depicting a world of flora & fauna that many had assumed no longer existed on this earth. As Lanting wrote " To many who have seen the fate of other wild areas in Africa & elsewhere in the world the very notion that such a place as Okavango still exists is like a dream." Living out of vehicles & canvas tents gliding through swamps following lions by night
- Lanting armed with his Nikon FE2 got up close & personal with some of the planets most formidable creatures. The book he published a few years later " Okavango" was a testament not only to the wondrous wildlife of the region but also to Lantings extraordinary courage skill & photographic eye. After many publications of Lantings work including " Jungles" " Eye to Eye" & " Penguin" TASCHEN now revisits his original classic with this updated & expanded edition of " Okavango" further enhanced with all new reproductions & dozens of previously unpublished photos as well a new preface by Lanting."

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MARRIAGE MISCHIEF IN THE WILD WEST Independent Josephine Malloy is determined to stake her own claim during the latest Oklahoma land run. But to fend off the countless suitors seeking a wife & a homestead she needs a fake fiance for cover. Enter horse trader Solomon Tremain... As an undercover Deputy US Marshal investigating land fraud Sol should probably keep his distance from this firebr&. But when Josie gets in trouble with the law its Sol to the rescue
- though hell need to make their marriage for real. If only shell stay out of hot water long enough to say I do!
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Oksa Pollock is a thirteen-year-old girl moving with her family from Paris to a new life in London. Along with her best friend Gus she is ready to settle into their new lives. But bizarre things start happening around Oksa. When she finds she has magical powers the truth emerges: her family are not from this world but from Edefia having fled their magical hidden homeland years ago in fear of all their lives. & Oksa is their queen. Between her loving powerful grandmother her wicked new physics teacher her mysterious uncles & Gus plus a whole host of fantastical Edefian creatures Oksa will be thrown into a wilder adventure that she could ever have. & Oksa knows she must triumph over her enemies. The whole of Edefia is counting on her. ...

' Cicero remarked that old age is a strange business. No one wants to miss it he said & everyone complains about it when they get there. Not I though'. Old age comes to us all & Enfield" wittily advises on how to survive its trickier obstacles not least the people who suggest you must 'do something'. One of the great delights of the golden years is doing less
- from giving up DIY & ambition to not inviting people to dinner. In these elegantly entertaining essays " Enfield" guides those entering their finer years on how to make the most of old age."
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A beautifully-illustrated classic picture book treasury from popular author-illustrator Jane Hissey featuring five of her most-loved stories. Where have Little Bear's missing red trousers gone? Can the toys rescue Old Bear from the attic? Will Jolly Tall ever get to see winter snowf lakes? & just what is inside the mysterious box in the playroom? This hardback gift edition consists of Old Bear Little Bear's Trousers Little Bear Lost Jolly Tall & Jolly Snow & is perfect for bedtime reading. ...

Hes British footballs philosopher manque. The most successful England manager we never had & a genuine footballing legend. To many an outspoken working class hero. To others
- mainly his targets
- he was a bolshy northern gobshite. Never less than opinionated often controversial & always eloquent here we present Brian Clough in his very own words... On himself: I wouldnt say I was the best manager in the business. But I was in the top one. On Roy Keane: I only ever hit Roy once. He got up so I couldnt have hit him very hard. On the FA: Im sure the England selectors thought if they took me on & gave me the job Id want to run the show. They were shrewd because thats exactly what I would have done. On being nominated for a knighthood: I thought it was my next door neighbour because she thought if I got something like that Id have to move. On handling players: We talk about it for twenty minutes & then we decide I was right. On drink: Walk on water? I know most people out there will be saying that instead of walking on it I should have taken more of it with my drinks. Duncan Hamilton is the author of the acclaimed Provided You Dont Kiss Me: 20 Years with Brian Clough for which he won the William Hill Sports Book of Year Award in 2007. He was the Nottingham Evening Posts Forest reporter during the club & Cloughs glory years. He is now deputy editor at the Yorkshire Post.

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