The Book of Life: Daily Meditations with Krishnamurti

Susan Owens (Author)

The Story of Drawing: An Alternative History of Art

0,Winner of the Apollo Book of the Year Award 2024 Drawing is at the heart of human creativity. The most democratic form of art-making, it requires nothing more than a plain surface and a stub of pencil, a piece of chalk or an inky brush. Our prehistoric ancestors drew with natural pigments on the walls of caves, and every subsequent culture has practised drawing--whether on papyrus, parchment, or paper. Artists throughout history have used drawing as part of the creative process. While painting and sculpture have been shaped heavily by money and influence, drawing has always offered extraordinary creative latitude. Here we see the artist at his or her most unguarded. Susan Owens offers a glimpse over artists' shoulders--from Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and Hokusai to Van Gogh, K?the Kollwitz, and Yayoi Kusama--as they work, think, and innovate, as they scrutinise the world around them or escape into imagination. The Story of Drawing loops around the established history of art, sometimes staying close, at other times diving into exhilarating and altogether less familiar territory.

Meredith Etherington-Smith

Axel Vervoordt: The Story of a Style

Axel Vervoordt began his career as an art and antiques dealer in the late 1960s, when he meticulously renovated a narrow street with sixteen of the oldest houses in Antwerp. In 1986, his company moved to a castle near Antwerp. Axel Vervoordt's company grew rapidly in this castle and he became a major collector and decorator. The foundation of Vervoordt's style is his commitment to making the past a relevant part of today's design. By juxtaposing different works of art, gathered throughout space and time, a spontaneous dialogue between them is revealed, creating a new dimension for the future. Axel Vervoordt transcends the roles of decorator and collector. He understands the power of objects to conjure up an entirely new atmosphere and knows exactly where to place them to transform the space. This gorgeous book will be an inspiration to anyone interested in a home that is elegant and personal without being ostentatious or superfluous.

Charlotte Rivers

CD-Art: Innovation in CD Packaging Design

Now in Paperback The best-selling CD-Art captures the finest CD cover and packaging design from around the world, and provides an international showcase of innovative work. This timely updated version of the original hardcover book looks at developments in the music industry today, and includes new work produced for the growing download and interactive market. The book looks at the ways in which designers excite the senses of sight and touch to create a fuller experience of a product more commonly associated with sound. Through a wealth of case studies, it shows how designers exploit the two- and three-dimensional qualities of CD packaging to create unique, collectable items. It explores not only the traditional elements of design-image, illustration, typography, and packaging-but also innovative materials. Case studies look at how artwork is selected, created, and applied to CD packages; how designers make the most of the standard dimensions for CD packages; and at the use of special formats, unusual materials, slipcases, etc.