True beauty is found in nature, making this the perfect sketch book for your art inspiration!As if being responsible for dazzling sunsets and the aurora borealis were not enough, nature is also guardian to the universal principals of design. With mathematical perfection, its recurring structures seem to magically adapt as they show up in hundreds of ways: the radial star at the center of snowflakes, fruits and flowers, and the arms of starfish; spirals at the heart of nautilus shells, unfurling plants, and swirling storm systems.Borrowing the beauty of nature's forms can help you create beautiful artwork. Observing the structure of nature's forms can help you to be a better designer. The inspiration is limitless. Nature's design magic is a balancing act found in its perfect ratios. The sections of this sketchbook--Star, Branch, Spiral, and Fan--focus on four of those disceptively simple design principles and why they work. Author/artist Yellena James uses her own nature-based drawings to guide readers toward looking closely at each design form and the places where it occurs. Readers will discover ways to use each form in their own artwork, realistically, abstractly, or as motifs in repeat borders and patterns. In a non-academic fashion, the text explains nature's beautiful balances, and the art of using them when you draw and design.

Autorentext

Yellena James grew up and attended art school in Sarajevo, BiH. At the age of 18 she moved to the U.S. After gaining her BA in painting and graphic design at UCF, she eventually made her way to Portland, OR. Preferring pens, inks, markers and acrylics, she combines complex abstract forms into dazzling images which take on lives of their own. Her colorful arrangements of organic shapes and tangled lines are at once floral and alien, organic and sci-fi. Each intimate world she creates seems to posses its own ethos and its own special ability to radiate emotion.

James has participated in shows around the U.S. and overseas, including: solo exhibitions at Giant Robot (San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA), the Here Gallery (Bristol, UK), the Hijinks Gallery (San Francisco, CA) and more. She also has done illustration work for Anthropologie, Crabtree and Evelyn, Crate and Barrel, Relativity Media and many others (see client list below).

Zusammenfassung
Nature's design magic is found in its perfect ratios. This illustrated drawing book focuses on four natural designs--Star, Branch, Spiral, and Fan--and why they work.

Inhalt

Introduction
Elements of Design
Principles of Design
Introducing four shapes
 
Chapter 1: Stars
Introduction to Stars
          Looking at stars:
          -star shaped sea life
          -star shaped plants
          -star shaped seeds and fruits
          -star shaped crystals
          -3d stars
          -snowflakes
Draw a perfect five-point star
Draw nearly perfect star by hand
Draw star ornaments
Add stars to underwater scene
Draw star shaped ornaments
Draw a star centered sea anemone
Add star shaped elements
Add black and white star motifs
Finish this composition
Animated sea creature
Draw your own sea creature
 
Chapter 2: Branches
introduction to Branches
Fractal branching
Draw a branch
             Looking at branches:
            - plants
            - corals
Inflorescence
Draw branches based on inflorescence
Sketching branches
Movement in branches exercise
Add branches to composition
Finish this drawing
Add branching to leaves
Branch pattern exercise
 
Chapter 3: Spiral
Introduction to spirals
Fibonacci spirals
Different types of spirals
Draw some fern exercise
              Looking at spirals:
             - spiral shaped shells
             - spiral shaped sea life
             - spiral shaped plants
Draw your own pinwheels
How to draw a shell step by step
Add color to shells
Draw spiral seashells
Draw spiral ornaments
Add spirals to jellyfish
Finish this composition
 
Chapter 4: Fans
Introduction to Fan chapter
              Looking at fans:
             - fan shaped branches
             - fan shaped sea life
             - fan shaped plants
             - fan shaped mushrooms
Fan mushrooms exercise
Modify this fan shape exercise
Draw fan shaped plants
Draw black and white fan motifs for patterns
How to make a perfect tile for pattern
Add fan elements to composition
Complete this fish drawing
Guided fan drawing exercise
 
Chapter 5: Putting it all together
Introduction to putting it all together
Coloring page
Guided drawings
Finish this composition
Background for sketching
 
About the author
Resources
Acknowledgments