How Art Works: The Concepts Visually Explained

by D.K. Publishing

What goes into creating art? How can we learn to read paintings? What are the key elements of composition?

If you've ever found yourself seeking the answers to the above questions and more, then this may be the book for you! An art book like no other, How Art Works uses practical graphics to demonstrate the techniques, styles, materials, and concepts that lie behind great art. It shows you how to interpret paintings, drawings, and sculptures, and reveals how art is made, laying out the key techniques and materials in visual detail. It also explains the nuts and bolts of the technical aspects behind art, such as perspective and composition, and shows how to identify major artistic styles and movements.

This awe-inspiring art history book features:

- Oil and watercolor painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, and more
- Explains the technical aspects of visual arts including perspective, light, color, form, and texture
- A selection of major art movements such as Impressionism, Cubism, Surrealism and more
- Shows how information, messages, and emotion can be conveyed through art
- Highlights key inventions and developments

Providing all you need to know to build on your artistic understanding and appreciation, this is the perfect book for art lovers of all kinds, whether you're an art student, or you're simply a lover of visual art and are looking to discover more about art but aren't sure where to begin.

At DK, we believe in the power of discovery.

So why stop there?

How Art Works is part of DK's widely successful How Stuff Works series. Discover the inner workings of the mind with How the Brain Works, succeed in all things science with How Science Works and discover the cosmos like you've never known before with How Space Works. Whatever topic sparks your interests, there's a plethora of knowledge to discover!

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2022

About the author

Dorling Kindersley (DK) is a British multinational publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 62 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a consumer publishing company jointly owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA and Pearson PLC. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the company and Pearson owns 47%.

Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.

Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Erikka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was beautifully made and very informative. While I was relatively familiar with materials and styles, it was still a really great overview. The most informative part for me was the last section about art movements throughout history. It’s so hard to keep them straight, but this does a great job of laying out basic traits shared by works so you know what you’re looking at when you see it. It also made me appreciate the nuance of one style from another and why art is so personal.

[Kevin Demel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot about the jargon and parts of art from this book.