Discover a new approach to oil painting that takes the stuffiness out and puts the fun back in. Learn how to paint vibrant florals, landscapes, seascapes, portraits, and more, and see your skills improve. Oil Painting Every Day shows you how to translate what you see into captivating paintings. Begin with a solid understanding of oil paint and essential supplies, then try easy exercises that will train your eye to see the world like an artist. From there, you’ll learn how to capture beautiful details in landscapes and still lifes and create shadows and depth to make your work come alive. Refine those details to paint waves, clouds, and floral scenes, and get all the tips, tricks, and techniques you need for a doable portrait to get you started in figurative work. Get great ideas for creating engaging compositions while capturing the world around you, and discover how a variety of simple brushstrokes add energy and life to a piece. In this book you’ll find: How drawings and underpaintings can give your paintings a boost How to care for your tools and materials Tips and techniques for working in sketchbooks and on canvas The benefits of maintaining a consistent art practice How to paint from life and photographs Ways to build cohesive compositions that tell a story Oil Painting Every Day is your all-access pass to oil painting.

How will the Covid-19 pandemic be remembered? What did it mean to people? How did it feel? This book provides a compelling account of the pandemic as it was experienced in the UK. Everyday Life in the Covid-19 Pandemic is a democratic history based on the 5,000 diaries collected by Mass Observation on 12 May 2020. It is a record of what many of these diarists wrote, from a wide range of positions, in a variety of voices and on a wealth of different subjects. The book shines a light on their lives on the day in question, their experiences during the first two months of the pandemic, and their hopes and fears for the coming months and years. The diaries capture much of everyday life in the pandemic for millions of people in the UK and beyond: the activities, events, and rituals (from funerals to working from home); the sites and stages (from shops to Zoom); the roles and categories (from 'key workers' to 'vulnerable groups'); the frames (from luck to 'the new normal'); and the moods (from anxiety to grief). In these diaries, we see what people did when the pandemic arrived in the UK, but also what people thought and felt – how they interpreted the pandemic experience and gave it meaning. We see both how the nation responded and the nation who responded. The book also includes two essays offering expert contextualisation of the diaries and discussion of their value for narrating the pandemic and presenting everyday life.

The Easy Way to Get Started with Oil Painting Craig Stephens has a simple motto for painting: With a brush, some paints and a willingness to learn, anyone can do it. With that mindset, Craig takes his most essential lessons, boils them down to their basics and teaches you everything you need to know to start oil painting, without any fuss or highbrow. Thanks to his experience teaching painting to high school students for over two decades, Craig is an expert at helping those with no experience pick up a brush and make beautiful art they are proud of. With his direction, you’ll create dynamic, vivid paintings and learn to capture your world in ways you never thought possible. Each project in this book is designed to highlight the important elements of using oil paints, helping you to practice new skills and get comfortable with the medium. And thanks to Craig’s helpful step-by-step directions that pair a picture with each stroke, you’ll get great results. Hone your color-mixing eye as you blend the vibrant greens and subtle yellows in the Freshly Cut Avocado piece. Practice painting unique textures, like the small craters in the Simplified Strawberry or the glossy skin on the Smooth and Shiny Plum. Learn all the ways to capture natural light, like transparency in a glass of Refreshing Lemon Water or dazzling reflections on a Chrome Coffee Creamer. Oil painting is a timeless art form, and with Craig as your teacher, you’ll create 22 beautiful pieces for your walls and learn all the foundational skills you need to enjoy this hobby for years to come.

Gene Anderson was born in Oregon, in the twilight post-war years, into the most ordinary circumstances imaginable. Gene is endowed with powers. He can look into the other worlds that are all around him. He can make things happen. He can hurt and he can heal. His life changes dramatically when another boy is killed in a tragic accident, and Gene runs away. He is only nine. As he grows to 8'6" tall, his wanderings take him round the world in search of a remarkable destiny.

She was a silly and adorable university student, with a vague and lovable personality. He, the Dragon City's ruler, was ruthless, merciless, cold-hearted, and the leader of a mysterious organization. When an accident happened, the silly and adorable her saved her. From then on, a certain man lived a life of unscrupulous affection towards his wife. "CEO, Madam beat him up, the assistant said anxiously." As long as he didn't kill him. The man said coldly. CEO, Madam has taken a fancy to a limited edition bag, the assistant said. Sell all the same to Madame, the man said carelessly. One day, the foolish and cute woman looked at a certain man and asked, "Husband, why are you so good to me?" Because you're my wife. Someone said in a gentle tone. When this girl heard that, she smiled at a certain man and threw herself into his embrace, hugging him tightly. This is a pet for a doting wife, welcome to the pit.

“Lake Wobegon Days is about the way our beliefs, desires and fears tail off into abstractions--and get renewed from time to time. . . this book, unfolding Mr. Keillor's full design, is a genuine work of American history.” —The New York Times “A comic anatomy of what is small and ordinary and therefore potentially profound and universal in American life…Keillor’s strength as a writer is to make the ordinary extraordinary.” —Chicago Tribune “Keillor’s laughs come dear, not cheap, emerging from shared virtue and good character, from reassuring us of our neighborliness and strength….His true subject is how daily life is shot with grace. Keillor writes a prose that can be turned to laughter, to tears…to compassion or satire, to a hundred effects. He is a brilliant parodist.” —San Francisco Chronicle