Sea Life in Oil: 261 (How to Draw and Paint)

Walter Foster's classic How to Draw and Paint series provides aspiring artists with an exceptional array of art instruction books featuring all subject areas and media. Each title includes easy step-by-step exercises as well as finished illustrations or paintings that will inspire artistic talent in anyone.

Packed with practical information, helpful tips, and fundamental techniques, the How to Draw and Paint series offers a complete library of resources to which artists of all skill levels can refer again and again.

What you'll learn from this book ...

• A step-by-step process for painting a variety of marine plants and animals, from thumbnail sketches to final details

• What materials you'll need for painting sea life, including which colors to use and how to mix them

• How to set up a work station and prepare your own gesso boards

• Techniques for creating glazes and depicting water effects

• The rules of atmospheric perspective, and methods of constructing effective compositions

Artist Mia Tavonatti has a variety of interests, including a strong passion for painting and drawing. She attended art school at California State University Long Beach, where she earned both a B.f.A. and a M.F.A. in Illustration. She has studied painting in Paris, France, at the Sorbonne and at Parsons School of Design, where she also studied photography. During that time, one of her photos was published on the cover of the French newspaper Paris Free Voice. Mia also loves to travel, and she spends time during her summers painting in Greece. She feels that her experiences while traveling have been the strongest influences in her work.

Mia has exhibited her work extensively, and she has earned much recognition for her artistic accomplishments, including having work chosen for exhibition by both the Los Angeles and the New York Society of Illustrators' annual shows. She is the recipient of numerous scholarships, and she recently earned a nomination for a Golden Kite Award by the Children's Writers and Illustrators Society for Cramped Quarters, one of ten books she has illustrated. Mia's work can also be seen on over forty book covers and in various magazine editorials.

Mia enjoys the challenge of working in various formats and mediums, including markers, pencils, and her favorite, oils. In addition to editorial illustrations, she has created a number of murals and commissions for restaurants and private residences. She also teaches illustration and painting at the Art Institute of Southern California in Laguna Beach, California, which, she says, "keeps her on her toes" creatively. Mia currently resides in Newport Beach, California.