If the idea of abstraction makes you feel nervous, think again.

This straightforward and easy-to-follow guide starts by keeping one foot firmly rooted in reality - you'll never be in doubt about what you're looking at. The trick is to stretch the boundaries and create images that are as much about shapes and colours as they are about representation.

Abstraction is a way of telling the viewer what you thought about a subject rather than simply reproducing it and leaving it up to them. Were those flowers especially bright, or those branches particularly torn by the wind? Distort the detail and you can say that, as well as emphasise the aspects that specifically caught your eye.

A lot of books on abstraction go into the philosophy of the style and that's all very well, but you need the practical side as well and that's where this guide comes in. Each of the 22 projects occupies just a single spread and includes materials lists, breakout details and simple instructions that are easy to follow and reproduce.

Get the hang of the basics and you'll be working on your own and with confidence before you know it.

Search Press • Paperback • 112 pages • Colour throughout