The theme this week is "art made with paints and brushes and multimedia."

Today's AWAD is "trompe l'oeil": Please scroll down.

The AWAD for Day 1 is:

chiaroscuro (kee-ar-uh-SKYOOR-o) noun

The treatment of light and shade in a work of art, especially to give an illusion of depth.

Also known as claire-obscure.

[From Italian, from chiaro (clear, light) + oscuro (obscure, dark).]

If you ever get bored with all the chit-chat at a cocktail party, here's something you can do to liven things up. When your host drops by to fetch you a drink, order a "little chiaroscuro".

If he doesn't know anything about art, he will probably bring you a liqueur. If he does, it will give you a light subject with an illusion of depth to talk about. The ideal conversation for a cocktail party!

Who needs light banter when you've got light chiaroscuro?

Many of this week's artful AWADs "can be used figuratively, as metaphors in contexts unrelated to art", Anu explains.

Anyone who uses Anu's terms of art figuratively is a figurist. Do that for an entire week and you'll become an expert on figures of speech. [That's a great way to draw attention to yourself, especially at a cocktail party.]

Anu never stops trying to improve our powers of expression. Have you noticed that? But sometimes he takes us into some shady places. Like last week with his "misleading words".

Maybe this will turn out to be another "Water of India" week in disguise. I don't want to draw any early conclusions, but this week's theme is ripe for illusions.

And deceptive allusions, as well.

Here's a review of the best books on figure painting by Marion Boddy-Evans. I'm not kidding! That's her name:

Top 7 Books on Figure Painting and Drawing
From Marion Boddy-Evans

Painting and drawing the human figure is a very rewarding challenge. These books provide not only help on the basics such as anatomy, proportion, and techniques, but also inspiration through the paintings and drawings reproduced in them.

http://painting.about.com/cs/figurepainting/tp/tp-figurepaint.htm