Mary Wu is a watercolor artist, educator, and content creator best known as @mamapandapainter, where she shares painting tutorials and creative inspiration across social media. After recovering from a long illness, Mary turned to watercolor as a way to reconnect with creativity, faith, and joy. Her approachable style has helped countless people fall in love with watercolor. She holds a Master’s in Education from Loyola Marymount University and was a teacher for many years. Now based in Southern California and a mom of three, Mary teaches workshops, partners with art brands, and volunteers teaching art to support healing and self-expression. She believes art has the power to restore, connect, and bring light into even the hardest moments.

Mike Shaw is an astrophotographer, teacher, and author of “The Beginner’s Guide to Astrophotography (2023),” “Creative Nightscapes and Time-Lapses” (2018), and “The Complete Guide to Landscape Astrophotography” (2017). Mike’s field workshops take him and his students around the globe, searching for the darkest, clearest skies. He began teaching photography classes in 2010 while working as a physics professor and soon succumbed to the lure of the open road. He quit his job in 2014 and has been enthusiastically teaching night photography ever since. He especially loves being present when people experience, often for the first time in their lives, that human connection with the night sky and the universe that transcends international borders.

Brian Lloyd Duckett a professional documentary and street photographer, and he runs the London-based StreetSnappers organisation. He runs street and documentary photography workshops around the world and he lectures extensively at camera clubs and photography societies and is a Visiting Lecturer on photography degree courses. His passion for educating street photographers continues through his YouTube channel (@streetsnappers) and he writes about street and documentary photography for travel, lifestyle, and photographic magazines. You can see Brian's personal work at www.brianduckett.com and the StreetSnappers organisation at www.streetsnappers.com. Brian is the author of the recently published Rocky Nook book: A Street Photography Manifesto.

Harold Davis is a world-class artist and photographer who has expanded the parameters of his field with imagery, new techniques, and as an author and educator.
Honored with the prestigious Photographic Society of America Progress award in 2022 for his development of a unique technique for photographing flowers for transparency, these works have been described as "ethereal" and having "a purity and translucence that borders on spiritual." (Popular Photo Magazine)

Davis's most recent books include Composition & Photography, Creative Garden Photography, and Creative Black & White, all from Rocky Nook. In February 2023, the PSA Journal reviewed Composition & Photography, noting that "While the text is compelling, the photographs are stunning and invite the reader to read even more."
He is also recognized as a master of black and white. The Seattle Times put it this way: "Harold Davis is the digital black and white equal of Ansel Adams’s traditional wet photography."

Braden Messer is a visual artist who specializes in teaching complex drawing concepts via simplified methods. He spent years honing his skills studying the works of names such as Andrew Loomis, John Asaro, and Leonardo Da Vinci. Messer co-founded Messer Creations where he creates drawing tutorial classes on online platforms. Messer has spent the last 6 years making drawing concepts like the Loomis method easily accessible through his online videos so that everyone in the world with an internet connection can easily learn and express themselves through drawing.

Rachael Marie Broadwell is an artist living in rural Nebraska with her two Boston terriers. She works primarily in oil paint, watercolor, gouache, and ink. Drawing since preschool, Rachael was encouraged by her parents and teachers to pursue art, which has always been central to her life. Rachael’s work captures the quiet beauty of her native Nebraska surroundings and the novel landscapes she discovers through her travels. She believes every place holds unique beauty and seeks to find and express it through her paintings. In addition to her personal art practice, Rachael teaches painting techniques both in person and online. Her work and tutorials can be found on Instagram

Spencer Nugent is the founder of Sketch-A-Day.com and has been providing free, high-quality online design sketching tutorials since 2008. He has created an extensive online network and following within the Industrial Design community and beyond. With his livestreams he continues to share his passion for creating and drawing on YouTube as well as the Sketch-a-Day Instagram and TikTok.

Spencer’s professional experience includes working at General Motors, Astro Studios, and his own design consultancy, Studio Tminus. Spencer has led workshops for corporate clients including Adidas HQ, Herzogenaurach Germany, Apple Retail, LG, and Adobe MAX. Spencer received the Industrial Design Society of America’s individual achievement award in 2020.

Spencer is the author of "The Perspective Drawing Guide" and "Sketch Every Damn Day", both published by Rocky Nook.

Steve Laskevitch, founder of Luminous Works Training & Consulting in Seattle and a teacher for three decades, has designed workflows for hundreds of photographers and companies. As an Adobe Certified Instructor, he trains creative individuals and firms and has regularly helped Adobe Systems prepare Lightroom and Photoshop Certified Expert exams. Steve has always enjoyed creating photographs—in the field, studio, or lab; on film and digitally. Students of all levels have appreciated Steve’s friendly and approachable style in the Luminous Works classroom and at the colleges, universities, and conferences where he has taught.

Volta Voloshin-Smith is originally from Moldova and currently calls Dallas, TX her home. She founded Color Snack as a way to share tips, encourage others to live a creative life, and help build the next generation of artists by donating a portion of proceeds to local art education. Volta’s mission to watercolor the world can be seen in her various projects such as brand activations, custom illustrations and animations that she creates for national and international brands. She also hosts virtual and in-person watercolor workshops where she encourages everyone to rediscover their inner artist.

Yuki Toy (Yuki Toyooka Smith) is an artist and author based in Los Angeles. She grew up in Hokkaido, Japan, and teaches Anatomy Illustration and Figure Drawing at several colleges in Southern California. She has been published in multiple medical illustration books and her art work has been part of the curriculum at USC and Cal Tech.

Yuki received an MFA from USC Los Angeles, and a BFA from SUNY New Paltz, and is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post Japan. She is known for her anatomical illustration in muted, pastel tones, and her photorealistic charcoal drawings. Her work creates a subdued and nostalgic feel, evoking a tradition that spans from Nicolas Henri Jacob to Charles Bargue. Find her online at yukitoy.com and @yukitoyanatomy.

Attabeira De Turowski is a one-line artist with a profound passion for this unique and mesmerizing art form. Over the years she has cultivated her expertise in one-line drawing which has led her to share this captivating style with a broad audience. Through more than eight online courses, she has taught over 10,000 students the intricacies of one-line art. She has also collaborated with renowned brands like Montblanc, Adobe, Skillshare, and Inkbox. Find her on Instagram and YouTube.

Rob Sylvan is a photographer, educator, and author. He is the author of many Lightroom, Photoshop, and photography related books, eBooks, and videos.

Rob has created tutorials found within the Lightroom desktop application, is a Canon Product Educator, and teaches at photography conferences such as Adobe MAX, Photoshop World, Lightroom Summit, and more.

Roberto Valenzuela is a photographer based in Beverly Hills, CA. He has been honored by Canon USA as one of the few chosen photographers to be part of their prestigious Canon Explorers of Light program. Roberto believes that it is not talent but deliberate practice that is at the core of skill and achievement. He has traveled to every corner of the world motivating photographers to practice and break down the various elements of photography in order to master them through goal-setting, self-training, and constant dedication. He is the author of the best-selling books Picture Perfect Practice, Picture Perfect Posing, Picture Perfect Lighting, and Wedding Storyteller, Volume 1: Elevating the Approach to Photographing Wedding Stories.

Nicki Fitz-Gerald began her career as an illustrator in London after graduating from Chelsea School of Art in 1990. Her illustration work has been widely published in mainstream and business publications, and has been used on book covers for The Women’s Press.
Since 2002, Nicki has been employed as a graphic designer. The purchase of an iPhone 3G caused her to become a “hopelessly addicted iPhoneographer,” as it provided an outlet for creative expression outside the constraints of her day job. Her iPhone photos have since been highlighted in a number of online and gallery exhibitions. Several of her images have been featured on Life in LoFi’s weekly gallery “FavedonFlickr,” and her image Flamin’ Amy, shown on the cover of this book, won 4th place in Life in LoFi’s Faved of the Year 2011. Five of Nicki’s images won awards at the 2013 Mobile Photo Awards, including the top prize in the Appstract Digital Painting category. All five were displayed at the Soho Digital Art gallery in New York City.
In April 2011, after finding no central online resource for learning the art of iPhoneography, Nicki created iPhoneographyCentral.com. The website provides a place for both beginners and experts to share tips, techniques, and ideas via step-by-step tutorials.
Nicki now divides her time between her day job, family, the iPC website and iPhoneography.

DAVID ULRICH is an active photographer and writer whose work has been published in numerous books and journals including Aperture, Parabola, Mānoa, and Sierra Club publications. Ulrich’s photographs have been exhibited internationally in over seventy-five one-person and group exhibitions in museums, galleries, and universities and can be found in many public and private collections. He is currently co-director of Pacific New Media Foundation in Honolulu, Hawai‘i and a faculty member at Chaminade University. He previously taught for University of Hawai‘i Mānoa and served as Professor and Chair of the Art Department at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle as well as Associate Professor and Chair of the Photography Department of the Art Institute of Boston (now Lesley University College of Art and Design). An engaging speaker and workshop leader, David Ulrich has inspired many people at conferences, colleges and universities, workshop facilities, and art centers. He earned a BFA degree from the Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston and an MFA degree from the Rhode Island School of Design. He is a consulting editor for Parabola magazine and a frequent contributor.

David Ulrich is the best-selling author of Zen Camera: Creative Awakening with a Daily Practice in Photography (Watson Guptill/Penguin Random House, 2018), the companion volume for The Mindful Photographer. He is also the author of The Widening Stream: the Seven Stages of Creativity and coauthor of Through Our Eyes: A Photographic View of Hong Kong by Its Youth. His recent book of photographs, Oceano: An Elegy for the Earth, is scheduled for publication in 2022 by George F. Thompson Publishing in association with the Center for the Study of Place.

Guy Tal spent the first 26 years of his life in Israel where he was born, served a mandatory military service, and studied and taught at the Tel Aviv University. As a youth, he loved to explore the natural areas around his home by the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the Negev Desert and the Golan Heights. It was during one of these outings that Guy first picked up a camera to document the things that fascinated him about the natural landscape and its wild inhabitants. This prompted a passion for and deep interest in photography that continues to grow and intensify to this day—three decades later.

At odds with the political turmoil and rampant urbanization of his homeland, Guy immigrated to California where he embarked on a career in information technology. He also began an enduring love affair with the wild places of the American West. Guy found that he was unfulfilled by the urban, career-driven life, and decided to move closer to his beloved deserts and mountains of the Colorado Plateau. He ultimately settled in a tiny, remote town at the foot of Utah’s Aquarius Plateau, on the edge of Utah’s famous canyon country—a place that inspires him deeply and where he practices most of his work.

A lifelong learner and explorer, Guy’s interest in art, science, and philosophy converged with his intense love of wild places, which he expresses through his photography and writing. He is a public speaker, educator, and frequent contributor to several photographic publications. Guy’s first book, More Than A Rock, was published by Rocky Nook in 2015.

Sean Tucker is a professional photographer and filmmaker based in London. Born in the UK, he did most of his growing up in Africa, where he became a pastor working for the church in South Africa in his 20s. Even though that role is behind him, he still carries a fascination with psychology and spirituality, which he brings to his discussions around creativity. He has built a large following online, both on YouTube and Instagram, where he talks about the “why” behind the things we make, seeking to inspire people on their own creative journeys. Find out more at www.seantucker.photography.

Adam Pratt loves people, photography, and a good story! He spent the last twenty-five years at the intersection of creativity and technology, including twenty-two years at Adobe, where he worked on the Creative Cloud team. He’s a professional photo organizer, software trainer, and photographer. He’s also the founder of Chaos to Memories, where he helps people enjoy their photos again by turning their photo chaos into precious memories they can enjoy and share.