In today's video, I have a few books for you to consider, including Nathalie Kalbach's new book Artful Adventures in Mixed Media. (Love) All of these books have something in common: reading them will help you to discover that art is based on craft. Craft is something we can all learn if we want to. The Art comes into play when we use the tools (craft) to create something that expresses a message. That's it !
I'm so happy to see this Artists Manual has an update! I'll be adding it to my library. This is solid information and can help you to make smart purchasing decisions. It runs through all the media, supports and general information you need. Invaluable.
I love this book! It shows you an inside look on Nat's creative process. There's solid info on finding and transforming visual information and making the artwork uniquely yours. How the heck do artists do that? Nathalie will show you. Wonderfully inspiring art in this book. Loads of wonderful light. Oh my. And - this is important - all of these books help you understand the Elements of Art and color palette. That's the ticket. LOL.
You can purchase the book at Amazon (See below) or here on Nat's website. While your there, don't forget to sign up for Creative JumpStart! I have a coupon code for you to save $5. Use coupon code 5cjsdiana. That's the $40 price. Thanks Nathalie :)
I've always loved drawing and painting the figure and portraits. That passion sent me to Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts a long time ago. Oh boy. There I learned how to break down the face and figure to understand what I see and draw it realistically. Once you do that? It's a hop, skip and jump to putting your own spin on drawing people. Again. I want to be very clear here: drawing and painting are CRAFT. That's not the art. The art is your spin. Pam really did a great job with this book. She's broken down the face so that you can draw it.
Chris Cozen is a wonderful artist and teacher. I love her paintings. She's got loads of books out there and this just happens to be the one I have. There are exercises and information on the craft of art. She's a Golden artist (that's the paint company) and really knows her stuff technically. Her interpretations are poetic.
Another super fun book loaded with ideas designed to get you moving. I've had this for some time and it has held up well. I was still struggling with Acrylic paints and making the shift from oils at the time I bought this book. I learned to look at acrylics - not as a replacement for oils - but as a media on it's own. Loads of fun exercises and information.
Here's today's video: Watch on YouTube
I hope that this book review is helpful to you. I want to get across this message that it takes no special talent to learn the elements of art. It's like learning the alphabet and then learning to write. The talent (or desire) to create your own art is there for the taking.
Here are the books with links to Amazon. (Affiliate links, I get a commission from Amazon.)
Recent Comments