• Multi-media artist Eric Rudd has written two books for artists who feel compelled to produce not just good art, but great art that has potential for recognition on a grand scale in museums and perhaps a legacy in art history. Rudd pulls no punches in his entertaining account of his successes and failures both as an artist and developer of loft art studios from Washington, D.C. to North Adams, Massachussetts. His ideas aren't for the faint-hearted or the Sunday painter but rather for the artist with a strong belief in the greatness of the work and a willingness to take risks to create a space where this can happen.
The Art World Dream: Alternative Strategies for Working Artists sets forth this premise and The Art Studio/Loft Manual for Ambitious Artists and Creators provides the practical information needed to make it happen.
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• Collagist Jonathan Talbot has published his book,
Collage: A New Approach Without Liquid Adhesives, describing a technique he developed utilizing acrylic medium applied to collage materials, followed by heat setting to adhere the pieces to a support. This method eliminates the wrinkling common to the use of fluid mediums. Talbot has packed a lot of information into this small book, including an excellent collage bibliography, a resource list of materials, and collage web sites and email lists.
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• I'm awestruck by the work of wildlife artist John Agnew. North Light has published his book, Painting the Secret World of Nature, which includes brush and airbrush techniques in an astonishingly photograph fashion somehow well beyond normal photo-realist techniques, and yet many of the techniques described are well within the capabilities of amateur painters.
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• Popular teacher and talented artist Mary Beam has written an exciting new book, Celebrate Your Creative Self, with more than 25 exercises to unleash the artist within. The spiral-bound format keeps the book flat on your work surface for easy reference. Mary's techniques include a great variety of textured surfaces and techniques, as well as some food for the soul. Supply lists, step-by-step demos, and finished work by many artists are included.
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• Photography has had a grip on me since I bought a new digital camera. I love this book by Gross & Shapiro: The Tao of Photography: Seeing Beyond Seeing.. It's a remarkable blend of Taoist philosophy and black-and-white photography. Artists can learn a lot about design by studying strongly designed black-and-white photographs.
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Photoshop Elements Solutions. is a must-have book if you're into digital editing of photographs with Adobe Photoshop Elements. The program itself is great and this book is a nifty handbook for any number of projects and techniques with dozens of techniques for improving and arranging your photo layouts. A 30-day trial version of the program is included on a CD.
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 • Brenda Hoddinott's Drawing for Dummies follows the format of the Dummies books with a lighthearted approach and some really silly stuff, but don't be fooled--there is a ton of good, solid drawing instruction in this book. This self-taught artist is skilled at rendering all subjects and just incidentally is highly motivating for those who think they can't draw. Subtitled "The fun and easy way to pick up the basics and start expressing yourself." Give it a try. You'll either become a skilled drawer yourself or at the very least, learn how to make some fun cartoons. |
 • Painting the Things You Love in Watercolor advises you to tell your story by painting family treasures and memories in a highly detailed style. The book is not for beginners, as it has no basic watercolor instruction. However, there are lots of tips & tricks and plenty of step-by-step demos with specific materials listed for each demo. Earnshaw suggests working from 5 x 7 prints, combining photos and cropping and using closeups of details. A creative touch is in the variations on sizes and formats of the paintings, some of which are quite small. |
 • Making Monotypes Using a Gelatin Plate by Nancy Marculewicz is about printmaking without a press. This is a process that is save to use with children and is both easy and inexpensive. The photo demos are very clear step-by-step instruction with great examples of the type of artwork that results from the gelatin plate printing. There are advanced techniques as well, including offset printing, collage prints and other experimental techniques. The thing I like best about the monotype process is the spontaneous appearance of the finished piece. |
 • Claudia Nice's book, Painting Country Gardens in Watercolor, Pen & Ink is a fine instruction book from this prolific artist and teacher. Clear, helpful illustrations on ink and watercolor techniques are more complete than many books. Along with flowers, Nice includes garden implements, features such as fences, walls and trellises, and wildlife. There is also some helpful information on perspective. Unfortunately, the books's designers chose an Italic script for the text on the illustrations, making it slightly difficult to read, but the book is still a winner in my opinion. |
| Be sure to check out my Awesome Book List page for hundreds of recommended books with direct links to Amazon.com for reviews and ordering. |
