Utilizing the Library

I really haven't practiced my trade on a consistent basis for a combination of reasons. Firstly, a lack of materials. Secondly, a disorganized lifestyle, and lack of workspace. Thirdly a lack of guidance and inspiration.


I really didn't appreciate just how helpful even the most useless of art classes were to developing my medium. Simply having being told "do this!" clears up artists block better then anything then you can imagine. I've had numerous, brilliant concepts for truly divine paintings blip into my mind over the past three years, but none of them I've been able to see through because I wasn't remembering the basics.

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is
practically a legend in art study books, and
one of the first I ever read.

A lot of students in our first year scoffed at some of the things professors would tell us. I feel as this is a very negative and self destructive mentality to have. No-one is above the basics. Can the basics be broken, and molded to fit a fantastic work that transcends mediocrity? Absolutely, but one should have a firm hold on these guidelines and definitions before they feel their art is above the foundations. I also feel anyone in my trade should occasionally practice exercises that put the artists to the test on these basic rules.

Having been in a long and tiresome rut, one of the things I started doing to pull myself out was seek out a source of guidance, and the easiest, cheapest and most fulfilling ways to go about this is *drumroll* the library. Since checking out a number of books from our local library system, I've been able to pull out practice pieces that transcends way beyond the caliber I displayed in college. I also feel that I put more soul into my pieces because I'm doing this more then for a grade. I don't want a grade, I want to be better, and push my limits as far as I can go.

Here's some of the books I've checked out so far:

Dynamic Color Painting for the Beginner by Diane Edison
I cannot count the ways in which this book has really helped me out. It is very basic and straightforward like the artist herself, but still I feel like I'm absorbing information that is can used in multiple mediums not just a 1-2-paint this book.

Drawing Workshop by Lucy Watson
Not quite as inspiring, but it has a lot of basic exercises, and a good list of recommended materials and great example pictures.

The Watson Drawing Book by Aldren Watson
Much like the book above (I believe no relation in the authors) it is filled with illustrations and examples of dealing with monochromatic mediums such as pen and charcoal.

Creating Books & Boxes by Bejamin D, Rinehart
An awesome, simple, and straightforward approach to creating artbooks and designer boxes. This may sound silly to most people, but these simple exercises teach the artist a lot about the importance of planning, design, measurements, and creativity. The thing I like most about these is the practical use the artist can get out of his or her creations (I love storing things in boxes, and keep good shoe boxes all the time to wrap, paint and collage on). My writing partner and I will also be using the information used in this book to start designing artbooks to publish the combined efforts of our labor.

Brushstroke and Free-Style Alphabets by Dan X. Solo
I LOVE studying fonts and typography. I received a bare bones crash course in creating fonts in my computer design class and was amazed at how much this little bit of information really helped with the rest of my work in the class. I will probably be scanning the pages of this book and making notes on the scans.