Resources for a self-taught artist (part 2)
A follow-up devoted to books for beginner artists!
This post is a follow-up for a previous one and is devoted to some of the books that I found (and still find) helpful in building my art skills. I purchase most of the books as electronic files as at the moment I don’t have enough storage space, but to my knowledge all of my recommendations are also available in hard cover.
The list is in no particular order, but I tried to include books that are focused on different aspects of making art, on using various mediums and focusing on a variety of subject matters.
So, here it is:
Blue and Yellow Don’t Make Green (Michael Wilcox)
Many art books have a section that is devoted to some aspects of color theory, however, I found this book by Michael Wilcox particularly useful and insightful. In my opinion it is the best in explaining how colour really works from a scientific point of view. His explanations might feel a little bit too scientific at first, but believe me, if you get through the first part of his explanations and get to the exercises everything falls into place. I really recommend checking out the book, because it explains lots of nuances of colour mixing, such as existing biases in each colour (e.g., you can have an orange red biased more towards yellow, like a vermillion, or a purple red biased more towards blue, like alizarin crimson). Wilcox also explains, how these biases will result in dramatically different mixing results. Ideas from the book will help you mix colours more confidently and consciously.
As a complement to this book, How to Paint Fast, Loose and Bold by Patti Mollica is also really helpful. It contains a part devoted to colour, which provides additional examples of how characteristics and properties of colours influence the result of your painting, so that you can use your paints with more intention.
Mastering Composition (Ian Roberts)
I honestly think that it is the most comprehensive and comprehensible book on composition that you can find. It goes far beyond the usual “use the rule of thirds” advice and provides tons of examples. What I also like is that all these methods are valid for all styles and genres, because they are based on fundamental principles of composition. Ian also has a great Youtube channel, which I have already recommended earlier.
Modern Acrylic (Blakely Little)
I admire Blakely and her artwork, so the book was a great opportunity to learn from her. The book is completely beginner friendly and explains many particulars of painting with acrylics as well as provides several projects for practising all the techniques. I think that even if you aren’t a complete beginner, the book will still be useful, because it contains all the main concepts in one place. The projects are also versatile and fun and a great starting point for your own explorations. While acrylics and oils have different properties, I feel that most of the ideas in the book are applicable to oil painting as well.
There are two other books in the series Modern Drawing by Chelsea Ward and Modern Watercolour by Kristin van Leuven and I find both of them equally useful, original and fun. I remember being always intimidated by various beginner friendly drawing / painting books, because they actually weren’t that beginner friendly. However, this series of books really makes learning painting and drawing a less daunting and intimidating experience.
The Painted Art Journal (Jeanne Oliver)
Jeanne is an amazing mixed media artist and educator and I love her courses. And as all her courses are great, her book is also a gem. It contains simple, yet powerful and inspiring ideas and projects. It made me think a lot about my creativity, my story and what I want to express through making art. The book contains 24 wonderful projects that will help you to explore your creative side deeper and more intentionally.
Vincent Van Gogh: The Drawings
Drawing is a fundamental skill for an artist, especially if you are creating art that is in some way representational, but I believe that even abstract artists benefit from from having a regular drawing practice. This particular book if full of ideas and inspiration from one of my favourite artists. I find it particularly instructive in its own way, because it shows the foundation of his painted works, how he used composition, linework an marks to portray the world the way he saw it. It is also motivating and inspiring to learn that Van Gogh wasn’t instantly recognised as a genius, but still he persisted in following his creative calling. I really recommend the book for all those who (as I am myself) from time to time struggle with self doubt.
Other reference books of your favourite artists and / or movements
I encourage you to get your hands on various books with collections works of your favourite artists or from your favourite period, movement, style, etc. After all, learning from masters is an ancient artistic tradition aimed at learning, building skills and exploring new directions in your own art. It also helps you to fight limiting beliefs, such as “you cannot paint the same thing multiple times” (but Matisse did!) or “you have to paint in a tight, studied and controlled way” (yeah, tell that Picasso!) or “real art is representational art” (Kandinsky strongly disagrees!). Well, you get the idea!
Steal like an artist (Austin Kleon)
We are exposed to so many works of other inspiring artists that we seem to like all of them and struggle to find our own original ideas. This book helps to understand how creative ideas originate and how to be inspired by others in such a way to create something novel and unique. It is an easy, but very insightful read.
The Social History of Art (Arnold Hauser)
It is a book about why we make art in the first place. The massive 4 volume set explores how art originated and developed, what are the functions and meaning of art within our society and what movements existed throughout history of mankind. I think it is an essential read for any artist in order to understand the role, place and function of our profession within the complex social structures of human life. But don’t be immediately intimidated by the sheer amount of information in this book. The best approach is to start with those parts of it that speak to you the most, e.g. a certain period or movement. Reading this book will help you to become familiar with historical precedents for contemporary art and understand better concepts that are relevant to contemporary art discourse. This knowledge helps us to better analyse and understand our own work as well as work of other artists.
Additional thoughts
It is necessary to experiment a lot before you figure out your unique artistic voice. That is why it is useful to refer to a variety of study materials, ideas and theory and that is why I prepared this list (by no means a comprehensive one). You don’t have to like all the mentioned artists and their work, but if you are open to various styles, ideas, approaches and processes you will learn a lot and have more freedom to experiment yourself. Also remember that you won’t necessarily find all the information from the books useful for you and it’s ok. It’s always a good idea to revisit the ideas from time to time, because your practice will evolve, your skills will develop and you will notice something new every time.
At the same time, no matter how many books you read, how many online courses you finish, or how many in-person workshops you attend, the only way you can get better at making art is actually making art (and lots of it). It may sound trivial and obvious, but you really need to put in the hours and effort into practice in order to improve your skills, develop your process and find your unique style, so that people may see your art and say “I know whose work it is!”. These are the books that helped me in my art practice, but I started seeing better results only when I started putting more hours into my daily practice. Also take time to reflect on your experience, critique your work (not criticise!) and learn from your own mistakes. The educational sources can help you to recognise the mistakes and give some advice on how to overcome them, but you need to create the work and put into practice all the theory first.
Hope this was useful!
Until next time!
Lisa