Books for Artists

Yesterday we focused on creating beautiful things for the mouth, today we will focus on creating beautiful things for the eyes.

Oil Painting Workbook: a complete course in 10 lessons by Stan Smith (not the former Ketchikan artist Stan Smith) and Pastel Workbook: a complete course in 10 lessons by Jackie Simmonds are both great resources for the beginning artist. Spiral bound for easy display next to an easel, these books take you through the techniques of working with oil paints and pastels with helpful advice, beautiful examples and clear photography.

Artful Journals: making & embellishing memory books, garden diaries & travel albums by Janet Takahashi shows you how to make works of art out of your thoughts and mementos. She demonstrates different types of binding and display, ways to embellish your covers and pages, and advocates expressing your ideas and feelings visually.

Craft in America: celebrating two centuries of artists and objects by Jo Lauria and Steve Fenton, is a lovely browse. A companion book to the PBS series (which we have on DVD), this takes a gentle, meandering approach to the history of American craft pieces. The book is grouped by theme or school, rather than chronologically, which is good idea since many craft works (practical objects imbued with beauty) are timeless. Check out the piece by Nathan Jackson on page 14.