Friday, July 29, 2011

My Favorite Art Books (So Far)

I have accumulated quite a few books about art.  I'll bet you have, too.  Here are some of my favorites:
 
1.  Colored Pencil Portraits Step By Step by Ann Kullberg - Although I don't do colored pencil portraits, I love this book!  Ann Kullberg gives wonderful tips on technique.  The best thing I learned from this book is to be fearless about using darker darks and lighter highlights.  She says, "I've found it takes courage to really bear down on those points and get that colored pencil good and dark; but without darks you really can't show light!"
2.  Painting Light With Colored Pencil by Cecile Baird - This is another wonderful book chock full of colored pencil techniques.  She gives excellent tutorials on how to paint various textures.
3.  Colored Pencil Painting Bible by Alyona Nickelsen - This is one of the first books I read when learning to use colored pencils.  She discusses using solvents to blend color and shows how to create dark back round colors.  I don't use solvents anymore, but I'm glad I learned about this technique.
4.  Fill Your Oil Paintings With Light And Color by Kevin D. Macpherson - He's one of the best painters out there today.  His loose, painterly style is beautiful.  He discusses color pallet choices and how to create light in a painting.
5.  Celebrate Your Creative Self by Mary Todd Beam - This is a good book containing information about mixed media.  She shows different techniques using acrylic paint, glue, tissue paper, foil, etc.  I've tried a few of her project ideas and they're fun1
6.  Collage Discovery Workshop: Beyond the Unexpected by Caudine Hellmuth - I love this book for it's fantastic project ideas.  She shows how to use print making tools, paper and fabric techniques.

Do you have some favorite art books?


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