I took some quick photos of my art library. Some of these books were purchased in the past year, but most were purchased over the past four decades. As a matter of fact, some of the pages are turned yellow and brittle in the older books. I still refer to the aging books but turn the pages very carefully.
How important are art books for the artist? VERY! However, nothing will be a greater teacher than trial and error experience. The good thing about many art books is the author (assuming to be a professional) gives sample instructions step by step. This gives a self taught artist an opportunity to experience the freedom of paint and brush on a canvass, paper, or other substrate. It’s a wonderful and usually rewarding experience.
I often present myself as a self taught artist. I say this because I have no formal education in art and not taken but a recent art lesson from a local gallery. This was a very basic course and although I learned a few things–not much. However, I’ve never gotten off the long distance phone call that my brother, artist, Lynn Burton, didn’t give me a brief lesson and usually some assignments. So, considering this, perhaps I’m not a self taught artist after all.
However, I certainly would not know much about art if it were not the mountains of books on art that I have referenced. I’m sure I could probably qualify for having completed many courses taught in college art classes today. I am an avid reader and passionate student of art. But nothing means nothing without practice, practice, practice.
I do not show much of the artwork I’ve completed because they are practice paintings or drawings coming from art books. I’ve found most of these books that I’ve chosen to use are written by artists that go to great effort to show their sincerity and passion to pass on what they know. I also do not show this work because I may have used it as a means of learning only, and because I have a deep respect for the hard work an artist goes through to create the original composition.
I’ve just recently placed an order on the internet for the three library books on the right:
- Color Mixing for Artists~John Lidsey
- Dramatic Light~Patrick Howe
- Mastering Light & Shade in Watercolor~Ong Kim Seng
How I make my decision of whether to buy a book or get it from a public library is how often I keep checking the same book out of the library. Over the past six months I’ve checked these three books out several times until they seem to be part of my big stack of books pictured above which make up my personal library.
