MOWE, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – There are countless books out there available for visual artists to read and digest, especially for those who want to get better.
Nevertheless, I’m going to introduce five innovative books that you can read right away. These are the books that I believe every visual artist needs. Thus, I’ll dive in.
Creative Illustration by Andrew Loomis is first on the list. It is jam-packed with incredibly useful details regarding the fundamentals of painting color and composition.
It is reasonably priced at roughly (NGN 10,000) on Amazon, which is fantastic. Being a classic, this book used to be much more difficult to find. It’s also free to download as a PDF, which is essential to me.
The second book on the list is a Monograph of Robert Bateman’s book. Robert Bateman was a very active visual artist with a distinctive style, and his works are incredibly beautiful and show the principles of painting.
I simply urge you to adopt your own creative style, seek out books that truly inspire you, and spend a lot of time with them. Robert Bateman is currently 93 years old, and I don’t believe he is still actively practicing, but there are numerous examples of his work on Pinterest, and because he was so prolific, several different books of his work have been published.
The monograph is offered on Amazon in hardcover (NGN 29,000) and paperback (NGN 12,000).
The third book on the list is a small book that I stumbled upon by chance at a bookstore. Art and fear by Ted Orlando and David Bayles. I read a paragraph or two from this book because I thought it was so significant. In addition, this book is full of wonderful inspiration and guidance, including this one on perfection.
“The ceramics teacher announced on the first day that he was dividing the class into two groups. Those on the left side of the studio,” he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of the work they produced, and all those on the right, solely on its quality.
His procedure was simple: on the final day of class, he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the quantity group, 50 pounds of pots rated “A,” 40 pounds rated “B,” and so on. Those being graded on quality, however, needed to produce only one pot. Albeit, a perfect one to get an “A.”
When it came time to grade, a curious fact emerged: the highest-quality works were all produced by the quantity group. While the quantity group was busy churning out piles of work and learning from their mistakes, it appears that the quality group was busy theorizing about perfection and ended up with a little more to show for their efforts.”
“If you think good work is somehow synonymous with perfect work, you are headed for big trouble.”
“Art is human; err is human; err goes; art is err. Inevitably your work like the preceding syllogism will be flawed. Why? Because you’re a human being and only human beings warts and all make art without warts. It’s not clear what you would be but clearly you wouldn’t be one of us.” Isn’t that Interesting?.
This book is filled with information on how to be a visual artist, how to overcome obstacles to creativity, and how to just be persistent and consistent in your work. So, I wholeheartedly endorse this one, which costs (NGN 5,000) on Amazon.
A proven approach for creating beautiful art by Dan McCaw is the fourth book on the list. It’s a wonderful book with amazing knowledge that he poured his heart into, but the catch is that it’s a little pricey right now, and I don’t think there has been a second printing as of yet.
Given this, I believe the current price of (NGN 36,637) is a little high. It is also a little difficult to find. Dan McCaw is remarkable because both of his sons are professional artists.
So, what I find inspiring about the book, is especially the way he simplifies composition and encourages you to think of your composition as a powerful design in tiny thumbnails, etc.
In his paintings, Dan McCaw covered a wide range of topics, including figurative, still life, and landscape. So, this is extremely pertinent to contemporary visual art.
Practice as Research: Approaches to Creative Arts Enquiry, the fifth book on my list of innovative books for visual artists, is the last one. This workbook costs (NGN 13,000).
The chapters give specific, contextualized examples of studio-based research in the arts, including dance, film, video, and creative writing.
This book is more than a manual; it examines the connection between practice and theory by drawing on the works of philosophers like Deleuze, Bourdieu, and Heidegger.
Being a visual artist, I would suggest just letting yourself be inspired and exploring as many different art and photo books as you can find.