Art Books With Homegrown Tomatoes: Daily Art Practice
Book Corner
I thought I would share some recent art that I have enjoyed. I check out a lot of books from our local library as they have a great inter-library loan program. I can get almost any book.
The Organic Artist Make Your Own Paint Paper Pigments Prints and More from Nature
This book was very interesting as it had tutorials for making your own art materials. I am particularly interested in trying the homemade watercolor pigments once I get Gum Arabic. I love the idea of finding items from my backyard or garden and grinding them into powder to make my own paints.
Sketching People by Lynne Chapman has a lot of great tips and examples of sketching people in an urban setting.
How to Make Hand Drawn Maps I LOVED this book and am hoping to get a copy of my own. Maps are so fun and a great addition to a vacation or travel journal/album. This book gave so many ideas of how to personalize maps in a creative way.
The Golden Secrets of Lettering Creative lettering looks great on any project and this book has some inspiration and instruction that was easy for someone like me to understand.
Urban Watercolor Sketching I would highly recommend this to anyone that is starting watercolor. I am not sure why the word “Urban” is in the title because it reads more like a watercolor handbook to me. It goes through tools, palettes, color theory etc. and has so many great examples of Felix Scheinberger’s art, which is unique and very cool. I plan on buying this book as well.
Dare to Sketch Another Felix Scheinberger book that has a lot of his sketches and helpful hints on urban sketching. I like this book more for the artwork than for the tips.
Daily Art Practice
I am still experiencing art block but I am still forcing myself to create, even if it is bad. At the beginning of the week, I sat in front of some tomatoes on my counter inked them and painted them with watercolor. They say drawing from life is a great way to learn to “see.” I need to practice this more.
My daughter loves art and we got this book from the library. It was cute and we really enjoyed the exercises at the end of the book.
One of the exercises was to start with a box, add eyes and a nose, add a silly hat and then add a circle friend to the side. My daughter’s is on the left and mine on the right. We had fun doing this while sitting next to each other. The entire thing was done in ink pens.
Tea Day
I am joining the tea day ladies, hosted by Elizabeth and Bleubeard. My drink today is French Vanilla Cappuccino . I usually share tea but I thought I would try something new today as I don’t have any new teas to share. My hubby and I enjoy one of these cappuccinos in the evenings, if we have enough calories left. Occasionally, I drink this with almond milk but it is good with water.
What are some of your favorite art books?
Happy Tea Day,
Kate
What a great selection of books Kate. I have the organic artist one; I like it too. I think being able to make your materials is always fun to play with, whether they work well or not.. (I’m not saying they won’t work well, but I have tried some I’ve made at times that haven’t gone as I hoped.) But that’s the fun part of art- it’s all about the process. Have a great T day and week ahead Kate. hugs-Erika
You read some very interesting books on art. The Organic Artist sounds very interesting. I wouldn’t see your tomatoes as “bad”, I think they turned out pretty well. The “box face” of both your daughter and yourself are gorgeous – what a great idea!
Thank you for sharing your book list-I have that first one I used their suggestions for my black walnut ink. Your cappucino sounds delicious
Happy T Kathy
Your mother=daughter sketches are really cute. You are both so creative!
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Great idea to make materials on your own! Maybe you can help me anyways with the pens I bought. I think (…!) it´s about water-color.
Your apples look great and cute drawing by your daughter – happy T-Day!
Lots of wonderful books on art. Love the faces you did with your daughter. I have a lot of art books here, mainly on mixed media techniques and ideas. Happy T day, Valerie
The books ALL look fabulous and fun. I would totally enjoy looking at them. How lucky you are to have access to them. I think your tomatoes look fab, Kate. Love the art exercise you did with your daughter too – super fun and creative. Happy T-day!!!
What a fabulous aray of books, I hope they help with your art motivation and inspire you 😉. Loving your artworks, you daughter is very talented too. Happy T Day wishes! Hugs Jo x
Hi Kate, great selection of books this week. I have that Organic Artist book, and have done a lot of things from it, including making a paintbrush from cat whiskers! It took me ages to collect whiskers that had fallen off the cats lol. The how to spot an artist book sounds fun too. Happy T Day! Elle/EOTC xx
I need to sign up with my local library… thanks for the reminder kate! I love your sketches! Even when your not in the mood they are gorgeous! Happy T day! Hugs! deb
You sent me down a rabbit hole, Kate. Of course I had to check out all those books and read all about each one on Amazon preview. I would love to read some of them, too. I love what you and your daughter made together, Just perfect.
Your cappuccino sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing your art, the books you got from the library, and your cappuccino with us for T this Tuesday, Kate.
All the art books looks like so much fun. How sweet that you and your daughter did an art exercise together. Happy T Day