Monday, January 31, 2011

Art books to read often

Three books Eric Jacobsen recommends to his students:

All three were on my studio library shelf. Now they are in my house, by my bed, on the coffee table. I will continue to look at them again and again and refer to them often with my painting questions and thoughts.

Are these books the ones you refer to in your art practice? Do you have others you recommend?

10 x 10
painting start

something new to try in the studio


My eye doctor did a bang up job dilating my pupils for my eye exam today. Six hours later my vision is still blurred and it's hard to tell that my eyes are green for all of the black pupils. Even with the blurry vision, I started a new oil painting to put into practice and remind myself again of some of the things from the Still Life workshop I took over the weekend. Big shapes with the right values first. Tomorrow I'll look again and see if I need much detail to finish it. Starts are a lot of fun!

7 comments:

SamArtDog said...

Before I read about your dilation, I was about to write, "Don't do anything else to this; it's perfect as is!"
I was right.

Loriann Signori has been posting great Carlson quotes.

Oli said...

Being self taught I read many books on painting and Art history. Carlson´s Guide to Landscape Painting is for sure one of the best and it is a continuous source of reference for me.
A book which really took me by surprise is Color and Light from James Gurney. He really explains the whole process of painting and looks at color theory from a practical perspective. A book to recommend.

Pam Holnback said...

I have all three of these books and yes, they're all great to refer to over and over. I also love Kevin Macpherson's books. The state everything so simply.

William Cook said...

I just found out that my first painting teacher, Bennard Perlman, is one of the important Henri historians. Complete surprise to me. An now you're recommending Henri's book. Something interesting must be lining up in the cosmos. I'm ordering it. Love your work. Wm

Katherine van Schoonhoven said...

Thanks, Sam. I think I'll leave it as is. "Dilation Teapot" for the title.

Oli: thanks for the comment and recommendation. I have Gurney's book on my shelf but haven't read it through yet.

Pam: I agree about Kevin Macpherson, too. His thorough explanation about what to bring for plein air with oils will become my guide soon as I take it all outdoors.

William: thanks for stopping by and commenting! You will love the Henri book if you enjoy taking small bites and chewing on them for a long time. Glad you're ordering it!

Celeste Bergin said...

I enjoy the dark red of those flowers against all the neutrals. You have a good eye for sure.....and a good library, Katherine (and I very much appreciate that you've loaned me some of your wonderful book acquisitions!) Any artist worth their salt looks at the great painters and "takes in" what they have to share. To me, reading wonderful books like the ones Eric and you suggest is like being able to sit down and talk to the artists themselves. Praise Gutenberg!

Suzanne said...

Besides the large blurry shapes with dilated pupils, did you get all the sparkling effect that appeared as an overlap of a thousand stars?
How is the new floor mat?