{"id":67,"date":"2017-01-09T10:00:43","date_gmt":"2017-01-09T15:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/?p=67"},"modified":"2017-07-12T17:50:39","modified_gmt":"2017-07-12T21:50:39","slug":"5-books-for-the-beginner-or-restarting-artist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/blog\/art\/5-books-for-the-beginner-or-restarting-artist\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Books for the Beginner (or Restarting) Artist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes we just need a kick-start in the right direction.<\/p>\n

Although the intention was always there, it\u2019s been a while since I\u2019ve drawn seriously. As such, I\u2019ve decided to\u00a0reboot! It\u2019s helpful to get back to basics\u00a0after a long period of not creating (or even during a really tough art block).<\/p>\n

What better way to begin\u00a0than by hitting\u00a0the books?<\/p>\n

For those who want to learn to draw or those who want to get back into the habit of creating, there are\u00a0often\u00a0two obstacles that prevent even starting:<\/p>\n

Mindset<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 Limited and generally negative, it often sounds like \u201cI can\u2019t, I suck,\u201d or some other similar variant.<\/p>\n

Structure<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 Don\u2019t know what to draw, how to draw, when to draw, where to draw, etc.<\/p>\n

\u2026 it leads to\u00a0stagnation.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve selected 5 books that focus on clearing those obstacles, all of which are geared towards people who have never drawn before. Especially for people who believe they\u00a0can\u2019t<\/span>\u00a0draw or are\u00a0not\u00a0creative<\/span>, which can happen to even experienced artists. Most of the books include exercises for practical application.<\/p>\n

This time, I’ll be noting any nuggets of wisdom as I read and each book will be reviewed separately in future posts. They’ll be read in order with the first books touching on the mindset (the why), leading up to the ones about the structure (the how).<\/p>\n

If there are other books you’d like to recommend, please let me know!<\/p>\n

The Creative License: Giving Yourself Permission to Be the Artist You Truly Are<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 By Danny Gregory. The tagline to this book is about permission, which is something I struggled with. I received this book from someone special at a time when my dreams of being an artist were being crushed over and over again (pressure to become\u00a0anything<\/span>\u00a0but an artist, ideally a doctor). Although I didn\u2019t agree with some of the ideas presented in the book, it was responsible for a few sketchbooks being filled. \u00a0So, it\u2019s worth reading again.<\/p>\n

Update: Read the detailed review here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sketchbook Confidential: Secrets from the private sketches of over 40 master artists<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 Edited by Pamela Wissman and Stefanie Laufersweiler. This is actually a collection of some sketchbook pages from various artists with their thoughts on sketchbooks and how they use them. It\u2019s more inspiration than informative, though I bought it at the time because it listed some artists I admired (Cathy Johnson<\/a>, Stephanie Pui-Mun Law<\/a>, among others).<\/p>\n

Update: Read the detailed review here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 By Betty Edwards. Possibly the most famous beginner’s book and required reading for pretty much any beginner drawing class, this book is the only one on the list with more text than art or drawings. It covers the ever popular Right Brain\/Left Brain theory. Though the book can be a dry read, and I don\u2019t entirely believe everything said in the book, it\u2019s helpful for breaking mental barriers that prevent people from accurately \u201cseeing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Update: Read the detailed review here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Magic of Drawing<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 By Cliff Wright. I actually love this book and bought it thanks to a good friend\u2019s recommendation. It\u2019s also geared towards beginners, much like The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, but it\u2019s more lighthearted and\u00a0covers the imagination whereas the former book is focused on observation.<\/p>\n

Keys to Drawing<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 By Bert Dodson. I\u2019ll be honest here. I\u2019ve owned this book for at least a year, probably more, and I\u2019ve never actually done more than skim through it. It contains\u00a0exercises and checklists and has great reviews on Amazon. I\u2019ll definitely have to do it justice and read it from cover to cover.<\/p>\n

Have you read these or are there any other\u00a0books that have gotten you past an art block? Ones that got you to start drawing?<\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0Kimi<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes we just need a kick-start in the right direction. Although the intention was always there, it\u2019s been a while since I\u2019ve drawn seriously. As such, I\u2019ve decided to\u00a0reboot! It\u2019s helpful to get back to basics\u00a0after a long period of not creating (or even during a really tough art block). What better way to begin\u00a0than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":82,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[6,23],"tags":[9,8,10],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Kiminjoy-Reading-Web.jpg?fit=961%2C667","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5gsQi-15","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":182,"url":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/blog\/art\/book-review-the-new-drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-brain-by-betty-edwards\/","url_meta":{"origin":67,"position":0},"title":"Book Review: The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards","date":"June 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Hello, Friends! It's time to dive into another book. This one's a classic! Everyone knows The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. I've had this book for a while, but I never actually did all the exercises, in order, cover to cover, until\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","img":{"alt_text":"My copy of The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Kiminjoy_BookReview_DrawingOnTheRightSideOfTheBrain_BookReviewCover.jpg?fit=800%2C1067&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":84,"url":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/blog\/art\/book-review-the-creative-license-by-danny-gregory\/","url_meta":{"origin":67,"position":1},"title":"Book Review: The Creative License by Danny Gregory","date":"February 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Though I've never met him, Danny Gregory isn't a stranger to me. I had come across his works of visual journaling a few times prior and was later given The Creative License by someone very special. During that time, many years ago, my creative-self was at an all-time low and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","img":{"alt_text":"Book Review - Cover of The Creative License","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Kiminjoy_BookReview_TheCreativeLicense_BookReviewCover_Sm.jpg?fit=450%2C600&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":112,"url":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/blog\/art\/book-review-sketchbook-confidential-secrets-from-the-private-sketches-of-over-40-master-artists\/","url_meta":{"origin":67,"position":2},"title":"Book Review: Sketchbook Confidential: Secrets from the private sketches of over 40 master artists","date":"April 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I love (love!) looking at the sketchbooks of artists, almost more than looking at the finished works themselves. So, when I saw this book and recognized some of the artists on its list, I ordered it and waited impatiently. Sketchbook Confidential did not disappoint. I was also happy to discover\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","img":{"alt_text":"Book Review: Sketchbook Confidential: Secrets from the private sketches of over 40 artists - Cover","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Kiminjoy_BookReview_SketchbookConfidential_Cover.jpg?fit=450%2C600&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":105,"url":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/blog\/life\/overcoming-the-hesitant-artist\/","url_meta":{"origin":67,"position":3},"title":"Overcoming the Hesitant Artist","date":"March 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Do you call yourself an artist? Are you a little hesitant? Maybe even, reluctant? Look around and you'll find that many (dare I say, most?) people start out as hesitant artists. They're uncertain or lack confidence. Cue the self-doubt: \"Maybe, I'm not actually meant to be an artist? Where's my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","img":{"alt_text":"Overcoming the Hesitant Artist - Featured Image","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Kiminjoy_BlogPost_OvercomingTheHesitantArtist.jpg?fit=800%2C600&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":202,"url":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/blog\/games\/game-review-artist-survival-simulator\/","url_meta":{"origin":67,"position":4},"title":"Game Review: Artist Survival Simulator","date":"July 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 I recently replayed Artist Survival Simulator. It was the first game I ever played that was based on living the life of an artist. Unfortunately, most of those games seem to be a bit more on the depressing side and this one is\u00a0no different. Artist Survival Simulator is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Game Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"Featured Image: Game Review of Artists Survival Simulator","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Kiminjoy_BlogPost_ArtistSurvivalSimulatorFeaturedImage.jpg?fit=710%2C334&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":130,"url":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/blog\/life\/art-studio-inspiration-plants-and-wood-edition\/","url_meta":{"origin":67,"position":5},"title":"Art Studio Inspiration: Plants and Wood Edition","date":"May 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I've had the luxury of commandeering part of my apartment's sunroom for an \"art studio,\" which has plenty of natural light and quickly became my favorite space. It's currently made up of a Ponderosa glass topped table (which I bought to utilize as a light table, a glass paint palette,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","img":{"alt_text":"Artist Studio Inspiration: Plants and Wood Edition - Featured Image","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Kiminjoy_BlogPost_ArtistStudioInspirationPlantsAndWoodEdition.jpg?fit=800%2C600&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201,"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions\/201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}