Todays book recommendation list focuses on creativity in general as opposed to my more niche list about making your own ink and paint. Three of these books are, dare I say, old chestnuts in the general creativity department. You may recognize the titles, and there’s a reason they are still in print. People keep coming back to them year after year.
◦ Julie Cameron. The Artist Way
Now on it’s 30 year edition, this perennial favourite has the possibility to be transformative, if you to do the work. That’s not said as a finger wag, but rather an acknowledgement that it takes a willingness to be vulnerable, which is certainly not easy for everyone. Jess Pan (
◦ Betty Edwards. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
First published in 1979, I doubt it’s ever been out of print. Probably because this method works. Think you can’t draw? Trick your brain into letting go, and in the process, you will get out of your own way. The before and after section is pretty fun to click through.
◦ David Bayles and Ted Orland. Art and Fear
I have yet to get through this entire book. Probably because I pick it up, open a page at random and read shit like this;
“Look at your work, and it tells you how it is when you hold back or when you embrace. When you are lazy, your art is lazy; when you hold back, it holds back; when you hesitate, it stands there, staring, hands in its pockets. But when you commit, it comes on like blazes.”
Whew. Ok, I gotta go lay down now. I’ll pick the book up again in a week for another mind bomb.
◦ Austin Kleon. Keep Going
Useful bits of inspiration, bite-size quotes, lots of white space, a fun shape, and several cartoon-style drawings. If I may generalize, it’s like a loose, fun version of Art and Fear.
Do you have a favourite book that inspires you to go make work? Or at least think about making work? Add it into the comments below, I’d love to check it out. Have you done The Artists Way, or tried the methods described in Right Side of the Brain? How did it go for you?