12 Books Every Beginning Artist Must Read
There are so many great books for art lovers that this blog post could be longer than War and Peace, but I’ll keep it brief and list 12 art books that helped me in various ways during the beginning part of my journey as an artist. Any of these would make a great gift for the artist in your life!
-”Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert provides the ultimate inspiration for artists to get out of their own way and live a creative life. It’s a book you’ll want to read over and over again.
-”The Artists Way” by Julia Cameron is a classic book with recommendations to unlock creativity. It leans spiritual, but the lessons are useful for anyone.
-”The Art and Science of Drawing” by Bret Eviston is probably the best instructional drawing resource on the market. The lessons build upon each other from the very basic starting point of drawing circles to complex figure drawing.
-”Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon This short book, and the other two mentioned below, are quick inspirational reads you’ll turn to again and again.
-“Keep Going” by Austin Kleon
-“Show Your Work” by Austin Kleon
-”The Secret Lives of Color” by Kassia St. Clair A beautifully written book loaded with the fascinating origins of colors.
-”A Big Important Art Book (Now with Women)” by Danielle Krysa This gorgeous ode to women artists is the type of book you’ll want to leave out on the coffee table to flip through when you have a few free moments here and there.
-”The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield is an inspirational read that identifies the roadblocks within every artist and how to move past them.
-”1500 Color Mixing Recipes for Oil, Acrylic and Watercolor” by William F. Powell demystifies color by providing exact color recipes to build color palettes.
-”Find Your Artistic Voice” by Lisa Congdon is full of interviews with professional artists about their work, their process and motivation.
-”Artpreneur” by Miriam Schulman provides useful business advice for artists looking to turn their creativity into a career.
