Tag: art books

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The perfect Sunday morning, the perfect Watercolor Inspiration Book

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For Practicing:  dual pallets AND a set of cheap old pan paints too!

The day started hot and humid as it has this summer (a verdant August is unheard of here in Middle Tennessee, but it’s true this year …) so I grabbed the happy tails duo and we headed to the park for a pre-sweltering distance walk.  Once home, I thankfully grabbed my coffee, and laid out my stuff to paint with Pandora playing random tunes in the background to inspire me.  I didn’t need it however, because I found the perfect inspiration in The Tao of Watercolor:  A revolutionary approach to the practice of painting by Jeanne Carbonetti.

One of the several library books I checked out yesterday, this one beckoned me. The thing I’ve learned over the past year is that you have to give up control in watercolor more than any other medium.  You have to relinquish planning and organization, for the most part, in order to achieve the most breathtaking works.  Carbonetti’s book illustrates this beautifully as she explains washes that go far beyond the flat, graduated, etc. and gives you room to breathe, play, and explore.    I would elaborate but want to get back to my work now the paint layer’s dry.  You’ll have to check it out yourself.  One final note, though, I noticed she has several other books entwining eastern philosophy and painting.

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A book about Citiscapes

As a child, my mother wisely taught me that books were a joy and I’d relish trips to the local library as one would a visit to a candy store. I’d come home, happily meet naptime as an opportunity climb into bed to transform into a “princess,” locks resting on plumped up pillows and books spread around like treasures.

The library holds much the same joy for me, and, yes, I still enjoy an excuse for a nap for that very reason. Today, I reluctantly returned a real gem of an old book entitled Painting Citiscapes by Ralph Fabri. It was published in 1973 and after enjoying the borrowed book, I decided it was worth breaking into my scant resources to buy it from a used bookseller on Amazon. It not only goes into real detail about painting citiscapes (and building details, etc) but includes project demonstrations of citiscapes in oil, watercolor, acrylic and pastel. .

Off topic somewhat, I only glanced through all the other art books I checked out because I became engrossed in the great biography Chasing the Flame about the great late presumptive UN Secretary General Sergio Vieira de Mello – whose life was tragically cut short by an early attack in Iraq – by Samantha Power).

I’m signing off now, eager to head to the library to see what new treasures await.  And eager for nap time.