Top 5 Art Books for Newbies

Daily Painting by Carol Marine - as I’ve said before…this book changed my life. If you want to paint and only can buy one book…this is it!!! Along with the book Carol had a DailyPaintWorks website and of course, it’s in my top five websites blog.

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards - in my blog, I reviewed two drawing books. Both were really great, but if you only wanted to buy one…this is it. The beginning of the book is mostly psychology so some people might be turned off; but if you are new to drawing it’s worth the read. The second half has more technical drawing information and the exercises are fabulous.

Colour: A Workshop for Artists and Designers by David Hornung - this was one of the first books I purchased and really enjoyed it. If you are like me and have trouble with colour…this is the book for you. Of course, I bailed on the exercises but the book is really worth reading. For lazy people like me they do give you examples of the exercises so you don’t really have to do them.

Painting Abstracts by Rolina van Vliet - is another fabulous book that I fully enjoyed. Again, because I get distracted easily, I didn’t finish the book….but it’s on my to do list. I decided to learn to draw and paint more before getting stuck into abstract art.

Draw like the Masters by Barrington Barber - is great for people who are looking to draw from life. The book describes how the old masters did things; apprentices used to draw from images of the old masters for a long time before moving on to drawing themselves. This book has some great examples of line, tone, texture and form. If you can’t take a life drawing class, this book is a good substitute. It’s 127 pages, mostly pictures so even I finished reading it.