A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Art Series

My Favourite Art Books

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 It’s that time again eh?   To share some of my favourite art books with you. It’s hard to pick I have to admit, but I think I’ve winnowed it down to my top few.

Get Into Art Places: Discover Great Art And Create Your Own!. This is a fantastic book that I wrote about here.  It’s not very big at 32 pages but it’s chockful for art and ideas about how to try out the type of art on your own.  I’ve used it with art classes and my students had a lot of fun with it.

At the back of the book a Project Checklist was provided, easily letting
me know what supplies I would need to complete each project.

Fantastic Planet: A Coloring Book of Amazing Places Real and Imagined

One of the reasons I chose this book is that not only do I enjoy colouring in these books, but the pictures in this book are taken from pictures of real places on our planet.   So it would be really easy to add to almost any homeschool study using these colouring pages.  Give your student something to do as you read about Japan, or learn about ocean life.  Busy fingers mean listening brains.  🙂   You can learn more about this book here.

Draw Paint Print like the Great Artists

I can’t say this is a highly colourful book and wouldn’t grab my attention at first glance, but once you start looking through it and see the depth at which they explore the methods of different artists, I think you’ll be hooked.  There are so many possibilities within this book.  I think that YOU will love it to.  It makes doing art with your children quite attainable.

Learn more here eh?

Zentangle: The inspiring and mindful drawing workbook with over 70 practice tiles

This is an absolutely fantastic book if you want to learn how to draw Zentangles.  I used it for a co-op class and it was amazing to see the work the children did with it.  They have done some AMAZING drawings, it is so very cool.

I wrote about this here.

 

Perhaps you’ll consider this when you are looking for art: Fine Art Adventures. Wouldn’t you just love to explore 18 different masterpieces with your children?  And while you are exploring those art pieces, consider adding in Exploring Art Up Close and personal.

 

Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed a Neighborhood

This is not a “let’s do art book”.   This is a picture book about how art was used to change a whole neighbourhood, based on a true story.

My son, though he’s beyond the picture book stage, thought this was a very neat book. Wanting to know more led to impromptu research.  🙂 Learn more about it here.  🙂

Another that I have really like is Pop Art

My review of the art book Draw Like an Artist Pop Art by Patricia Geis

 

It was so interesting learning more about this type of art.  So much variety in it.

Visit my review here.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh and what others might I intrigue you with. 

Do you remember Beasts from Bricks? Isn’t it fun to create with lego bricks?

Or Duct Tape Engineer?Duct Tape Engineer

It could just be that your art is more hands on like it is for my lad lately.   Mini Terrariums are a lot of fun to build.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed my walk through some of my favourite art books.  Won’t you join in the fun of doing art with us?

 

Paint by Sticker with free printable

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Saturday night I came home later than I had planned from a homeschool conference, completed the chores I needed to and than sat down tired.  My mind was racing and I felt unsettled.  Watching TV with the boys as they played their computer game was relaxing me so I thought I would pull out my Paint by Sticker book and do a page.   I don’t think I’ve shared this book with you before so let me walk you through it.   Do stay tuned to my ArtWork Notebooking Page at the close of this post.

Paint by Stickers, my reviewThe page I did took me about 30-45 to complete and I have to admit I was TIRED, I wasn’t focused on perfection, I was focused on getting my mind to settle so that I’d be able to get to bed and sleep.  🙂   So the page I did isn’t perfect, but it completed that task I had…the fiddling with stickers, looking for numbers, settled my brain down wonderfully. I think it’s one of the reasons I like colouring, it gives my brain something fiddly to work with that helps it to shut off all the extraneous, and at the end of it I can see I’ve accomplished something.   This Paint by Stickers book does the same thing, but leaves me not having to worry about getting colours right. 

Paint by Sticker gives me 12 different pieces of artwork to complete. What the artwork is, is listed in the table of contents.  This book contains such as the Creation of Adam, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Dance as well as others.  The one I am showing you today is called “House of Parliament, Sunlight Effect” by Claude Monet.  

I admittedly didn’t take a picture of the uncompleted work, so I’m showing you a different page.  🙂  You’ll bear with me right?  The spaces have an alpha-numeric combination. 

Paint by Sticker
The instructions in the beginning of the book tell you to be careful about putting the stickers on, and advise using a tweezer.  I learned that if you don’t stick the pieces on firmly you can do some replacing, but once it is stuck, it’s stuck.   AND if you apply too much pressure it’s too bad, so sad.  Ergo, if you want it to come out just so… take your time, have good lighting, be finicky about your placement.  

Paint by StickerIt’s easy to know which page of stickers you need to use.   Each sticker page has a picture of the completed art work in the top right corner. 

AND each sticker page is perforated so they rip out easily making it super easy to complete each page. And they do… sometimes perforated pages don’t rip out smoothly or easily, these do.   So much better than flipping back and forth in a book trying to reach small stickers.

Paint by StickerYou may have noticed on the page above the stickers are divided into colour coded sections.   This makes it easier to find the sticker that you need to use. I found the colour coded divisions added a bright spot, so helpful and so much nicer than a plain white background eh!  🙂

Paint by StickerMy thought when I started out was that I would start on one side and work my way across but as I worked I changed my mind.  I then started picking out the biggest pieces and fitting them in, I saved the smallest pieces for the end.   You can make your creation in whatever way you want to!

MOST of the stickers I managed to get well.  I was able to reposition three or four of them, one I bungled badly.   But my son said “It looks good mom!”

Paint by StickerYou can probably see the darker purple one in the middle that I messed up with.  I’m thinking if I wanted to I could take a purple pencil crayon and fill in those white lines, but from a distance the lad tells me it looks great and I should just leave things be.  🙂

I did learn that the stickers are definitely not oriented to the page.  I frequently had to turn the sticker around to find the right orientation.   Make sure that you don’t just slap the stickers down.  Take your time and turn them around so you get the sticker on the correct way. 

All in all this was an excellent way to relax without having to fuss about with crayons, paper or markers.   No big colour decisions to make, just a look, sort, place and be finished with a decent looking piece of art.  I urge you, if you like colouring books, to give the paint by sticker books a look.  I know I’ll be looking for more of them (hopefully on sale like this one was).  🙂

Just so you know, some of the art work is more involved and requires two pages of stickers to complete.   All carefully labelled so you know what goes where.  Go on… create a masterpiece… One sticker at a time. 🙂

Paint by Sticker
I was thinking about how this book would be so handy to do with a homeschooling unit. Can’t you just see working with your students/children as you talk about this work that the artist did, and then take small breaks to see other works by the same artist. You could easily pull in history, geography, science and more. Reading to your children fascinating tidbits as they keep their hands and eyes busy recreating works of art!

Click on the image below to download my ArtWork Notebooking Page.

artwork notebooking page

Art Book: Doodle Theory Anywhere!

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Guess what I have for you today?   It’s a neat little book filled with colourful shapes to jump-start your doodling.  It’s a creative adventure just waiting for you!    The book?   Doodle Theory Anywhere!

I made up a small video so that you could see this book better than I can describe it in words.

Isn’t it a cool little book?   So many shapes, colours, and figures to set your imagination loose on.  Can’t you just see yourself plucking it down in your purse or a car bag for your youngsters and heading out the door.  Wouldn’t it be great to have something easy at hand to take the place of the electronics?  It’s just the right size to fit in a purse, oversized coat pocket or toss into a car bag for the youngsters. 

My Thoughts:

I think it’s a neat little book, it’s apparently a smaller version of the Doodle Theory drawing pad.  This version is a petite version meant to travel with you, making it a very handy little resource.   Doodling helps to spur on creative thinking. It also is great at letting your imagination soar and your brain rest, helping to connect pieces that normally you might not.  I know that when I doodle I will often have a “eureka” moment as suddenly I get the answer I sought.  It also gives you something to do to keep you busy for car rides, plane rides, waits in offices and such like. Since it’s NOT an electronic device, it is more welcoming of conversation, as people wonder about this amazing book that you are so busy with.  🙂  Human connection is SO important you know?

 

Doodle Theory Anywhere, a doodle note pad with many creative shapes 
Doodle Theory Anywhere!
        Create Amazing doodles with starter shapes and squiggles    
Nate Padavick
Chronicle Books
Doodle pad, art book, Doodling
200 pages

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books. 

Where to find it: Amazon Link.

Other doodling/creative books that I have reviewed:

CatDoodles.
Kawaii Doodle Class. 
Dangles.
Zentangles.  
Pocket Doodles for Christmas.

The Good and Beautiful

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I want you to welcome Miss Yvie to the blog today. I asked on the Homeschool Review Crew for people willing to talk about an art program, art book or an art resource they wanted to talk about.

Miss Yvie took me up on the challenge.

Here is what she has to say about The Good and The Beautiful.

The gist of the video is :

  • covers level 3-7 (there is also a K, 1, and 2, but we didn’t use them)
  • Cover handwriting curriculum also
  • Talks about how art history, art appreciation and art instruction are incorporated into their language arts courses.

Here is the link to where they can find more information about the Good & the Beautiful’

The Good and the Beautiful is also a program I use with the lad. He wanted to learn spelling and do some work with grammar this year, so I went looking for something I thought might intrigue him and at least 20 people recommended The Good and The Beautiful. It is NOT just a language arts program, but also cover geography, art, poetry and more. He likes it! 🙂 That makes it a winner in my book (and his). 

 

The Good and The Beautiful is available through Jenny Phillips.  Free if you download online, you can also order the ready made books.  Now.. seeing the ready made books in the video makes me want to get them and hang the cost!  Aren’t they simply beautiful? 

You can find Yvie at Gypsy Road School. 

Yvie is a road-schooling mother of two active boys! While traipsing across the country, she creates Lego-themed school and enjoys meeting up with other families. At home, you can find her working at her homeschool ministry, The Book Shack. Find her at Gypsy Road, Instagram, or on Facebook.

Art Book: Creative Lettering Sketchbook

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Creative Lettering, I tell yah, I have friends who do this and I am just amazed at how by writing a bible verse creatively, it helps you to ponder that verse just a bit longer.  It’s a good thing to ponder words just a bit longer.. stimulates the mind you know?  🙂

Anyways, as I ponder how creative lettering of verses or sayings helps you ponder them a bit more it has me wondering, if reading it helps, what would actually creating those letters do to your pondering?   Would it help you to think on that passage or quote just a bit more?  It’s a thought you know?

Okay, this book contains 500 stickers, all gathered on pages in the last half of this 64 page sketchbook.  They vary in style and colour which I very much appreciated.  Letters, symbols, animals and more. 

One of the aspects of this Imaginative Illustration Journal that I really like is the teaching, followed by the doing page.  12 lessons with creative pages to practice following, 1-2 pages each.  I like that it’s not all “fill in my design” but leaves room for creative expression.  You can stickers where you want, adding embellishments to make your work all your own.

My Thoughts:

I have to admit that when I first looked at this book I wasn’t wildly impressed. As I stopped to really look at it, I came to appreciate how Marissa Giambrone set this sketchbook up.  First with a teaching page, then with a free form.   Kinda like how I teach my boy a new art form, showing him how to do it, giving lots of examples, and then asking “what will you do with it?”  This book teaches art the way I do.  And that’s a good thing no?

It’s a good book for people of all ages who want to improve their basic ability to make their lettering more creative.  Admittedly, I’d be more inclined to give to a youth 8-15 years rather than an adult, due to initial impression as well as there are more adult oriented lettering books out there that are more expansive than this one.  Though if you just want to fool around on a rainy afternoon, it’ll work regardless your age.  🙂

  
Creative Lettering Sketchbook
Series: Draw, Color and Sticker
An Imaginative Illustration Journal
Marissa Giambrone
Quarry Books
Art Book, Lettering, Sketchbook, How-to, Stickers

Reviewed for: Quarto Books, 64 pages

Where can you find it?  Amazon.

Art Book: How to Draw Comics

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Want to learn how to draw comics, all the ins and outs and how to’s?   Ilya gives us the motion, adventure, suspense, action, pacing, character, mood and drama that is comics.   Presented in a comic book form, How to Draw Comics is bound to not only delight, but teach budding Cartoon Artists new skills in comic drawing. 

ILYA presents a very informative book written in a compelling style for comic artists.  This oversized trade paperback starts off by showing us how comics are art with attitude and humour.  🙂 

Each concept is brought to us in comic form. I loved the clear illustrations, as well as the explanation as to why some older comics were hard to read. Controlling the ink was a task for highly skilled individuals, so sometimes it got messy and hard to read the printing. 

Step by Step instructions, in comic book format, lead the reader through the skills needed to be a successful comic book artist. Learn how to develop your own style as you learn the principles and techniques of creating cartoons, graphic novels and manga. Learn the differences between these styles of cartooning.   Learn to create action, show mood and pacing, development of your characters and so much more. 

My Thoughts:

Fantastic book for those looking to develop their skills in writing comics. Doesn’t matter if you are 8 or 9, How to Draw Comics is a great guide to cultivating your skills and mastering the art of comic making. Ilya uses a wide variety of styles to convey technique and principle, often using humour to do so.  It’s a wonderful book for anyone to learn comic timing, creating cliffhangers, and movement. ​

How to Draw Comics
Ilya
Chicago Review Press
128 pages
Art, Art book, Comics, Cartoons
Trade Paperback, Full colour

Reviewed for: Chicago Review Press

Where to buy: Amazon.

Art Book: Things I Love, an imaginative illustration journal

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Draw, Color, Sticker has put out a sketchbook called Things I love.  This is a book meant to guide you in your search to find your inner doodle.  So join me as I walk you through this imaginative illustration journal.

The first half of this book is done in four page sets.  One two page set with completed illustrations so you can fill in the colours and let your mind wander about how you might like to set up the page, the next two page spread gets you started off, but then allows you to recreate the first two page spread or to change it to suit your personal tastes.

Color, Draw, Create… add stickers… there’s 500 of them in the last half of the book to add. These stickers are designed to coordinate with the pages in the book.  Done up in with a lot of pink, blue and yellow. Simple drawings to enhance the drawings already there.

My thoughts:

I honestly don’t know what age this is geared for, and so it’s hard for me to judge the sketchbook well.  The drawings in it are simplistic and yet a bit complicated so at first glance I might think it’s geared for children, but then at a second glance I think perhaps good for older individuals.  So it’s really hard to say.  My younger sister thought it was a book geared for students age 5-9 years.  Just the right age to get them started, with stickers to inspire them on their journey.  🙂

Things I love Sketchbook: An Imaginative Illustration Journal
Series: Draw, Color & Sticker
Caralyn Gavin
Quarry Books
Softcover, 64 pages
Art, drawing, artist, 

Review for: Quarto Group