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Art Escapes
Reviewer: Alyice Edrich
Book
Author
Dory Kanter
Review
Art Escapes is loaded with so much visual stimulation that it makes you want to pick up your art supplies and create right there on the spot—before you turn another page!
But be warned, the sub-title reads “Daily exercises and inspirations for discovering greater creativity and artistic confidence” which makes you think that there will be 365 tips for creating art—one for each day of the year—and that’s not the case. You don’t receive 365 tips or ideas or ways to create art, but what you do receive are enough tips to keep you inspired and creating 365 days of the year.
The key to creating art daily, according to Kanter, is to create a personal art journal that is less about the outcome and more about the process—“more about exploration and less about achievement.” A journal that acts like an idea book—a book that is designed to turn your desire to make art a daily “art habit”.
“One of the joys of being an artist is its an excuse to look at life closely,
and to nurture sophisticated innocence.”
In 125 pages, you will discover why:
- Being creative on a daily basis actually improves your craft
- Sharing your “studies” with others ignites a fire to create more art
- Creating your art when your energy is at its peak is better than trying to squeeze the time in when you are tired
- Enlisting your five senses (sight, smell, taste, hearing, touch) makes you a more receptive artist
- Assembling a streamlined supplies tool kit will “free your artistic impulse” (i.e. a drawing kit, watercolor kit, collage kit)
- Sketching for enjoyment alone can unleash your inner child
- Documenting your travels with personal sketch books allows you to truly experience the moment in a way photographs never could
- You must give yourself permission “to take risks, to reach dead ends, and to try new things that don’t always work out”.
You will also learn things like how to:
- Make a sketchbook portfolio,
- Create artist tool kits,
- Create minute drawings,
- Turn quick sketches into inspirational paintings,
- Paint backgrounds, then add drawings based upon shapes,
- Create prismatic paintings,
- Doodle with a creative matrix,
- Create window pane paintings,
- Paint perspectives,
- Turn an ordinary landscape into 7 different paintings,
- Turn a crowded scene into a wide-angle panoramic,
- Create watercolor mosaics,
- Create painted paper cut-outs,
- Use college techniques to your artistic advantage, and
- Paint on location.
This truly is a book jam-packed with inspiration and sound advice, so if you’re ready to make art a “daily habit” then I encourage you to pick up a copy of Art Escapes today! And the best part is that you don’t have to travel the world to capture inspiration, all you have to do is look in your own backyard.
(As an added bonus, visit her website, http://www.artworldtours.com, to discover fun, free tutorials based on her books!)
Order Art Escapes Today!
Disclosure: The reviewer borrowed a copy of the book to review.
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