Books as a means of motivation and inspiration

A few weeks ago there was a post on Facebook related to artist's favorite books. The post immediately triggered my curiosity. It was interesting to see that all the books that were recommended I already own and read!.

During the development of my art career, books have become a companion and a source of motivation, inspiration and learning. For those of you who enjoy reading books too, here is a list of reasons and books that I recommend based on my own needs and experience:

a) Art books are a good source to learn about the path that master artists has gone through to grow as an artist. At this time, I am reading "Cecilia Beaux - American Figure Painter" by Sylvia Yount. I absolutely love it! I also recommend "John Sargent" by Evan Charteris.

b) I also use books as a source for helping me resolve problems that I encounter in my painting process. If I find an obstacle while I am working on a painting, I immediately look for ways on how other artists tackled it in their own paintings. Some of the books that I consult the most are: Alla Prima I and Alla Prima II" by Richard Schmid, "Oil Painting Secrets from a Master" By Linda Cateura, "An Artist Teaches - Reflections on the Art of Painting" by David Leffel, "The Language of Drawing - From an Artist Viewpoint" by Sherrie McGraw, "Not Far from Home" by Daniel Gerhartz and "Vision & Voyages" by Susan Lyon among others.

c) Books that lift our artistic souls to a greater level. This is difficult to explain but here are some books that I highly recommend that are related to this subject: "The Art Spirit" by Robert Henri, "The Painter in Oil" by Daniel Burleigh Parkhurst and "The Eye of the Painter" by Andrew Loomis.

I have some more books that I recently received and I am really looking forward to read them. In future blogs I will provide more information about these new books.

Happy painting and Happy reading!!!