I’m always on the lookout for books that will inspire me and/or stretch my thinking/skills.
My post today is about two books I have recently acquired, one being a gift and both relating to Sketching/Drawing.
The first is “Everyday Sketching & Drawing” – 5 Steps To A Unique and Personal Sketchbook Habit by Steven B. Reddy.
As someone who is trying to ‘loosen up’ in terms sketching/drawing lines, this book has been a revelation! Not only that, there are suggestions for overcoming blocks, time issues, tips and techniques and much, much more.
The second book is, “Rendering In Pen and Ink” by Arthur L.Guptill – 60th Anniversary edition – The Classic Book On Pen and Ink Techniques For Artists, Illustrators, Architects, and Designers.
The amount of helpful content in this book just blows me away! This book is aimed more at Dip pens, Quills and the like, however, the techniques could as easily be applied to the modern day pens.
I see many hours of enjoyment coming my way as I absorb their knowledge and do the exercises in each book.
If you are interested in improving your skills in these areas, I would highly recommend both books.
In my last post (in this series), I mentioned that we stopped off in Boorowa, NSW for a spot of afternoon tea. Prior to our scrumptious Devonshire Tea, we popped into a ‘charity bookshop’ at the other end of town.
We had only visited this bookshop once before and basically (at that time) stumbled upon it just before closing time. That was three years ago…so we were keen to check it out this time around and we were so glad we did, for there was certainly some ‘Book Treasure’ to be uncovered!
I purchased five books, as follows:
Leaves Of Grass – Walt Whitman
Collected Poems 1936 – 1970 – James McAuley
Enjoying Poetry 1 – Silver and Gold – Chosen by E.W.Parker
Paint Luxurious Textures In Watercolor – Jennifer Sheffer
Creative Watercolour Artist – Readers Digest
Leaves of Grass – Walt Whitman
I had heard about this anthology a while ago and have wanted to get a copy of it for a while now. This is the ninth edition, the first having been written in 1892. Walt Whitman’s name first came to my attention when I saw, ‘Dead Poet’s Society’ starring Robin Williams. I am thrilled to add this to my Poetry Collection.
I look forward to delving into more of Walt Whitman’s work.
Collected Poems – James McAuley
I would to say that I had heard of this Australian Poet, however, I would be fibbing. Perhaps I have heard his name before but had forgotten it… It turns out that he was born in Lakemba (where I grew up). My research shows that he was a ‘Australian academic, poet, journalist, literary critic and a prominent convert to Roman Catholicism.’
Flipping through the pages at the bookshop I was not aware of who he was but quite liked his style of Poetry.
Enjoying Poetry 1 – Silver and Gold – Chosen by E.W.Parker
I already have a few ‘collections of Poetry’ so it can be a bit tricky sometimes buying, ‘another collection’ as one doesn’t want to be merely, ‘buying the same Poems all the time…’ It is inevitable that some will be repeated, however, I quite liked the format and illustration of this book. It turns out that there are three in the series and I shall ‘keep my eye out’ for the other two.
It is only a small, thin book that can be easily tucked into a bag so it will be a great book to ‘dip into’ from time-to-time.
Paint Luxurious Textures In Watercolor – Jennifer Sheffer
I am just about to do a ‘book cull’ and started off with a five or six ‘general-type’ Watercolour books. In recent times, I’m not looking at these generalist books much at all and have been looking for specific things/techniques within the Watercolour medium. This is where this book fits in.
It looks well-written and inspiring. An easy decision to buy it.
Creative Watercolour Artist – Readers Digest
I happened across a Goldmine in this book! It is a book, small easel and comes with a ‘Watercolour Wheel’ as well. The Paint Set was not with the book but that’s no problem as I already have paints. It says it has, ’12 Sunning Watercolour Projects’ and it is true to it’s word. It also has split-page/cross-referencing to (as it says), ‘giving you instant access to all the techniques you need to create each of the projects). 94 techniques are displayed, demonstrated and discussed!
This was a ‘no-brainer’ purchase as well.
Five pieces of ‘Book Treasure’ from one second-hand bookshop in a Country town we love to stop at. It is roughly three hours drive from where we live. Looking forward to our next visit!
In Part 3 of ‘Trip To The Country’ I will be focusing on Millthorpe, where we stayed for the wedding.
