Summer Reading

Summer reading...do you aim for light, romantic reading or thought provoking novels?  I am one of people who likes to read a little bit of everything, and managed to get thru a good pile of interesting books this summer.

(I know what you are thinking...it's AUGUST! Summer isn't over YET!  I'm basing this on my kids' school schedule...they head back to class next week, meaning our summer break is over!)

Some of my picks are random, meaning I found them for 50 cents at the SPCA thrift shop.  Joyce Carol Oates (who I have read before and really enjoyed) "We Were the Mulvaneys" was a great find, and a very thought-provoking novel on family dynamics and the predicament that some mother's may face, although maybe not in such dramatic fashion - stand by your children, or stand by your husband?

"Bee Season" by Myla Goldberg was also an interesting study of family, with each individuals quest to find their place - within their family, and within a religion.  The study of language was fascinating, and an excellent illustration of how studying one subject (an intense study of letters) can lead you to understand so much more.

A tragic romance has to show up every once in a while, in this case a story of teenage lovers who have know each other since birth.  "The Pact" by Jodi Picoult is an easy read, but one of frustration, and also one that brought a lot of fear to me, as a mother of a little girl.  We can hope that our daughters will always come to us in their time of need, but this is a tragic example of a young girl who felt so alone, even when surrounded by those who love her.

Ebay is also a great source for bargain books, and I scored three excellent reads for under $10 (this is one reason why I am very hesitant to buy an e-reader like the Nook or the Kindle...I love a great deal on a great book!)  

A friend had recommended "The Book Thief" by Zusak so my hunt started there.  This was a beautiful book, written by a unique perspective (one I do not want to spoil for you).  Like many other powerful books I have read, this is in the middle of the Nazi horror, and focuses on a young girl who marks significant moments in her life with stolen books.  The writing is inspirational, especially for me as an Artist who dreams in color.  The lines describing the sky, for example "the sun was the color of breakfast", were descriptive without sounding pretentious.  I highly recommend this book!

Of course once I started hunting for one book a couple others popped up who I had heard about but not yet read.   One was Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild", which was made into a movie (haven't seen it yet!)  The writer smartly used his own experiences and emotions to bring validity to his theories on the motivations and mindset of the main character, Christoper McCandless.  There were also wonderful quotes throughout the book from various authors, and several of these passages inspire me to read more by those quoted authors.  As an artist, too, many of the struggles presented of the main character rang true to me (not that he was an artist) including the desire for solitude and a need for personal space.  Of course, I was reading this in the middle of summer break, when I didn't even get time alone in the bathroom, let alone my studio...so you could see where I would also want to escape to Alaska...

Finally I cam across another familiar title, "The Namesake", by Jhumpa Lahiri.  I found this to be a very enjoyable read, but one that really left me wanting more.  More insight into the character's motivations, more resolution to conflict, more passion in their convictions.  That's the Italian in me speaking.  But I did love the way Lahiri shared so much about the culture and their traditions, and the struggle of finding your own way while still honoring the place you came from.  

So 6 great reads for $11.50.  Not bad :)  My goal is to let my kids see me read actual books as much as possible.  I want something to be technology free!  I also love the process of going to a library or a shop and flipping thru the pages, reading the covers, checking out the feel, heftiness of a book. 

What are you reading this summer?  And are you reading it the old fashioned way or on a electronic reader of some kind?  Please share!  I'm always looking for my next great read!

Reading List - Recommended Books for 2011

As you may have heard we had quite the snow storm here in Atlanta last week.  Due to the amount of snow and lack of plows, the kids had a whole week of snow days.  So I did a lot of reading while on mom duty last week. I finished a couple of great books that I highly recommend.

"Fall of Giants" by Ken Follett is an incredible journey from beginning to end of the first World War.  Five different family stories across several countries.  Having forgotten 95% of what I learned about WWI in school (sorry teachers!) this was a fascinating read about politics and the treachery of war.  I have read other books by Follett - "Pillars of the Earth" being my favorite - and was equally drawn into this story.  I'm looking forward to reading the 2nd and 3rd books of the trilogy.

"Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen hooked me right away, talking about a young mother who was trying to do everything "right" for her family.  (What is right to one POV is wrong to another).  Marriage, infidelity, politics, conservation, all interesting topics that come together provocatively.  Like "Fall of Giants", you have characters who follow all the rules yet still get hurt, and others who poses the charm and good fortune to have luck smile upon them in any situation, regardless of their own shortcomings.

I really got excited about "An Object of Beauty" by Steve Martin.  Taking place in the Art World, spanning decades when the idea of WHAT makes a piece of great art "great", it was like revisiting all of the work I studied in Art History, only from a different perspective - in Art History, we understood it was "art" and therefore "worth" something.  But this novel gets down to the Value of Art, and why it suddenly can be worth more today than it was yesterday.  With some pretty sexy story lines mixed in, you can easily by-pass some great passages about defining Art and what appeals to different people.  I am looking forward to reading it again, because I found myself questioning my own work, my own intentions, and how others define it's value.
(PS - I ordered my copy on Ebay, a paperback, only to discover that it did NOT come fully illustrated - be sure to buy a copy with the images of the Art)

I started the series by Steig Larson almost 2 years ago, and I am sorry to see it come to an end.  A massive finale, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" was at once thrilling, and disappointing.  I won't say why, but I didn't find it as satisfying as the first two books - "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and "The Girl Who Played With Fire".  Read them all - it's an incredible journey.

Well that list should keep you busy for a while!  Do you have any great reads to recommend?  I'm searching for my next book!

Great books. What makes you read a book more than once?

I am one of those people who goes thru brief periods where I read a half a dozen good books back-to-back, then take a break and get sucked back into my studio or to the computer, then cycle back to investing some time in a good read.  A few months ago I read "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and have been looking forward to reading the sequel, "The Girl who Played with Fire", (TGWPWF) both by Steig Larsson. 
(BTW...read about the author.  A very interesting life..an death!)
Well I was not disappointed with the second book.  Perhaps even better than the first, "TGWPWF" kept me awake at night, trying to solve the crimes and connect the characters in my head.  While I occasionally felt overwhelmed by the number of characters in the book, Larson gives you a variety of interesting, fleshed-out figures to become interested in.

I don't like to give too much info about any book - I love discovering every nuance without pre-meditated thoughts from anyone else clouding my judgment, so I'll stop the book review there.  However, I do want to get to my question- how often, if ever, do you read a book more than once? What makes a god book great, and worthy of a second read?

There are several books on my short list of books that I really loved, that kept me thinking about the characters long after I shut the cover.  Most of the time, and my apologies to the authors, I am in such a hurry to keep reading, that I tend to gloss over areas in my pursuit of the next "big moment".   Then I am finished with the book, and I am left wondering...do I want to read this again?  Now that I know the answers/ending, were there parts that I want to re-discover?

In many ways, I think that a great book, or a great painting, or a great movie, are all great because they keep you wanting more.  You keep coming back because it engages you in some way even long after you are finished looking, watching, or reading.  The characters become so real that you worry about them, you want to visit them, check in and see how they are doing. 

Are there books that you have read more than once - and why?  I'm always looking for my next great read.

Woman as Design. Why do I use women in my Art?

Over Mother's day weekend I had a wonderful opportunity to paint from a live model in my friend's beautiful garden.  As I was enjoying the day, I paused to think of how I am surrounded by my husband's support.  I was able to come and paint because he took on Daddy Duty for the day,  I had an amazing set of watercolors to work with that he bought for my birthday after a great amount of research, and I could take hundreds of reference photos with the fantastic camera he bought me for Christmas. 

Now I'm not saying that he should never have the kids to himself, nor that I was dependant upon him to buy me the supplies I need.  What I am saying is that I really appreciate the fact that he does these things for me, because he loves me, and thinks I'm talented, and wants to show it.

(It's been a while, so I hereby declare my undying love for my husband!)

On Mother's Day I was pleasantly surprised by his gift - a very interesting book titled "Woman as Design" by Stephen Bayley. (A scathing but interesting review here that makes some good points!)

A quick glance thru the pages and I saw that the book discussed Art, Advertising, Architecture, Pop Culture, and numerous other subjects influenced and inspired by the female form.

I started reading with great enthusiasm, for while I love to paint and draw the female figure, I have never ventured beyond the reason of "I think women are Beautiful" or "I am woman - in some way each painting is a self-portrait" (which is an easy cop-out answer, and while not entirley un-true, not a very in-depth annalysis either). 

There are a lot of interesting facts (the snail's vagina is in her head) along with Art History lessons I was already familiar with.  There's a whole section on the Industrialization of the Breast, a segment that forced me to wonder why I take liberties with models' breast sometimes - changing the natural shape to one I think the viewer would find more "pleasing." (Giving it more fullness at the top, for example) instead of allowing myself to capture it as it really is.

I haven't come to any epiphanies yet on why I draw and paint the female figure so much, but I am really enjoying this book and the way it is making me stop and think about some of the choices I make in my Art. 

Also, upon discovering some of the arguments made for and against the book by the author and various critics, I'm excited about reading it thru and forming my own conclussions.  I learned long ago that not everything in print is worthwhile, true, or even worth the paper it's printed on.  But that doesn't mean I can't learn something from it, or that it might not inspire a new thought in my own head in my work.

Thanks, DH, for the great present.

Favorite Figure Drawing Books

I love buying books on art...technique, artists, styles, art movements. And what's great about buying any art book is that every time you look at it, you will see something new and gain some new insight. They don't have to be a big investment, either.

The book in the lower left "Drawing the Nude" was a great find for under $7 at barnes and Noble. The author is Diana Constance who also wrote the book above - "Complete Life drawing Course". While the drawings may not be the best figure drawings out there, they are all solid examples of technique and style. She gives a great over-view of drawing techniques and time-honored methods of improving your drawing skills.

Inside each book I find an abundance of inspiration - I love the "Big Book of Drawing and Painting the Figure" by Muntsa Calbo - he has an incredible technique and includes many examples from other great figure artists, both famous and unknown. He also shows a lot of works in progress, which i think is so important- the next best thing to watching a great artist work.

"How to Draw the Human Figure" by John and Jody Raynes also has a great over-view of drawing technique, and ends with a section on figures in environment which is very helpful and gets he artist thinking about beyond the studio, There are some beautiful color palettes in theses pieces especially.

I have written about "Drawing from Life" in a previous post...definitely one of my favorites!

The important thing to remember when buying a book is - no. 1 - not all the images are "the best of the best". Many of these are instructional drawings, meant to illustrate a point, not to be seen as "fine art". Read, but also look at the pictures with an eye for IDEAS - do you like the pose? is it a great sense of space? do you like the line quality? is it an interesting color palette? When you need an idea, or inspiration to take your work to the next level, or just a gentle reminder of HOW to draw (technique!) these books never fail me. I look forward to adding more to my collection!

Newest Drawing Book in my Collection

Aside from the occassional jewelry splurge, buying great books about art is my favorite "treat". I was lucky enough a couple weeks ago to attend a figure drawing session where a fellow artist brought a book to show me by Henry Yan.

I ordered his book, "Henry Yan's Figure Drawing: Techniques and Tips" and just recieved it today.

It's fantastic. A huge collection of figure drawing, ranging from 5 minute studies to 4 hour portraits, complete with style tips, media, drawing techniques to name a few. I have already learned a few key points just from the light read-thru that I have completed. (My favorite tip so far ...concerning shadows...."Remember to use soft edges for form shadows and hard edges for cast shadows." Henry Yan, H.Y's.F.D.T.T., p.103) Even though I may have intuitively been doing that in some of my drawings, reading that assertion will help me to emphasize that aspect of my drawings in the future (or manipulate that technique to my own accord)

The book is heavy on illustration and direct and to the point when it comes to the descriptions and instruction - a very good balance, especially since looking at his work is a visual equivalent of many semesters of great figure drawing instruction.

look forward to pushing my techniques because I am inspired by his great work. I also inspired by some of the great poses in the book...I look forward to trying them with our models!

All Images in this post : Henry Yan

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