The books listed here are all part of my own library and are recommended because of their practical content. Of course, two of them are mine! I’ve organized them into four categories. Click on any category to jump to the full list below.
Landscape Painting
Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts And Techniques for Plein Air And Studio Practice by Mitchell Albala
Watson/Guptill. ISBN 978-0-8230-3220-4 (0-8230-3220-5)
With over 60,000 copies in print, Landscape Painting is considered a contemporary classic. It offers a comprehensive introduction to essential concepts like simplification and massing, site selection, composition, and color as it specifically applies to landscape painters. Plus, the most in depth explanation of the underpainting method anywhere, several step-by-step demonstrations, and examples from 40 classic and contemporary painters.
The Landscape Painter’s Workbook: Essential Studies in Shape, Composition, and Color by Mitchell Albala
Rockport Publishers, 2022. ISBN: 9780760371350.
Workbook is the long-awaited second book in Mitchell Albala’s landscape painting series. Released in January of 2022, it is the #1 best-selling book on landscape painting at Amazon. Mitchell’s practical and straightforward teaching style is evident in every page of this richly illustrated and beautifully written volume. Workbook drills down more deeply into topics on shape interpretation, composition, and color. The book includes 10 exercises, as well as many lessons not included in the first book. The book features over 45 contemporary painters — over 80 paintings in all — each thoroughly analyzed in terms of shape, composition, an color, with supporting diagrams, thumbnails, and photographs.
Plein Air Techniques for Artists: Principles and Methods for Painting in Natural Light by Aimee Erickson
Rockport Publishers, 2023. ISBN-13: ? 978-0760379356
Award-winning artist and respected workshop instructor Aimee Erickson demystifies how to capture a variety of light effects and guides you in strengthening your plein air skills. This accessible book covers materials and gear; composition and value; the impact of proportion, color, value, line, edges, shape, and texture; color; light effects; and design and the visual idea.
Watercolor Painting: A Comprehensive Approach to Mastering the Medium by Tom Hoffmann
Watson-Guptill Publications
Hoffmann is a true shape-master, so this beautifully illustrated book isn’t only for watercolorists. It offers valuable lessons in the art of simplification and massing.
Powerful Watercolor Landscapes by Catherine Gill with Beth Means
North Light Books, ISBN 978-1-60061-949-6
This gem of a book is a visual delight and goes far beyond technique. Nearly three-quarters of the book is devoted to core essentials like simplification, dominance, shapes, composition and Gill’s “What,” “Why” and “Where” of landscape painting. Not just for watercolor painters!
Color, Composition and Drawing
The Simple Secret to Better Painting by Greg Albert
North Light Books. ISBN: 978-1-58180-256-6
“How to immediately improve your compositions with this one rule of composition.” Don’t be fooled by this book’s simplistic appearance. It offers a comprehensive review of one of the most important aspects of composition — variation — with many clear, practical examples.
Mastering Compostion by Ian Roberts
North Light Book. ISBN 978-1-58180-924-4
An extremely lucid guide to composition with many landscape examples. Covers many important topics including color, designing with value masses, and guiding the eye through the picture plane. Includes instructional DVD.
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards
Simply the best, easiest-to-understand “how to” drawing book ever written. It’s a classic for a reason.
Drawing from Observation by Brian Curtis
McGraw Hill. ISBN 0-07-241024-8
Like Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, Curtis’ book is exceedingly practical. It has the most comprehensive set of diagrams and drawings to explain how to use the keys to drawing (angles, measuring, proportion, etc.).
Color Choices: Making Sense Out of Color Theory by Stephen Quiller
Watson Guptill: 0-8230-0696-4
A highly practical guide that explores both structured and unstructured color strategies, plus various techniques and a look at various colorists.
History
Changing Images of Pictorial Space: A History of Spatial Illusion in Painting by William V. Dunning
Syracuse University Press. ISBN-13: 978-0815625087
Unlike many “history” books, Dunning’s authoritative work talks about spatial illusion in the formal, visual terms artists actually use. The book is largely un-illustrated, but he explains challenging painting styles like Impressionism, Cezanne, and abstract expressionism.
What are You Looking At? The Surprising, Shocking, and Sometimes Strange Story of 150 Years of Modern Art by Will Gompertz
A Plume Book. ISBN: 978-0-14-218029-7
“An insightful love letter to modern art and an irreverent rejection of the notion that its pleasures are reserved for a chosen few.” – NPR
The Heart and Soul of Artmaking
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
Riverhead Books. ISBN ISBN-13: 978-1594634710
This book taps into all the inspiration, doubts, and struggles of the creative life, which I found to be both inspirational and encouraging.
Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland
Capra Press. ISBN 0-88496-379-9
Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking. Few books speak so aptly to the artist’s struggles and fears. What is your art really about? Where is it going? What stands in the way of getting there? A must-read for anyone on the artistic path.