Favorite Books
Disclosure: Links on this page are affiliate links (mostly for the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program), which means that if you choose to make a purchase from them, I will earn a small commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. I recommend them because they are helpful and useful. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or that they will help you achieve your goals.
These are some of my favourite books. Most are available at the local library, some are only available second hand but well worth the trouble of scouting them out. Most links here are to Amazon.ca.
Artist’s Journal Workshop: Creating Your Life in Words and Pictures by Cathy Johnson
Artist’s Journal Workshop contains hands-on exercises and professional tips from over 25 international artists. This book is filled with visual imagery that will help you get started, and has just about everything you need to know about art journaling. It has examples of many different types of journals and suggestions on how to go about creating them. A very inspirational read!
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Also by Cathy Johnson, I borrowed this one from the library but don’t own it….
Artist’s Sketchbook: Exercises and Techniques for Sketching on the Spot
by Cathy Johnson This book above offers practical advice for sketching on the spot, in your own backyard, during your travels, urban areas and more. Most of the illustrations are from Cathy’s personal journals. Included are supply lists, tips, techniques and exercises. It’s not only educational, it’s fun too.
The Decorated Page by Gwen Diehn
If you are interested in adding a more mixed media approach to your journal, The Decorated Page does a great job of covering the basics, including what supplies you can use, how to do basic book modifications, and examples of layouts and the purposes of creating such a journal. The instructions are clear, with plenty of photos to illustrate each step.
Diehn covers dry and wet processes, cutouts, copier transfers, design layout suggestions, altering book coverers, watercolor/gouache/stamping, and more. The book provides plenty of inspiration.
Art Before Breakfast: A Zillion Ways to be More Creative No Matter How Busy You Are
I love all of Danny Gregory’s books. His emphasis is on not critizing yourself for your efforts and just get in there and draw. He makes the world of sketching easy to understand and helps us to see that anyone can learn to draw.
See a lot of his books here.
Fast Sketching Techniques by David J. Rankin
I picked up this little gem at a garage sale and have poured over it many times. Being able to sketch quickly is a great skill, especially when drawing animals or people.
Pen and Wash: An Artist’s Guide to Combining Ink and Watercolour by John Harrison
As a lover of pen and watercolour wash, I ordered this book as soon as I saw it was published. I like John Harrison’s techniques of not painting everything and his advice on equipment, techniques, the unpredictable nature of watercolours and his step by step demonstrations of pen and wash techniques.
First Steps – Painting Watercolor by Cathy Johnson
This is a beginners introduction to watercolour painting. As always, Cathy Johnson’s books are easy to follow and always inspiring.
If you still own a device that will play a DVD, Beginner Watercolor Journalling by Christina Lopp and Gay Kreger is available from a link on the authors’ page here…. It’s a super little introduction on Illustrated Journalling by the 2 authors above. They share other illustrated journalling info on their webpage.
Keeping a Creative Sketchbook by Emma Block
I’ve borrowed this book from the library also. It’s a different style than most of the books I’m drawn to but I love the layout, pastel colours and fun approach Block has towards creating her sketches.
Making Colours Sing by Jeanne Dobie, AWS
I inherited this book from my mother. A newer edition is for sale now. It is full of useful information on color science and composition. I had to take it a chapter at a time and take notes, but is the best book I’ve come across to learn about creating beautiful colours.
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards is a wonderful book to work your way through. It will give you greater confidence in your ability and deepen your artistic perception.
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Nature Journalling Books
If you particularly like nature journalling the books below provides simple methods for capturing what you see in sketches and words.
Illustrating Nature, Right Brain Art in a Left Brain World by Irene Brady
Irene Brady is an award-winning children’s nature book author and college-level instructor in scientific illustration. When you go to the Amazon link, there is a lot of information about the contents of this book.
Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You
by Clare Walker Leslie
Leslie offers an accessible style of teaching people to see, witness, and appreciate the wonders of nature.
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Reference Type Books
I find the books in this section indispensable and refer to them often.
Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast by Jim Pojar helps me to correctly label the trees, shrubs, wildflowers, ferns and more in my particular area. Depending on where you live, there are many similar books available,
National Geographic Pocket Guide to Trees and Shrubs of North America for instance.
I have a whole set of field guides that I also refer to constantly, with topics such as Reptiles of North America, Seashells of the World, Insects of North America. There are many great field guides available, see here for a list of Peterson’s field guides…
Favourite Pens
I love drawing and writing with my Lamy Safari Fountain Pen. The ink that comes in the cartridges in the link below, is not waterproof. I discovered this after completing numerous drawings on a trip to be painted when I got home, only to discover the ink runs into the watercolor.
I purchased the Lamy Safari Converter and use Platinum carbon ink from Japan. This ink is waterproof and does not clog my fountain pen if I use it regularly and wash it thoroughly every couple of weeks.
