Wrap-Up of the 2021 Creativity Reading Challenge

The 2021 Creativity Reading Challenge did not require that a set number of books be read. I always read several books on art and crafts each year but not many of them. This year I read five books.  They are:

Sarawak Sketchbook by A. Kasim Abas

Amsterdam Sketchbook by Graham Byfield

Botany for the Artist by Sarah Simblet

Yellow by Michael Pasteaureau

Menorca Sketchbook by Graham Byfield

Favorite Book:  Sarawak Sketchbook

2nd Favorite Book:  Botany for the Artist

Least Favorite Book:  Yellow

The Challenge will be open in 2022 and I am going to sign up.  I hope some good arty books come out next year.

Menorca Sketchbook

The Menorca Sketchbook is Graham Byfield's newest watercolor travelogue by Talisman Publishing. He is an English watercolor artist who summers in Menorca where he owns his own gallery. As with all the watercolor travelogues published by Talisman, the paper that the book is printed on is actual watercolor paper. This enhances the appearance of the drawings, making them look like original drawings. The publisher also uses a font that looks like handwriting for the descriptions of the drawings, which gives their books an arty feel. In addition, the travelogue shows Menorca by neighborhood, with some written material about it. Here, we have drawings of architecture and parks in Mahon, Cindadela, various villages, the countryside and the coast.

This sketchbook is different from Byfield's earlier sketchbooks in that there are only four full page drawings. Usually these types of books predominantly contain full page or double page drawings. I was disappointed that most of them have three to four drawings per page. For me, it is harder to see the detail in a small drawing. Byfield's style is somewhat loose, compared to other watercolor travelogue artists. However, with the written material on each neighborhood it is easy to figure out where everything is located on the island.  

While Menorca has been on my bucket list for years, this travelogue is not inspiring me to push it up my list.  It does not look as inviting as other places that Byfield has drawn, such as Cambridge. The Cambridge Sketchbook is my favorite of all of them.  

3 out of 5 stars.

Yellow

Yellow is the latest installment in a series by Michel Pastoureau on the history of colors. Previously he has written about red, blue, black and green. The book was a bear to get through. It has been written like a textbook, quite scholarly. My interest in the book was peaked because I am an artist. However, when I bought it it was wrapped in plastic so I was unable to preview its pages. Had I seen how difficult it is to read I would have passed it up. That said, reading each section several times was helpful. I was able to remember many facts about my favorite color.

The book is divided into three sections. We initially have a section devoted to yellow's usage as a beneficial color, i.e., from ancient times to the fifth century. Next we see it as an ambiguous color, or it's usage between the sixth and fifteenth century. Finally, the color is seen as an unpopular one which is how it has been viewed from the fourteenth to the twenty first century.

As a beneficial color we read which plants or metals were used to create the color as well as how it was used in early cave drawings and clothing. Yellow was seen in nature in fields of grain and from the sun. Dressing in yellow was seen as feminine as it still is today. As an ambiguous color, yellow was seen as an important color when it was seen as gold. When yellow was shown as an ordinary yellow, its importance in heraldry and religious texts was much lower than red, blue or green. However, blond hair was always viewed as more favorable than other hair colors, especially on women. The section on yellow as an unpopular color states that the color was never used on clothing by the nobility because it was viewed as not being very modest. Artists viewed it negatively too. While in a bright light yellow is a happy color. When the light becomes dark, it no longer looks pleasant but rather dirty and ugly. Thus, the color ceased to be used in daily life. 

The book is a fine treatise but it is not for the light hearted reader. Obviously, someone interested in art history should read this book. It would be helpful for artists too but I believe there are other books on color that would be more helpful for the studio artist. 

3 out of 5 stars.

Botany For The Artist

Botany for the Artist is a guide to drawing plants. I found this book at my local public library and thought that it would help me in my botanical colored pencil drawings.  It definitely has helped me, mainly to see and observe the structures of the plants that I am drawing.

The book is divided into sections based on the parts of plants. There are chapters on drawing roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruit.  As is usual with these types of guide books the author has three introductory chapters on materials an artist can use, color theory, drawing from life and from photographs and the basic forms from which plants can be drawn. While there are color plates of completed drawings, there are more black and white drawings and they show the structures in more detail. Much seems to be lost when an artist uses color. Each chapter has a drawing class and a master class that the reader can follow to help them create more authentic drawings. 

I had never given much thought before to the roots of plants. Seeing how they work, develop and spread only enhances the rest of the plants look in a drawing. How the root spreads changes what the rest of the plant looks like.  At the end of the roots chapter there is a drawing class section that shows the artist how to use the negative space and create volume.

I have always thought that the stems and leaves in my drawings were pretty good. However, seeing microscopic photos of them shows that there are underlying colors present in them.  I never noticed this before and I should probably be doing more layering of color to produce an accurate rendition of the plants. There are many forms of leaves shown in black and white drawings that I was not aware of and adding these to my drawings will enhance the diversity of my plant subjects.  Seeing these drawings brings out my creativity and I want to get out my pencils and start drawing. 

Botany For The Artist is a fantastic guide for the botanical artist. 5 out of 5 stars.

Amsterdam Sketchbook

I have had a difficult time locating this book. After a year of searching various websites I finally found one that had a copy to sell. Artist Graham Byfield has published several other watercolor sketchbooks since Amsterdam was published, with Menorca coming out earlier this year. Byfield's style is loose. He is somewhat detailed in his watercolor paintings but not as detailed as France's Fabrice Moireau. I prefer lots of detail but that is not to say that I don't enjoy Graham Byfield.  

Amsterdam contains paintings of several neighborhoods.  Byfield created drawings in the Oude Zijde, Nieuwe Zijde, Leidsestraat, Rosengracht, Amstel and Vondelpark.  A handwritten font is used to describe each painting which adds a personal touch to the sketchbook.  I think that this sketchbook has more information for each subject than other sketchbooks by both Byfield and other watercolor artist sketchbooks.  I enjoyed reading about the buildings and parks that Byfeild drew.  There are 4 or 5 full page paintings but most pages contain 2 paintings.  The publisher, EDM, always publishes their watercolor sketchbooks on actual watercolor paper so that the paintings are shown in the best format.  

This is a first rate artist's book that inspires me to get busy on my own artwork.  I highly recommend it to artists of all mediums.  It makes a great coffee table book too.  5 out of 5 stars.

Sarawak Sketchbook

I have been trying to find a copy of this book for a year and finally found one on Ebay.  Although it was shipped to me from Australia, it arrived quicker than mail sent to me from within my own city.  The watercolor sketches of this major city on the island of Borneo were drawn by A. Kasim Abas in 2004. Sarawak is Malaysia's largest state and home to a multitude of ethnic groups with colorful material cultures.  It's unique history as the land of the "white rajahs" means that it architecture is varied in styles. Grand colonial edifices stand next to longhouses and modern buildings.  

The sketchbook is divided into the city's geographic areas and include Kuching, Iban, Miri and the coastal areas.  Abas drew prominent buildings and scenery in pen and ink and then colored them with watercolors.  There are handwritten notes by the artist for each drawing that explains what he has depicted.  I was surprised that almost all of these drawings were done in brown tones.  I expected that Sarawak would be a colorful city like other cities in Malaysia.  Another surprise was that there was only one two-page spread and just a few full page drawings.  Most of the pages inside this book were mini-drawings.  I was expecting the opposite as the other sketchbooks that I have in my collection have large sketches.  

I have 29 sketchbooks by various artists and Sarawak is the last one that I needed to complete my collection.  As I said above, it was difficult to find as the artist is from Malaysia. These watercolorists travel to well known cities and spend time there painting famous buildings and landscaping. The books can serve as travelogues as well as artist books. They are all published on watercolor paper to enhance the artwork.

I was a little disappointed that the drawings were small and brownish but cannot expect the artist to draw something that isn't there.  The architecture of the buildings is quite detailed, which is something I love to see.  Not all of these watercolorists are detail oriented.  Later this year Graham Byfield will publish his Menorca Sketchbook.  I am looking forward to seeing this book, even though his style is loose.

4 out of 5 stars.

Creativity Reading Challenge 2021

I am an artist and love this challenge.  I am planning on participating in it again next year.  Jamie Ghirone from the Whatever I Think blog is the challenge host.  There are no requirements for this challenge.  If you love art, crafts, photography, writing, film making, cosmetology, DIY, or cooking then you may like this reading challenge too.