Perspective In Action by David Chelsea

I want to be able to better represent perspective in my work.  Perspective can be a difficult concept to wrap your brain around and I do have a few books on the subject but every time I open one I am either quickly bored or overwhelmed.  When I came across this book by David Chelsea I was intrigued. His hands on approach that walks the reader through 33 easy to follow exercises makes a difficult subject less intimidating and a little easier to understand.  Each exercise is presented with full color comic book style illustrations. His writing style is lighthearted and makes this book (as well as his Perspective For Comic Book Artists) a pleasurable experience to read.  Click the book image to be transferred to Amazon where you can take a look inside.  I definitely recommend his books if you are struggling with perspective in your artwork.

Real Artists Don’t Starve by Jeff Goins

If you’re looking for a feel good book filled with platitudes such as “you can do extraordinary things when you are patiently persistent”, “the chief goal of every artist is to make the work great” (no kidding!) and warm fuzzy stories about artists and creators who overcame odds or took risks to find and achieve their version of success then this is the book for you. If however, you are looking for a book that has offers you actual strategies and a plan of action to follow then this book is not the one you want. It’s not a bad read, it just lacks depth and although it promises the reader “timeless strategies for thriving in the New Creative Age” I didn’t find any examples of that in it’s pages. What was noticeably absent are the challenges that artists face in the digital age as well as the benefits it offers. He refers to today as the “New Renaissance” and he draws on stories of the old masters (Michelangelo, Picasso), Hemingway, Elvis, Shakespeare, and others and implies what worked for them will work for today’s artist. And while it’s true that some of the concepts are transferable to today it’s also true that thanks to the advances of technology we are living in a very different time and what worked 100, 50 or even 20 years ago won’t work the same way for today’s artist.

Golden High Flow Acrylics

I’ve always been a fan of the Golden paint products.  While they are not specifically formulated for textile projects I have never been disappointed with the results of any of their projects when used on fabric.  I have been experimenting with different paints and inks as a way to add color to my black and white quilt series pieces so when I saw these High Flow acrylics I knew I wanted to try them out.  These worked beautifully on fabric! When applied dry they stay right where you put them with no bleeding at all.  When used on wet fabric they bled and feather and produce some lovely almost watercolor effects.  They have a very thin ink like quality and they come in a huge range of colors.  I bought mine locally but you can also find them online at places like Blick or Jerry‘s.

Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bombay India Ink

Like I mentioned above I have been experimenting with different paints and inks as a way to add color to my black and white quilts.  I have never used india ink on fabric but I had a coupon for this set of inks by Dr. Ph. Martin and I figured I would give it a try because the color range is exactly what I am looking for.  I figured that as soon as I touched them to the surface of the fabric they’d run and bleed all over the place but the rich saturated color stayed right where I put it.  You can also find these online at places like Blick or Jerry’s.

I still have some more testing with these and some other products to do before I make a decision on which one works the best to get the effects that I want on my quilts but so far I am really liking both of these two options.