Showing posts with label mixed media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mixed media. Show all posts

Mixed-Media Master Class with Sherrill Kahn by Sherril Kahn (2013)

, 29 Apr 2023

This is one of those books that you want to have on our table when you start your mixed-media journey. I wish I had it on mine when I first started. Ten years have elapsed since the book was first published, but some of the techniques and content are still relevant and many of the techniques and supplies were unknown to me. 
 
This is a how-to book. I consider it good for for both mixed-media newbies or people who usually work with mixed-media but want to expand their technical repertoire. 
 
Kahn says at the beginning of the book that her aim is just to provide us with techniques so that we can try them and/or incorporate them into our artwork, and she stresses that they're just techniques to use to create pieces that will then be incorporated into our artwork, so they're not intended to create masterpieces or finished pieces on their own.   

GREAT THINGS
> Greatly photographed and edited. 
> Kahn goes through every technique, from the use of different subtracts, techniques to create resist, use of different art supplies, ways to create textures, rubbings and hand-printing techniques, you name it.
> The book reads quickly, but this is one of those books that I want to keep at hand to come and apply some of the teachings in my work.  
> Kahn has an amazing knowledge of how different paper and textile substrates work, so she's able to properly advice on how the same technique works on different materials. 
> The abstract artwork displayed on the book is gorgeous and very much my cup of tea.  
> The tutorial to make a folding book. 
> She uses inexpensive supplies most of the time, so that's great as I think this pushes us, or at least me, to try things without worrying about having this or that fancy supply. 
> The last section of her book has examples of ho Khan put together some art pieces using the techniques she describes throughout the book. They're so beautiful.
 

SO-SO
>  We live in a world bombarded with video-tutorials and some of the things presented here are already popular and well-known. 
> The text is not justified, something that always bothers me. 
> Some of the brands that Kahn mentions might be very common in the US but not elsewhere. I would have loved having a replacement mentioned, or just a generic product mentioned. 
> Thermofax machines were becoming uncommon when Kahn wrote her book and I don't think they're that common today. I have never heard for them, anyway. So, I don't think this is something that the average artist has access to.  

  

Explore Mixed Media Collage: Innovative Layering Techniques by Kristen Robinson & Ruth Rae (2014)

, 28 Apr 2023

This is a very handy book for both beginners and intermediate crafters and mixed-media painters. It contains plenty of techniques, tips, creative ideas and projects to try on and get inspired by.

The book is divided in three parts. The first one contains all the techniques that the authors will use in the following mixed-media projects but isolated and photographed step by step with simple clear effective descriptions. The second part contains tutorials for 12 different projects by both authors, which are photographed and described step by step in the same effective manner as before. The third part contains 10 new projects, but they aren't photographed step-by-step, just the steps described.

     

THE GOODIES
> I  got plenty of inspiration and some ideas despite having worked on mixed-media for a while.
> The book is unpretentious and goes to the point.
> The tutorials are photographed and short-described wonderfully, so you can follow them quickly and effectively.
> Some of the tips spread throughout the book are extremely helpful.
> I love the fact that the authors use stitching, fabrics as well as sealing wax and wax in general as the results are very tactile and visually rich. 
> The variety of styles and complexity in the projects included. It goes from the very simple to the challenging. I especially loved the projects Bounty of secrets, Our House, Devotion Shrine, Sweet Heart, Birds Nest, Kindness to Ruth, Flight, and My Secret Heart Hopes. 
> Good quality photographs.
> No typos in view and good edition overall. 
> The book having a index of subjects at the end, something that I always love. 
> A quick read, but it can be used as a reference guide, as well. 

      

DOWNSIDES
> The book feels a bit aged in some parts, but some of the techniques and results must have been groundbreaking when the book first came out 9 years ago 
 > Some of the techniques are very basic and won't be helpful to people who already work on mixed-media like me.
> I miss the second batch of projects being photographed step-by-step like the first. I don't know why they did it this way, to be honest.  
> Ain't a fan of rhinestones on artwork unless they're vintage, small and delicate.  
> Text isn't justified. 



Brave Intuitive Painting. Let go. Be Bold. Unfold by Flora Bowley (2012)

, 25 Jan 2023

This book grew on me from the first pages, when I quite disliked it, to when I finished, which I really liked it. This isn't a tutorial kinda book, it's a book to harness your intuition for artistic purposes and give you tips, prompts and techniques that will translate that into your paintings.

I DID LIKE
>> The lovely design and style of the book, from the lettering to the doodles incorporated into the pages to the gradient boxes with the exercises. The book has high quality full-color reproductions, too.
>> Some of Bowley's artwork displayed on the book.
>. The technique prompts in the first chapters of the book are excellent, especially for beginners and something that I haven't seen in other teaching Art books. Prompts cover the use of water spray bottles, fingers, rags, etching, stamping, and small brushes and foam brushes. I also loved the tip on how to create a glass palette
>> Bowley provides us with a great selection of exercises to harness our intuition for artistic purposes. This is actually the best part of the book and something I haven't found in other Art books out there. We're given tools on how to approach a painting, how to go through the hurdles when we get stuck, how to finish a painting, when should we finish it, and how to create from our inner voice. 
>> The fact that Bowley advises us to ask ourselves 'what's working' (instead of what's not working) when we're  stuck or when a painting isn't working.  
>> How simply but effectively color theory is explained in p. 59  and the examples of which color combinations create/don't create mud in p. 69. 
 >> The Taking Stock section on page 120 contains 13 questions for us to ask ourselves before deciding whether a painting is finished or not.  

SO-SO
>> " Remember, only you can paint like you". (Page 112).
-- This isn't totally true. There are people painting The Monalisa like Da Vinci at the dozen in China and they're really great. Also, remember the forfeiting paint industry, which needs of super-qualified experts to distinguish the original from the copy. 
>> The Blindfolded finger painting exercise is fab, but what about if we don't paint on canvas and use A4 or A3 watercolor paper instead?
>> "Make sure you always have at least two canvases in progress at all times (...) as it allows one canvas to dry as you work on the other." (Page 66).
-- Not sure if this is valid for paper either.
>> "It’s tempting, and very natural, to want to know what your paintings are going to look like before they are finished, but the truth is you never really know what the future holds. Incredible amounts of energy are wasted by chasing what you cannot catch." (Page 28).
-- I see this sort of statement repeated everywhere these days but it doesn't ring 100% true to me. Many artists and art masters in the past have painted and paint on commission and within strict guidelines, or like to produce whatever final product, like a realistic portrait of the Queen, just to mention something. I don't think that all artists let their creativity go wild. 
>> Bowley's paintings in the book aren't named or dated. 
I DIDN'T LIKE
>> The book has 129 pages, but the written part of it covers half of the book. Many pages contain full-page photos, most of the others have half-page photos and 1-2 columns of text or 1 exercise boxes. 
>> Too many quotes, covering half page. I like them, but, are they necessary? No!
> The positive-thinking New-Age Law of Attraction spiritual philosophy that pervades the book. It's like something I've read gazillion times in other places for other purposes. Ready-made sentences that mean little to me. Not every painter is spiritual. Not every painter who's spiritual is into New Age or yoga or whatever. You can be a good teacher and be agnostic and in a wheel-chair. You know what I'm a saying?
> Relax by taking a bath... I haven't seen a bath in urban rentals in the huge city I live in for decades. Not even in many of the newly-built small houses.Having a bath is like a fantasy these days, like a luxury, but the sentence comes up so often together with relax that's annoying.
>> "Human aliveness is inseparable from creativity. We are all artists already… each and every one of us." (Page 13).
-- I don't agree with this. We are all creative and creators for sure, not all of us are artists. Not every painter who lives out of their sales is an artist either. I think there are not many true artists around these days. 
>> The About the Author section at the end of the book is vague/generic, and says that Bowley has works published in books, albums and in paintings in galleries. So, which galleries, which albums and which books? It reads more like a FB, Amazon or Fivver profile trying to impress customers than something fit for a book bio. In fact, Bowley's profile elsewhere is more specific and mentions just books not galleries or albums. Vague biographies rest credibility to any author. Also, I would have loved knowing whether Bowley studied Art in Art School or a self-taught painter. 

 
 
TYPOS
Overall the book is well edited, but I noticed, on page 117,the following:
"If you premeditate on using a word before you’ve started your painting, you run the risk of your words seeming contrived. ask yourself whether your words feel forced, or whether they are a natural extension of your process?
Notice that ask should be in capital and that the interrogation mark is unnecessary in this sentence as it's phrased.
 

True Vision: Authentic Art Journaling by L.K. Ludwig (2008, 2011)

, 8 Jan 2023

Despite the years elapsed since this book was first published, True Vision is still the book I'd recommend to people to start with if they're new to mixed media, art journaling or both. This work was first published in 2008 and the Kindle edition I used to read is from 2011; yet, it's the most compressive work I've found for art journaling while being authentic to who you are, without copycatting anyone.  I find the book both inspiring and helpful. 

THE STRUCTURE
 The book is structured in chapters evolving about different journaling themes, which Ludwig analyzes extensively: The written word, relationships, currents events, places and spaces, self-explorations, spirituality and dreams. Each chapter contains information about how to explore the theme as well as sections devoted to techniques, visual and journaling prompts, as well as intermezzos with interviews with different art journalists.
>> The Visual Toolbox sections make you learn new techniques and/or increase your proficiency level in art journaling. Some of them were borrowed years later by other more popular art journal artists, like Dina Wakley. These techniques are: Making a stencil portrait. -- Text onto metal mesh. -- Writing with fluid acrylics. -- Adding Structured Texture to an Art Journal Page. -- Silhouette figure study. -- Altering a child's board book. -- Faux landscape painting. -- Photographic self-portrait. -- More than the sum of our parts. -- Ink-jet transfer. -- Patina on paper. -- Blind contour drawing. -- Carving a self-portrait into a printing block. -- Altering scrapbook papers.
>> The Insight Activity sections describe some techniques to journaling and filling a journal page: Unblanking the blank page. -- Using your best stash items. -- Automatic writing. -- Creating and using a vision deck. -- Creating an imaginary musical alphabet. -- Using old notebooks as a substrate or collage element for your artwork. --Using poems. -- Creating versions of the same item (circumstance, day, happenstance). -- Creating a page that summarizes your week. -- Creating abstracts. -- Being a tourist in your own town and using using the experience to journal. -- Building our sense of home. -- Using dream characters to create pages.
>> Take a Closer Look is where Ludwig interviews other artists whose journals fit the theme under examination: Bee Shay, Nina Bagley, Traci Bunkers,  L. K. Ludwig (herself), Juliana Coles and Loretta Marvel. Many more artists are mentioned throughout the book, and their art showcased, to exemplify what's being taught.
>> The appendix contains the Vision Deck for printing, a list of contributors (names, websites and/or email addresses), and a list of resources (art supplies, books and magazines as well as artists to look up).

  
THE GOOD
>> Despite the many years elapsed since first written, the book has aged well and is still relevant and my first recommendation for anyone wanting to start journaling or improve their journaling.
>> Beautifully designed book, from the color palette (which changes from chapter to chapter) to the flourishes, the font type and sizing, as well as the overall layout. It is a very stylish book. Everything is just well thought and visually rendered.
>> Excellent photo quality and sizing. The images almost feel 3D. 
>> Ludwig not only tells you how to journal and about what subjects, but also  gives you tools and techniques that allow you to journal and to grow as an artist.
>> I find some of queries at the bottom of each section not only good for journaling but also to know thyself.  
>> I love all the attention devoted to dreams as source of inspiration for journaling, especially because Ludwig has a clear Jungian and Gestal approach. 
>> Most of the small tip boxes are really helpful and great. Like, they aren't obvious things.
THE SO-SO
>> The Interviews with other artists whose artwork isn't appealing to me. Yet, they also provide with invaluable feedback on different people's creative process. 
>> I don't see the need of constant quoting. If you have to say anything, just be brave to own your own opinions. I confess that some of the ones chosen here supplement the idea under discussion well and  they aren't the usual quotes repeated everywhere either, so that's OK. Yet, I don't like constant quoting.
>>The Photographic self-portrait visual toolbox is good but seems redundant in this Selfies Era. 
>> In this overwhelmingly age of the image, I miss a photo-by photo tutorial of the Visual Toolbox section. Ludwig describes the steps clearly and concisely, but I'd rather have a photo tutorial.
>> The prompts vertically written on the right hand side of some pages are very difficult to read if you're using a digital copy unless you totally twist your head. They're great, so I've copied them at the bottom end of this review.
>> Some of the prompts asking about things that happened when we were in second grade or very long time ago. Unless you have a savant memory, it's difficult to remember what happened unless you're picking up the book, say, in High School. 
>> The book ends abruptly without conclusion or final words.
  
 VERTICAL PROMPTS, FYI
  1. >> Usurp an ordinary object for artistic purposes—a fork, perhaps. Bend the outside tines into a loop until they touch the fork, then spread the two middle tines apart. Is this a fork or a flower? Anything can be used. Think beyond the ordinary.
  2. >> Use serendipity. When something you read or experience dovetails with important things in your life, use it as topic about which to create. Messages from the universe should not be overlooked!
  3. >> Start out on one subject and wend your way around to another completely unrelated topic using a series of images copied to the same size. Start somewhere and end somewhere else.
  4. >> Map your path to work, the coffee shop, or the grocery store. Create an actual map, by drawing doodles of buildings, landmarks, squiggly trees... Make the scale how long it feels to get to a place, not the actual distance
  5. >> Place 4” (10 cm) squares of white, cream, and gray paper in a well-lit room. Notice how the light affects the colors as it changes over the course of the day. Try replicating these effects in your journal using watercolors.
  6. >> Empty an anxious heart onto your pages. Clip, paint, snip, scribble, splatter, write. Don’t consider the appearance of your page, just release your burden onto the paper. If this isn’t a page you want to commit to having in your journal, do it on scrap or deli paper.
  7. >> Take an old book from your hoard to use as a new journal. Instead of using it the way it opens, turn it 90 degrees and use it from that direction
  8. >> Turn up the volume: go for brighter versions of the colors you were going to use. Whatever you were going to do, do it bigger. Spill it off the page. Make it so big as to be unrecognizable. Make it so loud in color that anything else is hard to see, or so black that it could be a cave. Bigger, bolder, more volume!
  9. >> New journals can be daunting. Break in pages by dipping the book into a bowl of coffee, tea, or watered down ink. Hold the book by the cover boards to dip. Fan open to dry.
  10. >> Glue an envelope to a journal page. Write a love letter to someone, perhaps yourself, tuck it inside and seal it shut.
  11. >> When using text on a page, give it visual punch by creating words that jump off the page through their arrangement, color, or style.
  12. >> Find one image or object that is the quintessential distillation of someone or some place you cherish and create a page that supports the image or object.
  13. >> Make a photocopy of your palm. Head to the library and look up palmistry. Give yourself a palm reading and Create a page about what your palm has to say. Are secrets there?
  14. >> In second grade, what did you want to be when you grew up? What other things did you want to be when you grew up? Have you done any of those things? Do you still want to do any of those things?
  15. >> Try on different handwriting styles.
  16. >> Construct a page that interacts with the viewer. Try pull tabs, flaps, and small doors.
  17. >> Prove you exist.
  18. >> Collect doorways, or rather, images of doorways. Thinking about the nature of doorways can lead into some interesting journal work.
  19. >> Tear a piece of newspaper or tissue into rectangles and strips. Adhere these pieces to your page with acrylic medium. For additional texture, crumple the pieces before attaching them.
  20. >> Coat a page in wax and scratch marks or text into the surface. Rub graphite or charcoal into the scratches.
  21. >> Folding pages adds new perspectives. Fold before starting, to create separate spaces. Fold after, to create texture and dimension.
  22. >> Save your doodles. You can enlarge and copy them to create interesting backgrounds.
  23. >> Vagary. Despite its naughty sound, a vagary is a whim, an odd or eccentric idea. For one week, collect all your odd ideas, not just those that are art-related. Now choose one, two, or more and make pages about them
  24. >> Gravity. Use it. Spill coffee or paint onto a page, even one in progress.
  25. >> Create a visual joke, something that makes you smile each time you see it.


Intuitive Painting Workshop: Techniques, Prompts and Inspiration for a Year of Painting by Alena Hennessy (2015)

, 7 Jan 2023

As the title reveals, this is a book written to showcase the creative process and teachings that Alena Hennessy follows with her students on the online program A Year of Painting. I'm sure that the online workshop is fun and encouraging, but since I'm reviewing the book, I can only say that I'm happy that the book was handed on to me and I didn't spend any money on it.

The book is structured following the four seasons. There is a seasonal checkup with journaling prompts and suggestions, activities and ideas for each month of the year, plenty of quotes, artwork by the author and her students as well as a detailed tutorial for each month.
 
GOOD THINGS
> Very pretty book edition overall and no typos or odd things on view.
> I love some of the naif paintings showcased throughout the book.
> Good quality photos.
> Greatly photographed step-by-step tutorials, which are great for beginners.
> Easy to follow tutorials even for people who have not much experience painting or with mixed media.  
> The suggested list of materials is short and sweet. The reader won't feel overwhelmed by the demand for huge stash or super-duper specialized products.
> The Journaling prompts on the seasons check-up section are great.
> Hennessy's comments on the beginner's' mind, on putting in the work and the hours, and on holding back the inner critic in us are all good advice. 
> "Certainly don’t feel bad if you want to mimic a work you see—you will still make it your own and your style will grow stronger with time. (Page 8)." I think this valid for beginners and it's brave for her to say it. It's not about copycatting anyone style/voice but about practicing techniques and experimenting having an end in mind. For sure, it won't help you find your creative voice, but it will get your hands loose. 
> Basic glossary of art terms.
> A traditional index at the back.
 
 
NOT SO GOOD
> Not a good book for intermediate or professional painters. Like, it's too basic. It feels more a book targeted at craft painters than anything else. I think this is also highlighted by the overall quality of the artwork showcased in the book.
> Some of the monthly and seasonal projects are totally unimaginative, uninspired and even childish. Like create a work of art about love in February for St Valentine's, or a holiday theme for Xmas in December, or paint Spring flowers in Spring or Summer flowers in Summer.
> After each tutorial, there are several artworks from Hennessy's students showcased to further inspire the reader on the suggested theme. Yet, in many cases those pieces don't relate at all or very vaguely to that theme. 
> The author says "This book is a bit different than other how-to painting books out there. It is inspired by my popular online course, A Year of Painting, and includes the work of many of the wonderful artists who participated in the course, so you’ll receive an array of approaches and styles as examples for each monthly lesson." (Page 8). That's quite pretentious and not true, at least in year 2023, when there are gazillion art books inspired in online workshops showcasing students' artwork.  
> "If you are an experienced painter, allow this book to get you to try new things within your own style. My experience is that it can only deepen a portfolio and add to your creative toolbox. (Page 8)." Also pretentious. If you're an experienced painter, you don't need to open this book, you know more than the author.  
> The Art Terms, i.e. the art glossary, is located at the beginning of the book and not at the end, which is a commonplace in edition.  Many readers won't certainly need it while others will definitely do. This being the case, placing the glossary at the end makes even more sense.
> The "What You need" sections at the beginning of each tutorial have, at least in the digital edition, way bigger font than the text accompanying each month prompt and the tutorial written steps.
> Over-presence of 'paint flowers' suggestions and artwork. I love the theme, and I get that this is part of Hennessy's thing, but I would have also loved a bit of more variety. 
> In the March prompt Hennessy says "The experienced artist will also enjoy this lesson for it allows us to “paint” with paper—not something commonly done by painters.(Page 41)." That's utter nonsense.
> Advising being intuitive while telling you how to follow a tutorial and make a painting that represents who she is, it is just counterintuitive. There are not hints on how to work with your intuition, especially in a book that follows the seasons and is quite linear and uninspired.
> The structure of the months follows the Northern Hemisphere not those of the Southern Hemisphere. So Xmas and Summer go together there, but this isn't considered. 
> Too many unnecessary quotes that add barely anything to the book.

IN SHORT
It's a OK book for beginners. One of the many naif art books out there with nothing original that you cannot learn elsewhere, on YouTube for example. Overall, I find it amateurish and a bit pretentious, but also useful for craft painters and people who have never tried mixed media. I have no doubt that the online course is way more fun. You can look up the author name on YouTube and find some of her tutorials. See if it's your cup of tea and whether the book is for you or not.

Fragmentation and Repair: for Mixed-Media and Textile Artists by Shelley Rhodes (2021)

, 28 Nov 2022

This is a great book for both amateur and professional textile and mixed-media artists. The book reads well, has great quality full-color photos and there are plenty of techniques and ideas that I'll be trying out in my artwork.

THE BOOK'S CORE
The book explores how to fragment and deconstruct mostly salvaged, recycled and reused cloth, paper and objects before repairing and reassembling them into a new artistic whole or series. This is achieved by using different techniques: manipulation, weathering, washing, soaking, burying, abrasion, staining, burning, scorching, making holes, fragmenting, reassembling, folding, deconstructing, reconstructing, repairing, and collage, among others.  Working small allows extensive experimentation and exploration before taking on large pieces of projects.The message is:
"Do not discard things that are fragmented or seemingly mundane, as they can provide inspiration for drawing and mark-making and may be included in finished work. Looking closely and embracing imperfection can lead to stimulating and visually exciting work. Allow traditional methods of repair to inspire and stimulate innovative, contemporary ways to join and reassemble. Finally, remember that everything can be altered and adjusted – if something is not working, it can be reworked, and often the results will be far more dynamic and exciting than the original." (p. 283)

Shelley Rhodes' work is strongly influenced by Japanese,  Bangladeshi and Korean textile and paper techniques, concepts and aesthetics as well as by Western quilting, patchwork and mixed media art.  

-- Japanese Boro (heavily patched and repaired clothing and bedding made through necessity in the far north of Japan and worn by poor fishermen and peasant families in the late 19th century. They're made from rags, repaired and patched with many layers stitched together using fabric scraps to patch holes and thin areas). Sakabukuro sake bags, Wabi-sabi (the aesthetic that finds beauty in imperfection and impermanence), the concept of Mottainai  (or using every last scrap of fabric), Momigami (the art of paper kneading, which involves the repeated scrunching, crumpling and unfolding of paper) and Washi paper printing techniques. 
-- Bangladeshi Kantha  double-sided embroideries created from worn-out saris and dhotis. 
-- Korean Jogakbo, a style of patchwork traditionally used to make wrapping cloths by sewing together geometric scraps in an irregular, improvised way, using a special seaming technique to create a flat seam, which gives the cloth the appearance of a stained-glass window.
 
Beyond her own work, Shelley Rhodes comments on other artists' artwork at length:  Beverly Ayling-Smith, Sharon Brown, Jenny Bullen, Elizabeth Couzins-Scott, Alice Fox, Matthew Harris, Debbie Lyddon, Sian Martin, Jan Miller, Sally Payne, Wen Redmond, Dorothy Tucker, and Donna Watson. Their websites or Instagram are mentioned at the end of the book.
  
 
I LOVED
I really got inspired by some of the techniques and ideas that Rhodes mentions throughout the book, as well as by seeing examples from her own and other artists' work showing these put into practice. All the 'Things to try' suggestions in the book are really inspirational, as well as other well-explained techniques and experiments that Rhodes mentions. Her creativity and dedication to her trade are amazing. The book is also great explaining how art pieces are conceived, tried out and made. Besides, Rhodes provide invaluable guidance on how to present, display and exhibit artwork.


IMPROVABLE
Some of the techniques mentioned in the book are difficult to replicate due to the need of specific tools, materials/mediums and working space that aren't ready available without expending a bit. Just an example, the Devoré paste recipe. I'd rather have this mentioned and then an alternative product mentioned as substitute.

Some of the explanations that Rhodes gives or her own or other artists' work are full of jargon and unnecessarily complicated.  
 
Although the quality of the photos is excellent, I would have loved having full page photos because the current sizing, in both my android and PC, aren't the best to enjoy the  artwork at its best.
 
KINDLE EDITION
>> On the bright side:
-- No typos on view and the edition of the book is excellent overall.- There are plenty of good quality photos, which display well by double tapping.
-- The book comes with a subject index, which is properly hyperlinked to the pages the different entries relate to.  
>> On the downside:
-- The footnotes and the hyperlinked references in the text aren't well linked and take us to an area or page that are the correct one, at least on my Kindle for Android. I guess that this changes from device to device, phone screen size to another, and whether you read the book on a smartphone, tablet or computer, but ain't sure.
--  The chapter Making Changes has two sets of 11 samples photos experimented with, which are shown before and after the experimentation. However, they aren't displayed side by side, and, even worse, the samples aren't numbered on the photo.
 
IN SHORT
A great inspirational well-edited art book that has given me plenty of tools and ideas to put into practice in my own artwork, which is more than what I get for most mixed-media art books. 

World of Artist Journal Pages by Dawn Sokol (2015)

, 24 May 2022

 
This is a lovely selection of art journal pages and images from authors around the world although most authors come from the US. In the introduction, the author confesses that she did choose some of her favorite authors and pages while the majority were chosen after an online call out for submissions.

Most of the artwork is of my liking, and I got inspired by some of the interviews and pages in the book, which is the reason I got it in the first place. There is a mix of techniques and media (illustration, painting, collage and mixed media) and styles (whimsical, dark, abstract, surrealist, visual diary, etc.). The interviews with the featured artists are short and sweet and very encouraging for non-professional artists.

I hesitated about whether to buy the Kindle or hard copy edition. I'm happy that I chose the former. The kindle edition is great and allows me to zoom in without loosing quality image, so I can appreciate the smallest details and lettering in each work. 


DONWSIDES
> This Kindle edition does not allow page bookmarking.
> The structure of the book is not of my liking. It's organized alphabetically, by country of origin, which is fair enough, but I'd rather have it by types of art (conceptual, abstract, whimsical, etc.) as I would personally focus on specific areas.
> The book reads like a published blog. This being the case, it lacked insight on the creative process. Each image is accompanied by a generic list of elements, but that's also simplistic.
> Although there are many authors and styles in the book, I missed some avant-garde or dark journaling.
> There is a heavy weight on US authors, so the world overview is, in the end, quite unbalanced.