I have very mixed feelings about this book.
I LOVED
> The author's colloquial language and lack of pretense.
> Good edition without typos or language oddities in view. The digital edition is acceptable and can be bookmarked. > The illustrations and note-cards spread throughout the book. The illustrations and note-cards spread throughout the book. I thought that some of the discarded task cards were excellent!.
> The very down-to-earth approach to art and artistic creation.
> A few good ideas. My favs are:
--- Find your own creative/artistic genealogical tree and position yourself in one of the branches where you stand alone as a result of what has influenced you. The way this is explained is really simple, effective and inspiring.
--- "The reason to copy your heroes and their style is so that you might somehow get a glimpse into their minds." (Page 38).
--- He puts the idea of the rebel artist in the bin. "I’m a boring guy with a nine-to-five job who lives in a quiet neighborhood with his wife and his dog. That whole romantic image of the creative genius doing drugs and running around and sleeping with everyone is played out. It’s for the superhuman and the people who want to die young. The thing is: It takes a lot of energy to be creative. You don’t have that energy if you waste it on other stuff." (Page 98).
--- "The art of holding on to money is all about saying no to consumer culture. Saying no to takeout, $4 lattes, and that shiny new computer when the old one still works fine." (Page 99).
--- The Logbook idea and focusing just on the good things that happened, which are often overlooked due to something negative taking all of our energy and thoughts.
NOT SURE
> > Kleon sometimes struggles making clear that you have to stay home and work, but at the same time go out and do nothing, procrastinate to allow the creative spark to spark. Like I get that there is a balance, you cannot be consumed by your art because it will consume you and you'll get an artistic block, that ideas and inspiration sometimes come from your siesta, your walk or your music/movie streaming. Yet, the way it 's put in the book feels like he's saying something and then the contrary..
> "Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to" (Page 46). I agree and disagree with this. My fav art is abstract and surrealism, but what I hand paint is mostly abstracts. I sometimes paint surreal-hinted imagery and I do mostly surreal when playing digitally. So, in short I don't always want to do the art I love the most. Also, the fact that I love surreal paintings (not only digital collage) doesn't mean that I can draw well and realistically. You know what I'm saying'?
> "Don’t worry about unity—what unifies your work is the fact that you made it. One day, you’ll look back and it will all make sense." (Page 63). I also agree and disagree. The cohesiveness of your artwork will come from things that give them unity, like your colour palette, mark making, textures, composition and energy. Yet, if there is not cohesiveness, there is no unity and it's not crystal clear that paint 1 and paint 2 belong to me. So, I worry about unity and cohesiveness.
> "So get comfortable with being misunderstood, disparaged, or ignored—the trick is to be too busy doing your work to care." (Page 93). Sometimes we don't understand some art and consider it 'bad'. I have heard tons of people saying this of Picasso's works because they don't get it neither viscerally or intellectually. But, it's also true that sometimes we dislike something because it's bad art, mediocre writing or not good enough. I can see my own flaws and struggles when I look at my artwork, and in all honesty I can tell when it is good or bad, even if somebody tells me, oh it's really nice.
> "The trick is to find a day job that pays decently, doesn’t make you want to vomit, and leaves you with enough energy to make things in your spare time." (Page 102). That's the ideal, I agree wit this. However, employability decreases with age and area where you live, and whether the job that feeds you actually gives you enough money to survive.
I DIDN'T LIKE
> The very lean content. More a booklet than a book due to the small number of pages and the fact that these have wide margins, some of them have just the section or the chapter title, and the font is on the large size overall plus the illustrations.
> The overwhelming presence of somebody's else quotes. I love quotes, mind you. The ones Kleon provides are of my liking. However, I consider constant quoting unnecessary because I guess the author has his own voice and can speak from there. Like, when there are so many quotes, I wonder why the author didn't gather all together and put them cozily packed under the heading, as this would have sufficed to give sound advice. Yet, I think that Kleon has plenty of stuff to say, it's just that he doesn't take the plunge. The quotes are like crutches he leans on when, in fact, he can walk on his two legs perfectly.
> Some lack of cohesion throughout the book.
> It feels like a published blog. If this was a blog, I'd like it. As a book, I think it lacks depth and tools to really inspire or support emerging artists and writers. Many of the ideas and sentences I liked could be put in a single blog entry.
> The book is full of platitudes, especially evident those about the Internet and traveling the world.
> Lack of conclusions or summing up of the main points in the book.
IN SHORT
An enjoyable light reading with some good ideas for emerging artists and creative people. Bloggish and lacking depth, full of platitudes. Nice illustrations.
This book is a mixed of I'm showing you my tiny home, get ideas for a tiny minimalist home from me and my pals, and let's do some pretty DIY.
WHAT I LIKED
> The edition of the book is awesome. Wonderful photos and illustrations, DIY tips and ideas.
> The book is clearly and simply written and well structured.
> This is a good startup guide if you want to live in a tiny house or just have a tiny home and want to take advantage of any space available. There are many ideas and tips that I can see adopting in my place, even though my home is average, not tiny.
> I think this book can be really useful to renters, like me, who sometimes struggle to use a small apartment to its potential.
> I love the overall Boho decor, the mix of neutral tones and white, the airiness and lightness of the spaces, the basketry and pot plants and very much everything.
> This is a good repository of ideas that I can use to update a small property. Many of the ideas are simply cute and very practical and can be implemented in tiny or not tiny spaces.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
> If you watch tiny-home videos & blogs on the Internet, you'll have the tips and ideas in this book ready available. In other words, nothing new on the horizon.
> This book seems targeted to a young crowd, some things like loft upstairs would be a problem for some people with disabilities, knee problems or if you have a broken leg.
> The space is great for singles or young families; if your children are in their teens, not sure whether this tiny place ideas would need of an overhaul.
> The Boho style might not resonate with everyone.
> The studio and home office section is really underdeveloped.
-- Yes, for sure we can do most things from our laptops nowadays we can have a hole library on Kindle or digital format, but many of the things the author says apply to her and her life and I don't think represent many people who actually work from home and need way more stuff than a laptop in their tiny home.
-- Taken, we all, me especially, have a thing for pretty stationery and have too many pencils, pens, markers, or whatever, so we can all reduce the junk.
-- Now, what about if your work from home involve doing some craft or photographing things you make, or painting on paper? Just to name some obvious things.
-- Ditching the office chair is just a bad idea if you spend 8 hrs working at home, because I've been there and that killed my back.
-- Re ditching the printer, that's another not so good idea. It's great aiming to something that is small and that can be concealed. However, if you need to print A4 paper, there is a limit to the smallness. Also, why would I ditch my printer to go and print some pages to the local library, when, if, I did that, I wouldn't have the freedom to print many pages at my own time without having to take the car or public transport to go to a local library to get 2 sheets of paper printed; like it takes 5 minutes to switch the printer on and print 2 pages; how long would take me to go to my local library? Way more. What about if I need to print something on a Sunday. Like a basic good quality printer is actually super cheap and you can store it anywhere.
-- Some professions require of reference materials or specialized books that aren't always available on digital format. I can borrow them from my local library or purchase them, but those are going to be on my studio and are often a few.
> The author says in the Introduction that she's not minimalist or part of any movement, but her home and tips all lean towards minimalism and her home is definitely tiny.
POOR DIGITAL EDITION
> The lettering contrast is deficient in some parts of the book, too faint to be comfortably read on on my 15"-screen laptop at 100% resolution. It's only possible to read it without squinting when I use 150% or full-screen mode.
> The font size is overall too small to be comfortably read without magnifying to 150% or full-screen mode.
> The table of contents don't display on the side bar.
> The Index of Contents is not linked to the content area.
> No bookmarks possible in this edition, which certainly defeats the purpose of having so many tips on each page that I would like to bookmark for future reference.
> Due to the previous issues, the book is not practical or much usable on Kindle, so I'd rather have it on hard copy.
IN SHORT
OK book. Nothing new on the horizon of tiny homes. Pretty photos and cool ideas. One of those few books that I'd like to have on hard copy.
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.
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 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.
- >> 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.
- >> 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!
- >> 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.
- >> 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
- >> 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.
- >> 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.
- >> 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
- >> 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!
- >> 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.
- >> Glue an envelope to a journal page. Write a love letter to someone, perhaps yourself, tuck it inside and seal it shut.
- >> When using text on a page, give it visual punch by creating words that jump off the page through their arrangement, color, or style.
- >> 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.
- >> 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?
- >> 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?
- >> Try on different handwriting styles.
- >> Construct a page that interacts with the viewer. Try pull tabs, flaps, and small doors.
- >> Prove you exist.
- >> Collect doorways, or rather, images of doorways. Thinking about the nature of doorways can lead into some interesting journal work.
- >> 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.
- >> Coat a page in wax and scratch marks or text into the surface. Rub graphite or charcoal into the scratches.
- >> Folding pages adds new perspectives. Fold before starting, to create separate spaces. Fold after, to create texture and dimension.
- >> Save your doodles. You can enlarge and copy them to create interesting backgrounds.
- >> 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
- >> Gravity. Use it. Spill coffee or paint onto a page, even one in progress.
- >> Create a visual joke, something that makes you smile each time you see it.
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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.
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.
This 2008 digital edition of Frankl's 1945 book is a must read for every human being who wants to lift their spirit in moments of despair.
The book is structured in three different parts. The first one (Experiences in a Concentration Camp) and the Postscript (The case for a Tragic Optimism) fit beautifully together, and are the basis of Frankl's philosophy and psychotherapy system called Logotherapy. They are narrated in a very conversational way because they are, after all, a memoir. They differ greatly in style and tone from the second part (Logotherapy in a Nutshell), which is a summary of Frankl's therapy system, partially based on Frankl's experiences and observations as Auschwitz inmate, and partially on techniques and views of the world that he had started elaborating before he was sent to the concentration camp. This part is drier in style, way more technical and not as approachable for the reader, unless the reader is really into therapy or a therapist.
Harold Kushner's preface to this 2008 edition is a good summary of the book main points, while Frankl's preface to the 1992 edition summarizes well how the book and Logotherapy came to be.
The book has many pearls of wisdom, and is very uplifting despite the brutality of what we read. In all honesty, I already expected that when I picked up the book. Some prisoner's stories are utterly poetic despite their tragedy. I'm glad that those people's historical memoirs had been so beautifully preserved. On the other hand, this is a survivor's first-person narration of the events, so that allows for invaluable insights into the reality of the extermination camps and into the inmates' mental/emotional state and fortune.
Since we live in 2021 and we're pretty aware of the Nazis' atrocities against the Jews, most of the things that Frankl tells about his experience are somewhat lessened by the impact on the reader of dozens of documentaries and movies on WW2. It might have been chilling reading the book in the postwar era, when all the atrocities were still unfolding and the world came to realize what had really happened. What we didn't know before reading the book is that a new therapeutic model, Logotherapy, was greatly influenced by the Jew's suffering in Auschwitz, and that there is hope even in the biggest moments of despair.
For the rest, Frank's take on life is admirable and full of wisdom, whether you are into Logotherapy or not. I especially liked his comments on love, the youth and unemployment, as they are still, more than half a century later, valid.
LOGOTHERAPY, SOME CORE PRINCIPLES AND POINTS I LIKE
>
The great task for any person is to find meaning in his/her life.
Frankl saw three possible sources for meaning: Work (doing something
significant), Love (caring for another person), and Courage in difficult
times.
> Suffering is meaningless; we give our suffering meaning by the way in which we respond to it.
>
You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always
control what you will feel and do about what happens to you.
> Logotherapy aims to curing the soul by leading it to find meaning in life.
> What matters is to make the best of any given situation.
> Man’s main concern is not to gain pleasure or to avoid pain but rather to see a meaning in his life.
> The aim of life is not to be happy as the seeking of happiness can increase someone's unhappiness.
> Suffering is unavoidable, is part of life, and we need to accept it and re-frame it.
> Tragic optimism, i.e., one remains optimistic in spite of the “tragic triad, or those aspects of human existence
which may be circumscribed by: (1) pain; (2) guilt; and (3) death and that we should say 'yes' to life in spite of all that.
> We may also find meaning in life even when
confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that cannot be
changed. For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human
potential at its best, which is to transform a personal tragedy into a
triumph, to turn one’s predicament into a human achievement. When we are
no longer able to change a situation—just think of an incurable disease
such as inoperable cancer—we are challenged to change ourselves. (p.
116).
> To suffer unnecessarily is masochistic rather than heroic.
> Success cannot be pursued but it is an end result that the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication to a
cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a
person other than oneself.
>
“Unemployment neurosis” originated in a twofold erroneous identification: being jobless was
equated with being useless, and being useless was equated with having a
meaningless life.
> Depression, aggression, and addiction in young people are due to what is
called in logotherapy “the existential vacuum,” a feeling of emptiness
and meaninglessness.
>
But even if each and every case of suicide had not been undertaken out
of a feeling of meaninglessness, it may well be that an individual’s
impulse to take his life would have been overcome had he been aware of
some meaning and purpose worth living for.(p. 143).
SOME CRITIQUE
Frankl poignantly mentions that despite all the inmates being subject to the harsh situations (food and sleep deprivation, hard-work labor, extreme cold, beatings, etc.) some died and some survived, and he ways that, many of those who died did so because they gave up on life and lose hope in getting alive out of the camps and resuming their lives after the war.
I love most of what Frankl says and his attitude towards life. However, we cannot say that Frankl survived just because he had a specific mindset, hopes of getting alive, finding his family and publishing the basics of Logotherapy included in this edition, which he had already started writing before being taken to the camp. First of all, he was an intellectual and a psychiatrist, i.e. a person with a strong mind, mentally stable with enough intellectual harnesses to re-frame anything in his head to give it meaning. He certainly was an optimistic, like it's in his nature. Not everyone was so well equipped mentally and emotionally. What's more, there must have been other people who, like him, had hopes of surviving, seeing their families and doing something with their lives in the outside world, but they never made it because, I can only hypothesize, their physique and immune system, as well as their mental state weren't Frankl's.
MIND
This edition published in 2008 by Rider, but digitally in 2013. Published in 2004 in Great Britain by Rider, an imprint of Ebury Publishing. A Random House Group company First published in German in 1946 under the title Ein Psycholog erlebt das Konzentrationslager Original English title was From Death-Camp to Existentialism.
This is a workshop packed in a small book that teaches how to doodle and how to go from doodling to mixed-media painting in simple steps.
THE BOOK IN A NUTSHELL
1/ We collect all our doodles and make connections between them re style and themes. We upgrade their presentation by framing them or putting them in the center of a sheet of paper.
2/ We make doodles using just lines. They can be thick, thin, tall. short, curvy, straight, dotted, dashed, etc.
3/ Then we make small doodles by just using our hand and fingers; sticky notes are perfect for this. Then, we make medium-sized ones by moving the wrist and forearm; paper sheets are perfect for it. Finally, we make large doodles by moving the full arm and even the whole body; big rolls of butcher paper attached to the wall are perfect. We can use three sheets of paper one for each king of doodling size and also mix the three doodle movements in a single piece of paper.
3/ Now we explore doodling by mixing circles and lines, starting with 7 of each,mixing and matching them in different ways and layouts.
4/ This is the time to start a doodle from the left side of the page and keep going, as if we were writing without a stop; when we reach the end of the line, we move to the one below, starting from the right side. We fill in a page this way.
5/ Doodle while reading is the following exercise. With one hand we hold the book we're reading and with the other, without looking, we doodle automatically and without much thinking.
6/ Now is the time to pick a theme and doodle about it repeatedly: flowers, animals, things, leaves, trees, birds, landscapes, everything goes.
7/ Take a line for a walk, inspired by Paul Klee's work, is a variation of the exercise described in point 4. We walk the line all around the page, starting with a black pen or marker, and then we fill in the white spaces with colors. We can use different colored pages as a substrate.
8/ Now we start preparing for the painting. We prepare the paper with gesso, add texture and color. There is a tutorial to build a simple lovely colored paper book where to doodle. We can also use old journals to create a substrate on where to paint.
9/ We then enlarge (or shrink) our doodles by zooming them out (or in) via photocopy or scan. Then we color them and apply warm, cool or neutral hues, or a mix of them.
10/ We use a wood panel, apply rice paper with gel medium and them copy one doodle, previously enlarged as follows: "Trace the doodle with the pointer finger of your non-dominant hand, and with your dominant hand, use a marker to simultaneously recreate the image on the rice paper." (Page 78). Then, we add acrylic color.
11/ Another exercise is to draw a grid and use it to position several doodles inside.
12/ We can practice the painting techniques described above to create a series. This can be done by using figurative or abstract doodles.
Voila!
GREAT
>> This is a simple easy-to-follow method that is both practical and enjoyable.
>> Culhane demonstrates that any humble doodle is important for art making and why.
>> The structure of the book is great and organic.
>> The step-by-step photographed tutorials.
>> The book has plenty of photos of the artist at work, of her doodling, and of the process and exercises she she explains
>> The easiness of the exercises and the fact that they don't require expensive art supplies.
>> The reuse of old notebooks for art purposes is brilliant.
>> The color wheels in page 74.
>> No typos or editorial oddities in view.
>> Very user-friendly digital edition.
>> I don't think you need wood panels to carry out the last part of the workshop unless you're a professional painter and/or want to sell or gift the outcome. I think watercolor paper will do the job at a fraction of the price and it's easily archivable.
>> Even though I love the idea, using bill rolls of paper attached to a wall is nothing renters can do, at least in the country I live in.
>> The Artist Gallery at the end of the book, is a bit too small. Also, I would have loved the author explaining the criteria used for the selection.
>> The digital price is a bit high for such a simple book.Just my opinion.
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