Art Escapes: Daily Exercises and Inspirations for Discovering Greater Creativity and Artistic Confidence [Spiral-bound]

Dory Kanter (Author), James A. Markle (Editor), Wendy Dunning (Designer)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 19, 2003

Inspire your creative spirit—everyday!

Whether you're a beginner or an experienced artist, Art Escapes provides the ideas and encouragement you need to discover greater creativity and artistic confidence, even when you're short on time. Professional artist and instructor Dory Kanter shows you how to:

• Experience more fun and greater confidence drawing and painting
• Express yourself and experiment everyday with an art journal
• Reinterpret daily life with simple, beautiful sketches
• Find painting inspiration in unexpected places
• Paint freely, intuitively and passionately with a simple four-step approach
• Create new forms of art, including watercolor mosaics, paper weavings and found object collages

You'll also find 13 drawing, watercolor, mixed media, and assemblage projects, plus several page-a-day" ideas.

With Art Escapes, you'll learn how to build an art "habit," one that brings joy with every stroke of your brush.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dory Kanter has taught for over 25 years at colleges, universities and art institutes around the world. She currently teaches painting at Portland State University. In 1995 she founded Art World Tours, leading artists on painting tours in Europe and Asia. She has written and illustrated several books and her work is included in many private and corporate collections. She lives in Portland, OR.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 128 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (August 19, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581803079
• ISBN-13: 978-1581803075
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #513,620 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 55 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Pleasure March 6, 2005

By Sam Adler

Format:Spiral-bound

As a student of Russian Literature in college, I kept notes and impressions of my days on campus or by the lake. This activity was lost in the last 30 years with my immersion in the world of work.

While spending a long weekend at a friend's beach house, I found a copy of Art Escapes in the bookshelf. My interest was immediately captured, and I spent the rest of my stay writing notes, doodling illustrations and making coctail-napkin collages. While all of this looks mre kindergarten than Kandinsky, the projects and suggestions contained in the book have helped me tremendously. I now have my own copy of the book, and would recommend it to anyone for its many insights.

86 of 92 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Unexpected delivery December 22, 2003

By Colorgirl VINE™ VOICE

Format:Spiral-bound

I got this book delivered to my door when the mail got screwed up and we did not receive a club mailing until a month too late. My book club sent it to me since I did not refuse it, which I usually do.

However, when I got the package, I was upset with the hassle of returning it. I kept it for a while and then FINALLY got the club mailing. I decided to take a chance and keep it. Boy what a TREAT!

This spiral bound book is a delight not only to read, but to turn the pages. I am tired of the bindings flipping closed on books. This one stays open no problem!

The layout is delightful. Illustrations are profuse and rustic. This book is in no way intimidating like some art books tend to be. I actually feel like I can relax while reading it with nothing to live up to and no frustration with how hard I am going to have to work to achieve desired results.

Dory writes with a warm friendly demeanor and the book is loaded with creative exercises that are easy to do, and RELAXING. As an artist, I have almost no time to paint with little ones around. Art Escapes offers a perfect compromise. Keeps me painting and going in small spatters, instead of monumental undertakings.

Think of a quiet calm day, warm cup of tea, beautiful sunshine, neither too hot or cold weather, curled up in a chair admiring life itself, and you pretty much have this book captured in essence. A delight to own and USE. For any level artist. We all need vacations and escapes!

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars We loved this book October 11, 2004

By Jenny

Format:Spiral-bound

A couple of months ago my husband and I took a long-planned and fondly-anticipated trip to France. Neither of us is a serious watercolorist, but we enjoy dabbling. We'd never thought about keeping a travel journal until we read the Art Escapes book. It was a real inspiration for us and enriched our trip more than I can tell you.

Each of us kept our own journal, and it's amazing how different our perceptions of the same scenes turned out to be. Reading through the journals takes us back to France in a way that just a batch of photos never could. They're also going to be raw material that we mine for months to come. I've already got a wall picked out for the watercolors we plan to make of our travels.

I shouldn't leave the impression that all we got out of Art Escapes was the inspiration to keep our travel journals. It has a terrific collection of suggestions and exercises that got us thinking and creating in new ways. And it's written in a really engaging and approachable way. There are also lessons that really helped our technique. I'm thinking especially of the color wheel and different color palettes the author recommends and the description of perspective that suddenly made it all seem so simple.

The best thing about the book, I think, is that it enabled us to see and experience France in a deeper and more thorough way than we ever could have otherwise. The sights, sounds and smells didn't just wash over us, as they have on other trips. We learned to truly savor our experiences. Isn't that what art is, really?

One last thought: There's no law that says you can keep a journal only on your trips. There's plenty right here around us that we should start to appreciate on a conscious level. I've just started keeping a journal and using the Art Escapes ideas as part of my regular life, and it's been wonderful.