Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking (Paperback)

by David Bayles (Author), Ted Orland (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
An artist's survival guide, written by and for working artists. The authors explore the way art gets made, the reasons it doesn't get made, and the nature of the difficulties that cause so many artists to give up along the way.

About the Author
Both authors are teachers and working artists. Ted Orland's previous books include Scenes of Wonder & Curiosity and Man & Yosemite.

Product Details

• Paperback: 122 pages
• Publisher: Image Continuum Press; 1 edition (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0961454733
• ISBN-13: 978-0961454739
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,493 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There's still the work to be done..., November 21, 2002

By A Customer

I agree that this is a very clearly, respectfully, and unpretentiously written book that can serve as a companion to any artist. Making art can otherwise be a lonely,daunting undertaking. My concern for readers of this book, as with readers of The Artist's Way, is that it can be a pacifier. If it gets you to your work sooner and with greater courage and confidence, all the better. But if it substitutes for the process itself--makes you feel better but does not get you "working"--then it's something to pick up but let go of. There's a growing genre of books like this out there, some (such as this one) better than others. The sage advice gets recycled, as do the homilies from famous people. And again, that's fine, as long as they get us to a place where we are working with more energy and joy, but perhaps not so fine if the internal process becomes more interesting than the art-making. Did you paint today? No. But I reread passages of Art & Fear...

137 of 150 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning by Doing!, September 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking (Paperback)

Art & Fear is an easy book to rave about, but it is a particularly difficult book to write about. The authors have chosen their words so well, that it seems as if there ARE no other words with which to talk about this subject or this book. I'll try anyway, fully knowing that whatever I might say surely will not please me as much as what I have read in their pages. And this is part of the message of Art & Fear, one of the lessons to be learned - just do it and learn from it.

Art & Fear is an unpretentious little paperback, written by two lifelong friends who have been artists, as well as other things, for most of their lives. Both of them have their feet firmly rooted in the real world that we all live in (however high their ideas and ideals might fly), and both of them have keen insights into what enables individuals to produce good art and to continue to produce good art, and what stumbling blocks stop many individuals. These insights are of value to artists in any medium whatsoever, and are in fact likely to be of significant value to many individuals who don't think of themselves as artists at all. One doesn't need to be an artist to be struggling with goals that seem beyond your reach and a lack of appreciation from others; it's just a little more pervasive in the artmaking world.

Reading this book is like sitting down with the authors for a long and lively conversation. You'll learn something of them, and something of yourself, and good things are sure to come from it. I've actually found it too good to keep to myself - I'm on my 6th copy now, as I keep giving them away to friends!

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for all artists!, May 5, 2000

By	Stephen R. Whitney (Snohomish, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking (Paperback)

As a serious painter, I own many books on art in general and the craft of painting in particular. They have been variously useful and sometimes even inspirational, but Art & Fear is worth more to me, than all the rest of my books put together. This book doesn't tell you how to paint or write or compose music or dance. Nor does it trot out the works of other painters, writers, composers, or dancers to serve as inspiration. Instead, it tells me and you and all other aspiring artists how to keep on working at what we love most. What a gem!