Art Revolution: Alternative Approaches for Fine Artists and Illustrators [Paperback]

Lisa Cyr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 28, 2009

With an unprecedented array of media and digital tools at their disposal, today's artists are faced with unlimited possibilities for creative experimentation. Never before has there been such innovation in the way art can be conceptualized, produced and presented.

Art Revolution is on the cutting-edge, exploring how artists are reinterpreting, reinventing and redefining everything from the surfaces on which they work to the way viewers interact with their finished pieces. This book ventures off the beaten path to track the creative directions and signature styles of twenty-one of today's most visionary artists, including Dave McKean, David Mack, Marshall Arisman and Cynthia von Buhler.

Brilliantly illustrated with inventive examples of two-dimensional, three-dimensional, digital and new media art, Art Revolution will inspire you to break out of the confines of traditional thinking, push your content to a higher level, and revolutionize your personal approach to art.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lisa Cyr is an accomplished author and multidisciplinary artist. She writes for many of the creative industry's leading trade publications including Communication Arts, Step Inside Design, How and ID in addition to writing and contributing to five books. Cyr also speaks actively at professional organizations, universities and industry conferences across the U.S. and teaches in many of the country's top graduate programs as a guest lecturer. More of Lisa Cyr's work can be seen at www.cyrstudio.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (July 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600611494
• ISBN-13: 978-1600611490
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #371,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lisa L. Cyr is an accomplished multidisciplinary artist and author with a content-driven approach. Her highly imaginative, fantasy-inspired works use layers of metaphor and allegory to stimulate curiosity, provoke thought and encourage further inspection. A poetic, rhythmic synthesis of drawing, painting, collage, assemblage and sculpture, Cyr's visually tactile, mixed-media work is composed to collectively create a new reality with a more expressive, symbolic arrangement. The artist's expansive visual vernacular and innovative use of alternative materials and approaches transcends mere technique, creating a dynamic pictorial idiom that is not only multidimensional but also multi-sensual.

A graduate from The Massachusetts College of Art (BFA) and Syracuse University (MA), Cyr's artistic oeuvre has been exhibited both nationally and internationally in museums, galleries, universities and at industry organizations, including traveling shows with the Society of Illustrators of New York and Los Angeles. Her work has been featured in numerous magazines, books and online, including features in Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art. In addition, Cyr's art is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of American Illustration as well as in private collections.

Cyr has authored seven books on art and design, including the cutting-edge, mixed media best seller entitled Art Revolution (North Light Books). The artist also writes for many of the creative industry's leading art publications, including Communication Arts, Applied Arts, The Artist's Magazine, How, Step inside Design, ID, Alt Pick and many others. Her books and articles range from revealing issues that face the creative industry to profiling top talent in the business.

In addition, Cyr speaks actively about successful promotional strategies, marketing opportunities and entrepreneurial endeavors for the creative industry and gives workshops on innovative, mixed media techniques at professional organizations, universities and trade conferences. She also teaches in several of the top MFA graduate programs in the country. Her insightful, thought-provoking and highly visual lectures, entitled Work as Play, Reinterpret, Reinvent and Redefine, The Art of Promotion and Creatively Speaking, inform, inspire and motivate. An artist member of the Society of Illustrators in New York City and the International Society of Experimental Artists, Cyr works in partnership with her husband Christopher Short, painter, 3D illustrator and animator.

Visit her website at www.cyrstudio.com and blog at www.lisalcyr.wordpress.com or network with her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa-L-Cyr/93726883271 or Twitter at www.twitter.com/LisaLCyr.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Art Revolution Will Stimulate Your Own Evolution, July 27, 2009

By 

Carol Wiebe (Kitchener, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Art Revolution: Alternative Approaches for Fine Artists and Illustrators (Paperback)

I have only begun to work through this amazing book. It has a depth of content that I am always seeking and will enjoy savoring over many readings. As an artist, I am stimulated by learning more about how other artists conceptualize their work. Author Lisa L. Cyr challenges her readers again and again, with such statements as "To create a more vibrant and robust cultural exchange, artists need to become inventors of their own content, asserting a viewpoint all their own."

This book is one tool that can help stimulate your own evolution as an artist: it is that well written and thought provoking. It is also visually stunning.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars well, maybe 3.5 starts, good, but . . . ., June 20, 2010

By 

D. Freed (Clinton, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Art Revolution: Alternative Approaches for Fine Artists and Illustrators (Paperback)

I recently bought this book and have only begun to read through it. I like how the information is presented and that each artist gets to have their say, not just about technique, but also about the thought and feeling going into their art.

The main issue I have with this book is that all the art has the same look and feel to it, sort of "modern distressed." I know this is popular now, like steampunk art and such. I guess I'd like to see an "art revolution" with more diversity and range to it. It gives me pause that 'alternative' gets so narrowly defined.

Best, David

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, December 12, 2009

By 

just me "ani" (Argentina) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Art Revolution: Alternative Approaches for Fine Artists and Illustrators (Paperback)

I bought this book with great expectation and it did not disappoint me. It has very interesting reviews about all the artists featured, where they explain their personal approaches to finding their own themes and voice. Besides, they give very good step by step demonstrations on special techniques, many of them using non conventional materials and even digital media. I really recommend it.