Customer Reviews

The Daily Book of Art: 365 readings that teach, inspire & entertain

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Wanting to broaden my knowledge of not only history of art but the subject in general I went in search of Art books and I came across this book. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, it's a rather small book so I figured there couldn't be much in depth coverage of anything since the subjects are limited to just a single page but there's actually quite a bit of information in here.

Each page of this book contains a writing that falls into one of the following categories:
Art 101 with Elizabeth T Gilbert
Philosophy of Art with Colin Gilbert
Art Through the Ages with Amy Runyen
Profiles in ARt with Rebecca J. Razo
A pictures worth 200 words with Dylan Gilbert
Art From the inside out with Sharon Robinson
Art Around the World with Sharon Robinson
Unexpected Art Forms with David J Schmidt
Artistic Oddities with Gabriel Guzman
Step by Step Exercises

Of course with such a small amount of space for each subject there's no in depth coverage or discussion of any of the subjects. However, you get some nice highlights and entertaining discussions that will make you stop and think and may inspire you to go in search of other resources for more information. At the very least some of these writings will prompt some lively discussion. You'll also get a chance to flex your artistic skills in the form of drawing and sketching using the Step by Step exercises that appear at each 10 day interval in the book.

Sprinkled throughout the book you'll find Questions to Ponder, Fun Facts and Try This boxes along with some beautiful photographs and illustrations. This is a really well done book that is a must have for anyone wanting to get acquainted with or broaden their overall knowledge of the art world.

What a great book! Each page offers interesting information regarding art, whether it be about artists, museums, techniques or even interactive exercises in drawing. I'm not through reading it yet, but what I have read is really interesting. I have learned so many things, I feel like I have taken an expensive college class without the high cost. I'd like to see more subjects included in other Daily Books (hopefully this will be a series...hint hint publisher), such as music (which I would love to learn more about also) and religions of the world. I bet there are 365 different religions that we could learn about. It's nice to see a collaboration of numerous writers/artists in one book, it gives you so many different perspectives. Anyway, enjoyed THIS book a lot and am looking forward to other books along this line.

Excellent book , well written , beautiful illustrations, fun facts, I ordered another for a Christmas gift within
hours of receiving my copy ! Contains short snippets about a wide variety art, could be used as a springboard for discussions. Also contains some instructions for attempting your own drawings.

Everyone I know is going to get this book for Christmas!
It's so well done, interesting and beautifully designed and illustrated.

As a beginning artist the book is extremely helpful in that its style is simple enough, yet very informative.

Our family purchased this book at MoMA last Aug. while on vacation in NYC. We have used other art books in our homeschool curriculum, including using the daily "A Year in Art - The Activity Book" for the last 2.5 years. (We continue to use the latter as it is fun to see "old friends" throughout the year, each year!) I was pretty sure we would like THE DAILY BOOK OF ART, but have been truly surprised at how much we are REALLY ENJOYING this book! What fun to be SO pleased with materials purchased for homeschooling!

This art book presents an outstanding variety of themes, media, artists and periods. Our daughter is newly 10, in 6th grade, and we are both thoroughly enjoying this daily adventure into art. I have been surprised at what she has already absorbed from our other art studies, but this book has not yet failed (we have used it for 3 months so far) to introduce new things several times a week. According to our daughter, "I like the book because it presents so many different topics in and types of art, not just 'the usual' artists and paintings."

I agree. Wide-ranging topics we have read and discussed so far include: paleolithic art, African masks, the origins of the modern museum, the elements of art, what is aesthetics, how the Met was founded, tupilak, the work of curators, the painting elephants of Thailand, 3-4 hands-on exercises in sketching and painting, ancient Egyptian art, museums' permanent collections, retablos & ex-votos paintings, what is an artist, famous painters modern and ancient, collages, camera obscura, Andy Warhol, early Christian & Byzantine art, propaganda art, Anuar Rosaldo's painted tennis shoes with pre-Columbian mesoamerican themes, color phychology, color schemes, Islamic calligraphy and many more. Not to worry: the West's famous artists and their works are presented in abundance, too!

Bottom line: this book succeeds in its mission in every way; the breadth and depth of art presented could hardly be better. Everone in our family is an avid reader, but I do not tend to write book reviews unless a book really moves me one way or another. THE DAILY BOOK OF ART has been a TERRIFIC FIND for our family!

This is a wonderful book that provides concise informative well written pieces that are fun to read and inspire you to create art! The mini lessons are a great way to brush up on techniques or try something you may never have done. The historical facts are interesting and usually make you want to find out more.

This is an outstanding book...you can read it from cover to cover, or flip through it and read the entries you choose. It provides such a wide array of information about art from so many perspectives. My 14-year old granddaughter was also so taken with it that I gave her mine and bought another for myself. I would highly recommend it.

I bought this book as a gift for my sister-in-law who has recently tapped into her artistic inner self. She's an avid reader and I think this book of short daily readings will encourage and inspire her.
The book is full of information, trivia, and interesting readings. The authors have done a wonderful job of researching their material and appear to have made every effort to be factual and correct. I especially like the sketch lessons and think they will be very helpful for many readers. They cover almost all aspects of art from philosophy to the oddities.
I highly recommend this book.

I love this book. It is very well written and very interesting. I definitely recommend this book!