Celebrate Your Creative Self (Spiral-bound)

by Mary Todd Beam (Author)
Key Phrases: adhesive shelf liner, black gesso, flow enhancer, Quinacridone Crimson, Quinacridone Gold, Surface Illustration (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Artists and creatives of all kinds who are looking for new ways to liberate their artistic imagination will love this book. Readers are invited to playfully explore various aspects of visual art, such as light, color, texture and design through a series of imaginative art projects. Artists will experiment hands-on with dozens of techniques and mediums in new and unconventional ways including: * Capturing whites with crayon and wax resist * Glazing and floating colors * Portraying the patterns of nature with sedimentation and precipitation * Loosening up with gesso painting and printing with plastic * Constructing a new piece of art from old work * Experimenting with three-dimensional assemblage * Creating a street map In addition, artists are prompted to challenge their imaginations by building new painting surfaces, creating their own personal symbols and more. Further inspiration can be found in a gallery of work by more than 30 contributing artists. Celebrate Your Creative Self is a fun, no-fail guide every artist should have.

About the Author
Mary Todd Beam is one of the best-known workshop instructors in the realm of artistic creativity. She has been giving workshops all over the country for a number of years and is an award-winning artist. She divides her time between Cambridge, Ohio and Cosby, Tennessee.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 128 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (October 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581801025
• ISBN-13: 978-1581801026
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 9.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,154 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #14 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Other Media > Mixed Media
  #32 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Self-Help > Creativity
  #33 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Painting

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

130 of 131 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Help for climbing out of that rut, December 18, 2001

By	Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

I had a very great teacher who taught creativity from discoveries he'd made about that mysterious process. He once told me that artists break rules and then make new rules of their own. For example, look at Picasso. He broke rules about classical drawing and painting as he had done early in his career, and then created new rules for his style of Cubism.

I paint, and have a very definite set of rules about what I do and what I do not do. My painting teacher years ago had a lot of rules about watercolor, such as never using black or white paint. Later in her own career, she started breaking those rules with techniques not unlike those in this book (for example, she uses crumpled plastic wrap and laundry starch to texturize.) Her paintings really took off.

You may not like all the techniques presented here, but it's worth trying them out. One of them may turn out to get you out of a rut and onto new and great things. Even though "Celebrate Your Creative Self" sounds like books such as "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain", "Making Pearls" or "The Artist's Way", it is not about the inner artist. Those books have a very important place in freeing up the unconscious mind and the imagination. This book is about freeing up your technique and finding new methods of expression. Personally, I love it.

142 of 144 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No Experience Necessary!!, August 11, 2002

By	Plein Jane (new england) - See all my reviews

Even if you are not entirely sure which end of a paintbrush goes into the paint, with this book you can learn to create a painting in an afternoon which will convince your friends you've got an M.F.A. If you've ever bought art supplies and books and not used them because you felt you could not create satisfactory representational images, give yourself a break and try these techniques of meaningful abstraction. Compared to the cost of a workshop, this book is inexpensive and well worth every penny. It's packed with worthwhile content. I truly believe every person who loves art has all they need inside them to make great art themselves. It's not about expensive materials or years of education--which are great if you happen to be fortunate enough to have them--all you really need is the passion for color and paint. You don't even need a brush. Start where you are and go for it! P.S. That piece of stiff cardboard that comes in the bottom of your Amazon box makes a great painting support with some canvas taped to it!

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Workshop in a Book!, April 30, 2002

By	dennis marshall (paterson, new jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This book is a must for anyone wishing to explore different methods and ideas.The book is beautifully laid out and is a pleasure to look at.The artist presents her ideas in clear concise language with many good illustrations.I liked the small 'boxes' that contained suggestions or comments.There is also a helpfull list of materials used with each project.If you are unable to be at a workshop with Mary Todd Beame this is will help create one in your studio.It is a book that you will return to often for ideas and inspiration.