My Favorite Art Books As A SELF TAUGHT Artist!

Art books are a super reliable way for self taught artists to learn advanced art techniques and often include incredibly detailed, thorough explanations of complex topics that are hard to grasp just from YouTube videos, where you're being shown ads and sponsors and suggested videos to watch next.

The best art books out there also usually include exercises and actionable tips to improve, something that's helped me a TON to grow my skills over time!

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⚙️ TIMESTAMPS ⚙️

00:00 Books on mindset and inspiration
02:47 Books on composition
06:50 Books on color
10:30 The MVP of Art Books

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[doorran]

My mother was self taught til she was 16...
She took art from that point into college. she ended up working for Walt Disney.. she did work on cartoon movies.. Sleeping Beauty was the last I remember. She also did shorts for the Mickey Mouse Club. After she retired to have a family, she continued to paint.. she was good with oil.. but she liked pastel the most. She died a few years ago. I never really got any training from her. I wish I had.. but maybe with some books I can improve and keep her memory alive.

[timdanyo]

"The Artist's Way" is really good to get over the psychological barriers that can keep so many people from becoming pro artists or pursuing art and creativity as some form of expression outlet. I still do morning pages after 5 years. Now it's a mixture of writing out my prayers and morning pages.

[Blick_Art]

This is an excellent reading list for artists of any level of aspiration! We love that you touch on color theory and composition so often- those subjects are hard for artists to engage on their own. With these titles, you could really get as in-depth as you want, but even casual pleasure painters can benefit enormously from books like these!

[heatherinde]

For a period of two years I once lived less than a 5 minute walk from a bookstore with a great art books selection. It was the most temptation I ever had to face. Thanks for sharing your favorites (some of our favorites overlap I think) and if I were to recommend a book to you, assuming you don’t already have it, it would be James Gurney’s other book Imaginative Realism. It might not be incredibly useful to a landscape oil painter but there is so much wonderfully explained art theory in there.

[cute-patt]

I picked up Color and Light (pickard not gurney) and I’m 50 pages in and it’s completely rocking my world. Every page I feel my brain gain another wrinkle 😂. Digital/hybrid artists NEED to check out this book

[splendidcyan]

Yooo was so cool to see you and I have some shared books, even though I'm primarily a digital character artist, and you a traditional landscape artist. The Style of Loish, Gurney's Color and Light, and Minnie Small's books are all lovely. SUPER agree that I wish I could frame Loish's book!
I'd adore to see a full book collection video, even if you had to separate it out into smaller, themed, videos or if it's one big marathon.
My recommendation for any working artist is "What They Don't Teach In Art School" by Will Terry-- it goes over freelancing, portfolios, networking, and branding, as well as having some interviews from other working illustrators. I'm angling to work in the entertainment industry and haven't broken in yet, but it's so nice having this like pep talk on the industry and making things easier on your journey :)

[kalilavalezina]

I absolutely could watch an hour or more of you talking about your art books. I'm off to buy some now!

[divinencounters]

The Artists Way is a life changing book! You’ve recommended a lot of good books I’m going to check out

[benebee]

I would love to see your art book collection. That sounds great to me. I hope you do that video sometime. I know longer videos take more time and work.

[sampancisco]

I'd love to see and listen to your full collection. This was fun and you recommended some books I've not heard of before, thank you.

[piyush]

Thanks, Kelsey for deciding to create a YouTube channel and sharing your books and experience overall with us. You made the right decision back then.

[bubblesppgz]

Ooooo these sound really informative, definitely adding these to my shopping list lol !

[strangefingerart]

Please create more art book videos, I bet you have an interesting library. I would be interested in seeing ALL of your books.

[captainnolan]

I am a huge James Gurney fan. I love oil and watercolor. Thanks for sharing these books.

[jermainejeromyart]

The audio version of the artists way is amazing. It was on YouTube for a short while

[stevesloan]

Wow! I enjoyed your choice of art books and your opinions very much. A quality instructional book distills many years of learning, and having a recommendation from another artist whose opinion you respect further distills the choices for even greater benefit. I think you should present other of your favorite books in a series of segments rather than all at once.

[Whoopwhoopwhoop]

'Draw like a Boss' did it for me. Incredible series. Loomis helped too.

[saiferayo]

PLEASE show us all your art books! I am an art book enthusiast and bibliophile and would love to see what else I'm missing out on. I'll definitely be getting some of the selection you showcased here. Thank you for this video!

[toddmcaseyart]

Wow, thank you for putting my book on your list! I’m honored 🙏

[robertmac]

I really like your channel! I’ve been binge watching!

I’m an older man. When I was a boy, I used to draw all the time. Now I’m older, but I’m inspired to begin again.

I was extremely inspired recently when I ran across the work of John Sloane. His work blew me away! Transported me to another world!

Whatever he is doing to create that beauty is what I want to do! Not that I want to COPY him, but it’s a good starting point for me. I mean we all need a launching point, right?

I’ve looked very closely at his works, even using a magnifying glass, but I can’t figure out what medium he is using! I suspect it’s colored pencils, but I truly have no idea. I only know I love the final result. So easy on the eye!

Can you help me? Could you look at his works and take an educated guess what medium he uses to paint (or draw) those lovely rural scenes?? This would be a great help as far as what materials I am investing my money in, because I live on social security.