The Most INSPIRING art books NOBODY talks about

Get cozy and join me on a fun YouTube adventure as I spill the beans on my absolute favorite art books. From jaw-dropping masterpieces to hidden gems that will blow your mind, I've got an amazing lineup to share with you. Prepare to be inspired, get those creative juices flowing, and expand your artistic horizons with these incredible art books. So grab your popcorn and join me now for a this little tour through my art book collection!

xo
Margot

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GET STARTED

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PLACES TO FIND ME

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ABOUT ME

Hi! My name is Margot and I am a professional artist and graphic designer. My parents like to joke that I was born with a paintbrush in hand. I started my career after graduating from the renown Parsons School of Design in New York City and spent over 15 years creating and designing for many of the world's top Fortune 500 brands and companies. My painting journey started as a side project and a creative outlet for me to step away from the computer, go back to my "roots" in fine art and to hone my skills as an illustrator and painter. I started posting some of my work on instagram and the rest is history. My work is inspired by all the things that I am passionate about. Ballet, travel, graphic design, color and finding a world of beauty in all facets of everyday life. I hope you'll join me in this YouTube journey as I take you through all the tips, tricks and trade secrets I've gathered throughout the years. I hope I can teach you some of what I know, help you discover your creative voice and I hope you enjoy this Channel!

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[pcdm]

This list is intriguing. I'm definitely gonna check some of these books out.

If you don't mind, I'd like to suggest two more titles to add for your list. The first is _The Interaction of Color, _ by the artist Josef Albers. The text may sometimes be dense and jargon-heavy, but the image plates alone, are indispensable for exploring the magic of color.

The second might not seem to fit onto the list, but hear me out... _How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way, _ by Stan Lee & John Buscema. Yes, it was written mostly for youngsters, and the '70s-era style might seem slightly outdated, but in terms of learning figure drawing, composition, linear perspective, and all-around draftsmanship, it's still probably the best handbook for an aspiring artist I've ever had (and that includes almost all of the art instruction textbooks I've wasted money on, back in college, hahaha.) My old, dog-eared copy is practically falling apart, but I still reach for it, every so often, when I get stuck on a problem I can't solve. There's a reason why it's never been out-of-print, even though there are many more current, flashy, slick competitors for sale. Sometimes, I'll meet parents who will ask me, because I work as a commercial graphic-designer/illustrator, what to recommend to encourage their child's budding artistic talent. My simplest answer is this, easy to use (and clean up) art-supplies, and a copy of _How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way._ Every kid, boys and girls alike, who gets that book loves it and cherishes it, even into adulthood.

Anyway, that's all I got, for now. All the best, my friend.

[lpayne]

I love that you showed us different art books as so often artists I follow recommend the same books over and over, so it was refreshing to get different books to discover, thank you!

[grafmatheus]

As a book addict myself, I think you did a exquisite job putting this list together. As I see it, you managed to cover up all the essentials for an artist. I honestly believe that making art is studying and referencing all the time, so the books on the colors themselves, for me, are mandatory. You simply must know where your colors come from, because only then you’ll know how to use them to achieve exactly the effect you want to express with your paintings. I also LOVE those “sketch” (or concept) books. More than learning about the process of various artists, it helps us to be more creative, allowing us to experiment with concepts and ideas, without taking the result as our main goal. Also, patterns and composition are something that you also benefit from studying and observing, once our brain sees patterns in everything. The one I was most surprised was the one about ballerinas. What a wonderful study about figure drawing! thank you for this list, honestly! There are a few of those I’m definitely ordering, yours included, because honestly, who can resist to those amazing designs? 😉

[ranjanachand]

Loved the Petal book and the secret lives of colour.. Awesome

[frida]

Thanks for the tips! Love the Disney book. This explains how those movies are so artistic. Of course the animators are artists too.

[terrilyon]

I love that your excitement really comes through and is infectious

[AnnaMaledonPictureBookAuthor]

I do have one of Kelly Wearstler's books because I love her interiors. Children's picture books are great, I have a ton of them obviously. Th Hermes Scarf book is awesome, I put it in my cart, just in case I want to buy it for myself for Christmas. I have different books about painters and a book about fashion through the ages.

[ABirdWoman]

The secret story of Color is a great book to have in the bathroom… quick short reads…

[deeanncross]

I loved this video, Margot. Petals, The Secret Life of Color and Spectrum, were particularly appealing. I like the idea of using design and children's books as inspiration for color palettes, mark making, and composition. A big thank you.😊

[EAlabbasy]

When I want to do figure studies my favorite is to look up dancers and sketch their anatomy, it's really helpful to understanding how to draw muscles espacially. The disney books look so inspiring espacially with the earlier designs and sketches 🥰 It's really eye opening to understand why the creatives behind these animated movies chose different approaches to either story, design and colors.

[elaineg]

My wonderful late son’s friends flooded me with books of Asian paintings & design when I first got back into painting..but was required to do several years of calligraphy first (in traditional paintings, the strokes all start with calligraphy strokes). You’ve motivated me to pull some of my books back out. My favorite Chinese painter, Wu Guanzhong, inter-mixed traditional and western art…and I could stare at some of his paintings for hours. One thing in traditional painting is directly copying the Master’s works whilst adding your own “energy”. I started doing 2, but on western paper using Chinese ink and mostly western paints. I finished the backgrounds and..the ink is the “host” with color being the “guest”. I became blocked for some reason about 80% through. I’d practiced doing spring willow trees in one…and feel like mine looked like a 3yr old had painted them. (No offense to 3yr old budding artists 😁)
I think part of it is I have no formal training in art. In fact, something myself and a dear friend fought at a nearby medical school, was they redid their curriculum, basically removing the humanities and arts requirements..and certainly advising AGAINST taking these classes. (We got them back in along with courses on financial responsibility…long story)
My “tutors”, have mainly been just in the past 10yrs, all long distance. Although I’ve done many small art projects over the years..they have all been self-taught and either for myself or relatives. Luckily, my eldest is the true artist in the family; songwriter, singer, guitarist, piano, sculpture, painting..and she’s now a graphic artist. I remember her fighting me trying to get her to use my old Mac in the early 90’s..but, she WAS a teenager and was more focused on her music than anything else. Now? When she visits she spends most of her time on my iPad or her laptop..creating. 😂. Although, she’s now into watercolor and she and my best friend, a retired art professor, have joined me in honoring my late son’s legacy of bringing people..and cultures together, mixing eastern & western techniques and materials.
I just lack self-confidence…🤷🏼‍♀️

[caroltrenda]

How delightful!!!! I was mesmerized by all those books. Thank you for your passion and love for color, uniqueness, and diversity on those books!! And also a very beautiful woman!!!

[QuinnEurich]

Thank you so much for this! This is my first time connecting with you and I love how you look at things. I went through my inspiration books, and here are some of my more esoteric inspirations, but also my personal go-to artist. I love historical compilations and in this group there are 2 books.

One: The Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute FASHION, A History from the 18th to the 20th Century. A panoply of patterns, textures, colors, and forms. Designers, when known, are listed.

The second book is OWEN JONES, Design, Ornament, Architecture, and Theory in an Age in Transition by Carol A. Hrvol Flores. It's both a written history and an amazing collection of images.

The next series of books ranges from the whimsical to the heat forged, to the sort of trees you won't find in nature.

FAIRIE-ALITY STYLE, A Sourcebook of Inspirations from Nature by David Ellwand. Not just a pretty picture book, the range of images, colors, and designs really is inspirational. A number of pages include the color breakdown and he also includes a reference of color swatches.

I happen to love wrought iron, and for me, ALBERT PALEY, PORTALS & GATES is simply sublime. The scope of his work takes metal to a level that is just incredible.

THE BOOK OF TREES, Visualizing Branches of Knowledge, by Manuel Lima is not your usual design book. With that said, it is colorful and visually appealing on many levels from the historical to the mind boggling with awesome graphics including an X-MEN Family Tree! What inspires me about this book is that it makes me think about presentation . . . what I'm trying to say in a piece, . . . and how that relates to the composition of a piece. It also has some cool ideas for mark making too!

Okay, last, but certainly not least is my personal go-to artist, and he is the late, but certainly great in his imagination, scope, graphic design, learning, knowledge, experience and longevity, Milton Glaser. I have many of his books, but the two that I keep close to me are: DRAWING IS THINKING (how he visually perceives things), and ART IS WORK, a huge retrospective of his work.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of your videos!! Thank you!

[deborahgoodwin]

Thank you Margot for such a lovely, diverse and unique selection of books that you find inspiring. Honestly, I had to laugh when you came to the Schumacher Library of Prints. Many years ago my former husband and I purchased a beautiful colonial in NH. As we proceeded to renovate and restore it to it's former grandeur, I so vividly remember going through book after book of different wallpaper prints. And it never failed, I always found myself drawn to to anything Schumacher. To this day, if I close my eyes, I can still see how elegant and welcoming the gorgeous entryway looked with the most beautiful chinese red paper with it's luscious oriental print.
I would just love to get my hands on one of their books chock full of their prints! I absolutely understand why and how you would find inspiration from that book. Thank you for sharing and bringing back such a wonderful memory of mine.😉

[robinalcorn]

Well worth watching! I feel refreshed and inspired. Thanks!

[renee]

Beautiful array of art books. I have the book Petal and love paging through for inspiration as I am a botanical artist. My only reservation about the book is that it is digital art and I prefer to look at hand painted art. For myself I love interacting with the actual raw materials.

[dizzylizzy]

I'm already addicted to books, but Margot, you've inspired me to expand my view when looking for books. I'm really interested in looking at different pattern books to use for inspiration.

[luneleaart]

Gorgeous colour eyegasm😍thank you for sharing, putting petals, spectrum and the Hermes book on my wish list

[shonascouten]

Fantastic selection of inspiring books!!! I totally agree, children’s books are the best!!!

[awatercolourist]

Oh my God, Margot 😮; the cover of your book is so, so beautiful and chic! It reminds me of Degas’s ballerina paintings.