It's hard to narrow it down as I have a ton of books in my art library, but...

"The Painter: Joaquin Sorolla" by Edmund Peel.

"Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Art Making" and "The View from the Studio Door: How Artists Find Their Way in an Uncertain World" by David Bayles & Ted Orland.

The novels about painters (Renoir, Emily Carr, Vermeer, Artemisia Gentileschi) by Susan Vreeland.

"The Portrait" by Iain Pears.

"Paintings in the Musee d'Orsay" by Abrams

"Landscape Meditations: An Artist's Guide to Exploring Themes in Landscape Painting" by Elizabeth Mowry.


...this list could go on and on. LOL I'll be interested to see the compiled list.

What we need as an artist is business books...

Taking the Leap-by Cay Lang
How to Sell Anything to Anybody-Joe Girard
Any book On Picasso
Being An Artist-by Lewis Lehrman
The Creative Companion-by SARK
The Art Spirit-By Robert Henri

My current favorites:

I pick up Harley Browns "Eternal Truths for every artist" when I my overdone details and backgrounds are boggin' me down and I need to be reminded that wonderful loose strokes like his,(that suggest instead of overdefine)can do the job in a much more interesting way.

I found the landscape almost overwhelming until I studied Kevin MacPherson's "Fill Your Oil Paintings with Light & Color". He communicates very well , simplifying and clarifying light, color and form.

Lastly, one of my all-time favorites is "The Art Spirit" by Robert Henri, because I can open it up to any page and find something to remind me of why we do this crazy thing called art and why we will continue on...

Because I still work full-time I enjoy "A Year in Art" most of all - it is a 'daytimer" that gives you a different painting each day along with a quotation from art masters - a fantastic way to keep in touch with art while working on left brain activities. As I don't write in it, this book forms a great 'history of art' for each year purchased.

Favorite (most indispensible) book:

The Artist's Handbook
of Materials and Techniques
by Ralph Mayer (dec'd)
Fifth Edition, 1991(the most recent)--revised and updated by Steven Sheehan

This book is a "must-have" for practicing artists. Mr. Mayer's classic work (first published in 1940) explains (as the subtitle suggests) artists materials, and the techniques for using them properly so one's works will last. If artists had and used this work, they wouldn't write in to art publications' tech columns with stupid questions they should already know.

My current absolute favorite book is...
I'd Rather Be in the Studio by Alyson Stanfield. Feels like I have a spy in my studio! Wonderful, wonderful book! I have already seen an increase in sales and productivity from implementing her suggestions.
2.The Complete Guide to Watercolor Painting by Edgar Whitney....A really great book not just on watercolor but compostion.
3. Drawing Horses by Sam Savitt..just an old time favorite!
4. The Way if the Artist by Julie Cameron

My favourite art book is 'Alla Prima - Everything I Know about Painting' by Richard Schmid. This book was recommended to me by a wonderful artist who was leading a watercolour workshop I was attending. I was relatively new to painting at the time, having come to it later in life, and found the ideas and descriptions enlightening. Now that I am painting in oils as well, I go back and reread sections about the whys. I really like to find out what a painter is thinking as he/she works. I love the insights.

One of my favorite books to read is "Landscape Painting inside and out" by Kevin McPhearson. This book really helps with landscape painting, it gives you a real insight on painting plein air.

My favorite art books are:

Alla Prima:Everything I Know About Painting by Richard Schmid

Landscape Painting:Inside and Out by Kevin Macpherson

Composition of Outdoor Painting by Edgar Payne

Hawthorne on Painting, by Mrs. Charles W. Hawthorne

Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting by John F. Carlson

Hi Clint

Earlier this week I started a blog that provides reviews of recently published artbooks (http://artbooknews.blogspot.com/). The purpose of the blog is to help other lovers of books on art to hear and share news on what are the nicest new books in the market and which books are a bit ho-hum. I regularly buy books on art (about one a week) and usually find that the reviews on Amazon seldom provide particularly useful and discerning advice (and many books have no reviews at all - particularly new releases). So I've started this blog to help other art book lovers in building their collections.

I think this blog will have some appeal for artists. I am a part-time artist myself, though I haven't yet mentioned this on the blog. While of course it's important to develop an individual style as an artist, there is some great inspiration to be found in gazing at the works of past greats. I was hoping that you might be generous enough to mention my blog on yours, for information of some of your readers. I have listed your blog on my homepage to feed some traffic in the other direction. This blog is only a couple of days old and while I have put up some postings so that people know what to expect, I have yet to tout it and build a following.

Thank you for taking the time to read this little note and thank you for the good reading you regularly provide me.

Kind regards

Dan Clode