Favorite Books
Disclosure: Links on this page are affiliate links (mostly for the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program), which means that if you choose to make a purchase from them, I will earn a small commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. I recommend them because they are helpful and useful. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or that they will help you achieve your goals.
Making Colors Sing:Practical Lessons in Color and Design by Jeanne Dobie
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Artist’s Journal Workshop:Creating Your Life in Words and Pictures
by Cathy Johnson
Artist’s Journal Workshop contains hands-on exercises and professional tips from over 25 international artists. This book is filled with visual imagery that will help you get started, and has just about everything you need to know about art journaling. It has examples of many different types of journals and suggestions on how to go about creating them. A very inspirational read!
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Artist’s Sketchbook: Exercises and Techniques for Sketching on the Spot
by Cathy Johnson
The book above offers practical advice for sketching on the spot, in your own backyard, during your travels, urban areas and more. Most of the illustrations are from Cathy’s personal journals. Included are supply lists, tips, techniques and exercises. It’s not only educational, it’s fun too.
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The Decorated Page: Journals, Scrapbooks & Albums Made Simply Beautiful
by Gwen Diehn
If you are interested in adding a more mixed media approach to your journal, The Decorated Page does a great job of covering the basics, including what supplies you can use, how to do basic book modifications, and examples of layouts and the purposes of creating such a journal. The instructions are clear, with plenty of photos to illustrate each step.
Diehn covers dry and wet processes, cutouts, copier transfers, design layout suggestions, altering book coverers, watercolor/gouache/stamping, and more. The book provides plenty of inspiration.
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The Complete Decorated Journal: A Compendium of Journaling Techniques
This book combines The Decorated Page above AND her book, The Decorated Journal (The Decorated Journal is available used).
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If you particularly like nature journalling the books below provides simple methods for capturing what you see in sketches and words.
The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling
by John Muir Laws
I don’t own this book yet but refer to John Muir Laws’ advice for nature journaling often. “This book is a how-to guide for becoming a better artist and a more attentive naturalist. It offers step-by-step illustrations and dozens of exercises lead the hand and mind through creating accurate reproductions of plants and animals as well as landscapes, skies, and more. Laws provides clear, practical advice for every step of the process for artists at every level, from the basics of choosing supplies to advanced techniques.” (from Amazon)
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Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You
by Clare Walker Leslie
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Reference Type Books
I find the books in this section indispensable and refer to them often.
Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast by Jim Pojar helps me to correctly label the trees, shrubs, wildflowers, ferns and more in my particular area. Depending on where you live, there are many similar books available,
National Geographic Pocket Guide to Trees and Shrubs of North America for instance.
I have a whole set of field guides that I also refer to constantly, with topics such as Reptiles of North America, Seashells of the World, Insects of North America. There are many great field guides available, see here for a list of Peterson’s field guides…
Favourite Pens
I love drawing and writing with my Lamy Safari Fountain Pen. The ink that comes in the cartridges in the link below, is not waterproof. I discovered this after completing numerous drawings on a trip to be painted when I got home, only to discover the ink runs into the watercolor.
I purchased the Lamy Safari Converter and use Platinum carbon ink from Japan. This ink is waterproof and does not clog my fountain pen if I use it regularly and wash it thoroughly every couple of weeks.