What to Read for Arts and Crafts

I may lose you here.  Bare with me a bit though.  My favorite Arts & Crafts books have never been, nor will they ever be, instructional books.  There.  I said it.  We do have a few instructional books my children reference.  I'll give you a list below.  I DO want to share with you a few of the books I use to encourage creativity and inspiration in my children, and honestly, in myself as well.

As you may suppose by the image... Beatrix Potter is an inspiration to me. I consider myself an artist, but I readily admit to being awful with watercolors. She did such an amazing job with them! ANY book you read to your children can be an art book.  Yes, any book.  The descriptions of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, James Fenimore Cooper... could inspire the artist in anyone.  I love how the Miss Potter movie depicts her saying, "...and suddenly I realized I was drawing a pigs swill bucket."  I was raised on an old fashioned pig farm and I promise you, swill buckets can have the most beautiful colors swirling around in them.

I prefer to provide our children with supplies for their own creativity. Colored pencils are a must, as well as nice scissors, blue and lots of different colors and textures of paper. Paint brushes of varying sizes and shapes also clutter up our home. I prefer to keep acrylic and water color paints.  I also love oil pastels, which are fun to use with paint brushes. The books I keep around are:

• Lee J. Ames "Draw 50 ..." Series
  
• Many "How to Draw..." books from Watermill Press & Troll Communications
  
• Various Calligraphy books to encourage coordination & beautiful handwriting.
  
• A collection of different Big Books of arts & crafts. There are so many to choose from!
  
• Devine Entertainment's Artist DVD specials ...I regress... DVD's about classic artists. Learning about other's art and inspiration is very important.
  

I also purchase greeting cards from modern artists I appreciate for my children to study.

My favorite links from last week are:

Katie @ Paradise Praises
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Tara @ Embark on the Journey
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Jeanae @ Just Jeanae
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& Your's Truly...

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