Beyond Realism: Art Techniques to Expand Your Creativity

I ordered this book because I've been stuck trying to do realistic art. I love to look at abstract art and believe this book is helping me make the transition from one to the other. It gives step by step instructions from the original vision to color studies to the finished piece of art.

"Beyond Realism" by Brian Ryder combines inspiration and technique, helping artists to move from realistic forms of painting to the more inventive form of abstract art. This is no small step, as this kind of art requires the ability to express intangible ideas in visual form - while still keeping to the basic principles of good art. Ryder's book provides a great start in making this leap. In the introduction, the author explains that abstract art is the artist's interpretation of reality (as opposed to reflecting it.) He discusses the work of some of his favourite abstract artists, and illustrates the text with accompanying photographs. After displaying a gallery of his own work, Ryder proceeds to give step by step demonstrations on ten different subjects. These demos vary in interpretation and style from an impressionistic landscape, to bold abstracts that develop the interplay of pure form, texture and colour. In other words, it shows there is an infinite variety in abstract art. What I especially like about this book is that each example is accompanied by photographs taken as if the reader is looking over the artist's shoulder and watching him at work - the next best thing to a video. Ryder demonstrates "adventurous painting techniques" in acrylic and oil mediums, combining both with other mediums to create a range of textures and effects. In the accompanying text, he virtually thinks out loud as he develops the painting, giving his reasons for the choices he is making. This book is not for the beginner, but it is great for any artist of some experience who wants to know how to "translate" ordinary everyday objects and scenes into an abstract painting. Ryder mentions that he often does a series of paintings on one subject in which he experiments with different treatments of it. If you have previously painted in a more realistic style, following his process can encourage you to be more exploratory in your own work. To extend the ideas in this book, I particularly recommend "Painting the Spirit of Nature" by Maxine Masterfield as well as "Celebrate your Creative Self" by Mary Todd Beam, both of which show the development of abstract ideas.

I found this work very much to be on my wavelength. Some illustrations were more traditional than I had hoped but some will provide me with stimulation to be even more abstract in my approach to landscape.

The basic information in the book is pretty good, but as a beginer it's over my head. Still, it has some pretty interesting stuff and examples. Book deserves 5 stars, I just chose wrong one.