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12 of My Favorite Art Books


An artist doesn't work out of a vacuum. My ideas come from things that I see or dream. Yet, the ideas need to connect to the technique. The creative process has been studied by many, for example, The Five Stages of the Creative Process. I don't dwell on this, but I am sure I go through each stage. I don't analyze my process. I know that I do prep work, an idea "incubates," I do have "aha" moments, I evaluate what I'm going to do and what I need for materials, and I carry out a physical process, combining materials, technique, visuals, and the final result.




I don't often head for the myriad of art books that I have. More often than not, I have the images in my head before I start my work. A sketch, some pencil work, and I am off and running. I often work from my photographs, even if I have the objects in front of me (a still life). But art books do charge my batteries. Flipping through pages sometimes is enough to give me ideas for how to get a certain effect.


So here is my list:



I don't draw/or paint many people. Why is this my number 1? Well, for me, it's a desire to know figure drawing. As an art student at the Universidad de las Americas in Mexico, we had to draw every major muscle in the body and then overlay the skin to draw that body part. Whew. I still hear the professor: "The deltoid muscle raises the arm to a horizontal plane."



These books vary by level and are available in Paperback, Kindle, or Hardcover.









By Carrie Stuart Parks and Rick Parks. Paperback.



By Mark Millenbrink. Available in Kindle and Paperback.



By Caroline Linscott. Assorted lessons. Paperback.



By Gordon MacKenzie. Hardcover. Intermediate.


By Claudia Nice. Kindle, Hardcover, and Paperback.



By Emma Lefebre - Paperback, Kindle, and Hardcover.



By Rosalie Haizlet. Paperback.



By Saunna Russell. Paperback.



By Marina Bakasova. Paperback.



By Peggy Dean. Paperback.



By Ann Mortimer. Paperback. 18 Books.








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Roots, trees, and family

You know me as an artist. You've seen my subjects and my techniques. Between managing my artist blog, working in my home art studio, editing a website (actually two because I admin for a local non-profit's webpages), painting almost daily, producing a line of greeting cards, and marketing, I admit my plate is full. However, now and again, I shift gears and tackle the ubiquitous task of researching the family roots.


I have done this throughout the years. My family traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah, on vacation, and a block of time was scheduled to stop at the famous Family History Library.

This was in the early 1990s, and this was still the best way to get information.


I recall the 3 hours that I sat at a microfiche reader, scrolling through a rather large screen on a massive machine until my eyes glazed over. Yet, I did find smidgens of info on my grandparents' arrivals in the United States.


Years later, here we are. The 2022 research is from my living room with a click of a name; add any other information I might have, and BOOM! up comes something or nothing...and you start again. It's a far cry from taking hand notes. My primary websites are Ancestry.com and familysearch.com. Both offer wonderful search features, certainly more pleasant to use than the tedious methods of the past. I favor Ancestry.com because my subscription gives me many options to dig deeper to find those "roots."









How can I tie my art to my foray into Genealogy? It begins with memorabilia and photographs. Among my mother's items is a passport issued by the War Department, Washington D. C. This is Stella. We called her "Babka" (grandmother).

woman Stella Wozenski Gutowski
Stella Gutowski passport issued by President Warren Harding


Grandma was a "Gold Star Mother." She lost a son in WW1, and in 1933, she and a group of other Gold Star mothers were able to travel by ship to the areas in France to visit the gravesites of their lost ones. Julius Wozenski (my mother's stepbrother) lies in Oise Aisne American Military Cemetery in northern France.


The Pilgrimage was the last of the Gold Star groups to visit the hallowed ground upon which their loved ones were buried. Records show that 81,155 members of the American Expeditionary Forces gave their lives during World War I.


Another relative noted that Julius Wozenski also has a memorial in my hometown of Westfield, Massachusetts. On my next trip back, I will visit the site and pay my homage to his memory.


















A small card with the photo of the original grave cross at the site.




In amazingly good shape are pressed flowers, more than likely taken from the site, lovingly kept in the booklet, and more than likely laminated at a later date.



As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission on product links in this post but have no extra cost to you.















My grandmother emigrated to the U.S. in 1913 at the age of 22 with two stepchildren in tow, and then married and added two more children: my mother, Helen on the left (age 3), and her brother, my "uncle Steve." on the right (age 2)


My grandmother's home smelled like laundry because she bleached, washed, and steam-ironed local businessmen's shirts.


She also knew a few words in English, but my mother would mostly have to translate most conversations about her grandkids into her native Polish.




You have met my maternal grandmother, Stella Wozenski, who later married a Gutowski. My paternal grandmother was Wolozemski, who married a Chrzanowski (my maiden name). You get the picture. My AncestorDNA is 69% Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland & Lithuania, 37% Baltics, and 4% Germanic Europe.




My parents' wedding April 29, 1942



I married a Mason. My husband's family tree is so much easier. His mother's line is Pugh, and a total volume of genealogical publications makes things easier.



Charles Newton Pugh

We have a charcoal drawing of my husband's maternal grandfather, Charles Newton Pugh (1862 - 1936). Does one wonder what prompted this formal portrait? I don't have a date, but it's in relatively good shape, and the mat is almost pristine behind the glass.



l to r: Russell, Charles Newton, Lucy (Martha in her arms), Loring, Francis, and Bessie Pugh

The picture above was taken on the family farm in West Virginia. Russell (far left) was 16 years older than Martha, my husband's mother. Families were bigger and brought up to be hardworking, proper, and resilient.



It's amazing how much I feel connected to my ancestors, or even my husband's ancestors, because of the resemblance or stories passed on to others. Ancestry now has "hints" when their database finds something that will give you a possible match.


These are cleverly in the shape of a leaf. (family trees, get it?)

The hints allow you to click each one and compare existing information or verify those you have input and check the veracity.



Genealogy is time-consuming, and I can't do it for any length without taking a break. There is a lot of checking and re-checking. Have I found the right "Jonathan Martin" Mason?


It is fun but takes patience and perseverance. I love to feel a connection with my ancestors. The Mormons trace their family trees to relatives who can be baptized by proxy in the temple.




It does give me great pleasure to learn a new fact about my mom, grandmother, or great-uncle that I didn't know. Technology has very much improved the process of finding information. Ancestry.com is amazing. Links to the census years, newspapers, high school yearbooks, marriage and death certificates, Social Security, and City Directories are common. The microfiche of years ago is a click to a hint from other users or searches you haven't considered.




  • Ancestry.com is the world's largest online family history resource, with more than 2.7 million paying subscribers. Ancestry users have created over 47 million family trees containing approximately 5 billion profiles. Clicking links in this post may generate an affiliate commission at no extra cost.





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Meet the Artist - David Zydd



Meet the Artist. The place where I introduce YOU to an artist through a virtual interview. Our featured artist is David Zydd. *Note: The images in this post link to David's product shops.





 

David Zydd

Budapest, Hungary





  • Who are you, and what is your background?

Hi, my artist's name is David Zydd. I've never wanted to be an artist; the whole thing came by accident.


My story began at elementary school. Maybe my drawing skills were a little bit above average. But then we had to paint out our drawings, so my work became below average. In high school, I made a few pretty good drawings when I was sitting in brutally boring Literature or Mathematics classes. (When I hadn't fallen asleep.) I had Literature problems while reading many books and I've also tried writing. I also had problems with Mathematics, where I almost always wrote down the correct results, but I didn't know (and I was not interested in) how to calculate them.


Nonetheless, I got into college and graduated as an architect. That's why I hated drawing for the next 10-15 years. I've even boycotted my graduation ceremony: the school was very difficult, however, we didn't learn anything useful about our profession.

My story continues one decade later. I've worked for 10 years in the building industry. When my last employer didn't pay my salary for almost one year (This was very common in the building industry in Hungary at that time.),


I started to think about building another source of income. I wrote blogs, I tried Google Adsense, affiliate marketing, and numerous micro-revenue sites. I also tried 3D modeling. Then - accidentally - I've met with vector graphics. It was in the fall of 2013. I immediately started to create vector images, and a few months later, I started selling vector images on Shutterstock (right after my honeymoon). I had engineering and programming jobs at that time. I also joined the Mensa organization in Hungary and included it in my CV to get the positions.


I've experimented with many styles, some of which looked artsy. So, I finally joined Society6 at the end of 2014. Two months later, I finished my last job as an employee and became an entrepreneur. In the last months of my employment, I spent more time with my business than the company. I have no remorse because the company worked for financial institutions. :)



Very First Works

Meanwhile, I played beach volleyball at the semi-pro level. My best results in the Hungarian Championship were 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th places. I played in the championship in 4 different decades. When I was very good, there were 1 or 2 much better players. When the competitors were a little weaker, I was also weaker. :)



  • What is your favorite medium?

I only use SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) vector graphics. It's more like programming than drawing. I type in words and numbers, and then nice, colorful graphics appear on the screen. After a few attempts, I added a very unusual twist: I used a PHP programming language to write SVG files. This way, I can add much randomness to my artwork. Any other programming language would be suitable to accomplish this. It must be capable of writing text files. I chose PHP only because it was pretty simple to install in a comfortable environment. So, I write a little (sometimes simple, sometimes complicated) algorithm, then I run it several times. When I like the result, I keep the image.




  • Has your practice changed over time?

Currently, I use the 8th generation of the methods to create my vector images. The 1st was to write the SVG file directly. In the 8th generation, I wrote the software (it runs in the browser) for myself. I can easily connect existing algorithms; then, I change a few parameters, and the results are very different. Usually, there is minimal programming in the process. This program is primarily for stock graphics, but my newest artistic works were also created this way.


The program copies and moves the files, making the needed conversions (.EPS, AI, JPG) almost automatically. Then I click and type for a few minutes, and the software creates titles, descriptions, and 40-50 keywords for dozens of images.


I can create even 500+ brand new images with titles, descriptions, and keywords in one day. However, I make it very occasionally. I spend less than 5% of my work time creating, and more than 95% goes to uploading, marketing, and other boring tasks. Since the birth of my second daughter, I have very little time. The lockdown even halved this...





  • What do you most enjoy painting?


David Zydd logo

I love to do experiments with geometric shapes and colors. My artist logo represents this.
















 



Sometimes, I dare to try "normal" artwork when I create images without randomness, but I do this only occasionally. For example, I created minimalist line art for my daughters last year.



  • What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

I was an architect, facility management expert, virtual constructor, and GDL (Geometric Description Language) programmer. The latest gave me the idea of the whole vector programming thing.


Then, I worked as an engineer and as a SQL database programmer. During college, I was a waiter, callboy, etc... for short times.


  • What food, drink, or song inspires you?

I've never thought about drinks or foods as inspirations. :)


My favorite drink in the colder half of the year is red wine; in the hotter half, it's beer. (Except Heineken-owned brands, for political reasons...) My favorite food is ribs and fatty meats.


My favorite music styles are power metal and folk metal. These are sometimes very inspiring music, but there is no way to connect this inspiration to my artworks. :)


  • What has been your favorite response to your work?

When my family members like my artwork, I hope I can differentiate between politeness and real enthusiasm. :)


Of course, everyone's mom will love her son's/daughter's work.




  • Professionally, what is your goal?

My income is around 80% from stock vector graphics and 20% from artwork. My goal is to reverse this proportion in favor of art. And I'd like to spend more time with creation and experimentation.


I can make hundreds of artworks in a few hours. But I have no idea which is the best of them. I'm very bad at choosing the good ones. So, I'm open to collaborations with anybody who would like to browse and sell my artwork with a 50%-50% revenue share.

I can provide hundreds of - even unique - images for this collaboration.





 

Thank you so much, David. My readers are grateful that you shared your vector graphics with all of us. Colorful, symmetrical, spiraling visions to dazzle the eye.


Readers, be sure to visit all of David Zydd's sites:


Society6: Mandala Magic by David Zydd https://society6.com/davidzydd

Contact: davidzydd@gmail.com




Visit all the MEET THE ARTIST posts.



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by Sean Adams | Peter Dawson | John Foster | Tony Seddon Paperback, Illustrated




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