I have always loved books, particularly ones with lots of pictures in them.  As a child I used to imagine I was a time traveler as I flipped through my mother’s art books.  A good art book still excites me and as a teacher, I make it a point to encourage my students to explore the works of new artists regularly by flipping through the books I have collected in our class art library.

Having an art library in the classroom is an incredible asset, especially when you teach IB Visual Art and you have 90+ students who are into 90+ different artists and techniques.  This however, can be costly and does not come overnight.  Some of the books in my classroom library have been with me since college but many have been purchased while I have been a teacher.  Several have been purchased for specific students and others I chose because the content seemed like it would be a valuable resource to my classes overall.  I have the books organized as either media/technique reference, art history reference, art theory reference, or individual artist reference.  In the library there is also the pedagogy section which students generally avoid and the art magazine section which students love the most.

In addition to my little classroom art library, I have another art & design book collection at home.  When I met my husband, the first gift he gave me was an art book and that was one of the main reasons why I decided to keep him around. (hehe)  Since he works as a graphic designer he also has a deep love of art and design books and together we keep a constantly growing creative library.  When students need a reference on a particular artist or topic I do not hesitate to bring to them a book from my home.  Not only does this make students feel special, but it also improves the depth of their understanding and process.

Oh yeah, and Stacy loves books too.  At school, we work as a team to make sure students have access to as many resources as possible.  This means our little library travels at times.  If she is working on a lesson that I have a helpful book for, I send it over and vice versa.

In conclusion, the goal of this new page is to share the books we love and why we love them with our fellow art educators and creatives.  My goal for 2016 is to add a couple books to the list every month.  If you need a recommendation on a certain topic or media please feel free to comment or email me.

-Audrey

 

The A-Z of Art: The World’s Greatest and Most Popular Artists and Their Works by Nicola Hodge 

Why love it:

• Great pictures
• Easy to navigate (because the artists are in alphabetical order)
• Good starting point for artist research
• Provides some historical context and analysis of the work
• Informs without boring
• Encourages further investigation
• Small and easy to scan/photocopy for in class lessons

When to use it:

• When teaching the 4-step art criticism process
• General art history lessons (ex. when we are working on self-portraits and I want to show students a few artists who art known for self-portraits)
• When making dioramas http://www.theimaginaryshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Imaginary-Spaces-Revised.pdf

 

Amazing Everything: The Art of Scott C. by Scott Campbell 

Why love it:

• It was the first present my now husband ever bought me when we were dating
• Scott C. is an awesome illustrator
• The work is fun and inspiring
• The work appeals to children, adolescents and adults
• The work effectively communicates a number of different stories and intents
• Scott C. effectively uses watercolor to create narrative images with a consistent style

When to use it:

• When teaching visual narrative
• When teaching illustration and watercolor techniques
• When trying to inspire students who are drawn to narrative work, humor, or irony

 

Collage: Contemporary Artists Hunt and Gather, Cut and Paste, Mash Up and Transform

Why love it:

• Inspiring collage
• Variety of artists
• Appeals to a variety of styles
• Encourages artistic risk-taking
• Appeals to a variety of grade/skill levels
• Clearly lists artists to enable further investigation

When to use it:

• When teaching collage
• When looking for Contemporary artist references
• When studying scale, juxtaposition, surrealism, composition, etc.
• To inspire the uninspired