A Proven Strategy for Creating Great Art
Author: Dan McCaw
A Proven Strategy for Creating Great Art (affiliate link) is by far one of my favorite art books. I’ve about worn it out! I bought it many years ago. All the sticky notes stuck onto its pages attest to how much I’ve referred to this book for inspiration throughout the years. I bought this book when it was first published back in 2002. I hate to say it but this one is hard to find and the used book market prices reflect that. If you can find an affordable copy, snatch it up.
The book is filled with beautiful reproductions of several of Dan McCaw’s deeply textured, colorful, impressionistic paintings. Dan liberally shares his painting process with many step-by-step demonstrations. I wish this book would be published again!
I had the pleasure of talking with Dan McCaw a few years ago on The Artful Painter. You can listen to that episode here: Dan McCaw – Painting Purple Trees (Episode 45).
Artist and Author Dan McCaw
“For an artist it’s essential to be curious. It’s one of the main things - to be curious, to be open-minded, to be vulnerable.”
From the dust jacket:
“If you're like Dan McCaw, you believe that art is a collaboration between the heart and mind in an effort to expose a piece of the artist's soul. As such, art should be the individual interpretation of the artist. You may choose to interpret your subjects realistically while others will choose to abstract. You may want to adorn where others would want to simplify. Of course, learning to paint in a way that expresses your true self doesn't always come naturally or immediately.
“If you're struggling to find your personal style, this book is for you. In it, Dan provides you with a two-pronged approach to artistic training. Not only will it give you a proven strategy for picture making, it will also focus on allowing your creative spirit to find its voice. Your voice.
“With this in mind, Dan begins by covering the basics for a very specific purpose. As Dan says, "Only with knowledge can you truly be free to express yourself. These fundamental building blocks provide the foundation for all good art." Dan offers many insights. He will help you understand how light reveals form, how to render with light and shadow, how to design with shapes and edges and how to recognize and manipulate your colors. Along the way, he emphasizes the many choices available to you in using these fundamentals to make paintings your own.
“Then Dan will take you another step further by revealing how to develop your point of view and bring it out in your paintings using contrast, exaggeration and more. He doesn't just tell you how it works -- he shows you! In addition to the demonstrations in every chapter, the whole of Chapter 6 is a giant, extended demonstration taking you through the entire thought and creation process. And for an added dose of inspiration, every page is loaded with great examples of Dan's unique interpretations of his world.
“Join Dan as he invites you to take the first few steps of your life-long journey toward self-expression. If entered upon with an open heart, yours will be a journey of self-discovery, a journey where your individuality is nourished, a journey to the place within you where true art begins. It is an endless journey because you will never finish saying all you have to say. There will always be new ideas to express and new ways to express them. With this book, you can begin today to discover how to put yourself -- the poetry of who you are and how you view the world -- into your art.”
