The Best Art Business Books

I've produced a new "resources for artists" information website called The Best Art Business Books. Many thanks to all those who are already tweeting it and 'liking' it on Facebook!

Why did I create this new site. Well - as I've indicated before (Making A Mark - Amazon assigns ludicrous categories to Art Books 11 May 2010) it's sometimes really, really difficult to find the book you're looking for on a topic you're interested in on Amazon because of the way they are categorised and tagged - sometimes with very odd labels.

What I've also noticed is that there has been a fair few new books relating to the art business which may be of interest to artists - if they ever came across them!

So what this new site aims to do is provide a curated collection of the what appear to be the better books on Amazon which are about the art business and the business of being an artist or illustrator.

I've tried to sort books into appropriate categories and these relate to artists, illustrators, people selling in galleries and in less traditional venues, those setting up galleries and those who collect art!

• Do you want to learn more about the business of being an artist?
• Looking to improve your marketing of your art - and your sales?
  
• Want to make the jump to full-time artist or illustrator but not sure what you don't know that you need to know?
  
• Thinking about setting up and art gallery and looking for tips?
• Need a form for an art business transaction?
• Seeking legal advice on some aspect of the art business?
  
• Starting to collect art and wondering whether there's a book that can help?
  

If any of the above apply then The Best Art Business Books has a book which can help you.

This selection of books about the business of fine art and illustration are a combination of my own personal recommendations, recommendations by artists and art bloggers I know and rate highly and books which have achieved a high rating on Amazon.

These are the topics which it covers.

You can find out about......
click a link to go straight to the topic

• BOOKS: Making a living as an artist
• Book Reviews by Art Bloggers #1
• BOOKS: Marketing and Selling Fine Art
• BOOKS: Fine Art Business Forms
• BOOKS: The Illustration and graphic art business
• Selling Art Online
• BOOKS: The Art World Business
• BOOKS: Running an Art Gallery
• BOOKS: Buying and Collecting Art
• The Art Economy, Art Law & Copyright
• BOOKS: Law and copyright in the Art Business
• BOOKS: Art and Copyright on the Internet
• Comments and Suggestions

This is still a work in progress as I add in links to artists and illustrators who have blogs and posted a review of art business books they have read.

Can you help?

I'd be interested in your impressions and suggestions for how it could be improved.

Two questions for you:

• Do you have a favourite book about the art business which you have found helpful?
• Do you have a book about the business of being an artist which you have reviewed on your blog?

Product Review: Derwent Pocket Pencil Wrap

I've been testing the Derwent Pocket Pencil Wrap and have to say I'm very impressed. It's rapidly becoming a favourite bit of kit for a minimalist approach to sketching. As you can see from the photo it's become very well used very quickly! The solution to the marks on the canvas - which bother me not one jot - is to turn the pencil the other way round as shown in the packaging. I just prefer to have my pencil points up top!

I'm an inveterate buyer of pencil cases and pencil wraps - I'm always trying to find 'the perfect one'! I also had Derwent's bigger pencil wraps for more pencils so was familiar with the product and was keen to try this new version out - as a potential solution to the 'what do I take when I only want a few pencils and a small sketchbook in a pocket?' question

The pocket pencil wrap was launched in March and you can find my review below.

RECOMMENDED Product: Derwent Pocket Pencil Wrap

Summary: a canvas wrap which holds up to 12 pencils and pens. Suitable for slipping in a pocket with a small sketchbook

Technical Details: made of a very sturdy grade of canvas leather look edges folds in two and fastens with a velcro fastening capacity for 12 Derwent pencils or alternates

Who should buy this? artists who sketch artists who like putting all their sketching kit inside their jacket and trouser pockets - like David Hockney - will love it!

Who should not buy this? artists who never take their pencils outside their home artists attending a coloured pencil workshop (only because you'll likely want to take more than 12 pencils and there are bigger pencil wraps!)

Highlights: thick canvas wrap helps protect pencils flap over pencils helps keep them safe and stops them falling out. You don't need to worry which way you put it in a pocket compact size makes it very easy to take pencils out; very easy to slip inside a jacket or trouser pocket or small bag velcro fastening works well so long as you don't overfill the pencil wrap

Think Again? pencils mark canvas if points are uppermost - it doesn't bother me at all. If it is likely to bother you then the simple solution is to invert the pencils also of interest to people who want to take any sort of drawing implement out of their studio - it doesn't have to be a pencil! it does NOT come with pencils

Manufacturer / Distributor: Cumberland Pencil Company / Derwent

Suppliers: supplied to me by Derwent as an item to review; available from Derwent retailers. Online Retailers include: Heaton Cooper; Artifolk

Art Equipment - Resources for Artists

This site is for visual artists. It provides links to: items of art equipment and tools recommended ways of putting together toolkits and recommendations for equipment for working in the studio or plein air

A new colour tip for Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901

Caran d'Ache has made a change to their Luminance 6901 range of coloured pencils which means it's very likely that I'm going to start investing in more colours.

This new brand of lightfast coloured pencil has previously irritated because there were two ways of identifying the colour of the pencil - neither of which worked too well

• the pencil was introduced with a colour chip painted on the very end of the pencil - it's too small and you can't see it at all when the pencil is lying down
• the colour name and number is written round the end of the barrel in light lettering on a wood background which doesn't give great definition and consequently is very difficult to read

Basically these are two design flaws which are pretty big in terms of the functionality of choosing which pencil to use next!

I really love the pencils and their pigment rich coverage with lightfastness guaranteed - but they were frustrating to use. In practical terms I was always having to inspect a Luminance pencil prior to using it - and that just became irritating.

However I guess a lot of people must have complained or fed back to Caran d'Ache saying that they weren't too ecstatic about the arrangements for identifying colours, because the company has now changed the pencils!

The Luminance pencils now have a new colour cap on the end. It's not as big as the colour on the Lyra Rembrandt pencil but it's a start in the right direction. I'd personally have liked to see it a tad bigger but this is a LOT better than the previous arrangements for colour identification. The change will make it much easier to see what colour the pencil is when you go to pick it up.
just

Now if we could persuade Caran d'Ache to name the pencils along the barrel of the pencil I'd have a pretty big smile on my face!

Coloured Pencils - Resources for Artists

Find out about coloured pencils. This leading resource has information for everybody from experienced artists to beginners wanting to learn all they can. Topics include

• tips and techniques for working with coloured pencils,
• information about coloured pencil brands and associated products (CHECK OUT the poll - find out which make of artist grade coloured pencils is the favourite.)
• coloured pencil societies,
• coloured pencil artists and
• forums where you can discuss coloured pencil matters with artists working in coloured pencils

CPSA Lightfastness Handbook Version 6 - out now

Version 6 of the CPSA Lightfastness Workbook was published at the beginning of May.

The workbook provides a set of sheets for all the different brands of coloured pencils. CPSA has been working its way through all the brands since it published the first version. Each sheet records the name and number of each coloured pencil which passed the lightfastness tests for every brand of artist grade coloured pencil in production. Which is another way of saying I can't think of any which are not now covered by this book.

Version 6 now includes new results for the following:

• Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901,
  
• Cretacolor Karmina,
  
• Cretacolor Marino,
  
• Staedtler Ergosoft,
  
• Staedtler Ergosoft Aquarelle,
• and Staedtler Karat Aquarelle

Plus

• Updated information about brands tested
• Corrections and additions ot color listings
• Complete list of all pencils tested by brand

The lightfastness tests are conducted according to the international art materials standard for coloured pencils approved for this purpose in 2003 - which you can find explained on my website page about lightfastness - An overview of the lightfastness of reputable coloured pencils.

This is the post I wrote when version 5 was published and I got hold of my copy of it - CPSA Lightfastness Test Result Workbook - Version 5 published

If you want to know whether or not the colours you are using are acceptably lightfast or better (ie rate 5.5 or better against a blue wool card under approved test conditions) then I strongly recommend getting hold of the lightfastness test results. I've personally seen some of the original blue wool cards which were used and the way some of colours had bleached to nothingness when exposed to light!

How to order

This book is available only to CPSA Members which adds to the cost of this book an extra $40 to coloured pencil artists living in the US or Canada or $45 to artists living elsewhere. The cost of the book on the order form is indicated below

VERSION 6 • LIGHTFASTNESS TEST RESULT WORKBOOK
Cost in U.S. Funds
U.S. $15 + $2 shipping = $17.00
All other countries $18 + $5 shipping = $23.00

That means the cost of this book is as detailed in the table below.

Category of purchaser	CPSA membership	cost of book	postage	TOTAL
existing CPSA member / lives USA		$15	$2	$17
lives USA	$40	$15	$2	$57
existing CPSA member / lives Canada		$18	$5	$23
lives Canada	$40	$18	$5	$63
existing CPSA member / lives overseas		$18	$5	$23
lives overseas	$45	$18	$5	$68

A fully paid up member of UKCPS living in the UK would need to pay $68 for this book.

I can highly recommend it - although I do wish CPSA would price it to make it more accessible for UKCPS members. I know many members who would like to order a copy but who have been completely deterred by the huge cost to overseas artists who are not members of CPSA.

In effect this is prospective income which CPSA is not realising at the moment due to its pricing policy. Such income could be realised if

• either subscription rates were created for overseas members of other coloured pencil societies which recognise that they are unable to participate in or benefit from the bulk of CPSA activities at a branch level
• or a book price for fully paid up members of recognised coloured pencil societies located outside the USA which doesn't require you to become a member of CPSA (eg book price plus a premium contribution to recoup costs)
  

I'm sure an agreement could be reached for mutual benefit if there is goodwill and effort applied on both sides.

A greener option? Another option which I hope CPSA will seriously consider is to produce the book on CD or DVD so that members could print off only those pages they needed for the brands of coloured pencils that they own. That would be a much greener option, would help cut costs of production and postage and would save a few trees as well!

Further Information

For further information, try the CPSA website - Product Research

My website Making A Mark has a page which provides An overview of the lightfastness of reputable coloured pencils. This covers:

• What is lightfastness?
• Why is lightfastness important?
• Why is lightfastness in coloured pencils important?
• What's the lightfastness standard?
• Lighfastness - Tests
  
• Lightfastness - Brands

You can also read more about pigments and how they relate to colour in Making a Mark: Colour - a materials perspective #1 - pigments and dyes

Coloured Pencils - Resources for Artists

Find out about coloured pencils. This leading resource has information for everybody from experienced artists to beginners wanting to learn all they can. Topics include

• tips and techniques for working with coloured pencils,
• information about coloured pencil brands and associated products (CHECK OUT the poll - find out which make of artist grade coloured pencils is the favourite.)
• coloured pencil societies,
• coloured pencil artists and
• forums where you can discuss coloured pencil matters with artists working in coloured pencils

Book review: Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencils

Title:(In the UK) Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencils (In the USA) Botanical Portraits with Colored Pencils

An In-depth Book Review of this book was first published here on 9th May 2010.
The complete text has now been moved to my new website
- see Book Review: Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencils on Botanical Art and Artists

Author: Ann Swan SBA, GM

Synopsis: This is the first comprehensive guide to using coloured pencils for botanical painting. Ann Swan, an RHS Gold medal winner and one of the top UK coloured pencil artists in this genre, provides a guide to how and why coloured pencils are especially suitable for the accuracy required for botanical illustration. Topics covered include: all aspects of working with coloured pencils, including techniques for underpainting, layering and burnishing and several step by step demonstrations of how to develop artwork and mix and build up colour. Also provided are tips on how to complete a work to exhibition/gallery standard. The book also includes a gallery of artwork by the author, her students and other botanical artists also working in coloured pencils

Summary review: This is the first ever book written by an RHS gold medal winning artist to deal in depth with the execution of botanical art in coloured pencils to exhibition standard. It's an invaluable guide to those wanting to develop their skills in using coloured pencils for botanical art. It's also an extremely useful resource for all coloured pencil artists wanting to achieve the very high standards of execution achieved by both Ann Swan and her students.

Note: This book was sent to me to review by the author/publisher