Top 5 books every artist should read and keep in their studio

There is nothing like the promises that a new book can hold for an artist or creative. Reading is stepping into new realms, discovering untapped knowledge, falling back in love with your craft, or realizing that inspiration is really all around us. It all depends on what you grab on your next visit to the bookstore or directly from your bookshelf.

For artists of all types, certain books present an extraordinary opportunity to dive into the minds of fellow creators and authors, dialogue with their processes, and familiarize themselves with the train of thought behind some of the artworks that have inspired them.

The ArtPlacer Team has come up with a top 5 of essential books every artist should add to their reading list. Keep reading to discover them.

Art Write: The Writing Guide for Visual Artists by Vicki Krohn Amorose

How do you talk when you talk about your art? From the get-go Vicki Krohn Amorose proposes a work of self-revision and goes into deep detail on how to write essentials like an artwork description or an artist’s statement, turning this book into a must-have inside any artist’s studio.

Yes, an image is worth a thousand words, but in an artist’s career, there comes a time when they actually have to put those ideas into actual words. Here is where Vicki Krohn Amorose comes to help with a teacher’s approach to creative writing, providing a step-by-step guide to turn even the most abstract ideas into interesting readings that can captivate potential collectors, gallerists, a panel of judges, or anyone who stumbles upon your art online or in real life.

This book is filled with lessons on self-promotion and how to get the best copies out of the writer that knows your body of work by heart: yourself!

Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon

Austin Kleon is “a writer who draws”, a prolific blogger who has been journaling his creative process for more than a decade. One of the biggest results of this journey of self-observation and curation was the book “Steal Like an Artist”, from the title to the way he chooses to approach the creative process this book is thought to push some buttons and make you wonder: why did you put out doing that idea for so long? or why aren’t you creating the art you would love to see in the world? Is there just one path to becoming an artist?

“Steal Like an Artist” breaks down with humor and wit the stigma and fear around an artist’s work offering a path to unlock your creativity. Kleon says all artists are collectors and he sets the example, this book is a well-curated collection of autobiographical scenes, quotes, and marvelous storytelling from the artists that have inspired him, plus, notes and doodles directly from Kleon’s studio. 

This book is a must-have and must-read for artists of all kinds.

Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity by David Lynch

Filmmaker, author, musician, and overall creator, David Lynch kicks off his book with this concept: “Ideas are so beautiful and they’re so abstract. And they do exist someplace. I don’t know if there’s a name for it. And I think they exist, like fish. And I believe that if you sit quietly, like you’re fishing, you will catch ideas.”

If there is someone in the world who doesn’t lack new and innovative ideas, that could easily be David Lynch. His work ranges from the futuristic to the surreal, the comedic, and kitsch, always pushing the lines of what is expected from him. In this book he reveals the behind the scene process of the visual journeys has embarked on himself, inviting us to join him in the process and revealing how meditation and other consciousness practices have not only become a habit but a key part of leading a creative life.

This book brings a lesson to all creatives: sometimes you need to sit still and wait for the ideas to come, but you need to be right there, at the pond waiting to catch them.

How to Sell your Art Online by Cory Huff

We all have heard the myth of the starving artists, is a cautionary tale that all creatives will encounter at some point in their career, but author and founder of theabudantartist.com, Cory Huff is here to tell you this concept is just smoke and mirrors. He is here to debunk it and highlight how you could even be gaslighting yourself with this idea, and restraining you from actually getting your hands dirty outside the studio to create a platform that enables you to make a living from your art.

Cory breaks it down for you clear and simple. If art marketing is not something you are familiar with, this is a 101 class that includes step-by-step guides to follow and create everything from an artist’s website to an e-commerce for your pieces or a newsletter to build a loyal audience. With humor and a heavy dose of honesty, you will go through the motions of actually selling your art online with the intention of generating a stable income. After all: this is the take from the abundant artist on art sales and self-marketing, scarcity it’s not a concept he is willing to accept. Creativity has a price, and you should profit from it.

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

Are you waiting for the perfect moment? That precise stage in your life when everything will align and you’ll be able to create the art you’ve always wanted to? You might as well wait forever. Perfectionism is a trap, and Julia Cameron knows it well. Her book “The Artist’s Way” is more than just a read, it’s a guide, a journey, a key to freeing yourself from the ideas that stop you from giving that first step or getting into the final line in the creative process.

For the past three decades, this book has been a staple in all kinds of creative and artistic workshops and even college classes. It’s not a book that you can put down and leave, from the first page it demands compromise and action, there is no way of reading it without even trying out of curiosity some of its well-known exercises like “Morning Pages” (a free thought daily journal) or Artist’s Dates (a scheduled time with yourself to connect with the things that inspire you).

The Artist’s Way is an evergreen book, you can read it thousands of times and each time will feel like the first one. You are never the artist person after reading it, and you won’t be the same artist you were when you pick it up again. Proving that creativity and art creation are certainly not a destination, but a journey.

Now that you know some of the essential books every artist should have on their bookshelves, which one will you add to your reading list?