Creative Illustration Workshop for Mixed-Media Artists: Seeing, Sketching, Storytelling, and Using Found Materials

I recently bought 6 (mostly art) books for a little post-holiday, pick-me-up treat. Out of the six, this is was the wild card. I don’t have much of a history with mixed media, and while I liked what I was able to see of the contents of the book, the cover just didn’t speak to me. It was to my great surprise–and delight–that of those 6 books, this one is, by far, my favorite.

I find the paintings themselves to be almost magical. There’s a depth to Dunn’s work that captures one’s attention and holds it. The application of pastel drawing set against deeply-colored acrylic backgrounds conveys a sense of mystery. At the same time, there is a joyful exuberance in many of the pieces, which often combine human and animal subjects in a whimsical rapport, as in her piece, “New Year’s Couple,” which features a woman in a red cocktail dress raising her glass in a mutual toast with a very dapper-looking donkey.

I would have been happy enough with just a book of Dunn’s artwork; the fact that this is a how-to book in which Dunn explicates her process is beyond fantastic. Other how-to books often focus on a step-by-step approach that can be helpful but is usually limited. What Dunn does here is completely different in that she walks the reader through her thought process as a piece progresses from one stage to another. We see a piece evolve from a few scribbled words and shapes she first makes as a note to herself on through to a completed composition. Along the way, Dunn shares plenty of techniques she has honed through the years, like boldly painting a deep background (which may very well be painted over) as a kind of “warm up” exercise to sidestep the intimidation that often accompanies a blank canvas. She discusses materials, and encourages one to be adventurous (even if it means it’s not archival!–advice that is almost heretical in today’s art how-to culture.)

I did read other reviews, and personally, I just don’t understand how a reader could not be inspired by Dunn’s discussion of illustration as a means of storytelling. I was very moved by Dunn’s example of working through her feelings about her father’s aging via painting. The book is full of examples that are at once specific (so you get to see how she did it) and yet have universal application (i.e. how take a memory, an object, a symbol, a story, or a dream and make it into a painting.) I think this is much more important–and much more difficult to convey–than simple step-by-step instructions on how to render a particular thing or texture.

I did find it interesting that several reviewers who were disappointed in the book mentioned that the contents didn’t match the cover, and I do agree with them on that score. The cover has a kind of cut-out collage border that is very popular with some folks but really isn’t much in evidence elsewhere in the book. The cover also has a light background and relatively spare composition compared to Dunn’s usual deeply colored backgrounds and populated compositions. While readability of the title is of primary importance for a cover, the cover of an art/art how-to book really should reflect the aesthetic of the artist in order to both avoid the disappointment of some readers and to ensure that those who would be interested in the book are suitably attracted. For my part, I can say I’m glad I didn’t judge this book by its cover. Had I done so, I would have missed the biggest reading–and learning–pleasure I’ve had this season.

This feast on the eyes is wonderfully informative and inspiring too. Dunn is a resourceful artist with a great sense of humor and much sensitivity whose work is just a delight to look at. It’s wonderful how she invents stories around the characters that inhabit her paintings and illustrations.

She tells us about her own way of working. She shows how you can process grief by making art, but also how your everyday life and even the mundane things can be transformed into interesting paintings. She gives exercises and ideas on how to incorporate your own ideas and surroundings into your art. Her work varies from drawings to making fun puppets out of her main characters. She succeeds in making me want to be an illustrator right this minute! I think that’s the sign of a good artsy book, it makes you want to get to your studio and make stuff right now! 😉

Even without all the wonderful ideas and insights and her ironic sense of humor (which is really to my liking) the book would still be worth getting, because it is beautifully executed and simply loaded with the most gorgeous art that makes you want to pick it up over and over again just to get a glimpse of the atmosphere. Her art also shows that being able do draw very realistically is not necessarily the most important part of appealing art.

All in all I really loved this book. If I were to say anything negative about it, it would be that I would have liked a few more exercises, but really, in this case that would be nitpicking 😉

I love this book. It’s full of creative ideas and gives confidence to try new things.

I adore the artwork of Katherine Dunn, it has a mysterious, childlike quality to it. This book is filled with her beautiful works and inspiring prompts to create unique pieces of your own. However, upon reading through my copy of the book, I discovered that several pages were not included. Page numbers would jump from 34 to 37 or 72 to 75, causing me to miss out on some of the most interesting bits of the book. I’m afraid I’ll have to order another copy in order to experience the full breadth of Katherine Dunn’s offering, thus the four star rating.

I pretty much like anything that will inspire me , illustration style is very different for me but that is a good thing . I am slowly building up a collection of art books so I don’t have much to compare to ! Its spiral bound so stays open to refer back to and it is so hard to see that I can produce work as good as whats in there – some books attempt to share info but are more of a showcase for the authors work I think . There is lots to try and I like it!

Anhand des Titels habe ich einen Workshop erwartet, der mir das ganze Buch hindurch klare Aufgaben 1, 2, 3 usw stellt. So ist es nicht, und es kann sein, dass manche Menschen nicht damit klar kommen. Ich schon.
Ich habe mir dieses Buch von Katherine Dunn bestellt, weil mich die Vorschau-Bilder angesprochen haben. Die Künstlerin hat einen sehr eigenwilligen Stil, der dazu ermutigt, abseits irgendwelcher Regeln zu malen. Ich wollte etwas über die Kunst der Illustration erfahren, weil ich mich bisher im abstrakten sicherer fühle. Nun finde ich gerade die kindlich träumerisch anmutenden Zeichnungen sehr ermutigend. Mich inspirieren diese Bilder, die Farben, die Tier-, Pflanzen- und Mensch-Motive und die Betrachtung der einzelnen Bildstadien. Und dazu kann ich über die Erfahrungen der Künstlerin lesen, warum sie in welcher Phase etwas verändert hat, und dass aus manchen Notizen vielleicht nie ein Bild wird. Und dass das Bild nicht allein im Kopf entsteht, sondern sich beim Malen entwickelt. Ich find es sehr entspannend, es ist eine abwartende Haltung, die vom Vertrauen in den Prozess gekennzeichnet ist.
Ich kann es sehr gut nachvollziehen und mitmachen. So begleite ich die Malstadien der Künstlerin über das Buch und gleichzeitig meine eigenen Malphasen.
Das liebevoll gestaltete Buch ist etwas größer als DIN A4 Format, spiralgebundene Seiten mit vielen Bilderbeispielen der Künstlerin, viele Beispiele auch zu ihren Bildnotizen, und wie sie ein Bild Schritt für Schritt entwickelt. Die Inhalte: Materialkunde, Storytelling, Inspiration finden, Gefühlen folgen, Materialmix/Texturen, Computerscans für Bildbearbeitung und auch wie sie selbst mit Blockaden umgeht, indem sie z.B. Puppen kreiiert – also von 2D zu 3D wandert.
Dieses Buch ist keine “How to do…”-Anleitung. Ich empfehle dieses Buch Menschen, die selbst gerne kreativ malen und offen sind für die Erfahrungen anderer Künstler.