As a graphic design student with a long-term appreciation and love for art and books, this was calling my name.

I’ve been reading more non-fiction books, mostly about art, design or self-help, which will definitely be a regular thing on my blog. I don’t really have a niche, and don’t plan to have one since I enjoy way too many genres to focus on any. I will, however, try to add variety to every month’s posts. Just to mix things up a little one in a while.

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100 Things to Know About Art
by Susie Hodge and Marcos Farina (illustrator)

get it here

BOOK SUMMARY

How do you sum up the amazing world of art in just 100 words? This striking book takes on the challenge! From pottery to Pointillism, each of the carefully chosen 100 words has its own 100-word long description and quirky illustration, providing a fascinating introduction to art. Basically, everything you need to know in a nutshell.

Along with some classic methods, such as painting and sketching, you’ll also discover less predictable aspects of art that will give you a fresh perspective. Featuring materials, elements, methods, art movements, styles and places this book covers a wide range of topics and themes, as well as some key artists of the past and present. With a clean, contemporary design, each word occupies a page of its own. A large striking illustration neatly encapsulates the accompanying 100 words of text.

BOOK REVIEW

*A copy of this book was provided by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve always been a big lover of art, but understanding it was difficult. When I was younger, I wanted to learn the timelines and movements, but it was difficult to do so on my own. Only in college was I then introduced to it formally, through Design Theory classes that fell on Thursdays after lunch, too full and sleepy to focus in class, to my dismay. However, this book is a great starting point if you’re interested in learning more about art.

Susie Hodge explains art movements, painting materials, styles, and other art-related terminologies, such as a gallery, an exhibition and spatial design (which I am very interested in and definitely need to look into). She provides the historical context, examples and also a list of resources for extra reading.

From the cover to cover, each page was filled with fun and bright illustrations using a rather limited colour palette, but creating gorgeous, inspiring art. With great use of texture and beautiful fonts, this is a book lover and an art lover’s dream. It made me want to make some art.

As I was reading and typing notes for my review, I keep going on and on about the great illustration style and, here I quote an unedited, compelling point, “MAN I COULD START YELLING ABOUT THE TEXTURES AND COLOURS”. Overall, this is a great book that explains concepts in a way that is easy to understand, with or without prior experience in art history. The art is beautiful and very inspiring, and it also works great as a coffee table book.