Daily Painting by Carol Marine

You can pretty much surmise the content of the book just by the title.  Carol Marine encourages each artist (whether a beginner or professional) to paint each day.  In fact, the subtitle is "Paint Small and Often to Become a More Creative, Productive, and Successful Artist."  That pretty much sums up this book.  And it's a helpful book.  She doesn't stop at just suggesting you paint...she gives lots of artistry tips like subject matter, composition, color, drawing and proportion.  But she also gives tips on how to sell your art!

Carol grew up in a small Texas town--with art in her blood.  Even though her family had few means, her parents encouraged their children to follow their hearts.  They were told they'd always be happy if they did what they loved.  So Carol pursued art at UT of Austin but was sorely disappointed because the art classes were more about the political aspects of art rather than actually painting.  And it was implied that unless you painted large paintings, you were not a true artist.  Carol would spend weeks on a large painting and be unhappy with it at the end and then feel worthless at the end...a failure.

All of that changed when a friend sent her an article about daily painting.  The theory was to paint one small painting a day which wasn't overwhelming and much less time consuming--and which if you didn't like the painting at the end of the day, you hadn't lost much.  What she found was that she could play with new styles and techniques during a child's nap time and she wasn't filled with the pressure of accomplishing a huge piece of art.  It was a way to a new creative license!

I think anyone with art in their blood would appreciate this book.  It's full of  practical helps and techniques.  And she goes one step further in encouraging you to sell your art and exactly how to do that.  I'd give this book 5 out of 5 stars!

I received this book to review by Blogging for Books.