book pickings

a visual way to explore the brain pickings book archive :: otlet's shelf theme :: back to brain pickings

CREATIVITY :: DESIGN :: SCIENCE :: HISTORY :: PSYCHOLOGY :: ART

art

  1. Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind (The 99U Book Series) Jocelyn K. Glei “A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules.” The pace of productivity and how to master your creative routine

    Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind (The 99U Book Series)

    Jocelyn K. Glei

    “A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules.”

    The pace of productivity and how to master your creative routine
  2. Look Both Ways: Illustrated Essays on the Intersection of Life and Design Debbie Millman “If you imagine less, less will be what you undoubtedly deserve. Do what you love, and don’t stop until you get what you love. Work as hard as you can, imagine immensities, don’t compromise, and don’t waste time. Start now. Not 20 years from now, not two weeks from now. Now.” Debbie Millman’s fantastic illustrated essays of wisdom on the creative life – a timeless treat halfway between philosophy and design:

    Look Both Ways: Illustrated Essays on the Intersection of Life and Design

    Debbie Millman

    “If you imagine less, less will be what you undoubtedly deserve. Do what you love, and don’t stop until you get what you love. Work as hard as you can, imagine immensities, don’t compromise, and don’t waste time. Start now. Not 20 years from now, not two weeks from now. Now.”

    Debbie Millman’s fantastic illustrated essays of wisdom on the creative life – a timeless treat halfway between philosophy and design:
  3. A Year With Swollen Appendices: Brian Eno’s Diary Brian Eno “Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences.” Music pioneer Brian Eno on the essence of art in excerpts from his diary

    A Year With Swollen Appendices: Brian Eno’s Diary

    Brian Eno

    “Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences.”

    Music pioneer Brian Eno on the essence of art in excerpts from his diary
  4. The Mighty Lalouche Matthew Olshan & Sophie Blackall What Parisian boxing from the early 1900s has to do with contemporary technoparanoia about robots replacing us – a heartening underdog story illustrated by the inimitable Sophie Blackall

    The Mighty Lalouche

    Matthew Olshan & Sophie Blackall

    What Parisian boxing from the early 1900s has to do with contemporary technoparanoia about robots replacing us – a heartening underdog story illustrated by the inimitable Sophie Blackall
  5. Advice to Little Girls Mark Twain Only the best thing ever: Advice to Little Girls – a playful and mischievous short story penned by young Mark Twain in 1865 and illustrated by beloved Russian children’s book artist Vladimir Radunsky. Plenty of images, and a personal story, at the link:

    Advice to Little Girls

    Mark Twain

    Only the best thing ever: Advice to Little Girls – a playful and mischievous short story penned by young Mark Twain in 1865 and illustrated by beloved Russian children’s book artist Vladimir Radunsky. Plenty of images, and a personal story, at the link:
  6. The Designer Says: Quotes, Quips, and Words of Wisdom “Everything hangs on something else.” ~ Ray Eames Words of wisdom on design from such icons as Charles and Ray Eames, Saul Bass, Bruno Munari, Paul Rand, Edward Tufte, and more

    The Designer Says: Quotes, Quips, and Words of Wisdom

    “Everything hangs on something else.” ~ Ray Eames

    Words of wisdom on design from such icons as Charles and Ray Eames, Saul Bass, Bruno Munari, Paul Rand, Edward Tufte, and more
  7. Life Doesn’t Frighten Me Maya Angelou Maya Angelou’s courageous children’s verses, illustrated by Basquiat – a priceless primer on poetry and contemporary art for little ones, and a timeless reminder of the power of courage in all of us.

    Life Doesn’t Frighten Me

    Maya Angelou

    Maya Angelou’s courageous children’s verses, illustrated by Basquiat – a priceless primer on poetry and contemporary art for little ones, and a timeless reminder of the power of courage in all of us.
  8. The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait Frida Kahlo “Only one mountain can know the core of another mountain.” Frida Kahlo’s passionate handwritten love letters to Diego Rivera:

    The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait

    Frida Kahlo

    “Only one mountain can know the core of another mountain.”

    Frida Kahlo’s passionate handwritten love letters to Diego Rivera:
  9. Modern Art Desserts: Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Confections, and Frozen Treats Based on Iconic Works of Art Caitlin Freeman Mondrian cake, Matisse parfait, and other edible masterpieces from the pastry chef at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

    Modern Art Desserts: Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Confections, and Frozen Treats Based on Iconic Works of Art

    Caitlin Freeman

    Mondrian cake, Matisse parfait, and other edible masterpieces from the pastry chef at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
  10. The Artists’ & Writers’ Cookbook Beryl and Barbara Turner Sachs Barr “Permit two egg yolks to recline.” A lavish 350-page vintage tome, illustrated with 19th-century engravings and original drawings by Marcel Duchamp, Robert Osborn, and Alexandre Istrati. Originally published in 1961, it features 220 recipes and 30 courses by 55 painters, 61 novelists, 15 sculptors, and 19 poets, including such luminaries as Man Ray, John Keats, Marcel Duchamp, Lawrence Durrell, Robert Graves, Harper Lee, Irving Stone, William Styron, and Georges Simenon.

    The Artists’ & Writers’ Cookbook

    Beryl and Barbara Turner Sachs Barr

    “Permit two egg yolks to recline.”

    A lavish 350-page vintage tome, illustrated with 19th-century engravings and original drawings by Marcel Duchamp, Robert Osborn, and Alexandre Istrati. Originally published in 1961, it features 220 recipes and 30 courses by 55 painters, 61 novelists, 15 sculptors, and 19 poets, including such luminaries as Man Ray, John Keats, Marcel Duchamp, Lawrence Durrell, Robert Graves, Harper Lee, Irving Stone, William Styron, and Georges Simenon.
  11. Conversations with Artists Selden Rodman “Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.” Jackson Pollock, in a rare interview shortly before his death, on art and morality:

    Conversations with Artists

    Selden Rodman

    “Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.”

    Jackson Pollock, in a rare interview shortly before his death, on art and morality:
  12. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: Illustrations by Michael Sieben L. Frank Baum “Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.” So great: Skateboard graphic artist Michael Sieben reimagines The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

    The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: Illustrations by Michael Sieben

    L. Frank Baum

    “Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.”

    So great: Skateboard graphic artist Michael Sieben reimagines The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
  13. All the Buildings in New York James Gulliver Hancock “It is the other ordinary buildings, spilling with hectic daily life, that hold real New York life and passion.” All the buildings in New York, illustrated.

    All the Buildings in New York

    James Gulliver Hancock

    “It is the other ordinary buildings, spilling with hectic daily life, that hold real New York life and passion.” All the buildings in New York, illustrated.
  14. Mapping Manhattan: A Love (And Sometimes Hate) Story in Maps by 75 New Yorkers Becky Cooper “Maps are the places where memories go not to die but to live forever.” A love letter to the city in subjective cartography by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Malcolm Gladwell, Yoko Ono, and 72 other New Yorkers.

    Mapping Manhattan: A Love (And Sometimes Hate) Story in Maps by 75 New Yorkers

    Becky Cooper

    “Maps are the places where memories go not to die but to live forever.” A love letter to the city in subjective cartography by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Malcolm Gladwell, Yoko Ono, and 72 other New Yorkers.
  15. The It-Doesn’t-Matter Suit Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath’s little-known and lovely vintage children’s book, a charming cautionary tale about the perils of self-consciousness, with wonderful illustrations.

    The It-Doesn’t-Matter Suit

    Sylvia Plath

    Sylvia Plath’s little-known and lovely vintage children’s book, a charming cautionary tale about the perils of self-consciousness, with wonderful illustrations.
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