You Can Draw Cute Animals – Yasmina Mattson

"A step by step guide to drawing and coloring adorable creatures." I've written before about how much I'd like to get back into drawing and being more creative, but boy can that feel daunting. However, it's hard to feel too intimidated when the samples look like this: The tone of the book is very light …

Mindful Sketching – Peggy Dean

"How to develop a drawing practice and embrace the art of imperfection." It's been a while since I reviewed an art book, but I'm forever looking for ways back into the hobby, the creative part of myself. I'm also a big fan of meditation and mindfulness, so the title of this book sounded perfect. It turned …

Manga Artists Copic Marker Colouring Techniques – various

First a confession: I'm a Promarkers girl rather than Copics, but the two are similar enough that I could still get a lot from this book. About the only thing that wasn't transferable were the colour codes in the examples - and that is a little bit of a shame, as there are loads of …

The Art of Paint Marbling – Rene Eisenbart

 "Paint marbling, a contemporary technique with a long history, has evolved into a fun, modern art form." I've long been on a mission to reclaim my creative spark and this book spoke of a more grown-up form of a technique I remember liking as a kid. And that 'grown up' bit would be the singular downside …

Just Draw Fineliner Art – Liam Carver

Incredible illustrations crafted with fineliner pens. I'd love to be more artistic and am always drawn to art books. However, they can often be more daunting than inspirational, either through fantastic skill or 'complicated' and/or expensive materials. Fineliner pens, however, are something I already own. I might still feel a little daunted about the skills …

The Art of Watercolor Lettering – Kelly Klapstein

"A Beginner's Step-by-Step Guide to Painting Modern Calligraphy and Lettered Art" Being more creative is one of my constant goals, but it can be intimidating for a beginner to get started. Calligraphy, for example, has a huge appeal to me, to the point where I've bought pens and inks and started practicing - and always …

Creative Journaling – Renee Day

"A guide to over 100 techniques and ideas" It's been a few years since I stumbled across the concept of Bullet Journaling, and it grabbed me from the start: a mix of organisation and creativity sounds absolutely my thing! However, I've fallen into a bit of a rut with my 'spreads' (page designs) over the …

A Dangle A Day – Angela Porter

"A dangle is a beautiful string of charms you can use to decorate all kinds of things, including alphabets, shapes, borders, illustrations, quotations, and anything else you can think of." I got into zentangling a while back - sort of doodling with rules - and I've been meaning to get back into it for ages. …

How to be Both – Ali Smith

Ho this is a mighty twisting thing fast as a fish being pulled by its mouth on a hook... The words 'Award Winning' usually have me running for the hills - Oscar nominees are usually very good, very boring films, for instance! But somehow, the accolade of winning the Man Booker Prize this year brought …