from the Design Library . . . Olle Eskell

i think it's time to reopen my library. it's not fair that all the pretty books on my shelf are not shared any more...there's too much goodness on there for just little old me!

so with that i'm going to bring this feature back every 3rd Saturday of the month. starting today with a brand new purchase - 'Olle Eskell - Swedish Graphic Designer'. i've chosen this one to start us off as last weeks post was about my desire to really start drawing again.

i stumbled across Olle's work, i can't quite remember how now though. i just loved the drawing style, but i think it was the colours that caught my eye. there's a bit of a palette that runs through one collection which is just 'mel' all over! 

it can be a bit difficult to follow the chapters simply because it's either written in Swedish or Japanese - neither of which i am fluent in - but throughout the book his illustrative skills are shown in  a variety of projects - advertisement, postcards, packaging, books...he pretty much covered all bases! 

my favourite collection is a 1930's range of illustrations (top right ad bottom left below) featuring city scenes. i've got a mega itch to do some myself, i have had for months, and i must must must do some! i have some beautiful photos to work from from my travels and i need to venture round London to get some of the local life snapped up too.

* the book can be bought from amazon for only £20 (sure it wasn't this much 2 weeks ago!!)

* and i found a bit of a shop full of Olle goodies!

this drawing dream all comes at quite a good time - i'm in Edinburgh this weekend which has some amazing architecture. lots of higgle-di-piggle-di housing and cobbled streets winding this way and that. should make for some interesting sketches.

let's unleash the doodle monkey!!

from the Design Library today . . . ART NOUVEAU - POSTERS, ILLUSTRATION & FINE ART

so i treated you to one of my favourite art deco books on the last Deign Library post and today is the sister book - ART NOUVEAU.

the book features well known and well loved artists and designers - Gustav Klimt, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh being my two stand out favourites:

the background of the art and design movement is covered very well and the visuals are great, just like with the art deco book.

posters feature heavily - but i don't mind - i love them so much! i just never tire of looking at them :)

the book also features jewellery, furniture and even the underground!

originally bought from past times for only £10 you can pick up your copy here...enjoy!

from the Design Library today...FOLLOW THE LINE THROUGH THE HOUSE

this is such a cute book, i'm not normally one for buying kids books as inspiration but this had such a lovely concept and great graphic images i just had to!

basically there is one black line that follows you through the whole house drawing all manner of objects as it goes...the kitchen...

...the fridge...

...the basement...

...the bathroom cabinet...

...and of course the attic...

there are more books that have been added to the range including FOLLOW THE LINE AROUND THE WORLD and FOLLOW THE LINE TO SCHOOL.

this book can be bought used from Amazon.co.uk from £8.96 and used from Amazon.com for $3.57

from the Design Library today...EXPERIMENTAL COLOURS IN WATERCOLOUR

i found this book whilst at Kew Gardens for their Tropical Extravaganza exhibition this spring - it is SUCH a yummy book! and after seeing fellow ABSPD classmate Deborah Velasquez experimenting with watercolours i thought it was appropriate to showcase this book next :)

i had never heard of Ann Blockley before seeing this book but it turns out she's a rather well known watercolour artist!

this isn't a 'how-to' book, Ann simply shares ideas of how to work with watercolours and experiment with different techniques - it is the up to you to decide if and how to use these tips.

i had always associated watercolours with wishy-washy colours, quite boring in my mind - i had never seen watercolours used in this way - to get such bold and vibrant colours:

the book is split into seasons, each chapter focusing on the flowers and trees from that particular season, and giving advice on how to capture their features through various techniques:

my favourite flower - anemones :)

beautiful winter landscape

some of the paintings have a mixed media quality to them, layers of texture built up...

this gorgeous book can be purchased from Amazon.co.uk for £13.29 or from Amazon.com for $20.40...happy painting!

from the Design Library today ... 100 YEARS OF FASHION ILLUSTRATION

sorry for the delay and lack of post last week - i think this feature will change to fortnightly otherwise I'll have run out of books within a couple more months!)

** * *** * ** * *** * ** * *** * ** * *** * ** * *** * ** * *** * ** * *** * ** * ***

today i am featuring a gorgeous book that was bought for me as a birthday gift - 100 Years of Fashion Illustration...

as the name suggests this HUGE book is packed with so many illustrations throughout the years ... it showcases the different styles from 1900 to present day and you can follow through to see how the trends have changed ...

the book starts in 1900:

art deco style dominates from the mid 1920's:

some elegant sketches from late 1940's:

 fun and flirty represent the 1960's nicely:

punk rockers get their moment in the 1980's:

and from 1990 onwards there are so many styles, quirky, simplistic, graphic, painterly, photographic...

 this book can be bought from Amazon.co.uk for £17.46 or from Amazon.com for $26.40

from the Design Library today...DIGITAL TEXTILE DESIGN

this is a great book full of all sorts of advice, tip and tricks, and interviews to help you in creating a fantastic portfolio to showcase your work to it's best ability...that's what we all want, right?

Digital Textile Design - Portfolio Skills

the great thing about this book is it takes you step-by-step through the creative process...from those initial sketches and how important they are, the proper way to scan and transfer to your computer and how to use Illustrator and Photoshop to make AMAZING patterns!!

the step-by-step tutorials are excellent. one specific one i have found useful is the filters tutorial - they take one image and show you all of the filters that Photoshop has to offer:

the Illustartor tutorials are very easy to follow (and that is coming from someone who finds it rather tricky!):

a fab few pages on how to create a colour palette from images and photos in Illustrator:

and the all important - how to create REPEAT PATTERNS!!! what we all want to know, in an easy-to-follow breakdown for both Photoshop and Illustrator:

this tutorial proved very helpful for when i was putting together my portfolio. it shows you how to apply your patterns to actual objects and furniture in a realistic way. i know that isn't to everybody's taste but it is very handy to know and the outcomes can look great!!

the book also features interviews from a range of artists talking about their work, how they started, their processes...

you can buy this from Amazon.co.uk for £15.75 or form Amazon.com for $23.10