Three Books to Introduce you to Altered Art

Altered Art book cover image I had heard the term “altered art” tossed around but I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant. So I headed to my local library where I found a couple awesome books on the subject: Altered Art: Techniques for Creating Altered Books, Boxes, Cards & MoreThe Complete Guide to Altered Imagery : Mixed-Media Techniques for Collage, Altered Books, Artist Journals, and More, and Teach Yourself VISUALLY Collage and Altered Art (Teach Yourself VISUALLY Consumer)

These books inspired me. When I found them I felt like I was home. It was like- OK this is what you were meant to do.

Altered art encompasses a whole range of ideas and mediums. Pretty much anything that is altered uses different medias combined to create a work of art. It’s like collage, though often done as three dimensional art.

The books I checked out are awesome. Altered Art: Techniques for Creating Altered Books, Boxes, Cards & More is my favorite because it is very visually inspiring. The creations that the book showcases are my thing. Projects that I could see myself making.

The other two books are helpful too because they cover a lot of the basics- the how-to’s, the tools, and the methods. Plus, they give several great tutorials on how to make a few of the artworks that they showcase.

The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery: Mixed-Media Techniques for Collage, Altered Books, Artist Journals, and More is a great book if you are interested in learning printing techniques, how to do image transfers and a whole lot of other useful image altering techniques.

Teach Yourself VISUALLY Collage and Altered Art (Teach Yourself VISUALLY Consumer) covers a little bit of of everything including using found objects, fabric, making three dimensional art and a lot more.

Together, these three books give you a solid foundation for learning about altered art techniques to get you started using found objects in your altered art.

Written by Wenona Napolitano

Wenona is married with three crazy kids that range in age from 4 to 18. She is a freelance writer, poet and the author of The Everything Green Wedding Book.

She enjoys reading, writing, crafting and gardening. She tries to do all of these as "greenly" as possible.

Her writing has appeared in several local and regional publications, Pack O Fun, Today's Creative Home Arts, and Indiana Living Green magazines as well as numerous online sites including PlentyMag.com, EthicalWeddings.com, MyEcoChicWedding.com, eHow, Associated Content, Suite101 and Life123.com.

2 Comments

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  1. Hi,
    I’m not sure you got my last comment, I think I hit the wrong button…. but thanks for these book suggestions. I hope to learn from them!
    Thank you again,
    Deborah
    PS I found you thru Heckety!

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