Three Books to Introduce you to Altered Art

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 & More,  The 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.