5 More Books for Your Art Inspiration Library

A few months ago I shared a companion post to this one called 10 Books to Start Building Your Art Inspiration Library. In true bibliophile fashion I’m here again to add an additional five books to that list. I recently took some time and rearranged my bookshelves and was reminded of a few more books I’ve been gifted, purchased myself, or checked out at the library recently and want to share them with you.

As I’ve been working on my latest fabric collection I’ve found myself looking through my inspiration books again and even made a mood board for the first time. It was so much fun gathering inspiration and pulling ideas together in a visual space (I used Canva for this). As a newbie to mood boards I’ve found it incredibly helpful to have a visual reference to turn to when I’m feeling a bit stuck or lost.

What makes a good inspiration book?

For me, a good inspiration book has a mix of patterns, objects, and other materials. I can get overwhelmed and kind of shut down if I see too many patterns one after the other, but looking at vases, furniture, or jewelry can really spark my creativity.

I’m also a big fan of history and enjoy learning a bit about designers, artists, and craftspeople when I’m in the inspiration stage. Did you know William Morris had a daughter? May Morris was a designer as well, the book about her I included on the list is more historical, but she also designed all kinds of items from patterns to jewelry. And I would be remis if I didn’t mention that number 5 isn’t exactly a book so much as a set of postcards that are bound together. I have found them so inspiring for color pallets and had to include them.

5 More Books for Your Inspiration Library

1. Liberty The Archivist’s Edit
2. 20th Century Pattern Design
3. May Morris: Arts & Crafts Designer
4. A Collection A Day by Lisa Congdon
5. Accidentally Wes Anderson Postcards

I completely understand that not everyone can afford to purchase books, but I wanted to mention that most of these can be found used. And in case you didn’t know you can always put in a request with your local public library to purchase a book…which means you could slowly build a local inspiration library of your own without taking up any space in your house.

I hope you find some inspiration in the books listed below, and if you have favorites of your own please leave a comment or find me on Instagram to share them.

*This post contains a few affiliate links which means if you purchase one of my recommended books I will get a small commission that will help support this and future content.

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• 10 Books to Start Building Your Art Inspiration Library
• Instagram Captions for Surface Pattern Designers
• Should I Send Sale Sheets or a Portfolio?