Best of 2017: Artsy

So I did end up catching that flu bug that’s going around.

My immune system held up for over 2 weeks though, so that’s rad.

What’s not rad is how this flu is STILL going around even after more than two weeks.

Anyway, I’m holed up in bed, because I’m too sick to get up and do anything remotely productive in between naps, and that's driving me nuts. So what better thing to do than to discuss all of the artsy books from 2017?
{NOTE: And then I waited a FULL week to edit. Write when sick and delirious, edit when lucid and well is my personal version of that Ernest Hemingway quote, apparently}

These are the books that are hard to describe under any other category, and are works of art.

Or just the ones that are really, really, pretty.

You know, artsy.

And as usual, this isn't in any particular order.

Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady

My biology teacher from a couple years ago recommended this to me.

It's absolutely beautiful. The author, Edith Holden, apparently spent a year (1906) chronicling her observations of nature all around her in her personal diary, drawing sketches of the local flora and fauna, and writing snatches of her favourite poetry amoung the sketches.

So not only was she a wonderful naturalist and artist, but she was really well-read, and chose the most fitting of poetry to accompany her sketches.

It’s also divided up by month, so you get to follow the progression of seasons.

It’s pretty fun to have this book, and every now and then take it off the shelf and see what the current month’s entries look like.

I haven’t had time to go through it entirely, there’s just so much to see and enjoy.

It's one of those books where you explore it slowly, one page at a time, and get to know it over years of perusal.

This is one of the entries for January. Fitting.

This is one of my favourite illustrations.

Note: It is out of print, but you can still find copies at some libraries, used bookstores or garage sales.

You Are Here by Jenny Lawson

This is kind of a hard book to describe. It's described by the author as 'part colouring book, part self-help/therapy'.

There’s always a drawing on one page, and on the other a funny witticism or twisted proverb type saying.

 

The artwork is amazing.
It's a sort of zentangle style, very intricate and with words scattered and hidden in and around the drawing.

I haven’t coloured in any of the pages yet (too scared to mess them up!), but someday, I will. I’ve heard that some people buy two copies of this, one to colour and one to keep nice. Normally I would think that that’s insane, but now, having seen it, I get it.

"If you wait long enough everything comes back in style"

The pages do look very fun to colour, and like it'll be a very calming exercise.

So maybe one day I'll be brave.

(Disclaimer: You Are Here is peppered with swear words, if that bugs you)

Tea Is Always A Good Idea by Elizabeth T. Gilbert and Studio Oh!

I bought this on a whim.

I was at my favourite hipster coffee shop (™) with a friend, and they had this for display near the table we were sitting at.

So I snagged it while thinking to myself 'treat yo shelf!', and spent an afternoon poring over it.

It's a celebration of tea, of how delicious it is, of the customs surrounding it, and of how wonderful it is to drink.

There’s sections on history of tea, tea customs across the world, the different types of tea + flavours, etc.

There’s also a section at the back for filling out your own tea tasting charts, which I’ll probably never do because that would spoil the book.

And sprinkled in are these illustrated quotes about tea.

The illustrations are watercolour, and for some reason look to me like they were painted with tea (which, they probably were).

The whole book is a work of art, really.

It's informative, east to read, and beautiful all in one.

You can tell whoever was involved in putting it together really enjoyed making it, and also copious amounts of tea during production :)  

I recommend it to anyone who loves loose leaf tea or is interested in drinking loose leaf tea, since it makes a nice introduction.

The Griffin & Sabine Trilogy by Nick Bantock

I saw these at a used book sale, and was intrigued by the format.

I'm always down to explore new storytelling formats.

The story is unfolded in a series of letters/postcards exchanged between two characters, and the author took the time to create postcards and letters in envelopes attached to the pages.

Also, I could tell that it was a complete trilogy, and to have a complete series at a book sale that’s intact is unheard of (unless it’s Twilight or 50 Shades of Gray. Then there’s like three complete sets. But since those aren’t real literature they don’t count).

The two characters have distinct handwriting, voices, and art styles.

It’s great fun to see the image side of a postcard, and then get to turn the page to read the letter written on it, or to get a real envelope (!) and pull a letter out of it.

The detail is amazing, even all the stamps on the envelopes and postcards are drawn by the author.

Sadly the plot isn’t all that great. It’s fascinating, but the way it’s executed isn’t that great.

The premise is interesting, the fact that a stranger from an island he’s never heard of can see his drawings in her dreams, but the way it was executed went from ‘oh cool we’re strangers and we can see each other's artwork in our dreams’ to them writing each other love letters in like 0.2 seconds, which I found odd + rushed.

But, the format of letters and postcards was very interesting, and the artwork is pretty.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Illustrated by Jim Kay

Ok so this. It's amazing.

I’ve bought my brother the illustrated Harry Potter that has come out each year since they’ve started releasing them, and I would order them as soon as they released to have plenty of time to look over them before Christmas, but I never really got any for myself, or put them on any wish lists.

Except when this started I told my brother that I wanted The Prisoner of Azkaban, since that’s my favourite Harry Potter.

He remembered (plus I told him like 20 times in December), and got it for me, and it does not disappoint! (plus I had ordered his copy way back in October for the express purpose of looking it over. I’m not ashamed).

All of the drawings are great.

I haven't seen much of Jim Kay's artwork beyond the Illustrated Harry Potter books, but I love what he's done.

He purposefully doesn't draw inspiration from the movies, but rather from just the text and his imagination, and it's amazing.

Pig <3

I was really curious how the artwork would be, since this is when the Harry Potter books move away from just being whimsical, and start to get darker.

Angst

And they came out with this rich, amazing deep purple cover, so I knew that it was going to be amazing.

Argh look how cute this group of kids is

My only disappointment is that he didn't draw boggart Snape in Neville's grandmother's clothes.

I was disappointed to not see that. That scene is iconic.

I also do wish that there were even more drawings, but I understand that they had to leave some room for you know, the actual story.

Even then, the pages without drawings weren't exactly done with plain paper. They had spiders or spilled tea or drawn on texture to look like parchment.

The whole book is a work of art, really.

I'm almost jealous of the kids who will grow up reading the books, and get to explore the story the first time alongside these breathtaking illustrations.

BONUS:

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them Illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill.

I think that this one also came out in 2017, and I’m fitting it in with the Prisoner of Azkaban entry, cause Harry Potter.

This one is gorgeous.

I have the original, not illustrated version, so on this one I can tell they edited it to try and make it fit in with the new movies, but that’s not a downside.

They added some beasts, and the artwork is all gorgeous.

Also, can you go wrong with a FOUR PAGE fold out picture of a dragon like this?

Om nom nom

You can’t. Dragons are always a good idea (put that on a tshirt or mug. It's so true).

The only that bugs me about this book, though, is how much it fails to be like a nature journal.

I remember the original being more nature journal-ly, but this… doesn't. Not even with the identifying illustrations.
It just feels like fiction for some reason, more so than the textbook edition did.

The beasts all seem to have arbitrary and unrealistic (even by fantasy standards!) powers granted to outlandish animals that I can’t see living beyond a controlled lab or someone’s imagination.

But the images are very pretty.