Treasure Found can be a guide to starting your own art process, ensuring a continuous stream of inspiration and visible improvement in your work. You’ll be able to discover and define your style and feel confident to experiment with your art. Treasure Found shows you ways of finding inspiration, how to understand art as a discipline, and it outlines some design fundamentals.
This encouraging, marvelously illustrated guide to making one’s own art invites readers to embrace their creative impulse, to find confidence in the act of personal creation, to dig deeply into one’s personal inspirations and interests, and to apply some conceptual and technical rigor to what one makes. It’s all part, James writes, of a “treasure hunt,” one where artists unbury what they value most—and develop the discipline, through practice and planning, to do their visions justice. Writing with the engaging voice of a coach and practitioner, someone who has lessons to impart but still learns from them, too, James offers quick, clear-eyed chapters about finding inspiration, writing a creative “brief” at the start of a project, the process of sketching out ideas, and why it’s important to re-imagine your own work.Treasure Found blends practical, hands-on advice—like why thinking in grids proves crucial for image- and pattern-makers—with sound guidance for facing anxieties like imposter syndrome or the fear of failure. “Allowing yourself to see that being creative is a lifelong journey might allow you to remove some of the pressure to be perfect,” James writes. That principle is demonstrated throughout the book as James shares the creation of a personal project, inspired by the K-pop band ATEEZ, from arriving at a concept to sketches to finished work. This transparency about process demystifies the creation of art, while James’s application of artistic discipline to celebrate a pop-culture favorite reminds readers that inspiration is inspiration, and that what you love should influence what you create.
James’s own patterns, paintings, and illustrations appear throughout the book, sometimes as polished final projects and sometimes as sketches or works-in-progress. Bold and arresting, they exemplify Treasure Found’s suggestions about composition, negative space, and creating in a series. In their diverse approaches and thematic unity, they offer what James’s text urges artists to find: inspiration.
Takeaway: An inspiring guidebook to the joys of creating art, with welcome tips on building confidence and skill
Great for fans of: Lisa Congdon’s Find Your Artistic Voice, Nita Leland’s The New Creative Artist.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
5-Star Review: Sometimes people involved in creative endeavors can hit a roadblock that prevents them from finding inspiration. In Treasure Found: An Art Journey, illustrator and pattern design artist Cinthia James offers potential creative artists a glimpse into her creative process and search for inspiration ranging from fashion, art, and entertainment to the K-pop musical group ATEEZ. She advises readers to start with the most significant aspect of any creative process: "What do you Love?" This book can be a guide to starting your artistic process, ensuring a continuous stream of inspiration and a visible improvement in your work. You will be able to discover and define your style and feel confident in your art while learning the fundamentals of graphic design, the process of creating in a series and outlining your work, negating self-doubt, and avoiding procrastination.
Cinthia James provides some deep and helpful insights into the process of creating art. She believes in the benefits of placing some constraints on your ideas to sharpen your focus and push your creativity, having a clear and concise vision while creating an idea, and breaking down projects into smaller components. James also explains the key differences between style and concept, inspiration and influence, and shows the application of grids, creative briefs, mood boards, and many other aspects of creating art. I was impressed by how many of James's ideas are not just bound to the realm of illustration or pattern designs but can be applied to other artistic media such as music, writing, and poetry. Treasure Found is truly a book for all the creatives out there.
- Pikasho Deka for Readers' Favorite
