Art Matters audiobook

"Make good art. I’m serious." This is a collection of four essays, each forceful and energetic, that directly address why it is so important to read and write and, more importantly, they impress upon you why children should be doing it too. This is not new material but has instead been published in various magazines and online publications, some of them even appeared in The View From the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction. The essays are as followed: 1. Credo 2. Why Our Future Depends on Libraries, Reading and Daydreaming3. Making a Chair (more of a poem really.) 4. Make Good Art So you may have read these before, as I have; however, that being said, I’m not overly disappointed that there’s nothing new here beyond the illustrations. These pieces speak to each other and form a persuasive argument about the importance of art, regardless of the particular medium, and establish why it’s so important for society. We need people who understand the world and can empathise with situations different to our own, we need leaders and individuals who can look past their own personal experience and act accordingly. We need literate people. We need people who can imagine a better world than the one we have so they can work towards building it (or at the very least representing it.) All in all, the world needs more readers, writers and artists. And Gaiman establishes it so convincingly here (not that many people who would pick a book up like this need convincing.) “We need to teach our children to read. And to enjoy reading. We need libraries. We need books.” I have so much respect for Gaiman and his work. As all writers do, he wrote stories to make money though he also did it because it was his passion. At the young age of fifteen he knew it was his calling and he worked towards his goals until he achieved success and fame (then he carried on writing some more!) Beyond that though, he has got so many children into reading with his work. Just look at his sales figures. Granted many of his readers are adults, but he has opened the literary doorways for many with his creative and intelligent writing. Because of the sheer volume of quality work he has produced, the variety of it and the innovative nature of his original ideas, I think he deserves the noble prize for literature. I’m almost certain that this year he will win it. He has been shortlisted, and from the four candidates chosen, it seems to be a two horse race between Gaiman and Murakami (Guardian article.) Both are fantastic writers, though I think Gaiman has a slight edge because he can write in very different ways where Murakami has found his niche and dominates it. Could 2018 be Gaiman’s year? If I were a betting man, I’d put money down that it is. (What a victory that would be for the world of fantasy literature.)Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Insta | Academia

I needed this. Also Chris Riddell could stab me with a pencil and I'd thank him.

Half illustrations, half art-on-art, this little gem of a book is just about perfect for anyone who appreciates art and/or makes it. :) I won't say the advice is new but it is very emphatic and heartfelt, so you're not hearing any complaints from this corner. Best advice ever? Have fun. Next best advice? Make good art. Or maybe I have those two reversed. Doesn't matter. It's all good advice. And above all, when everything goes wrong, STILL make good art. Why? Because it helps you through the hard times. And sometimes that's all you've got. I get that. A lot.I do believe I'll be revisiting this book again. Maybe a lot. It's heartening. :)

Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell have created a manifesto for readers, librarians and content creators. This little book celebrates everything having to do with reading, freedom of information and ideas, and how to start creating the life of your dreams, even if you don't know where to start."The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before."I feel like this should be required reading — especially the parts about how to respond to intellectual disagreements. I think Gaiman penned these words after the bombing at Charlie Hebdo, and they still ring true."I believe I have the right to think and say the wrong things. I believe your remedy for that should be to argue with me or to ignore me. And that I should have the same remedy for the wrong things that I believe you think."And, of course, I was partial to all of the praise directed towards librarians and libraries, having been a librarian once myself. Sometimes people ask me if I ever think libraries will be closed because "they're just a building with books" or "they're a waste of taxpayer money".This is how I wished I had replied: "Libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education, about entertainment, about making safe spaces and about access to information." How could that ever possibly go out of style?Gaiman also gives attention to the bookworms of the world. We make it a better place through our reading and daydreaming and daydreaming about reading. Also, our epic library patronage is a good thing."We have an obligation to read for pleasure. If others see us reading, we show that reading is a good thing. We have an obligation to support libraries, to protest the closure of libraries. If you do not value libraries you are silencing the voices of the past and you are damaging the future."Gaiman shares a bit about how he became the universally beloved author he is today. Step one, you've just got to get started."If you have an idea of what you want to make, what you were put here to do, then just go and do that and that's much harder than it sounds and, sometimes in the end, so much easier than you might imagine."He confesses that he lied on early resumes to get his foot in the door. But, after his later success, he went back and worked at all of the places he had claimed before. That way, he didn't see himself as lying but as "chronologically challenged." I loved that.Gaiman also has some interesting views about no-start dreamers. He says the saddest thing to him are friends that say they're too committed to follow their dreams. There's bills to pay, mortgages and families to support and they can't take the dive to do whatever it is they've always dreamed of doing.He said he dodged that particular roadblock by skipping a well-paying job or two early in his career, so that he didn't get too comfortable doing something other than writing. I thought that was an interesting strategy. Creating is about having the courage to just do it, no matter what and not stopping until you're doing it."Somebody on the internet thinks what you do is stupid or evil or it's all been done before? Make good art."The good news is there are more platforms than ever before to get your creations in front of the people who will care about them."The gatekeepers are leaving their gates. You can be as creative as you need to be to get your work seen. YouTube and the web (and whatever comes after YouTube and the web) can give you more people watching than television ever did. The old rules are crumbling and nobody knows what the new rules are. So make up your own rules."My own life right now points to the truth of that. I left a guaranteed paycheck and employer provided health care to write for my husband's YouTube channel. We're not only succeeding but we're having a lot of fun doing it.Thank you, Gaiman and Riddell for this beautiful book. I hope it encourages creators everywhere to take the leap.

4.5 stars. What a gem! Neil Gaiman with the artwork of Chris Riddell promotes reading, writing, libraries, literacy, art, and creativity with lots of advice. Read. Create. Imagine. “Ideas spring up where you do not expect them, like weeds, and are as difficult to control. I believe that repressing ideas spreads ideas.” Let ideas bloom. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and has a right to disagree, rage, and argue. Don’t censor. Ideas are words and drawings. Reading is important as well as the preservation of our libraries. “Everything changes when we read.” Teach children the pleasure of reading. There are no bad books for children. Libraries foster freedom, reading, ideas, communication, education, entertainment, safety, and information access. “Fiction builds empathy. Fiction is something you build from twenty-six letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and you, and you alone, using your imagination, create a world, and people being someone else, and when you return to your own world, you’re going to be slightly changed.” No matter your discipline, you have the ability to create good art despite the insanity of your circumstances. “But the one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can.” Nothing is impossible. Test the boundaries. Be thick skinned. You will learn as much from your failures as your successes. Stop worrying and enjoy the ride. Learn to say no. You will not have time for everything. Focus on what is important. As a freelancer, you need two out of three to work - good work, easy to get along with, or deliver work timely. An ideal short go-to book for the creative in writing, art, or whatever your discipline.

What an inspiring read!!!In this lovely little book Neil Gaiman tells us why art matters, why reading is important, and why you should "make good art!"This is a must read, especially for the moments when you feel unmotivated or uninspired! It's a treasure when an artist (of any creative form) gives you their advice. That's exactly what Neil Gaiman does, and that's exactly what this book is, a treasure!

Neil Gaiman once said that 'the world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before'. This little book is the embodiment of that vision.(from the blurp)Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell have teamed up a number of times before and make a great team. Both wholly embrace enthusiastic fans, fan art, any art, as well as charities. Therefore, they created this little book in which Chris Riddell illustrates speeches, poems, manifestos and comments by Neil Gaiman about the importance of libraries, literacy, being creative, books in the digital age and much more.Personally, I like to look at professional illustrations but also some fan art. There are many very talented people out there and they should be encouraged to do what makes them happy. We can't all become famous, most can't even live off their craft but that is never a reason not to try at least. Because as a reader and person who loves looking at art, it's never a waste of time and I do indeed feel more upbeat and positive about the world afterwards or even during the experience. And when you look at the history of now famous people, they all struggled and failed in the beginning but persevered.Ignore the nay-sayers and MAKE GOOD ART (the word "good", here, means meaningful if even only to you).Here are some of the pages with messages that especially resonated with me:P.S.: I LOVE the book = sharks statement by Douglas Adams!

A reprint of an essay that I believe I previously read in The View from the Cheap Seats.

A very quick read (I just read this in work, don't tell anyone) featuring some of Neil Gaiman's wisest words paired with Chris Riddell's fantastic illustrations. Neil's advice basically boils down to 'do the thing that only you can do, and do it well' and it's a wonderful read. Buy one for everyone you know.(He also loves libraries and librarians, and they're cousins to bookstores. So I feel like he loves us too.)I don't know that it's an issue for anybody but me, but it's true that nothing I did where the only reason for doing it was the money was ever worth it, except as bitter experience. Usually I didn't wind up getting the money, either.The things I did because I was excited, and wanted to see them exist in reality, have never let me down, and I've never regretted the time I spent on any of them.... ... ...Life is sometimes hard. Things go wrong, in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life can go wrong.And when things get tough, this is what you should do...MAKE GOOD ART.I'm serious.

Come ON people !Star Rating: 1,000,000 (5) STARS! ART MATTERS Because Your Imagination Can Change The World “I suggest that reading fiction, reading for pleasure, is one of the most important things one can do.” I want to shout my love for and the the importance of this book from the rooftops. This book is everything .Please if you do read this based upon on my review I’d really love to hear/ see your feedback. I’m just blown away.PLEASE if you love books read this. If you are an author READ THIS. If you write or make art of any kind READ THIS. If you value physical books & their importance READ THIS. If you understand or just love libraries & know how special Librarians are... READ THIS. EVERYONE READ THIS BOOK. Neil Gaiman is just... he’s Neil Gaiman. He’s my favorite author. This book fits so much value & perfection into so many little pages. I’m serious, read this ; you will thank me later. Plus... come on the art of the amazing Chris Riddell??