Lisa Cyr is a favourite contemporary artist of mine and Art Revolution: Alternative Approaches for Fine Artists and Illustrators is a brilliant book for the contemporary artist who wants to explore how other artists approach picture making by reinventing and redefining art making, from the surfaces on which they work to the end product.

In Art Revolution Lisa says: "We are currently in the midst of an artistic revolution. No other time has seen such innovation in the way art can be intellectualized, produced and presented into the culture. Artists are breaking from conventional approaches, reexamining the fundamental methodology in which they work. They are becoming much more forward-thinking, almost entrepreneurial, venturing out with a content-driven approach to discover new pathways for their work to flourish and prosper. The traditionally accepted roles of art and the artist are being reinterpreted, reinvented and redefined to embrace a new paradigm, opening the door to a more progressive social consciousness."

Although I am not an admirer of all the art created in the book (for an animal lover adding live doves in extremely small cages as part of a painting, does take innovation too far!) I did love reading the very personal approaches of the artists and the intimate view of how these paintings were constructed.

Her new book Experimental Painting is due on bookshelves at the end of August 2011.

Here is a bonus Custom Roller Demonstration from the book, as well as a demo from her first book, Art Revolution, on Dimensional Substrates