Wayfinder: The Art of Gretel Lusky

by Gretel Lusky, 3dTotal Publishing (Editor)

Popular artist Gretel Lusky welcomes readers into her fantastical world in this high-quality art book. This is an artist who loves fantasy and all things fairies, mermaids, mythical creatures, knights, and more. She creates characters that are colorful yet mysterious and places that feel otherworldly, always pretty yet sometimes bordering on unsettling. Gretel fans will love delving into the story of her creative early years, discovering why she chose art as a career, and following her development timeline. She presents two exclusive galleries of art - one with a fantasy focus, based around maritime creatures and witches, and another that celebrates the beauty of sketchbooking.  The artist has written chapters on her creative process, which aspiring and established artists will equally enjoy, and created a section on "Embracing The Mess," discussing the techniques of letting go of perfectionism, listening to your body, and staying motivated as an artist. With tools and materials covered in detail too, plus in-depth tutorials for readers to follow along with, this Art Of title is packed with incredible insight and joyous art, appealing to existing fans of Gretel as well as newcomers to her work.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

207 pages, Hardcover

Published April 16, 2024

Reviews

[Ксенія Шпак · Rating 5 out of 5]

It`s so inspiring, I`m in love

[Miss Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't been following Gretel for long, but as soon as I came across her art on Instagram I was immediately entranced. There is just something about the colours she uses that makes me so happy. Her illustrations are the definition of eye candy - I just want to stare at them and gobble them up with my eyes.
This book is a lovely collection of sketchbook pages, polished illustrations, background information on the artist's childhood, sources of inspiration, her path to becoming a professional illustrator and artist, as well as insights into her creative process. As a self-taught artist I found the book very encouraging and inspiring, the author is cheering on other artists to have faith in themselves and just create.
There are two tutorials at the back of the book, one mixed media, one digital, that provide further insight into the artist's process, though I think you need quite a bit of experience with the respective media to create similar results.
Overall, a lovely artbook that feels like a bit of a walkthrough of the artist's mind and workshop.

[Preciosa Dombele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the work of Gretel and it was very inspiring to see her creative process, know more about he’s story and enjoy more of her illustrations! Very good art book for those who love illustration ☺️

[Nico Nalbantian · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing artist has created a great art book. Excellent balance between written background and collections of art; exactly what I’m looking for in an art book.

[Demi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gretel's book has a lot of insightful information and beautiful art. She expressed well how inspiration shaped her art, and provided a look inside her career as an artist so far. I think there were at least 10 pages that I'll be referring to in the future that held some key take aways for me.

[Claire Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I got to the end of this book, I felt so incredibly inspired. Seeing the works of one of my favorite artists laid out in literary form was like a reminder and a call to keep creating and keep drawing, even when things like art block or lack of inspiration plague you.
Gretel Lusky is a visual artist who works in the illustration, character design, and comic art industries. Since I discovered her work last year, I’ve been hooked on the way she uses color, dynamic linework, and other visual techniques to create stunning, whimsically elegant pieces. Her work, for me, invokes not only a sense of emotion but also such pure joy and inspiration. She explains in Wayfinder that most of her inspiration for her art comes from things that she loves or that hold nostalgia for her: the ocean, fairies and witches, pieces of media, etc. It might seem obvious, but taking it back to your roots and things that bring you happiness can be harder than it might seem.
For me, at least, with school and constant cycles of busyness alternating stretches of entirely unfilled time, art block and the like are a common occurrence. It can be hard to remind yourself to be creative when easier sources of dopamine like social media or Netflix are so readily available, but seeing the processes and struggles of someone who inspires you written down alongside their jaw-dropping art is honestly such a balm. Gretel Lusky’s work truly gives such a feeling of light whimsy, mystery, and magic, providing perfect evidence as to why you should keep going and try to remember how the process of creation benefits you.
In the world we live in today, there is such pressure for everything you create to be perfect. When you feel disappointed in yourself or don’t want to continue in something you love there are thousands of easy outs and distractions that take away from your mind’s creativity. But it’s important to remember that nothing is perfect. When you remove that stress and simply create whatever the wind blows you to, it might surprise you to find that inspiration was never that far away at all.

[Melly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should cost 10,000 times more. The amount of quality art and precious illustrations in this book alone makes it worth so much more. Page after page is full of stunning illustrations.

I would give it 4 stars because of the content. I wish it had explained in more depth how she draws and her process, but that was only covered in the final pages of the book.

However, I now realize that these kinds of books are not meant to teach you how to draw, but to inspire you, and that’s achieved 1000% from page one. Her story, her honesty, and most of all, her art, have inspired me in ways I didn’t know were possible. Now I see things in my environment I had never seen before. I was just looking at the floor in the bathroom and saw the figure of a woman with a mushroom on her head. I immediately started creating a story about it and wanted to draw it.

It’s the first art book I’ve ever bought, and I never imagined this would be the result. I feel like my art has improved just because of the sheer amount of inspiration.

However, as I said, I would have loved if she had explained her process in more depth. But it’s fine, she’s also a very intuitive artist, so I guess she doesn’t have as many words to explain her process, but instead, she communicates through images

I’ll keep coming back to this book over and over again for inspiration, because I always find something new in the illustrations

[Catalina Lavín · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es increíble la manera de dibujar de esta mujer, pero más aún, como escribe, no pensé que el contenido fuese a ser tan enriquecedor pero lo es. Nos cuenta desde sus inicios, hasta procesos artísticos como lo son los bloqueos artísticos y como lidiar con ellos, entrega tips de todo tipo, que en lo personal agradezco y me encantaron porque no son un simple "sólo haz esto", le da profundidad a todo lo que sugiere lo que nos hace conectar con ella más allá del arte.

Sus dibujos transmiten demasiadas emociones, y me encanta porque esa es la intención que tenía Gretel al hacerlos; el contar historias y dejar un poco a la imaginación sobre lo que realmente le pasa a sus personajes. Muchas veces (en todos los años que la he seguido) me pare a ver sus obras y literal pensar "por qué estará tan triste esa sirena en la bañera" jaja me encanta demasiado que haya sido precisamente eso lo que Gretel buscaba como fin.

Mi parte favorita, y que me había preguntado desde hace un tiempo, era sobre la iridiscencia que tienen sus obras, ahora sé cómo las hace, no tengo acceso a esa herramienta pero voy a intentarla sin duda con lo que ya tengo a mano.


Gracias Gretel por tan hermoso material, es sin duda un libro al que recurrir siempre que necesite inspo o simplemente un relajo.

[Sophia B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely incredible! The quality of the physical book itself was amazing, the cover was durable, and the edges were a beautiful shiny silver, and the inside had crisp thick pages. The illustrations inside were of high quality and beautiful, and the writing was well done, and relatable.
The book has personal stories about the author/artists life, galleries of both digital and traditional artwork, and in depth tutorials and insights on her creative process and the materials she uses to get the results that she does.
This is definitely my new favorite art book, and I would recommend this to all artists(and non-artists).
I rate this book a 10/10!

[AnnReadings · Rating 5 out of 5]

El libro de arte más bonito que he visto en mi vida. Extremadamente cuidado al máximo detalle en todo, hasta en el borde de las páginas del libro! En él, Gret se abre con su arte desde sus inicios, sus distintos saltos en el mundillo y la evolución de su arte, así como consejos. Todo ello con cientos de ilustraciones HERMOSAS y que se sienten como ver sus propios sketchbooks (+ ilustraciones completas). Como persona que se está introduciendo en el mundo del arte, jamás me había inspirado tanto un libro. ¡Es mi biblia artística!

[natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

After months of studying this beautiful art book, I finally finished reading it cover to cover.

Gretel Lusky is one of my favorite artists of all time and I was thrilled when she announced she was creating an art book - and boy oh boy did this art book deserve the hype!

This stunning book includes gorgeous art, detailed tutorials, inspiring anecdotes, and more. It got me out of art slumps several times over the past year and I’m sure it will continue to do so. I am confident I will be referring to this book frequently through the years as I continue on my own art journey.

[D.T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lusky's artwork is beautiful, and I have followed her work for a while.

It was a necessary reminder for me to create artwork for myself, forgetting who acknowledges it or what gets traction on social media. Draw like kids again without any expectation besides being happy with what you made.

Also, continue to use references and challenge myself with using new mediums. I need to start playing with watercolors again.

[Thought Bottle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really beautiful book. Goes over her path into art, talks about what she got from each step of her training/work experience, goes over her traditional and digital processes, even mentions her favorite tools and applications all while showcasing her art.

Absolutely recommend for fans and aspiring artists alike.

[Bee Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love her whimsical style!

[Yura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. I love her art style and this book is so inspirational.

[Anya Hatten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost too powerful how inspirational this book is to me. Can easily get me to want to pick up a pencil and draw! I love Gretel Lusky’s work so much!

[Tia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely art. Overall the book was fine

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

mm

[Parris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gretel's art will never cease to amaze me. This book was absolutely incredible to read, the level of detail, every thought put into it and even down to the page layouts made it such beautiful read whilst also being educational. I learnt lots from reading this and as Gretel is one of my favourite artists, it felt even better reading about Gretel's history with art, her thought process behind her pieces and, what i loved most, she made me feel like that my imposter syndrome and art block were nothing to be ashamed of and its something to embrace, she also included tips which i loved a lot too!!

[Cindya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this! Nothing short of the magic, shimmering world of an artist we all know and love. I’ve been following Gretel on social media for years now, and to have all her beautiful artwork gathered in one book is a dream come true. I’m actually surprised at the amount of information she shared about her process, as artists tend to gatekeep that aspect of their work. But on the other hand, no one can do it the way she does. A great resource for all art enthusiasts, and a treasure for all Gretel fans out there.