Wonder: The Art and Practice of Beatrice Blue

by Beatrice Blue

Wander into the immersive illustrated universe of Beatrice Blue. Filled with playful characters, enchanting natural scenery, and captivating narratives, Beatrice's designs will appeal to everyone's inner child. Her fantastic use of vibrant color and luminous finishes give her imaginative scenes life and vigor, while her expressive texturing techniques embellish her already intricately detailed works further, to create designs with depth and integrity. Discover how Beatrice harmoniously manages her work and life schedule to stay inspired and keep producing fresh and engaging art. She also explains how she builds her stunning compositions and considers every integral detail to create balanced designs. Make sure to take note of the invaluable insights she has to share from her experiences working for industry leaders and find out how to develop designs with personality, in order to stand out from the crowd. This beautiful handheld hardback title is the perfect book to carry with you on all your exciting adventures, providing you with a portal to a colorful and deeply magical world.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Picture Books, Childrens, Graphic Novels, Comics

152 pages, Hardcover

Published January 21, 2020

About the author

I am an Author and Art Director working both on publishing and the animation industry.

Author of “Once Upon a Dragon’s fire”; “Wonder, the art and practice of Beatrice Blue”; "Once Upon a Mermaid's tail"; and the critically acclaimed “Once Upon a Unicorn Horn”.

Recently Art Directed "Wolfboy and the Everything Factory" for Apple TV+

Some other companies I've worked with are Dreamworks TV, Hasbro, Procreate, Harper Collins, Nickelodeon, Square-Enix or Lonely Planet and among many others.

Currently working on my next author/illustrator picture book with Quarto an illustrating an upcoming book with Penguin Random House.

For enquiries please contact me here or email me at: info.beatriceblue@gmail.com

Reviews

[aqilahreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

take on an adventure to beatrice blue's universe filled with lots of imagination and captivating characters! in this book, beatrice shares her personal jouney as an artist and what inspires her in her works.

i think this is more on getting inspired by beatrice's experiences ((maybe more as an artist)) and not so much on the technical side - maybe if you are looking for those typical kind of art guide for tips and improving your skills, just take note that this might not be the right one. if you are looking for motivation in your art/expanding your creative ideas, this might be it :) also looking at the illustrations can be a part of art therapy as well :') THEY ARE SO AMAZING AND CUTE!!!!!! i really enjoyed reading this one, highly recommend if you are into some cute art/children's book illustrations.

[Megan Lougheed · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.7
The last few months I have been working on a black and white animation for my final year at my animation study. These months have taken a lot of energy. This book really is a breeze of fresh air for me. The black and white has been replaced with colour and I am happy that this is the book I read for the first time in months. The illustrations are beautiful and I absolutely love Beatrice Blue’s work. The only thing I liked less was that she repeated herself a few times through the book. But nonetheless, amazing stories with amazing pictures.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really loved the mix between artbook - personal story. And thought it was brilliant that she included in the book also elements from the book‘s making of (like designing the cover and creating the spread).

The only thing that was not exactly my coup of tea was the size of the text. I found them too small (but maybe it‘s just a sign of my getting old? 🤓 😋 )

Regardless, I totally recommend it! It‘s heart-warming and really lifted up my spirit!

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

PopSugar Reading Challenge 2021: A book about art or an artist

I bought this book because of the gorgeous picture on the front and went in with no expectations.

Beatrice Blue's artwork is adorable and I would have delighted in her work as a child.

This isn't a book for children though; the text is about the creative process and there isn't much meat.

I would recommend this book for mid-teens who want to follow their dreams and create art. I'm sure it would provide inspiration and motivation.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a wonderful book and so motivational. I loved it and her art inspires me to draw. She tells you her story and where she finds her inspirations. Her muse might just become your muse. I will definitely recommend her book to anyone especially if you are a fan of whimsical artwork.

[Marta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had more stars to give this to book

[Jeremy]

I'm not going to rate "Wonder" because at a certain point it just felt like I had no business reading this book. I am leaving the rating field blank, but I will review it to warn off anyone who recognizes themselves in this review.

I don't know anything about art, and this got into a lot of visual arts stuff I don't understand or even really care about. I just checked it out of the library because I like children's books and books about creativity, plus I thought the cover looked cool. Ultimately "Wonder" felt a bit too targeted towards artists for me to be able to really enjoy/appreciate it.

That's not to say this is a super technical art book, because it's not. In fact it's largely inspirational, with technical sprinkles, but the inspiration felt very visual art specific. Blue is a fair writer, but the text in this book is pretty flowery and pseudo profound. It honestly struck me as a bit self indulgent. Luckily it's mostly all illustrations with just a bit of text here and there.

"Wonder" is physically gorgeous however, so it would make for a great coffee table book. Plus, if you love visual arts/make art (and I don't) there is definitely something here for you.

[Meggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly recommend for any lover of children’s illustration!

[kel · Rating 5 out of 5]

cute book about embracing your child-like wonder n celebrating it :’-)

[Andrea Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous art and discussion on her process. I need to find some of her picture books to check out!

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't really a book as much as a collection of art and information about the creative process of Beatrice Blue. I want many of the prints for my own house 💕

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the art of this book. This book follows the author’s creative process, whilst showing artwork of different genres, drafts, & stylistic choices. It was really fun to follow along & get a glimpse behind-the-scenes within an artist’s brain. It’s not really a children’s book—more for inspiring aspiring artists.


“I loved her even before she was even in the world.”

[Zhao Kuang · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book feels like someone telling their story to you, and exploring how someone decides on what medium to draw on and sharing about stylistic choices they make. Felt autobiographical and then a bit of a beginners guide to drawing. I used to not read books with any embellishments in them, but books like these, especially coloured ones, gave me much joy in recent years and I’m warming up to them!

As someone who hasn’t been exposed to much art in my entire life, I do feel ill-equipped to give any sort of review on the merits of the art in the book. I would just say I was a bit unsure what to feel at the start but as I was reading through it, there’s some form of connection formed and I warmed up to it. It’s nice to be able to see the emotions from the characters and appreciate them better after reading through them.

Some quotes from the book I liked

“I believe everything can be as good or as bad as you want it to be. Or as simple, or as magical. “

— reminds me to read Peter Pan again and gave me more optimism about being optimistic in life.

“I find it difficult to think in black and white”

— hilarious to me cuz I find it difficult to think in anything other than words; but it’s slowly changing.

“Oh well.”

— this sounded so sad; on a page about rain. Rain is always a oh yessss kinda moment for me so seeing something I can say “oh cmon!” brings a little joy to my heart :)

Backstory: This book was recommended on the library app and the cover looks reminiscent of a few books that were recommended to me in the past (probably artifacts common in digital art) and I borrowed it on a whim; ended up liking it enough to give a positive review!

[Sage · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this 5 stars because it is so relevant to me, I've always wanted to write and illustrate a children's book. AND there are amazing passages worth quoting. In the dedication, "One tree planted for every book sold". How precious is that! In the Forward she talks about imagining a tree in your garden that's always been there, and though you've always like it you never realized it had a door. The door was hidden by foliage but you know you actually haven't noticed it before is because you've only seen a tree. Art is about opening up ones vision, seeing more, seeing the details and beauty.
As a child she wanted to find the answers to everything...so full of curiosity and delight!
"As I grew older, I enjoyed reading and often lost myself in" books and adventure movies."while waiting for my letter from Hogwarts to arrive. So cute! Who of us haven't wanted to attend Hogwarts? I didn't wait for a letter, I knew I had grown in and graduated from a magical place; that's why I was so drawn to the Harry Potter series.
How she composed, drew and formatted the book is so imaginative. Thought was put into EVERY aspect.
She ends with "ENJOY. Allow yourself to full enjoy what you like to do most, as kids do...not overthinking, not trying to achieve anything, just enjoying."
"I hope the viewer takes joy, an eagerness to create, and Wonder from my art."

[Veerlibros Jeaque Vargas R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Además de las preciosas ilustraciones, en este libro encontramos información muy valiosa sobre la artista madrileña, como sus fuentes de inspiración, sus procesos para desarrollar los proyectos, la manera en que llega a ilustrar sus ideas...
📚
Un deleite ver los personajes coloridos , con sus características infantiles y una multitud de detalles que nos habla de la gran imaginación y sensibilidad de la artista.

[Dorothee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book with one of the prettiest covers I've ever seen (the lights are glow in the dark too!) This little storybook-esque artbook is very imaginative and has such a lovely feel. It inspires you to go out and discover all the little magic out there in the world. Beatrice's artworks are creative and the little text blurbs invoke a sense of wondering.

However, the only tactile art tip that was given was that about composition, and the rest just felt like a personal memoir.

[Cindy Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was created by an artist, Beatrice Blue, whose goal is to focus on wonder in the world and in her art. I loved the ideas she shared about looking at the world anew - one example she shared is carrying a clear marble with swirls and holding it up to your eye to view the world in a new way. She also shared her creative process and lots of images of her artwork during different stages of development. This is a lovely book to consume in one sitting with your favorite hot beverage.

[Waffle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to preface this review with the fact I've never heard of this author. I just liked the art on the cover and am I fan of artbooks in general. The beginning inspiration part was a bit mushy for my tastes but once the artist began talking of experiences and different art materials/processes I really liked it. The art is very good and cute throughout. Its hard to rate these but If you see it and want a pleasant short read with many many pretty picture I would reccomend.

[Lucía · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt very identified with her position as an artist.
I liked that she emphasised the creative potential of everything in everyday life and how it is crossed by one's own experience.
She introduced me to the concepts of moodboard, mood timelines and color development, which interested me a lot so I will look into them.
Lastly, a little off topic, but I liked some of her inspirational quotes about life.

[Somaya Noman · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an illustration design student I was hoping for more practical advice from this book and a more in depth look into the process of the Beatrice Blue, however there were not many of those. Still the reason I still gave this book 4 stars is because of the beautiful illustrations included in the book and because of all the 'MAGIC' and 'WONDER' in the book.

[Cassie Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this. This is something I will read more than once and go back to again and again in my mind. It’s beautiful, not too long or short. And the details both in the art and in the book itself are fantastic! Beatrice Blue isn’t someone I had heard of before I read this. I’m now following her and so excited to get my hands on her other work!

[Katie Flegal Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kind of loved this book. I got it for the kids but ended up reading it myself. I think it is more of an adult ish book. I think Ellie would like it in a few years.

It opened my eyes to the process an artist takes to create a book. I loved the illustrations. It made me want to draw and create more

[Eva Russo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really is a wonder. The artist takes you to a journey into her creative process but also on a nostalgic trip down memory lane. The book is endearing and visually amazing. It's like a treasure to possess and scroll into over and over again. This is definitely one of my best purchases this year.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a work of art.

I personally found the text a bit repetitive but the illustrations (and their printing quality) are enough.

The metaphor of the glass house really inspired me and made me revisit my artistic vision.

[Scottishheart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should have more stars than just 5.
It is extraordinary in itself as well as its education and wondrous side of Blue's imagination. Each page is a fantasy portal taking the reader to the glass house. A place filled with magic and dreams come to life.
A must have for every artist!

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was truly a magical experience. I loved every single page, illustration and word. It inspired me to be more creative and adventurous. Beatrice also added tips from her own art process that are very useful. I love everything about this book and the cover is absolutely gorgeous.

[Cris Sánchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

The name describes every single inch inside this book. It's almost a journey, it's a learning experience, its delightfull to observe every single detail and to read about Bea's inspirations and way of seeing and living life. Truly magical.

[Michaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an imaginative beautifully illustrated book that I hope to one day add to my personal library. Beatrice shares with us a glimpse of her journey, thoughts, and artistic process. Anyone who is interested in illustration or creative art would enjoy this book.

[Auden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I wanted to read solely because of the cover. Isn't it beautiful?!! 😍 I'm still not sure how to describe this - it's part memoir, part art book, part art instruction, and part self help book. It's been delightful to look through and inspired me to start doing some drawing again.

[Alyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this off the shelf at the library and I'm so glad that I did. I love learning about the process artists use to create. And I, of course, loved the section on watercolor.

Watercolor Alchemy:
"Pigments are fascinating things."