The Opposite Is Also True: A Journal of Creative Wisdom for Artists

For visual artists or any creative person looking to push their art to thrive in unexpected ways, this beautifully illustrated guided journal challenges you to experiment both within and outside the box.

Using the premise that the creative journey is nonlinear and subject to change at any given moment, The Opposite Is Also True presents pairs of advice that intentionally contradict themselves. Dedicate a workspace or work anywhere; learn from a mentor or teach yourself; make something every day or take a break.

Divided into three sections--Pack Your Kit, Find Your Path, and Look Around--each tackles practicalities as well as the abstract in inspirational advice, quotes, and exercises to open your mind. Following each dual entry are two related pages with opposite calls to action and plenty of space to execute them--like making a tidy pencil sketch on one side or pouring your thoughts out in bold permanent marker on the other.

Use this book when your usual process isn't working and you need a little nudge, or challenge a comfortable creative routine with alternate possibilities. The advice within can relate to a tiny brushstroke or the whole arc of your career.

CLEO PAPANIKOLAS has a BFA in printmaking from California College of Arts and an MFA in painting from the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author and illustrator of Cook Until Desired Tenderness. She illustrated The Comfort Queen’s Guide to Life and a line of over one hundred licensed products based on the book. As a painter/author/illustrator, Cleo has worked on large public murals, oil-on-canvas paintings for fine art galleries, and small pieces for print. Her work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner, magazines including Uppercase, The Bark, Better Homes and Gardens, ReadyMade, and Edible San Francisco, and books from University of California Press, Swallow Press, and Dromedary Press. She has taught at the San Francisco Center for the Book, Castle in the Air, Copia, UC Berkeley, Makeshift Society, and CreativeLive.