The Kindle

As I progress through my journey of obtaining a wealth of artistic knowledge, I find that some methods of learning present some surprising results. Today, I want to bring up the Amazon Kindle, and how it has been an extremely valuable source of knowledge.

After being recommended some books, I quickly traversed to Amazon for some price shopping. While I am I big fan of paperback books, I found a good majority of recommended art books to be on Kindle, and much lower prices. 

While you can read Kindle books on your PC, or Mobile Device, I find the basic Kindle to be my favorite platform. The lack of a back light helps my eyes, the weight is close to non-existent, and the battery I charge maybe once a month, even when I use it every day. For me, the "newspaper" screen is a breath of fresh air to my eyes, and give me a chance to get away from the constant light that comes with the "digital artist package".  

Recently, I went to the Amazon Store on my Kindle, I noticed an option that I hadn't seen on the tablet or PC Kindle software, an option to "borrow" a book. This was too cool. I could simply browse through the Arts & Photography section, find a book, and have an option to "borrow" instead of buying. Maybe this option can be found in other versions of Kindle, but this was the first time seeing the option at all. Regardless, I've found a lot of good art and photo books this way.

While you can only borrow one book at a time, it works out as long as you like to read a book until it's finished. Not only that, it does require you to have an Amazon Prime account, but you can always get 30 days free. After having my prime account for 2 years, I can certainly say it has paid for itself several times over just from free shipping, and before this year I almost never ordered anything Amazon, adding free Kindle books just adds to the amount of money I've saved having it. 

So, all in all, if you are a fan of reading methodical, reference, or art theory books to progress in this profession, I would certainly consider a kindle. While you can see a pattern of books not available, due to color, or page size; the ones that are accessible, certainly make up for a great abundance of low-cost information. Even if you don't own a Kindle, at least download the Kindle app on your computer or mobile device, and see what they have to offer.