The Fairy Artist's Figure Drawing Bible: Ready to Draw Templates and Step-by-step Techniques

Sept 09

Draw a whole fairyland of fantastic creatures with this latest addition to Search Press' popular Bible series. This book opens out flat, which is so handy when working from it and there is plenty in here to work from. The subtitle promises ready-to-draw templates and step-by-step techniques and delivers the goods, starting from scratch with lots of projects to work through. To inspire and inform the book opens with a brief chapter on great artists who have chosen to depict this type of subject, from William Blake in the 18th century right up to Alan Lee's Tolkein illustrations. Only one picture from each (nothing from William Blake) is included, so maybe inspiration is a bit of a stretch for this. The section for what you need is diverse but short, ranging from colored pencils and markers to an airbrush so take your pick. There are even two pages on working digitally, although not enough of this to really mean anything. The book's strength is in the staged projects, which take you from pencil sketches and outlines to the finished work, in fewer stages than in the Ready to Paint series but still enough for any but the total tyro. There is just about everything in here to do with drawing and painting fairies, from getting expressions right to assembling a suitable wardrobe, and a whole host of other creatures from folklore as well as hints for flower fairy paintings. One original way of working involves line drawings of some of the characters for tracing or scanning and then coloring in - an interesting idea and rather how I learned to draw when a small child. In all, I was impressed by the many and varied suggestions for getting pencil to paper, and all roads seem to lead to a good grounding in basic and intermediate techniques.

Mar 14

This book lends itself to a quirkiness that almost feels like a book out of time. The spiral design makes the book very user friendly; which as anyone who has tried to look at pages of a book while drawing will appreciate. The inclusion of colour schemes (which are covered in great detail) and tutorials are incorporated to create a 'treasure trove' of informative details which can be utilised as needed. I found the figure diagrams and usage of nature as a springboard for the fantastical especially helpful. I was looking for guides on drawing fantasy figures for the classes I teach on concept art and this is definitely one for the bookshelf. Now if only magic was real.....

July 09

The number of books that has appeared recently on fantasy and fairy painting suggests a strong interest and this latest addition to the Artists' Bible series deserves to do well. A catalogue of the many characters from fairyland, it includes descriptions of how to draw and paint them as well as offering suggestions for costumes and facial expressions. My own aversion to the subject is on record, but there's no doubt that this is well done and presented in a way that makes it easy to find what you want and then to follow the really quite detailed instructions. That the author is a respected artist in the field only adds to the book's authority and value.