Drawing Step-by-Step (Search Press)

Oct 09

This is one of those bind-ups of smaller titles that Search Press does from time to time and does rather well. It's not at all obvious that this is a collection of books which have previously appeared in the Leisure Arts series and material which would normally repeat from one to the other has been removed so that, for example, you only get one introduction to materials, not several authors saying virtually the same thing. I'd tell you how many different books you get for your money if I could but, frankly, I can't spot the joins. At GBP12.99, they're excellent value for money as long as you don't already have a comprehensive collection of the originals.

Nov 09

Drawing seems to be sadly undervalued by many artists now and yet is the cornerstone to good artwork. In this book five well known artists share their expertise in different areas to give a comprehensive guide to drawing for both absolute beginners and those who are more experienced. There is advice on what materials to begin with and the properties of different media from simple graphite pencils to pastels, chalk and charcoal, conte crayon to watercolour pencils and different types of pen. Each is fully explored and the reader show the many techniques used to obtain a variety of marks used to create tone and texture so essential to transform a 2d medium into the appearance of a 3d one. Each of the five artists takes one complete section and explains their ways of using this media, accompanied by useful tips and photographs. I found Ronald Swanwick's section on composition especially useful as he has taken a number of photographs of the same subject but from differing positions and shows us by way of quick sketches how best to take what is needed from a photograph and how to subtlety alter areas that don't fit properly to make a pleasing composition. Too often artists slavishly follow a photograph rather than using it as a starting point and adding and subtracting from it as dictated by the final work. There a many different areas covered in this book from simple skies, water, trees and buildings to how to add people and animals within a painting, something that can make all the difference to a finished work. It contains ten demonstrations and over 150 step by step photographs within this book making it an ideal reference book for all artists.

Mar 10

This series title is gathered from five previous Search Press books. It features a wide variety of realistic styles and a number of media, including graphite, colored pencils, charcoal, chalks, pastels, water-soluble pencils, and pens. Box and his four coauthors have backgrounds in illustration, painting, textiles, wildlife art, and advertising.

Richard Box is a practising artist and professional embroiderer. He studied painting at Goldsmiths School of Art in London. Soon afterwards he developed a love of textiles, which led him to experiment with machine embroidery and fabric collage. He spends his time teaching and lecturing on both of his two areas of expertise. He has written a number of books on art instruction and embroidery, he has appeared on television and he writes regularly for specialist magazines.
Denis John-Naylor studied Natural History Illustration at Bournemouth College of Art and Wildlife Painting at Swansea Institute. He is a self-employed consultant and a part-time teacher of watercolour, pencil, acrylic and oil painting in adult education. His hobbies include plein air painting, reading biographies and listening to music.