Customer Reviews

How to Draw Portraits in Colored Pencil from Photographs

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I sat down with the book and did the excersises and I was totally shocked that the portrait that I had tried to draw many times before had actually worked once I had read the book!! A day before, I could never have been able to produce a piece with such a likeness to what I was trying to draw..

An absolute must read for the frustrated portrait artist or anyone who wants to have a little fun creating lifelike portraiture. The tips, techniques and encouragement are worth well over the cover price on your first drawing attempt. Thanks, Lee, for sharing your trade secrets. I just got my first commission.

I've created (and sold) countless portrait drawings and paintings through the years, and I love drawing portraits. I was expecting that with all this good feedback, this book would be something special. I was appalled.

I'm sorry, but the drawings just weren't very good. There was one portrait in particular (of a young African American boy) that was truly warped. The features mishapen, the rendering, shading and color were all off. Actually, all the artwork in this book is rather amateurish. Some of the artwork was a little better, but generally, it was decidedly mediocre. The colored pencil techniqe isn't good either. I confess that I lose respect for an art instruction book when the art examples in the book are rather bad.

And then there's the "grid" thing, which is the *only* drawing method taught in this book. Sure, it is a good learning aid, and is useful in many ways. But other drawing techniques (like freehand drawing) should be learned, so that the artist can have some measure of freedom and flexibility. The grid method is way too limiting to be used exclusively. It can almost be something like a "crutch", if an artist never moves past it. (Always having to draw those squares, squares, squares on everything! Yikes!)

That's why it's too bad that this book only covers the grid method. Most artists will discover that as their skills develop, they will eventually want to start drawing from life, (or eventually even draw things from their imagination). They'll never learn any of that from this book. Get Betty Edwards' drawing book, if you want to learn more about how to *really* draw. This book doesn't cover a fraction of it. And for colored pencil techniques, get Bet Borgeson's fabulous colored pencil books. She's absolutely marvelous.

I'm glad that this book helped other people, and I'm sure there must be something good in it (though I couldn't see where. I guess I was too blinded by the mediocre artwork). But there are FAR better drawing and colored pencil books out there.

I found this book perfect for the kind of colored pencil work I wanted to do. It is great for learning how to burnish and improving on individual colors and features of the face, however, a host of other techniques outside of burnishing are not much mentioned. I would not recommend this book for beginners learning to draw but rather artists already familiar with the basics who want to pick up another medium. Of the 12 or so colored pencil books I've read, this is definitely in my top two.

Wow! What a fantastic book! Lee Hammond tells you exactly what pencils, paper, all tools to use to create the most awesome drawings. My prints from what I have learned from her are now selling, thank you Lee! She teaches so well in her books that it is almost like you are sitting in a classroom with her! I VERY MUCH recommend this book! It is the so good!

The package came quickly (after I contacted the seller) and it was in perfectly fine shape when I received it. Infact, after contacting the person who was selling it, the package came the next day. :-)

It's a great book and I have been loving it ever since I received it. :-)

No problems at all. :-)

Lex

If you liked her other books, you'll enjoy this Lee Hammond book dealing with colored pencil drawing. Try it, you'll like it.

I don't know how I could learn from an artist who cannot draw herself. I can't understand anyone who would want to.

If the art work is terrible, it is not a motivating factor to want to buy it. I looked through it at the library, I saw the cover and knew. But, the saying, "don't judge a book by its cover.", well I went ahead and looked. The cover does show what is in the book. Bad art.

The work is very flat and inaccurate in proportion. There is no life to these portriats. This artist has slaughtered the beauty of what drawing people is about. This is worse than any amateur art I've seen.

I'm surprised that the reviews are so good. I guess those who gave good reviews have not compared this book to other good works by much more experienced artists. You can learn beginning drawing from good artists. Just because you are a beginner, doesn't mean you have to learn from a beginner. If you are serious about portriat drawing, it is advisable to learn from an artist who is better than you are.

You could always look at Ann Kullbergs portriats in colored pencil, which is also for beginners, and is much more motivating to want to learn from. I am now beyond those as well, but her book was my first colored pencil book. It started me on my path to more creative colored pencil ideas and wanting more colored pencil books from other artists as well. My suggestion is to just stay away from all of Lee Hammond's books; they are all very terrible.

"People who thought they couldn't draw - but after learning from this book the work was pro quality. " This reviewer has managed to stuff portraiture into a neat little shake and bake package.

Of course their art would look "pro" if a teacher is behind you correcting each line out of place! However,creating portraits of people, by yourself is something which requires practice, hundreds and hundreds of hours. I don't think it is fair to say that this book will make beginners, "pro". That is wishful thinking and a total belittlement of art! I have to agree with the first review, the art does look mediocre. It would probably suit a beginner, but obviously disappoint someone a little more skilled.