Customer Reviews

Drawing Expressive Portraits

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

 

 

My preteen daughter loves to draw but most of her work was cartoonish. I wanted something to help her learn the skills of realistic drawing, especially portaits. This book was exactly what I was looking for. It includes faces from babies to elderly people and discusses technique and perspective. We enjoyed the studies of faces expressing various emotions. The narrative helps a developing artist learn how to look at spacing and shading and discusses supplies. There are sections on mouths, ears, noses as well as complete studies. There is a lot of content for the money.

I'm not sure the person who gave this two stars actually even read the book. I own this book, and also the companion about painting in oils and while there is not a lot of groundbreaking material, both books contain good solid instruction.

The beauty of Paul's work is that he brings focus from the larger shapes into the smaller details. The end results are portraits that have life and expression. Lots of books try to refine portraits to the point of photography, which makes them stiff and lifeless, and really...at that point why not just take a picture of the person?

The artist's job is to interpret what is before them and translate that onto the page. This book gives the artist the tools to do that - starting with material options and choices, bringing the artist through various features of the face, and finally into a half dozen or so detailed case studies.

Overall a good book for a beginning portraitist, and a handy reference guide for an experienced draughtsman.

The book was in new shape just as stated. Shipment was received earlier than expected. I would do business with them again.

I don't care for the type of drawings in this book. They do not have good quality in them. They are sketchy, and very basic. I believe, that whatever you are learning, be it in paint, pastel or pencil, the examples better be what you would like to achieve. I don't want my drawings to look like the ones in the book, they are a bad example of what I would like to accomplish.

I don't feel I learned anything from this. I can't draw from circles and shapes. I need the real thing, with light and shadow. If you want to learn to draw people, start with yourself in the mirror or better yet, have a friend pose for you if he or shee can. Drawing from life is the best way to learn. But, if you need a book, get an artist's anatomy book. The stuff in this book is common sense anyway. I am not patient to start off so basic. I like to just dive in and see what happens and learn from there. I hope this book will help others who don't know how to draw.