Customer Reviews

Drawing Portraits: Faces and Figures (Art of Drawing)

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

 

 

Civardi is a talented artist, but there was little substance to the book. There was very little detail about the actual drawing process and skills that might be helpful. After actually seeing the book, I was very disappointed. I had the same problem with his drawing techniques book. Both were very brief, expensive and short on substance, more like pamphlets than instruction books. If all you want is a slender book with some examples of his work and you don't mind the price, you might like this, but someone looking to learn portraiture would be best served elsewhere.

This book had a lot of examples of Civardi's work but not a lot of tips or instructions about drawing it. In the beginning, there is a full page of suggestions but that's about all there is to it. Lots of pictures of body parts, no step-by-step, no breakdown of lines or sections. Basically, the book shows you the finished products, not really the process of drawing. As another reviewer said, if you would like a book with a lot of examples of his work, this is it.

I would suggest Jack Hamm's "Drawing the Head and Figure" over this book. Lots of substance, and the instruction is done in a way that leaves lots of room to create a unique style.

I'm something of a fan of Civardi's books because I like his clean, "classical realism" style. This book is rather thin and light in describing the details of technique or giving exercises. I wouldn't recommend it to an absolute beginner (if you're just learning to draw, you would probably be better off with Betty Edwards' flawed but effective "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" or a similar book). But if you've started regular drawing practice, and want some good examples of realist portrait drawing along with useful general advice on appoaches to the subject, this book may be worth a look.

This is the second book of Mr. Civardi's that I have purchased. I am impressed with the way he imparts his knowledge and expertise to the pages of this book. I highly recomend this book for anyone interested in learning to draw portraits. The detailed steps from start to finish are easy to understand and follow.

if you are interested in realism drawing this book will put you on a right track