Customer Reviews

F.A.Q.: FIGURE PAINTING: Frequently Asked Questions about Figure Painting Techniques

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

 

 

After having done a great work with F.A.Q. AFV Painting Techniques, looks like Mig was just looking for some money but without the intention to work for it. The book is a collection of pictures with some icons indicating the technique to use.
It doesn't teach you anything at all. If you're looking for a barely nice collection of pictures, this is the book for you. If you want to learn something I recommend "How to Build Dioramas" from Sheperd Paine. Even if it is not the main topic, it contains much more information about figure painting than the entire F.A.Q.

This book is a fairly comprehensive guide to figure painting from preparation to presentation, and lots in between. It is beautifully illustrated with color photographs, and contains a very nice gallery of finished works in the last sections. It is presented as a FAQ format with some albeit simplistic questions about different techniques or materials associated with the hobby, but they often go unanswered. For some unknown reason, the author(s) have used a series of photos with some little hieroglyghs of paint/brush symbols to illustrate the answers without any accompanying text in most instances. Colors are also shown as little hard-to read numbers which you will have to look up in the included color charts at the end of the book, but it is like translating an arcane tome. A little text would have gone a long way to clarify some of the more complex methods such as getting textured surfaces representing fur or fabric. Instead I am left with more questions than before. What actually written answers appear in the book are often cryptic for example: Q:"How do I paint a leather Garment with oils?" A: "In order to speed up the drying process, it is normal to start over an acrylic base as shown in the photographs." or some are self-promoting, Q:"How can I make snow?" A: "There are specifically made products available for this." (next to the picture of Andrea Artificial Snow, hint hint) Many of the questions are just too simplistic. After all, I bought this book to learn MORE. Overall, I did not find this book particularly helpful, and it is rather hard to use. But with some effort I suspect one can glean something good from it, and like I said, it is beautifully illustrated.

It's not a bad book, but low grades given by other reviewers do not surprise me; I think that authors lost sight of who the target audience for this book is.

The book follows traditional FAQ format - series of questions and answers. Each answer has a very short text (or in some cases none at all) illustrated by multiple photos. I like emphasis on visual explanation, but shortness of text leaves reader to 'connect the dots'.

If each issue feels a bit 'underexplained', the big picture is completely absent. There is no explanation of any particular painting method, workflow, no example showing how / when to employ particular approach. This is where the biggest disconnect with the target audience lies - if someone is experienced enough to put all these separate answers together, they may not need them.

Beginners will probably feel lost because of lack of context for the individual answers. Experienced painters won't find anything new here, as the book explains well known techniques. So if you're somehwere in between, this is a very good visual reference for many techniques - but make sure you got the basics first, they're not explained in depth.

Overall I think the book deserves 3,5 stars (which I rounded down) - number and quality of pictures make it worthwhile for me.

I'm a little confused as to the target audience of this book. There is a rather large section dedicated to explaining tools and their use, even as far as explaining remedial things like how to glue things together. Next thing you know, it jumps right into painting techniques, but with little or no narrative to accompany the pictures.

There were also some editorial mistakes. One example was a paragraph that starts off in Spanish then suddenly switches to English halfway through (page 55 if you own this book already).

Overall I wouldn't recommend this book to newbie figure painters. Osprey offers several books that are far superior, and cheaper.

Ok, to begin with I have no experience in preparing & painting minatures and I've seen a few decent guides like the ones mentioned in the reviews for this product, the books by Sheppard Paine and Bill Hotan being especially great and for reference material I reccomend the Osprey books series.
Now, if you are at all like me and getting into minature painting and assembly and if you have absolutely no idea of what to do or how to get started then this is the book for you.
I have had other mates who are avid modelers show me the ropes and tell me what equipment to buy to get me started, but...if not for them then this book literally will point you in the right direction, it will help give you an idea of what to buy, tools, brushes, paints the lot, how to setup your work area, how to prepare your minatures or kits and then it goes heavily into the painting techniques.
Everyone I have showed this book to smiles in appreciation of how accessible it makes painting to beginners.
All in all, theres lots of great ideas here and it will remain a constant source while you are working away enjoying this hobby.

Book is a basic reference for figure painting. Would only be of any interest to beginer figure painters.

While books in the FAQ series seem to fetch premium prices and seem to sell out quickly, they are worth the effort to locate them. Do price shop though! I have seen some subjects sold for well over $100.00 used. This book is well written, covers many subjects, and is packed with good photographs. Tools, materials, preparation, and techniques all get the attention they deserve. Using this book is like having a Master Instructor teach you. Of course, just reading it isn't going to make you a world class figure painter. Practice DOES make perfect! A most worthy purchase that won't lose value if you decide to resell it.

This is a good book for painting figures with empahsis on larger scales, i particularly liked the color charts in the back from all the major paint brands