How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs [Hardcover]

Lee Hammond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1995

If you've always wanted to draw beautiful, realistic-looking portraits of your favorite people, this step-by-step guide shows you how to do it - better and more easily than you ever thought possible.

Lee Hammond quickly teaches you how to add the illustration of three-dimensional highlights and shadows to simple shapes using pencil shading and blending. After you've got the basics down, you'll learn how to use the same techniques to portray every feature of the human face. You'll also discover how to figure out what the features of your photographed model really look like so you can draw them from different angles. Then Hammond shows you how to put all those features together to create a lifelike portrait that truly captures the individuality of your subject.

After you've completed these easy-to-do drawing exercises, you'll soon be turning the memories frozen in your old snapshots into warm, beautiful works of art.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books; First edition (April 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089134635X
• ISBN-13: 978-0891346357
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,725 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #32 in Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Pencil
  • #76 in Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Figure Drawing

More About the Author

A professional artist and art instructor for more than twenty years, Lee has authored seventeen North Light books. She owned and operated the Midwest School of Art in Lenexa, Kansas for six years and now has a studio in Overland Park, Kansas where she teaches. She conducts drawing seminars, gives school lectures and mentors nationwide. Also a certified police composite artist in the Kansas City metro area, she has worked with “America’s Most Wanted.” A contributing writer for The Artist’s Magazine, she is also licensed with many of NASCAR’s racing teams to produce art. Her work is seen online at www.leehammond.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful, effective, and inspiring book, August 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs (Hardcover)

Lee Hammond instructs the reader to use a graphing approach to get a likeness, as it seems she does in all her books. She then describes in detail how to draw each feature of a face and gives many examples and exercises in using the blended pencil technique. Finally the reader is encouraged to put it all together and do a full portrait.

The book is very well-organized and detail-oriented, not to mention visually appealing. At first I questioned the graphing technique--it seemed somehow "unnatural", plus you can't do it with a live model. However, after looking at my finished drawings, amazed, thinking to myself (as another reviewer said), "this is so good, I can't believe I did it", I can understand that however unnatural graphing may be, it certainly gives me faith in my abilities and inspires me to try more art. I think the visualization techniques I learned from this book will help me in whatever medium I choose, and I wouldn't be surprised if they helped me draw realistic portraits from life as well.

A note about Lee Hammond's books: I looked at the Discover Drawing Series, and it seems that a lot of the material in those books is covered in this book. They do deal with some different types of models, but if you are going to get just one of her books, I recommend this one.

I have just bought her "How to Draw Portraits in Colored Pencil from Photographs" and I am so excited to try it out!

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 100% effective techniques, 0% fluff. Excellent., August 4, 2001

By 

H. Behrens (Caracas, Venezuela) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs (Hardcover)

"WOW YOU DREW THAT?! hahaha, yeah right, no way. You did? Come on.. Really? You drew it yourself? Oh my god. I cant believe it. Youre like - a genius or something. Wow."

This is an actual real life reaction I had the other day from a friend after three months or so of practicing the lessons in this amazing book. She could not believe how quickly I had learned. Of course, once I showed her the book, she believed it right away. Why? because this book is all about achieving results. The BEST results for the most amazing realist drawings, period. There is no filling up space with needless extra pictures, no flaky artsy prose about something or other which doesnt help at all, like ive seen in other drawing books. From page 1 till the very last page you LEARN, and you learn FAST, so fast you will surprise yourself with every drawing.

Today I have come to Amazon to order How to Draw Color Portraits from Photographs and How To Draw Flowers and Nature from the same author, Lee Hammond, and I tell you, I cant wait. I used to be a computer nerd with no creative side whatsoever. Thank you a million times over Lee for transforming my life! I only wish you included some sort of email address with your book so I could tell you this directly.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, November 28, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs (Hardcover)

This is one of the best books on drawing portraits I have seen. There are several other fine books that go into more detail about the basics of drawing faces, proportion, etc., but most don't go into detail about shading and technique to make the portrait truly come alive. There are tons of illustrations. Ms. Hammond's own artwork is awesome! They are an inspiration in and of themselves even without the instructional steps. (I was surprised that a couple of other reviewers didn't find her artwork to be very good. We must be talking about two different books!). The illustrations and examples are very clearly presented, and the photos are of excellent quality. She goes into detail about making eyes, lips, noses, hair, and even eyeglasses and clothing! Ms Hammond's instructional style is warm and encouraging. I have several other books by Lee Hammond, and I've found all of them enjoyable and informative. Whether you are looking for a book just to do family and friends portraits or to do professional portraits, I would recommend this book. The hardbound cover and glossy-like feel to the pages are pleasing as well.