How to Draw Portraits: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners with 10 Projects [Paperback]

Susie Hodge (Author)

Book Description

Series: How to Draw | Publication Date: August 28, 2003

Everything you need to know to achieve a realistic portrait is here, including how to make flat drawings look three-dimensional, comfortably pose subjects, and work with structure, perspective and proportion. Practice blending, hatching, cross-hatching, and stippling. Try working from photographs and with live models. Plenty of hints are included on creating convincing likenesses of specific features such as hair, eyes, mouths, and noses. Draw babies, children, and adults of different ages. Capture different skin tones and hair textures. Each project is done in a particular medium, but also includes an alternative drawing of the same subject produced with different materials, enabling you to fully explore this rewarding art form.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Susie Hodge has a passion for art education and has been teaching practical art and art history to children and adults for over 11 years. She has written and illustrated many books including "Art Attack" How to Draw, Drawing... is Fun! and many titles in the Art in History series. She also works for the Royal Academy, the Tate and the V&A museum to produce booklets for visitors, teachers and students. She lives in Westcliff-in-Sea, Essex.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: New Holland (August 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843303817
• ISBN-13: 978-1843303817
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,095,245 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not For Beginners But Still Very Good, October 27, 2005

By 

Fish Cheeks (In Your Dreams) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Draw Portraits: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners with 10 Projects (Paperback)

I came across this book while I was at the bookstore this past weekend and I was really impressed with it. What I really like about Hodge's technique is that she does not rely on the grid method to complete a drawing. In each of her drawings she starts off with simple shapes and then demonstrates step by step how to get a finished realistic portrait. The title says this is a book for beginners, but some of the techniques and mediums that Hodge presents (ie: ink, colored pencil, charcoal; stippling, cross hatching, etc.) are too advanced for someone who is just starting to draw. Lee Hammond's "Draw Real People!" is more appropriate for beginners who need a basic understanding about shading and facial proportions (through the grid method). Hodge's book is more suitable for an intermediate who is ready to draw free style, experiment with different mediums, and find his/her own drawing style.