Keys to Painting - Fur & Feathers [Paperback]

Rachel Rubin Wolf (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Keys to Painting | Publication Date: March 15, 1999

Nothing creates a stronger sense of "life" in your wildlife art than realistic textures. This book, a collection of some of the finest art instruction ever publishes by North Light Books, will show you proven ways to paint fur, feathers and other realistic wildlife textures. You'll find easy-to-follow instruction and step-by-step demonstrations from top wildlife artists in a variety of mediums, including acrylic, oil, watercolor and pastel. No matter what your medium or how long you've been painting, these "keys" will unlock new possibilities in your wildlife art.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Wolf has assembled the collected lessons of nearly three dozen artists who demonstrate the art of wildlife painting. One chapter covers the drawing of birds and animals, two focus on fur and feather textures, and another discusses the details of anatomy. The final chapter contains demonstrations in acrylic, watercolor, oil, and pastel. For collections that don't already contain Rod Lawrence's Painting Wildlife Textures Step-by-Step (North Light, 1996), this compilation would be a fine choice.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (March 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891349146
• ISBN-13: 978-0891349143
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #479,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pastelists Take Heed, September 13, 2000

By 

Eileen Kortright "Mad Mare" (Herndon, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keys to Painting - Fur & Feathers (Paperback)

Quick summary of the book topics: Chapter 1) how to draw some animals in pencil and charcoal Chapter 2) painting fur textures Chapter 3) painting feather textures Chapter 4) detail area focusing on such things as how a bird flies, how they grip a branch, tail fur and feathers, eyes, etc. Chapter 5) Painting Demonstrations

Although this book is advertised as "In All Mediums" and specifically mentions pastel in the jacket text by the editors, this is very misleading. If you are an acrylic, watercolor or colored pencil painter, this book is right up your alley. If you are a pastelist, think twice before you buy.

The book contains a some wonderful paintings, usually unrelated to the text, and several of them are in pastel. However, the *only* place they even talk or even *use* pastel is in the "Painting Demonstrations" chapter. The demonstration is called "How to Paint a Raccon in Pastel". The raccoon is 3/4 posed and half in his den -- you can only see the raccoon's head and part of his side!

Overall, it's a great book for acrylic, watercolor and colored pencil, and it can be used by painters in other mediums. However, if you are a pastelist and looking for a book that would either cover pastel thoroughly, or at least fairly (when compared to the time spent on the other mediums), forget it. Don't expect to find any pastel-oriented help here -- there isn't any worth speaking of.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars what a book, July 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Keys to Painting - Fur & Feathers (Paperback)

This book is full of beautiful and inspiring pictures painted in many mediums including oils, acrylics and watercolours. although this book is a beautiful book i only gave it 4 stars because it doesnt really spend alot of time focusing on how to actually achieve the effects that the various pictures in the book portray.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hardly what I would call painting..., July 20, 2007

By 

C. R. Wolf (beautiful planet earth) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Keys to Painting - Fur & Feathers (Paperback)

If you are looking for a good book based on a wide variety of techniques, this book is a handbook. If you are looking for a book that showcases wonderful artwork by competent artists, this is a good book. If you are a painter who wants to learn how to paint feathers or fur, this is not a good book.

The preliminary chapters of this book are all about drawing. Having studied, art, yes, we need to learn to draw before we can learn to paint. But the title of this book is _Keys to PAINTING Fur and Feathers_.

There follows different ideas on how to capture light on white fur, how to paint patterns, and other useful techniques, but I do feel they could have been explained better.

And then we get back to the issue of painting. Pen and ink drawing is drawing, not painting. Colored pencil is drawing, not painting. Pastels are, well, pastels, not painting.

For the artist that likes to experiment in different mediums, this is an excellent resource book. For those that are into acrylics and watercolors, you'll find some nice things in here. But I think the title is very misleading, because much of the book does not focus on actual 'painting'.