Painting Animals That Touch the Heart [Hardcover]

Lesley Harrison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2002

Painting Animals that Touch the Heart, by popular wildlife artist Lesley harrison, will help artists portray the emotion and "feelings" of certain popular animals, as well as the wonderful textures of luxuriously soft fur and glistening eyes. Each of the six chapters in this book gives readers an intimate look at layering techniques, individual pastel strokes, blending techniques and composition tips, all of which help in achieving incredible lifelike textures and a strong, emotional effect. 20 step-by-step demonstrations will help readers render eyes, fur, tails, paws, beaks and body positions of big cats, wolves, horses, dogs and house cats, and other baby animals. There is also a gallery of inspirational pieces readers can use to paint their own animals that will touch anyone's heart.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Popular artist Harrison has perfected her technique over decades of practice, achieving success in part because of the emotion she both brings to her work and evokes with her expressive animal portraits. She thoroughly explores painting techniques, materials, and lighting, then, dispelling the notion that animals lack feelings because they cannot speak, moves beyond technical considerations to help artists identify and convey animal emotions so that they're "telling their stories" in images rather than words. Many large, full-color plates with step-by-step instructions show examples of subjects such as big cats, wolves, horses, birds of prey, foxes, and dogs and cats, providing something for every artist and animal aficionado. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Lesley Harrison is one of the most popular and most recognized wildlife artists in the field. She has written several books including Wildlife Painting Step by Step and The Best of Wildlife Art. Her work has appeared in Equine Images, The Artist's Magazine, and Art of the West.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books; 1 edition (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581801319
• ISBN-13: 978-1581801316
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #921,771 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #87 in Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Pastel

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pastel Artist's Treasure, December 30, 2004

By 

K. Montgomery (CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Painting Animals That Touch the Heart (Hardcover)

This is a fabulous book. It is one I continue to turn to as an aspiring artist. Finding a good book dedicated to pastels isn't necessarily easy not to mention finding a book on how to draw/paint animals. This is it... two books in one. Harrison does a fine job explaining the process of creating artistic masterpieces using pastels. Her paintings are captivating and the step-by-step pictures are just what I needed to bump up my ability. I also appreciate that she shares the core color pallette with the reader. I have several sets of pastels at home and wonder "how do they get that color?"... she shows you. She covers all of the important aspects (details)... paws, eyes, whiskers, fur, ears, expressions... you name it. BRAVO! Even though it appears Lesley covers EVERYTHING in this book... I still hope she comes out with more! This is well worth the investment whether you want to look at her creations or the process behind creating them. LOVE IT!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Praise From Artist White Wolf........, November 7, 2002

By 

white_wolf_creations (Erhard, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Painting Animals That Touch the Heart (Hardcover)

If I were to choose one artist pastel instruction book to learn & grow from, it would be,"Painting Animals that touch the heart", by Lesley Harrison. Whether you are a beginner or a professional pastel artist, Lesley's soft approach and easy to follow instructions will bring out the best in you & allow your free artistic talent to expand. As you read, you will clearly FEEL Lesley's true love & respect for the creatures of our mother earth, and in a sense, she will teach you how to project that feeling into your own works. Being that I am a self taught career artist, I have explored many self help art books to gain insight and develop my own style. I am very proud to say that if any artist, or any artistic art instruction book has most influence the development of my own personal style of projecting the SPIRIT of what I am painting, it would be the Art of Lesley Harrison. Thank you Lesley for your fresh and respectful approach to the cherished creatures of our earth. I shall always view your work as my mentor to the true & pure meaning of art. Your work & visions shall be honored. "May your foot prints always leave happy tracks in the sand." Brightest Blessings, __Artist White Wolf

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book that gets you Motivated to use Pastels, December 26, 2002

By 

K. Lenz (Pittsburgh, Pa..) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Painting Animals That Touch the Heart (Hardcover)

I received this book for Christmas. I have just finished reading it. I can't wait to get started! Lesley has some nice tips on keeping fresh ideas coming, working within a space, different pastel brands, papers. I am looking forward to trying out her demonstatrions. She is excited about what she does and in turn is making me excited about trying it. She is an incredible artist. If only I could become 1/2 as good as she is. Well, off to get my materials and just in!