Art of Pastel Portraiture (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Before choosing the materials you will use to make your pastel portraits, it is helpful to think about what you want your work to look..." (more)
Key Phrases: pumice board, sanded paper, pastel card, Dorothy Barta, Larry Blovits, Jill Bush (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Pastel has long been considered an ideal medium for painting portraits. Here, noted pastelist Madlyn-Ann Woolwich calls on a group of outstanding artists to demonstrate the important elements that go into creating successful portraits in pastel. Luminous portraits throughout the book demonstrate an amazing range of styles, techniques, and approaches. 292 full-color illustrations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill (May 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823039064
• ISBN-13: 978-0823039067
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #421,579 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #27 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Pastel
  #32 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Instructional & How-To > Pastel

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well Thought Out Pastel Overview, April 5, 2006

By	Woodie - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

A couple of ways to tell if a book on art is good is if the paintings or drawings look like something you'd like to do yourself, and the writers are known for their accomplishments. The rest involves having professionals help with the layout and organization. Seems like all of these qualities exist in this book. The host of contributors is a who's who among successful pastelists as is the main author. The paintings and drawings are superior. The book is well organized into all the major topics you'd want to cover with this as a new medium for an experienced artist.

My only criticism of this book is it does not get into alot of detail for beginners. The section on materials is very good for beginners but the artistic process is not all that well detailed. I think of this book as more an assembly of tips on suggested practices, and a vehicle for pros to pat themselves on the back.

But for a serious pastelist or portrait artist, this is definitely something to read and have in the library.

24 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beginning Portraiture to Intermediate Portraiture, September 7, 2001

By A Customer

The book is a great place to start with regards to pastels and portraits. It covers the basic anatomical features of the face as well as layout and design of the portrait.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More like an overview..., June 29, 2008

By	Martine Vallee "Narval7" (Montreal, CANADA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Since this book is very expensive and popular I was expecting a lot from it. I thought that it would teach me something valuable or new but I only found some good pictures. The text is too simple, too short. The different topics are developed too fast. I think that this one is only good for beginners. If you're already a good pastellist you don't need to spend so much money on that one. So, I don't think this is a collector item.
4 stars for the pictures, 2 and a half stars for the text.