Capturing Light & Color With Pastel (Paperback)

by Doug Dawson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
First published in 1992 and now reissued in paperback, an exploration of colour, shape, value and line for pastel artists in which the author discusses materials and equipment, explains how to make paintings glow with natural or artificial light, and outlines fifteen ways to create a painting.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (September 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891346783
• ISBN-13: 978-0891346784
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #383,700 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #28 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Pastel
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pastel beginner from Dallas digs Doug's book., October 8, 2000

By	David Adams (San Angelo, TX USA) - See all my reviews

The book starts with Dawson explaining the difference between the handling of lines--drawing--and the handling of shapes--painting. He then explains and illustrates two pastel painting techniques: working from big to small shapes and working from shape to shape. Then he combines drawing and painting to launch into ways of being creative with color and light. The book ends dealing with backgrounds, depth, and finding new ideas.

Appropriate to an art instruction book, there is an abundance of illustrated examples, step-by-step pictorial demonstrations, and very stunning completed paintings. The book was easy to read, and Dawson's thoughts, examples, and techniques are very easy to follow.

I like this book very much. The most valuable thing I learned from reading Dawson's book was how to turn my drawings and paintings into works of art.

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this book!, December 27, 2008

By	D. Stein (Clark, NJ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been learning to use pastels for a few years now. I do portraits and landscapes and have had some wonderful teachers and excellent fellow students. I am totally hooked! I'm loving the learning and the journey. I've purchased many books on pastels and get something from all of them. This book has been one of my favorites. I love Mr. Dawson's writing style, his examples, and his demonstrations. When I heard the comparison between this and Susan Sarback's Capturing Radiant Color I went back to it and reread it. I agree that Susan has a valuable book........but not better than Doug's. Read them both...Learn from both. His is a really pleasant read with wonderful examples of his work.

5 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Gives us a bass, July 5, 2001

By	Brockvond (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Capturing Light & Color With Pastel (Hardcover)

I believe that Douglas Dawson is a sincere teacher, but I found this book to be a litany of rules, tricks, and gew-gaws for obtaining effects -- without a governing vision. (Contrast the similarly-named "Capturing Radiant Color in Oils" by Susan Sarback, which is above all a book about seeing and reporting what you see, and in spite of its title the most helpful book I have found for my approach to pastels.) Some of Dawson's rules are in the category of "duh!" and others make no sense. His points are usually illustrated by his own work, including landscapes (quite interesting), cityscapes (often dramatically lit but oddly unmoving), and portraits (sappy, sentimentalized, and including a few real bodice-rippers). The old saw says, "give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime." Dawson gives us a bass, and not a very fresh one.