Archive for category Author: Giovanni Civardi
Sketching People – faces & figures || Giovanni Civardi
Posted by henry in Author: Giovanni Civardi, Medium: Drawing, Publisher: Search Press, Subject: People, Subject: Portraiture on September 29, 2011
Giovanni Civardi has been something of a fixture in the field of drawing people for some time and his books offer excellent instruction and a wealth of illustration. However, I’ve always felt that there was a certain heaviness to them and that they looked maybe a little dated. And now, suddenly, he seems to have developed a quite delightful lightness of touch and slight loosening that gives his figures life and movement. It’s really quite something of a revelation.
The main body of this relatively short book is taken up with pages of a wide variety of figures: young and old, static and moving, in a variety of costumes and poses. The instruction (though, in truth there are relatively few words) is confined to the introductory sections where Giovanni deals with a few basic drawing principles.
This is a book that’s probably best approached with at least a moderate ability to draw and the ability to interpret without being told what you’re looking at. As long as you have that, there’s a wealth of ideas here and you’ll find that the method of teaching by example works remarkably well.
Flowers, Fruit & Vegetables || Giovanni Civardi
Posted by henry in Author: Giovanni Civardi, Medium: Drawing, Publisher: Search Press, Subject: Flowers, Subject: Fruit & Vegetables, Subject: Still life on September 29, 2011
Subtitled “Simple approaches to drawing natural forms”, this is an excellent primer in capturing the subtleties and characteristics of botanical subjects.
Giovanni Civardi uses very few words after the initial introduction and some notes of perspective, composition and botanical anatomy. He teaches by example rather than instruction, which makes the book very easy to follow as long as you have a reasonable grasp of the basics.
The beautiful and delicate pencil drawings that make up the body of the book demonstrate how to use line, shading and hatching to record form and shape, and the book is a total delight from start to finish.
The Human Form || Giovanni Civardi
Posted by henry in Author: Giovanni Civardi, Medium: Coloured Pencil, Medium: Drawing, Medium: Gouache, Medium: Watercolour, Publisher: Search Press, Subject: Figure on February 2, 2011
As life drawing books go, you won’t get many that are better than the ones written by Giovanni Civardi. He has a pleasantly straightforward style and simple explanations that are hard to beat.
In spite of his having written many books, this is a new one rather than a reissue and it’s also nice to report that his style seems to have lost that slightly old-fashioned tinge it once had. The other innovation is the introduction of colour. As well as the drawings, which are in the majority, there are also illustrations in watercolour, gouache and coloured pencil which include useful hints on getting skin tones right.
The only thing you might want to note is that there are a lot more female than male studies here so, if you’re looking for the latter, you might feel a bit let down. If not, it’s superb.
Drawing – a complete guide || Giovanni Civardi
Posted by henry in Author: Giovanni Civardi, Medium: Drawing, Publisher: Search Press on November 9, 2009
Most of this first appeared as Giovanni Civardi’s Complete Guide to Drawing, but this smaller format edition also includes the volume on The Nude.
It’s a sound introduction to drawing in pencil and the smaller page size makes it more manageable, but also means that you have to strain slightly to read the text, which has also been reduced. The style is best described as “classic”, meaning that it’s all well done, but perhaps slightly dated. If you don’t mind that, and it’s the technique that’s more important to you, then this is a book it’s hard to better. If your eyesight’s not 100%, however, best buy a pair of stronger reading glasses as well.
The Nude || Giovanni Civardi
Posted by henry in Author: Giovanni Civardi, Medium: Drawing, Medium: Pencil, Publisher: Search Press, Series: The Art Of Drawing, Subject: Figure, Subject: Nude on April 30, 2007
There’s a lot to be said for a book on figure drawing that finishes after 64 pages. This is, of course, a huge subject and some equally huge and all-encompassing books have been written about it which are both exhaustive and exhausting.
In a series of wonderfully sensitive pencil drawings, Giovanni looks at the practice of figure drawing, explaining the main form, proportion, basic anatomy, muscle structure, perspective and pose. The limited extent of the book means that everything has to be done succinctly and you don’t get page after page of almost identical analyses of muscles or barely-changed poses.
The converse of this is, of course, that the book can only really scratch the surface but, if you want a well thought-out introduction to a huge subject that can be a lifetime’s study in itself, there really is no better place to start.
First published 2007
£8.99
Giovanni Civardi’s Complete Guide To Drawing || Giovanni Civardi
Posted by henry in Author: Giovanni Civardi, Medium: Drawing, Publisher: Search Press, Subject: Figure, Subject: Techniques on November 21, 2006
This is a bind-up of all of the Giovanni Civardi books previously published by Search Press. As such, it’s a substantial guide to drawing mostly figures and anatomy, but with a chapter on scenery thrown in. 376 pages for £20 is not bad value at all, although you might find that, as a paperback, it takes a bit of a battering, because this is more of a book to dip into than one to follow right through as a course.
The author’s style is perhaps a bit old-fashioned and you won’t find anything startlingly new or avant-garde here, but, equally, you may not regard this is as a criticism, nor is it meant as such. Giovanni is nothing if not thorough and he explains things like perspective, shading, hatching, form and proportion with admirable clarity. Every page is filled with sensitive drawings, mostly in pencil, which you can copy or emulate.
This is not really a completely complete guide to drawing and, if you want a more structured course, you’re probably best off looking elsewhere. However, if your interests are mainly figurative, then you could pick up a lot of ideas and techniques from it.
First published 2006
£19.99
Drawing Light & Shade: Understanding Chiaroscuro || Giovanni Civardi
Posted by henry in Author: Giovanni Civardi, Medium: Drawing, Publisher: Search Press, Series: The Art Of Drawing on August 22, 2006
Search Press have been issuing books from this Italian author for quite some time and it’s quietly building up into a comprehensive encyclopaedia of techniques for people, faces and figures.
Classical in style and very slightly old-fashioned in their approach, the books and the instructional material are nevertheless very well presented and quite easy to follow.
Chiaroscuro is, simply, light and shade. It’s about using cross-lighting to create shadows that provide instant modelling on any subject and it’s the technique most associated with Rembrandt portraits. Used to excess, it soon looks hackneyed and care needs to be taken in its execution to avoid being heavy-handed. Used thoughtfully, it can instantly introduce natural modelling and a lifelike appearance. For the beginner struggling to avoid portraits that look flat as a pancake, it has great appeal and over-use will inevitably follow. However, practice makes perfect and more subtle handling will come with greater experience.
It isn’t possible to provide a complete guide in only 64 pages, but this book will give the reader a solid grounding in technique as well as point the way for further study and practice.
First published 2006
£8.99
