One of the features of Watson Guptill publications is that they have quite a lot more text than those from other publishers. As such, these are books to sit down and read rather than to skim through and dip into. If you like the more visual approach, then you might find that this bogs you down. However, if you’re looking for something that approaches a subject more thoughtfully and in more depth, then they’re right up your street.
This isn’t a series of lessons or demonstrations, but rather a progressive look at the whys and wherefores of portrait painting as well as, of course, the how. The opening section of the Getting Started chapter, for instance, is “Why paint people?”, a reasonable question in the circumstances. The answer (spoiler alert!) is basically that all people are different. Yes, we knew that, but this gives a flavour of the author’s approach, the rudiments of which I outlined above.
The style of painting is pleasantly loose and the illustrations are generally informal – the sort of thing you might paint for yourself or a friend rather than specific sittings.
If you like portrait work and want to look at it in more depth, I don’t think you’d be disappointed by this book. It’s well and comprehensively illustrated and goes into a bit more detail than some of the alternatives.
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