The Watercolor Course You’ve Always Wanted || Leslie Frontz

As if you couldn’t resist the promise of the title, this has the strapline “Guided lessons for beginners and experienced artists”. Wow, something for all the family!

It’s more than a little unfair to make fun of book titles – after all, they only want you to buy the thing and you can’t begrudge them that. This does, however, offer much and it’s only reasonable to ask at the outset: does it live up to its claims?

Well, there’s certainly plenty of variety and Leslie Frontz seems to have no particular preconceptions or prejudices of the kind that can dog all-encompassing guides. They often omit people, or water, or major just a little too much on flowers. Here, though, there’s no preponderance and, if you were wanting to get started with watercolour but were unsure of what your favourite subjects might be, this will allow you to practise everything and find out where your abilities lie. If you have some previous experience, it may still be worth revisiting old haunts from new perspectives.

There’s plenty of advice as you go along, from colour to composition, materials to perspective as well as the choice of surface and subject. You’ll have spotted from the spelling that this is an American book, but neither the style nor the subject matter should be a major stumbling block this side of the Atlantic. My only reservation is that some of the illustrations seem a little muddy. On occasions, this might be down to the use of tinted paper, but I think that some of it is simply poor reproduction, possibly from dodgy photographs. This is mainly a minor cavil though, and you’ll probably find that the author’s enthusiasm and clear explanations more than carry you through.

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The Elements of Landscape Oil Painting || Suzanne Brooker

This thorough and comprehensive guide makes use of explanations, photographs, examples, exercises and demonstrations to teach ways to handle sky, terrain, trees and water.

As with a lot of Watson Guptill books, it’s something to sit down and read, rather than use as a workbook and the text involves quite a lot of discussion rather than simply prescriptive instruction. If you have little patience with that kind of thing, it’ll exasperate you. On the other hand, if you find a list of things to do limiting, you’ll be in your element here. It’s beautifully produced and a pleasure to handle.

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Freehand Figure Drawing for Illustrators || David H Ross

I’ll admit to being slightly perplexed by the subtitle of this: Mastering the art of drawing from memory. The introduction refers to freehand drawing as being able to draw without the aid of a live model or photographic reference. However, the book is a superb reference in itself, so it seems to me that you could simply use it as an in-depth guide (it’s a lot more than a primer) to drawing figures in a variety of poses and above all, in motion. Taken as that, it’s superb because it not only shows the finished result, but also the ways of getting there, from block outlines to anatomical structure via perspective and shading.

The style of the illustrations is maybe slightly archaic and it certainly leans towards fantasy art (I think that’s what the “illustrators” of the title refers to), but neither of these minor reservations should be enough to put you off what’s an invaluable guide that could prove to be a source of reference for a long time to come.

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Classic Human Anatomy In Motion || Valerie L Winslow

The title of this might lead you to suppose that it offers more than it does. Although there are some sequential drawings near the end, it would be more accurate to say that the illustrations are of stress poses with muscle flexion. These figures may have moved into where they are, and may be about to get to somewhere else, but they are for the most part static. If they were photographs, they’d be still rather than motion pictures, although they give the sense of being posed rather than caught by a fast shutter.

That’s not to diminish the value of the book itself. As a guide to drawing the human form, it’s thorough and comprehensive – a phrase I’ve already used today in relation to another Watson Guptill title. There are plenty of studies of bone and muscle structure, of how that builds up into an external appearance, and of drawing techniques. Once again, it’s a book to read rather than work through.

If I’m honest, though, and I had to choose between this and Freehand Figure Drawing for Illustrators, I’d choose the latter.

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Art Students League of New York on Painting || James L McElhinny

This new volume follows on from The Visual Language of Drawing that appeared a few years ago and drew on the work of a well-established institution to provide a variety of views and approaches to its subject.

This, unsurprisingly, follows the same formula. It’s subtitle, Lessons and Meditations on Mediums, Styles and Methods, might lead you to think it’s a bit abstract and academic, but you’d only be partly right. It’s more discussions than meditations and the thoughts of the instructors of the ASL are worth reading. While we’re deconstructing titles, the word Lessons doesn’t mean that there’s overt instruction here: it’s more of a seminar. If you want your books to get you painting with one hand while you read and follow exercises with the other, this won’t cut it. If, though, you enjoy reading about the practice of painting, you might well find the book hard to put down.

The essays that comprise the content are quite long, hugely varied and thoroughly illustrated – the quality of these is excellent, both in terms of the work presented and the reproduction. Above all, it’s not dull. You might find that the views of artists you’ve never heard of are harder to get to grips with but, equally, you might value the fresh viewpoints that brings. Money paid, choice taken.

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The Realism Challenge || Mark Crilley

There was a time, when the world was young, and before the dawn of the internet, when you couldn’t move for books on magic realism. It was a mainly American thing and I always had the feeling it was primarily about being clever for the sake of being clever, but it was certainly eye-catching.

I therefore had an enormous sense of dejà vu when this flopped onto the mat and looked forward to reliving the days of my youth. I know, wild dissolution or what?

Anyway, it’s not magic realism anymore – do keep up – it’s hyperrealism and Mark Crilley is a master of it, it says here. His work is pretty amazing and, if you miss the intermediate stages, you could be forgiven for thinking this is a book of photographs. Whether that’s what you want is up to you but, if your aim is to paint a spanner a mechanic might try to pick up, this is the book that’ll tell you how to do it. Mark is sound on the handling of minute detail and, particularly, of dealing with reflections. To be fair, as well as said spanner, there are also flowers, fruit and seashells, as well as a lot more things that have the kind of texture that lends itself to detailed reproduction. Cardboard, anyone?

If you detect a note of unconviction, you’re right. I’m not sure how many people will want this. However, if you do, I think you’ll find everything you want here. I’m just a little bothered by the reproduction, though, which seems a trifle coarse, spoiling the effect.

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Sketch! || France Belleville-Van Stone

Subtitled “the non-artist’s guide to inspiration, techniques, and drawing daily life”, this is a rather delightful book packed with fun, inspiration and ideas. The text is somewhat anecdotal and is probably best dipped into, stopping when you see something that interests you, rather than reading through. It’s as much an observation of life (and, sometimes, a statement of the obvious) as anything else. Nevertheless, France is an engaging writer and you’ll find as much to divert you here as you will in the drawings, which are eclectic and varied. There are objects, shapes, still lifes, colours, hatching, people, buildings – well, everything you see as you make your way through daily life. If this was a website, it would be a life-log, and it’s none the worse for that.

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Monstrously Funny Cartoons || Christopher Hart

OK, let’s be clear. You stand very little risk of needing your sides stitched back together if you venture into the pages of this book, but the title is a pun (you’d guessed, hadn’t you?). Actually, I managed to raise a smile at most of the pages. This is an engaging book that’s full of ideas if you fancy creating a world of amusing monsters.

I like Christopher Hart. He has a way of creating characters in a very few lines and of conveying his working methods succinctly and clearly. The book is full of good ideas and manages that tricky thing of not looking as though it’s been written by someone who’d like to be a cartoonist but isn’t quite good enough. (The best practitioners are too busy at their craft to write books about it). The instruction is fun, straightforward and produces results. Job done, I’d say.

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Daily Painting || Carol Marine

Oh, I do like American subtitles! This one is “Paint small and often to become a more creative, productive and successful artist”. It’s the label on the tin, so all we have to ask is, does it do what it says?

The idea is a perfect one. Don’t be put off by the feeling of a need for size or elaboration, just get down to it. It’s a stage on from those “painting for people who are too busy to paint” books that get me shouting at the screen (aren’t you glad this isn’t a vlog? – I know I am). This one doesn’t imply you don’t have to set some time aside for your hobby, just that you don’t have to set a whole day aside, or not do it because you can’t. I’m warming to Carol and I haven’t even opened the book yet.

OK, the tin thing. Tick. The book is full of, I’d say concise rather than short, lessons that cover all the basics, and subjects from landscape to still life and portraiture. It’s not a structured course as such, so there’s a bit of jumping about, which is all good exercise and keeps the mind alert and interested. You could get quite a lot from the book by just opening it at random and let serendipity take you where it will.

The only thing I would say is that most of the examples are in oils (despite the back cover bullet-point about becoming confident in any medium). The principles are the same and oils are actually simpler than watercolour, but I do know how some people struggle to translate from one medium to another – though that’s also understandable if you’re building up your basic confidence. Despite that semi-reservation, it’s still a good book and I’d recommend it wholeheartedly.

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Make Comics Like The Pros || Greg Pak & Fred van Lente

The problem with books like this is almost always that they look like nothing you recognise, have maybe even never seen and probably aren’t what you wanted to do in the first place. This, however, is different in that it offers a complete guide to planning, scripting, drawing and setting out a comic book. The probable truth is that, if you need to be told or taught any of this, you’re probably not going to get far. I suspect you need intuitive flair and that you’ll get your influences from and spark off the sort of things you like, which you probably devour assiduously. Comic writers are usually fans.

Never mind, you can still have a go, and there’s one other thing this book has: authors who are established in the field and who you may actually have heard of, rather than people who are only writing a book because they never quite made it in their chosen field and have time on their hands. Greg Pak writes Batman and Superman for DC Comics and Fred van Lente is the author of Marvel Zombies and Incredible Hercules – both plus a lot more. These are the people you want to listen to.

A big chunk of the book is devoted to producing a putative project called Swordmaids. Yes, I know, it’s not the greatest thing ever floated, but Greg and Fred are going to save that for their award-winning projects, OK? It’s credible, which is all that matters, and it’s about learning by doing, the best way. You’ll follow all the processes from Writing For Pictures through Visual Storytelling and Pitching right up to printing, DIY or online and, finally, finding and keeping your audience.

This is a thorough and thoroughly professional approach by authors who not only know what they’re doing but how and why they’re doing it, and they explain everything clearly and completely. If you want to get into comics, this rocks.

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