Archive for category Series: Artist’s Bible
The Fairy Artist’s Figure Drawing Bible || Linda Ravenscroft
Posted by Henry in Author: Linda Ravenscroft, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Artist's Bible, Subject: Fantasy art on Jul 21, 2009
The number of books that has appeared recently on fantasy and fairy painting suggests a strong interest and this latest addition to the Artists’ Bible series deserves to do well.
A catalogue of the many characters from fairyland, it includes descriptions of how to draw and paint them as well as offering suggestions for costumes and facial expressions. My own aversion to the subject is on record, but there’s no doubt that this is well done and presented in a way that makes it easy to find what you want and then to follow the really quite detailed instructions. That the author is a respected artist in the field only adds to the book’s authority and value.
The Fantasy Artist’s Figure Drawing Bible || Matt Dixon
Posted by Henry in Author: Matt Dixon, Publisher: A&C Black, Series: Artist's Bible, Subject: Fantasy art on Oct 6, 2008
The Artist’s Bible format is ideally suited to this character-by-character guide to populating your fantasy art. There’s everything from Hobbits (here called Halflings to avoid the obvious copyright issues) and Trolls to Amazons and Warriors. Each character is given 6 pages showing a completed painting and basic aspects of design and personality and then ways of developing individuality and the shapes used in the construction of the final drawing.
By no means intended as a masterclass, this is nevertheless a very handy source of reference and even experienced practitioners may find useful tips on dealing with characters they are not immediately familiar with. For the beginner, it’s an invaluable way of learning the many tricks of the trade, although you should be aware that a general manual of drawing and a more basic introduction to fantasy art would be desirable additions to your library.
This is a nicely done little book that manages to be entertaining and amusing as well as instructive.
The Coloured Pencil Artist’s Drawing Bible || Jane Strother
Posted by Henry in Author: Jane Strother, Medium: Pencil, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Artist's Bible, Subject: Techniques on Jun 28, 2008
Coloured pencils have always been the Cinderella of art materials. They’re the things we give children, that we buy cheaply by the box because they don’t make too much mess and they don’t require hours of preparation and cleaning up afterwards (the pencils; children do that all by themselves). So we put them aside when we grow up and become Proper Artists and move on to the serious matter of oils and watercolours. And maybe pastels.
Graphic designers are not so constrained, however. Having a job to do, they’ll use any tool that gets it done and they have driven the development of ranges of artist and designer quality pencils that can hold their head up with any other medium. And that has, in its turn, spawned the occasional book that shows you just what you can achieve if you just believe.
Put all these innovative ideas together with a proven and excellent series and you have the perfect guide for both the beginner and more experienced artist alike.
Search Press 2008
£12.99
The Landscape Artist’s Drawing Bible || Hazel Harrison
Posted by Henry in Author: Hazel Harrison, Medium: Drawing, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Artist's Bible, Subject: Landscape on Mar 18, 2008
Look up the series in the categories link below and you’ll see how much I like these books. Imaginatively produced and well illustrated, they offer a great deal of information in a compact space and earlier volumes have sold in, well, volume.
Now that the media titles have been disposed of, the editors are moving to subjects and this new title offers a huge variety of images and techniques and covers pretty well all the drawing media in both black, tone and colour.
None of the titles in the series follows exactly the same format inside, rather following what’s suitable for the matter in hand. Here, you start with a section on media and marks, essential for the beginner, but maybe one to skip through for the more experienced artist. The bulk of the book is then taken up with a series of techniques and tutorials that introduce shapes, tonal values, colour, perspective and so on. Just about every type of landscape (including townscapes) and landscape feature is covered and there are more in the gallery section and the very handy photo gallery that provides real-life images for your own interpretation (another neat and original touch).
Search Press 2008
£12.99
The Watercolour Flower Artist’s Bible || Claire Waite Brown
Posted by Henry in Author: Claire Waite Brown, Medium: Watercolour, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Artist's Bible, Subject: Flowers on Mar 18, 2008
This series just gets better and better. Having been through the main media and also colour mixing, it’s now getting down to subjects. The editorial team at the originators, Quarto, have the illustrated book down to a fine art and they can convey more in one double-page spread than many others do in a whole chapter. The result is that you get information in a format that’s easy to understand and absorb without being dumbed down. Sure, you can find more comprehensive, more learned books on flower painting (one of the most published subjects there is), but you won’t get half this information in such a concise form.
What you do get is a thoroughly comprehensive guide to flower painting divided into three sections. The first is Materials and Techniques, fairly comprehensive and the one which the more experienced artist might want to skip over. After that, there are demonstrations grouped by flower shapes and then a directory of flowers, arranged by colour. This last makes sense because, as artists, we tend to think of flowers in terms of their colour rather than families or botanical names. It just feels more logical and this is typical of the sort of sense that pervades the book. It’s one you’re going to feel at home with quite quickly and you’re not going to be forever turning the pages over to try to find what you’re looking for.
Like all the others in the series, it’s spiral bound, so it stays flat when you open it.
Search Press 2008
£12.99
The Bible Of Sculpting Techniques || Claire Waite Brown
Posted by Henry in Author: Claire Waite Brown, Medium: Sculpture, Publisher: A&C Black, Series: Artist's Bible, Subject: Techniques on Oct 16, 2007
This is a well-designed series that’s established itself with other subjects and which offers an easy reference to a variety of techniques and a spiral binding that lays flat so that you can keep it open while both your hands are otherwise occupied.
All the other volumes in the series have gone down well and I have no reason to suppose that this one won’t as well, although I’m not really qualified to comment on sculpture. All I can say it that the illustrations are copious and clear and that it’s always apparent both what you’re looking at and what the accompanying text refers to. I suspect that the appeal is going to be to the beginner or to someone who’s just developing their skills rather than the more experienced practitioner and, if that person needs a handy reference manual, then this is undoubtedly it. The editors’ track record on other subjects bodes well and I’d say it’s definitely one to consider.
A&C Black 2007
£12.99
The Potter's Bible || Marylin Scott
Posted by Henry in Author: Marylin Scott, Medium: Pottery, Publisher: A&C Black, Series: Artist's Bible, Subject: Techniques on Oct 16, 2007
This is a well-designed series that’s established itself with other subjects and which offers an easy reference to a variety of techniques and a spiral binding that lays flat so that you can keep it open while both your hands are otherwise occupied.
All the other volumes in the series have gone down well and I have no reason to suppose that this on won’t as well. The illustrations are copious and clear and that it’s always apparent both what you’re looking at and what the accompanying text refers to. I suspect that the appeal is going to be to the beginner or to someone who’s just developing their skills rather than the more experienced practitioner and, if that person needs a handy reference manual, then this is undoubtedly it. The editors’ track record on other subjects bodes well and I’d say it’s definitely one to consider.
A&C Black 2007
£12.99
Tile Artists Bible || Jacqui Atkin
Posted by Henry in Author: Jacqui Atkin, Medium: Ceramics, Publisher: A&C Black, Series: Artist's Bible, Subject: Tile making on Mar 26, 2007
Quarto, the book packagers, have hit on a winning formula with this pocket-sized series with its spiral binding that allows it to lay flat in use and simple layouts that occupy no more than one or two pages at a time so that you really can work with it open at your side.
What you get here is a series of 200 decorative designs with easy-to-follow instructions on how to manufacture them and then also how to lay the tiles so as to make up a larger image. Experienced workers will probably turn the pages fairly quickly, muttering darkly about what Basil Fawlty would refer to as “the bleedin’ obvious” but, with so much variety, I’m prepared to bet that anyone looking at this book is going to come away with at least one new idea that could justify the not-unreasonable purchase price. Those new to the craft will appreciate the simple approach and the sheer volume of ideas that are bound to prove inspiring.
First published 2007
£16.99
The Cartoonist's Bible || Franklin Bishop
Posted by Henry in Author: Franklin Bishop, Medium: Drawing, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Artist's Bible, Subject: Cartooning on Aug 22, 2006
The first thing you notice when you look at a book on cartooning is that they’re never (ever) written by anyone you’ve heard of. Initially, there’s a pang of disappointment; after all, what you’d really like is to hear how [insert name of favourite cartoonist] goes about things. But hang on a minute, all those people have readily identifiable styles. They draw like they draw and you can spot their style a mile off. You wouldn’t want to draw like that yourself, what you want is to develop an individual style that makes you stand out in just the same way.
So, you’re going to have to put up with another commercial artist whose work you’ve probably seen hundreds of times without knowing it because they work to order and in almost any required style. Suddenly it doesn’t sound too bad, it starts to make sense. Unfortunately this book didn’t come with an information sheet, so I can’t tell you who Franklin Bishop is, but don’t let that worry you. He’s OK, sound, knows his stuff.
The Artist’s Bible series has previously been working its way through a variety of painting media and making a damn good fist of it. From a small, but not constricted, page size and a lay-flat binding, the various titles offer basic advice on a wide range of techniques and application methods, most of which are handled across a single spread so that you can get potted information easily and concisely. What you sacrifice in depth of information, you get back in ease of use and clear presentation that, most of the time, will tell you as much as you need to know as a starting point or for general information.
This particular book runs through tools and materials, basic drawing and types of cartoon as well as covering the process of going professional and a look at the various markets before concluding with a rather handy gallery of expressions.
You know what’s nagging me? Every page of this book I look at, I think, “I’ve seen this bloke’s work somewhere”. He’s got to be working under other names. You may not have heard of him, but I’d swear you’ve seen his work.
The Artist’s Bible series is originated by the packager Quarto, who have been in the forefront of illustrated book design for many years and deserve a mention.
First published 2006
£12.99
The Pastel Artist’s Bible || Claire Waite Brown
Posted by Henry in Author: Claire Waite Brown, Medium: Pastel, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Artist's Bible, Subject: Techniques on Aug 22, 2006
This excellent little series has now found its way to Pastel. Following the successful formula of spiral binding that allows the book to lay flat in use and, for the most part, confining each section to a single spread, the book covers materials, colour, basic and more advanced techniques and a series of typical subjects from landscape to still lifes, people and animals.
Extensively illustrated, the book is easy to follow and offers a potted guide that’s laid out so that everything is easy to find and it’s the sort of thing you can keep beside you as you work. Being the size of a large pocket, it’s also handy to take out with you on sketching trips, but the reduced page size never feels cramped.
The whole series would form a handy primer for anyone working in any of the media covered, but also contains enough information to satisfy the more experienced worker who just wants the occasional refresher or quick reference tool.
First published 2006
£12.99
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