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Drawing Birds
Using Graphite and Coloured Pencils
Alan Woollett
Search Press
9 March 2017/ ISBN 9781782212966
How-To Books/Art
Reviewed
by Rachel A Hyde
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Capturing wildlife
in art is a popular choice for primers, but this one has a difference
because it is not dealing with paint but pencils. If you associate
graphite pencils with sketching and colored pencils with children,
then the illustrations in this book will soon show you what
both are capable of.
Colored pencils have truly come of age and are hugely in style
right now due to the popularity of adult coloring books. There
is room on the market for a book showing the beginning artist
(or colorist) how to get the best out of budget and mid-priced
pencils, but this book does not deal with these. This is a book
for those who own the artist’s quality pencils rather
than the cheaper alternatives, and they certainly fooled me
as I thought the image on the cover was painted! You would never
guess that pencils were the media for these wonderful, lifelike
works of art, but they are and this book shows you how to get
the best out of them. You can expect all the usual sections
you find in this type of book: what to buy, how to use it, composition,
color, working from photographs, etc., plus plenty of facts
about pencils and why they have been chosen. There are six projects
to work through and are all helpful in building up a repertoire
of pencil knowledge and experience. This artist works by drawing
a sketch on cheap paper then transferring it with tracing paper
to the chosen surface. Then the picture is built up gradually
area by area. If you are total beginner and want to learn basic
drawing skills, this book is not for you; it is more aimed at
artists who want to branch out into working with pencils and
depicting birds in particular. These are very detailed, highly
professional pieces of work which would be daunting for any
beginner, but ideal for the intermediate artist and a real challenge.
Projects have mostly written steps with some staged photographs,
but not as many as in one of the more basic art primers. Depict
a merlin, geese, magpie, arctic terns and a gray heron and,
if your skills are up to it, you will have a picture anybody
would be proud of.
If you cannot find a good range of graphite and colored pencils
locally, try www.searchpress.com for a list of suppliers.
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| UK Reviewer: Rachel
Hyde's work can be found in The Bead Magazine, Making
Jewellery and www.craftsuprint.com/rachel-a-hyde/ |
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