Good books on learning how to paint and draw

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amazon.com are a great source for books on learning how to paint and learning how to draw

With one of the largest ranges available on the internet, great discounts and worldwide delivery, you can't go wrong!

Another great place to look is http://www.artinthemaking.com/ with "magazines, books and vacations for artists by artists from around the world."

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How Did You Paint That?: 100 Ways to Paint People and Figures :

Tips, Inspiration and Instruction in All Mediums

Tips, inspiration and easy to grasp instruction on painting people and portraits in all of the main art mediums

How Did You Paint That?: 100 Ways To Paint Seascapes, Rivers & Lakes

(Paperback)

A great little introduction into the art and techniques of landscape painting

How Did You Paint That? 100 Ways To Paint Favorite Subjects

(Paperback)

by International Artist

How Did You Paint That?: 100 Ways to Paint Still Lifes & Florals

(Paperback)

by International Artist

A great little introduction into the art and techniques of painting flowers and still lifes

How Did You Paint That?: 100 Ways to Paint Flowers & Gardens :

tips, inspiration and instruction in all mediums

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Seascapes & Landscapes: Course Of Drawing And Painting

(Start to Learn) (Hardcover)

by Josep Casals

This book aims to approach in a clear and simple way two of the techniques most commonly used in the world of Drawing and painting seascapes and landscapes. Both are approached from the point of view of the beginner, concentrating on subjects that are easy to acheive.

With chapters on and exercises to complete in:

Composition of subjects within a landscape

Painting trees in the landscape

Painting calm seas

Painting objects reflected in the water

Basic notions of perspective

Acheiving depth through the use of color

Opening up the landscape scene with the use of whites

Painting dry on damp

The use of complementary colors

The sea as a protagonist (Whatever that means!?!!)

Painting landscapes in gouache

The use of backlighting and differnet tones in a landscape painting

Loose brush-stroke techniques

This is another book for absolute beginners but it is as "cheap as chips" from Amazon.com and well worth a few bob to get you started!

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Oil Painting: Course Of Drawing And Painting

(Start to Learn) (Hardcover)

by Josep Casals

From the middle of the fifteenth century to the present oil painting has been the indisputable queen of painting techniques. In spite of the more recent advances in chemistry and all the novel products that these have generated, it never ceases to surprise how vivid the colors and textures of oil paintings can be. The medium also has many advantages such as a slow drying time allowing for the paint to be manipulated it many ways - and of course, the durability of the finally dried surface of the paint is legendary. Also, the ability to be able to wash or sponge-off the painting when it gets dusty or dirty over time, is a tremendous advantage if you live in a big city in a tropical country and you can't afford air-conditioning. (One reason why I have never sold a single painting in Manila - I have only done pastels up to this point...)

The book includes chapters on:

First steps in oil painting

Step-by-step flower painting using oils

Obtaining colors with oil paints

Step-by-step landscape painting

Drawing in oils - with a step-by-step banana and lemon still-life

Using different brush-strokes - with a step-by-step river scene landscape

Using cool colors - with a step-by-step still life with apples

Using masses of color - with a garden painting demonstration

Using light and shadow - with a pomegranate still life demonstration

Pictorial planes with a step-by-step bottles and tablecloth still life demo

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Creative Pastel Techniques
Forward by: Ian Sidaway
Publishers: David & Charles Publishers (August 2001)
Copyright: David & Charles Publishers
ISBN number: 0715311492
Other details: 128 pages. Hard-back. Full color.

Available from:

In the UK, the book is available from all good book shops.
I bought my copy at the National Bookstore branch in Robinsons, Ermita, Manila.
The book can also be purchased online from Amazon.com

 

 

My attempt at one of the "creative pastel projects" from the book.

You can see some more of my early stuff at Members Gallery - My Early Attempts at Pastel Painting

 

Book review:

In a few words: A nice book to get you started in pastel painting. I found it very useful, interesting and informative.

Artfreaks.com ratings:
Usefulness and practicability: 5 stars
Interest and information: 4 stars
Attractiveness: 4 stars

Before I started with any of the worked examples, I read Creative Pastel Techniques from cover to cover. It was a surprisingly good read for an instructional manual!!

I found the "creative pastel projects," (worked examples - using different styles, materials and techniques,) very useful indeed. In fact, once I got started with a few of them myself, I found that my enthusiasm for the pastel media had taken on a life of it's own! With a limited amount of time available to me for painting, I soon found more subject matter in the form of newspaper and magazine photographs that I wanted to copy coming my way than I had time for. I persevered with most of the creative pastel projects in the book though - even though the subject matter was not always my first choice - and I found the time well spent in getting a basic grounding in the main techniques.

I found the book truly inspirational, highly instructive and well worth the rather high price that I paid for my copy at one of the National Bookstore branches in the Philippines.

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The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
Author: Betty Edwards
Publishers: UK: Harper Collins. Published in the USA by Jeremy P. Teacher / Putnam, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc.
Copyright: Betty Edwards 1979, 1989, 1992, 1999
ISBN number: 0 00 711645 4
Other details: 291 pages, mostly in black and white but with one chapter in color.
The version reviewed below was a soft-back, approximately 230mm x 191mm x 20mm (9" x 7.5" x 0.7")

Available from:

In the UK, the book is available from all good book shops.
It can also be purchased from amazon.com

 

Book review:

In a few words: The perfect book to get you started!

Artfreaks.com ratings:
Usefulness and practicability: 5 stars
Interest and information: 5 stars
Attractiveness: 4 stars

This book was a real eye-opener for me... Before I picked up a copy of The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, I couldn't draw to save my life. The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is quite heavy on the psychology of drawing (as you might expect from the title!!) But with words of wisdom and encouragement like: "If you have learned how to drive a car, you can learn how to draw!" - and a pretty awful example of one of Van Gogh's early attempts at drawing, you soon get the courage you need to have a go yourself!

After many years of procrastination - wanting desperately to have a go at producing my own art but never quite having the courage to take the plunge - this is the book that finally gave me the encouragement that I needed to get started. The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain breaks down the barriers that can prevent adults and people in later life from taking up drawing or painting.

I particularly like the way that Betty Edwards likens the ability of learning how to draw to the acquired skill of driving a car! She does a very convincing job of proving to the reader that the only real barriers to learning drawing are in the mind - NOT in the hands! One of the first exercises that you will do, if you follow the book, is to copy a drawing upside down... You will be surprised at the results!

This is (as you would expect from the title,) more of a book on the psychology of learning to draw - rather than a whole lot of technique. Different techniques and tricks of the trade will get you nowhere if every time you pick up a pencil and paper, you end up with such unsatisfactory results that you just want to give up trying. That is not to say that the author ignores technique altogether... The one I particularly liked and found very useful was "toning" the paper with graphite, before you start and then using an eraser to get the brightest highlights.

 

The proof!:

This is a picture of the self-portrait that I done, as instructed by the author, at the start of the couse:

 

I didn't actually get around to doing the "after" portrait, as, now that I have got started, I prefer to copy from photographs. Here's one that I copied from a magazine, shortly after completing "The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain:

Now I know that I am an ugly bugger - and Faye looks MUCH more attractive than I have drawn her - but, in terms of the drawings themselves, I don't think that there can be much argument about my improvement, after having read the book and worked through some of the exercises. If you work through all of the exercises, and follow the book to the letter, you should be able to make even greater strides in your drawing!