Great Dogs Amazing Artists

The book of Dog art is soon avaliable.
You can have a preview of the artwork in the book:

Preview

I have my Black Cockerspaniel drawing in the book.

Grazing Days

I went on a photo-shoot for a white horse, I saw in the field. He was a little far away even for my zoom. Did get some shots though. On my bike home, I saw some other horses too. I took a few photos. But when I saw the images on the PC, one photo from the second horse-shoot, grabed me immediatly, so that was my first choise to draw. With a little compositional changes I went to the drawingtable. I find the composition original, and want to emphasize the sunlight and shadows + express a calm mood. It's 8x11 inches on Hahnemühle Nostalgia (a paper I also like for cp).

Book review: J.D. Hillberry - Drawing realistic textures in pencil

Title: Drawing realistic textures in pencil"
Author: J.D. Hillberry
Publisher: Northlight
Pages: 128

Stars: *****
Level: Mediate to advanced

(please read this to see how I rate the books)

Drawing in graphite.
J.D. Hillberry is very talented and draws the subjects in the book extremely good. Together with graphite the author uses a variaty of tools; different pencils, charcoal and blendingtools. The book is based on combining these tools with ordinary graphite pencil. Splendid chapters on light, values and light effects on textures. Different stroke and blending techniques are covered. The lessons are in many steps and with good instruction. The majority of objects drawn are man-made objects, but there are also a portrait of a baby and a dog and cat. I find the authors greatest abilities are on the man-made objects. The book is very helpful on learning to draw those and will appeal mostly to people interested in drawing such things. Yet the chapters on light and values and how to combine the different tools will be usefull for all subjects.

Book review: Draw real animals - Lee Hammond

Title: "Draw real animals"

Author: Lee Hammond
Publisher: North Light
Pages: 80

Stars: ****
Level: Beginner to mediate

(please read this to see how I rate the books)

Drawing in graphite.Lee Hammond is a good teacher, she explains things in a sympatic and easy to understand way. This book is great when starting to learn about shapes, values and shading. Drawing from photos the shapes are drawn via a grid-method onto paper. Shading and values are very well explained for beginners. Emphasis is on blending values first and later apply fur/textures with pencil or eraser. Chapters on facial features, hair and fur, textures and patterns, composition. 3 to 4 step lessons on the subjects. Animals include; cats, dogs, birds and wildlife from reptiles to mammals. Also a book for teachable children from age 10. I find the author uses too much blending in some of her drawings and the quality of her drawings are a bit varying. A fine book for beginners and mediate in need of understanding values.

Book reviews

I've decided to start blogging book reviews. I am a book-a-holic and I find it helpful myself, when other artists give their reviews on books. The reviews are on drawing and painting books, there are older and newer titles and in no particular order.
To simplify things, I made a 5 star rating:

1 star: Disapointing *

2 star: Not very good **

3 star: Good ***

4 star: Very good ****

5 star: Excellent *****

and this is accompanied by a written review. The stars given are measured with the level I also consider:

a. Beginner

b. Mediate

c. Advanced

So a beginners book can get 5 stars as well as an advanced book.
Please remember this is my subjective view of the books. I hope you will find it helpful when searching for books.

Do you collect artwork - with Poll

I've added a poll with the question : Do you collect artwork?

The poll runs for a year, you can choose several answers. Please take a minut to answer the poll, thanks. It's just below the "About me" information
You are welcome to tell more as a comment here