Book Review: Working with Color

A new book by urban sketcher and watercolorist Shari Blaukopf explores the practical possibilities of color.



Working with Color: Techniques for Using Watercolor and Color Media on the Go is a vibrant collection of painter's wisdom, served up with colorful artwork and friendly and encouraging captions.



The book is the latest in the Urban Sketching Handbook series. It's printed in a small (5 x 8 inch) flexible covered book of 112 pages that almost looks like a sketchbook, and there's at least one color reproduction on almost every page.

Shari builds on her experience as a workshop leader to structure the book. She covers painting and drawing tools, pigments and color mixing, color & value, limited color, color relationships, and neutral colors.

She includes a few charts and diagrams to clarify points made in the brief text.

Watercolor by Mike Kowalki

In addition to her own work, she also includes artwork by friends and colleagues, such as Mike Kowalski and Donald Colley.

Other volumes in the Urban Sketching Handbook series include:
• Working with Color: Techniques for Using Watercolor and Color Media on the Go
• Understanding Perspective: Easy Techniques for Mastering Perspective Drawing on Location 
• People and Motion: Tips and Techniques for Drawing on Location
• Architecture and Cityscapes: Tips and Techniques for Drawing on Location 

Shari also has a Basic Watercolor Brush Set
Shari Blaukopf's website

New Book Recommendations

I've been enjoying these new books, and I thought they might interest you, too.

Bouguereau and America 

192 pages, 10 x 12 inches, hardback. Publisher: Yale University Press
The catalog that accompanies the current exhibition in Milwaukee includes over a hundred color reproductions of the French academic master's work, including many detailed, full-bleed closeups that let you survey the paint surface. The exhibition of nearly 50 major paintings covers his whole career, from his early historically inspired works to his later paintings of Italian children and angels. The text by Tanya Paul, Stanton Thomas, and four others focuses on Bouguereau's popularity, his standing with critics, and what drove American collectors to prize his works. Unlike the catalog from the 1984 exhibition, the text doesn't really look into his teaching principles and painting methods.

End of the Megafauna: The Fate of the World's Hugest, Fiercest, and Strangest Animals
256 pages, 8.3 x 10.3 inches
Dinosaurs get a lot of attention, but the large mammals and birds that flourished in the last few million years were just as amazing. There were 9-foot-tall flightless birds, gorilla-size lemurs, and massive sloths. Except for a few familiar survivors like elephants, giraffes, bison and moose, these megafauna or giant animals are all extinct. Until recently, it was assumed that they were all killed off by human hunters, but the actual story may be more complex. The author is Ross MacPhee, a paleomammalogist from the American Museum of Natural History, who has conducted over 50 expeditions to nearly every corner of the globe. He explores all the competing extinction theories and explains how we've learned about paleoenvironments and phylogenetics. The book is amply illustrated with new paintings by Peter Schouten, along with photos and diagrams.
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The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World

416 pages, 8.9 x 6.2 inches 

Steve Brusatte is a young American paleontologist who has been involved with many key new discoveries in this current golden age of dinosaur science. He starts his account with the rise of the dinosaurs as unimpressive small creatures living at the fringes of Triassic environments that were dominated by other, bigger creatures. He then tells what happened as dinosaurs came to dominate world ecosystems, culminating with famous types like the Tyrannosaurus rex (one of Brusatte's specialties). He ends his story by examining various extinction theories that explain how all but the birds were wiped out. Woven through this well-written scientific account are his personal stories of discovery and collaboration with other scientists. This book will appeal not just to dinosaur fanatics but to any general reader.

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Animal: Exploring the Zoological World

352 pages, 10.5 x 12 inches This unique picture book features over 300 images of animals taken from many different cultures and from eras ranging from the ancient world to the present. The images tell the story of animals and our response to them, and will prove stimulating and inspiring to any visually driven person. The book's promo copy gives a sense of the scope: "From the first cave paintings, extraordinary medieval bestiaries and exquisite scientific illustration, to iconic paintings, contemporary artworks and the incredible technological advancements that will shape our futures together, the huge range of works reflects the beauty and variety of animals themselves - including butterflies, hummingbirds, bats, frogs, tigers, dogs, jellyfish, spiders and elephants, to name a few."

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Illustrator, writer, and concept artist Simon Stålenhag has produced three stunning volumes of visual science fiction, and they're all inspiring and well executed. The first two, Tales from the Loop and Things from the Flood, describe an alternate 1980s universe where big research firms have built mysterious giant robots and underground facilities that for the most part aren't working anymore. Things start to get weird as some teenage kids begin exploring them. Stålenhag's most recent book, The Electric State, tells a separate story set in the USA, about a woman and her companion robot crossing post-apocalyptic landscapes trying to solve a mystery. For the most part the illustrations are set in mysterious twilight or fog.
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How to Read Water: Clues and Patterns from Puddles to the Sea
Author Tristan Gooley is a world explorer, pilot, and sailor. Throughout his explorations he has made  many fascinating observations about the behavior of water. His book is divided into chapters such as "rivers and streams," "the color of water," "reading waves," and "water at night." He concentrates on both commonplace and exotic observations. The book is full of well-written explanations that deepen your appreciation of the earth's universal material. The book resembles the kind of observations you might have read in my own book, Color and Light, or the classic in the field of backyard science, M. Minnaert's The Nature of Light and Colour in the Open Air.

Book Review: "Fundamentals of Composition"

Preliminary studies by Ilya Repin, from the book Fundamentals of Composition

It's difficult to learn about the teachings of the Russian Academy because not much information is available in English.

Sketches and finished paintings by Peter Paul
Rubens, Karl Bryullov, and Aleksander Deyneka

Fortunately, a few years ago, Vladimir Mogilevtsev, a professor at the Russian Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, released two books: Fundamentals of Drawing and Fundamentals of Painting, which I've reviewed on the blog. 

Now the third book in his series, Fundamentals of Composition, is also available in English.

Rather than thinking of composition in purely aesthetic terms, he starts with an emphasis on the concept or story that drives the picture. 

In this respect, Mr. Mogilevtsev's approach is similar to Howard Pyle, who always focused on the concept that powered the picture and made sure the design supported that idea.

The book covers basic principles, such as variety, shape, silhouette, edges, unity, rhythm, color, and texture. But his coverage of these familiar ideas is fresh and original, and he provides lots of examples. 

He avoids laying down rules or laws, because one generation of artists breaks the rules of the previous generation. All of the basic principles are universal enough to have remained in place despite the changing styles through history.

Ilya Repin, Jesus Raising Jairus's Daughter

Most of the examples used in the book are from old masters, such as Michelangelo and Rembrandt, as well as 19th century Russians, such as Valentin Serov and Ilya Repin. 

Repin's painting of Jesus raising Jairus's daughter's is analyzed in terms of the hierarchy of details. 

Instead of trying to reveal a hidden grid of geometric relationships, this approach breaks up the picture into interest areas to show what's most important in it. The shapes are mapped out like a puzzle and numbered according to their importance.    

Alexander Ivanov, studies for The Appearance of
Christ Before the People, 1836-1857.

The second half of the book presents a wealth of examples of unpublished preliminary sketches and studies by Russian painters such as Surikov, Repin, Serov, and Ivanov (above). Alexander Ivanov produced hundreds of exquisite studies over a 20 year period in preparation for his painting of The Appearance of Christ Before the People.

As with the other books by publisher 4Art, the production is high quality. The book is hardcover, 9.25 x 13.5 inches, 88 pages, printed throughout in color on chrome-coat paper.

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Books in the Fundamentals of Art series:
Fundamentals of Composition (English Edition
Fundamentals of Drawing (English Edition)
Fundamentals of Painting (English Edition)

Related books:
Anatomy of Human Figure: The Guide for Artists (Tan cover, below left, Russian Language)

Academic Drawings and Sketches (Blue cover, below right, Russian Language)



Previous blog posts: 
• Russian Books on Academic Drawing and Painting
• Best How-To Art Books 
• Survival Guide for Art Students

Nature Drawing with John Muir Laws

When you're drawing plants or animals, there are two major issues you have deal with: the mechanics of how to draw, and the understanding of what you're drawing.

It's rare for an instructional book to offer a thoughtful approach to both of these areas, but The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling does it.

Artist and naturalist John Muir Laws breaks down the subject with a different sub-topic on each page, taking a fresh, comprehensive look at sketching and journaling from nature.

He discusses how to focus your attention, how to think visually, and techniques you can use with pens, graphite, watercolor and gouache.

Whether you're an artist who wants to understand nature better or a naturalist who wants to draw, you can benefit from the structural insights into flowers, birds, and mammals that Laws offers.

For example, he analyzes the symmetry of flowers and identifies the parts of mushrooms. It's all well illustrated with diagrams and step-by-step stages.  

After you read the book, you'll have a much deeper appreciation of the skeleton, the muscle groups, and the fur / feather patterns on a variety of species. 

Laws has a special awareness of body posture and attitude, and how to sequence your drawing to capture it accurately. For the field observer, he is practical about what you can reasonably observe with your eyes and record from memory. 

The emphasis of the book is on drawing from direct observation. If there's a shortcoming of the book, it's that he doesn't really adequately cover the pros, cons, and practical benefits that photography can provide.  

The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling is 300 pages, softcover, with illustrations on every page. It lists for $35, but you can get a copy for $24.00 on Amazon. If you're specifically interested in birds, I'd also recommend The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds, which is a shorter volume that stays with just that subject. 

Haddon Sundblom Book Review

A new monograph on the art of Haddon Sundblom (1899-1976) is now available.

Sundblom was dominant in the field of advertising illustration, expressing the exuberance and confidence of mid-20th-century American society.

The 224-page hardback monograph continues the splendid series from the Illustrated Press spotlighting notable American illustrators.



Born of Swedish immigrants, Sundblom's cheerful, colorful oil paintings were influenced by Anders Zorn and John Singer Sargent. He was a famously fast painter, producing complete illustrations alla prima.



He is best known for his portrayals of Santa Claus for Coca-Cola, basing the character described in Clement Moore's original poem, but making the character more human-sized and rosy-cheeked. His neighbor posed for many years, and later the artist used his own face as reference.



In addition to his advertising art, Sundblom made significant contributions in the field of dramatic story illustrations. He also influenced a generation of other illustrators in the Chicago area. His circle of friends, colleagues, and students included Harry Anderson, Andrew Loomis, and Gil Elvgren.



The book has a brief biography and 300 illustrations taken from both original art and tear sheets.

224 pages, 9x12 inches, hardcover with dust jacket. $44.95 (U.S.)
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Resources
Haddon Sundblom on Wikipedia
You can get The Art of Haddon Sundblom at Amazon
The standard edition also available at the publisher's website
You can preview the book online here
Another book: Dream of Santa: Haddon Sundblom's Advertising Paintings for Christmas, 1932-1964
Magazine: IIllustration Magazine with features on Haddon Sundblom, James Avati, and Jack Faragasso

Review of 'History of Illustration'

Longtime readers of this blog may recall a post way back in 2011 where I pointed out that there is no book on the history of illustration, and there ought to be one. It's such a big topic that no one dared to attempt it before.

Since then, a team of college professors, museum curators, illustrators, collectors, and historians divided up the gigantic task of writing one. There were long debates in group emails about how to define illustration, and how far back to take the story. Should non-western image-making traditions be included? Who would write about them? How much academic theory should there be, compared to biographical detail or stylistic analysis? Should the book be lavishly illustrated, or should the pictures exist in a digital supplement to the printed book?

The team opted to define illustration broadly as 'visual communication through pictorial means,' and they decided to encompass a vast scope of history, from cave paintings to the digital age, as well as a worldwide geographic reach.


I was skeptical at first that such a wide-angle approach to the topic was even possible, given the risk of skimming too lightly over the universe of information. I was also worried that it would narrow the coverage on any given subject (such as Golden Age American illustration) to such brief coverage that it wouldn't be deep enough. I was also frankly dubious about a book led by academics, who often obscure a topic by burdening straightforward facts with political agendas.


But I think they largely avoided those pitfalls and came up with a book that's authoritative, encompassing, and yet still accessible, with something to satisfy the eye and the mind of almost any reader. History of Illustration is a monumental survey of the art of the visual communicator. It's a good thing that the book is tailored for college classes, because professors can assign it for a variety of visual studies classes, and illustration majors can at last have a printed history of their own vocation. The book is also a must-buy for libraries, since it fills a very large gap. For aficionados, it's a celebration of visual culture in all its variety. There's no other book like it.


There are forty-nine contributors, each an expert on their topic. Each is given a chance to explore his or her subject in a series of deep-dive chapters and spotlight articles. For example, Illustration historian Alice Carter oversees the chapter about "British Fantasy and Children's Book Illustration, 1650-1920" and David M. Mazierski, an expert in biomedical communication, writes a section about "Medical Illustration after Gray's Anatomy: 1859 to the present."

The book looks at the illustrator's work in pre-print cultures, not only in Europe, but in China, India, Latin America, and Africa. After the development of print, literacy, and mass media, illustration reached with a wide audience, and the authors chronicle the rise of the illustrated magazines, the children's picture books, wartime propaganda posters, popular and pulp magazines, and underground comix.

History of Illustration is published by Bloomsbury, a leading textbook publisher. There are 870 illustrations, mostly printed quarter-page size and in color. The book comes as a hardcover, softcover, and e-book, 554 pages, 9 x 12 inches, and it's priced at around $200 for the hardback and $90 for the softcover, which is par for the course as textbooks go, but a high price for art students and general readers.
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History of Illustration, 554 pages, 870 illustrations, 9 x 12 inches, full color.

 If you're primarily interested in American illustration history, I think the best book is Walt Reed's "Illustrator in America," which is really a biographical survey.  and Susan Meyer's "America's Great Illustrators," which focuses on a few of the leading Golden Age-ers. ---