Book review: One Drawing a Day

This review kicks off the The Big Drawing Book Review 2013 - which I introduced on my main blog Making A Mark.  

It follows on from The Big Drawing Book Review in 2007.  There have been so many new books in the intervening years I thought it was time for another one! You can find out how you too can participate by reading my introduction blog post (see first link above).

It seemed appropriate to start with a book which encourages people to draw.

This then is a review of One Drawing a Day: A 6-Week Course Exploring Creativity with Illustration and Mixed Media by Veronica Lawlor.

The key distinction of this book is that it grew out of a blog created by professional illustrators and art educators which has been more or less posting one drawing a day each month since June 2009.

Title: One Drawing a Day

Synopsis:  This is a structured daily drawing course exploring creativity with illustration and mixed media which allows you to pick and choose the order that you complete the work. The author proposes readers should do 42 daily exercises - one drawing a day - over a period of 6 weeks. Drawing is a euphemism insomuch as in this book it also involves sketching with paint. The focus is on expressionism rather than realism.

Summary review:  This is a book to stimulate those who’d like to improve their drawing and sketching - and to reinvigorate those who know how to draw but need to stay fresh and inspired by what they see and how they draw/sketch/paint. In my opinion, it’s too challenging for beginners but would suit those who like experimenting and want to widen their repertoire of skills and improve their drawing in terms of interpretation and impact. It's both A handy book to have around when your drawing goes stale.  A good book to consult if you want to make progress with your drawing without going to class.

Average customer review Amazon.com 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews) Amazon.co.uk 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews) Goodreads: 77% of people liked it ; 3.40 average rating, 43 ratings, 11 reviews

Highlights the structure of the exercises is flexible - it provides a framework but you can choose what you want to do The Exercises: Push the boundaries of conventional art-making for novice artists and those with no formal education in art and illustration Recommend subject matter to focus on and media to use Focus on observation from the real and not drawing from photos Provide quick tips for those skim reading! They contain some very useful information - I learned a few new things! the book advocates a wide range of materials to use for drawing and sketching - including ink and paint washes which both need brushes. Excellent demonstration of different ways you can use a range of art materials - stimulating for those who like mixed media Very nice production values - design and format are contemporary and easy on the eye; quality of reproduction of images is good There are two social media sites associated with this book where you can see the artwork triggered by use of the book this is the blog One Drawing a Day written by the members of an illustration collective called Studio 1482. There are blog posts most days. There is an a Flickr group - One Drawing a Day. Note that some of the people who participate are adult professional artists.

Think Again? Exercises may feel routine to some with a formal art education - on the other hand it’s nice to have a reminder!  If you are apt to take words very literally, you may feel some of the exercises are a major challenge. Try thinking how you can use the intent and vary the subject matter  The sketches are very “sketchy”. The style is fine by me but some people who like drawings to be “realistic” might not like it. I say “Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!” (NB It took me 10 years to loosen up the way I drew!)  The book lacks variety in terms of different styles of drawing and sketching compared to the variety of sketches seen elsewhere in other books and other projects. Probably connected to the content having been produced by an artists’ collective (Studio 1482).  Those who want to stay home and draw might not like the fact that the book includes exercises which involve getting out and about to draw and sketch  Those who want to stick to one medium which makes them feel comfortable may not appreciate the challenges to their skills and techniques

Who should buy this?: Artists and illustrators who’d like to keep their drawing regular, fresh and creative  People who like structured exercises to complete to create a discipline of habit  People who like experimentation  People who like trying and using different media and mixing media  People who want to devote more time to sketching and need some ideas to get them going  People who like engaging with related social media sites

Who should not buy this? Those wanting to learn how to draw - from the very beginning. I don’t think this is a beginners’ book. it assumes a lot of prior knowledge of art materials and that you will “get on and do” on your own.  Those who want to take their time and draw very precisely  People who like to draw using photographs - unless they want to break away from this limited approach to making art

Author: Veronica Lawlor + others (all are professional illustrators and/or art educators) Publisher: Quarry Books (1 October 2011) (Note: Studio 1482 artists Greg Betza, Margaret Hurst, and Veronica Lawlor are also featured in the Quarry Books release “The Art of Urban Sketching“)  Technical data: Publication Date: 2011 Paperback - 128 pages Available as an ebook? Yes - Kindle version available on Amazon Also available as an ebook via iTunes for reading on an iPad

This book will feature on a new website I'm creating.  

This is my main website about drawing books (which is currently being redesigned) The Best Books about Drawing and Sketching 

NEW Drawing Books in 2013

2013: NEW Books About Drawing is my new website which will track:

• new drawing books in 2013
• revised editions of some well regarded existing publications
• new editions of some historical books about drawing.

Listings are on a month by month basis - as books are listed for publication (however note that its' not unusual for some of these dates to slip a month or two).

The books listed include:

• art instruction books about drawing and sketching - designed specifically for artists working in drawing media and those keeping sketchbooks / journals.
• academic books about drawing
• catalogues for exhibitions about drawings

I don't include every book published and to be frank my aim is to try and identify quality publications rather than more "same as same as" books and those which I regard as dumbed down.

Perspective and Urban Drawing and Sketching

To be published by Wiley
in February 2012

For those who have difficulty drawing buildings and tackling urban sketching there's some books being published by Wiley early in the New Year which might provide help.  In February, Wiley is publishing:

• the sixth edition of Basic Perspective Drawing: A Visual Approach by: John Montague
• Freehand Drawing and Discovery: Urban Sketching and Concept Drawing for Designers by: James Richards

Although their target audience is students and practising designers, architects, planners, and landscape architects, I'm sure there's bound to be content of interest for anybody who is serious about drawing buildings or anything involving perspective.  They've not got to the "see inside" stage as yet - but could be worth a bookmark for those who have an interest in these areas.

Art History

There are also a number of excellent books coming up about drawings by master draftsmen and famous painters.  Examples include:

To be published by D Giles Ltd

in January 2013

January 2013

• Durer to de Kooning: 100 Master Drawings from Munich which is the catalogue of the exhibition which is coming to the Morgan Library and Museum in New York
• Fine Lines: American Drawings from the Brooklyn Museum - this is very first survey of their renowned collection of drawings

February 2013

• Raphael: Drawings - based on the remarkable collection of Raphael's works in the collection of the Städel Museum in Frankfurt.

March 2013

• Albrecht Dürer: Master Drawings, Watercolors, and Prints from the Albertina - this feels like it ought to be connected to an exhibition but I've yet to spot one

June 2013

• Hopper Drawing (Whitney Museum of American Art) - this is an exploration of renowned painter Edward Hopper’s detailed compositional studies and figure drawings.  It also appears to be connected to exhibitions although I can't yet confirm this from the museum websites.  Here are the 'maybe' dates of the exhibition
• Whitney Museum of American Art (05/23/13–10/06/13) 
• Dallas Museum of Art (11/17/13–02/16/14)
• Walker Art Center (03/15/14-06/22/14)

To be published by YaleBooks
in June 2013

This is what Yale Books (the publisher) have to say about the book

In 1967, Hopper's widow, Josephine Nivison Hopper, bequeathed her husband's artistic estate to the Whitney Museum of American Art, including a fascinating collection of more than 2,000 drawings spanning his entire career. This group of works has never been the subject of in-depth study and many have never been reproduced before. Hopper kept these drawings for personal reference as he revisited various themes throughout his career. Carter E. Foster carefully examines how Hopper used his drawings to develop his paintings, arguing that the artist's work can only be fully understood after in-depth study of these preparatory sketches. Foster also argues that Hopper was, in many ways, a traditional draftsman who methodically developed schematic ideas into detailed studies to refine content.
YaleBooks - Hopper Drawing by Carter E. Foster 

Commentary on Drawing

There's to be a revised second edition of the well regarded Vitamin D book - although I have to say Vitamin D2 doesn't have quite the same ring! 

Vitamin D2: New Perspectives in Drawing will be published in May 2013 by Phaidon and will feature contemporary drawing by 115 artists from around the world.

More drawing instruction and Andrew Loomis

The publishers of the venerable art instructor have not finished - we have one more. Fun With A Pencil by: Andrew Loomis was first published in 1939 and is going to be republished in April 2013 by Titan Books.

More Books about Drawing

Below you can find my other websites relating to books about drawing

The Best Books about Drawing and Sketching
Do you want to learn how to draw? Not sure which book to buy? Want to find out which are the best books about drawing and sketching? SCROLL DOWN to find lin...

2012: NEW Books About Drawing
This site lists BRAND NEW books about drawing and sketching due to be published in 2012 on a month by month basis and highlights major new books which I reco...

2011: NEW Books About Drawing
Find out about new books about drawing and sketching published in 2011 - in hardback, paperback and ebook editions. Listings on a month by month basis but ar...

The Best New Art Books: May - July 2012

I've updated The Best NEW Art Books for the period May-July 2012.

I've not had time to update this site each month since March although nearly pulled it off twice! Hence I think what I'm going to be doing in future is display the best new books in the last three months and that way I'm updating a few at a time.

I do however regularly maintain the following in which new books are listed by the month they are published - and you get to see which books are coming up for publication!

• 2012: New Books about Drawing 
• 2012: New Books about Painting

The Main Changes

Fewer art books from print book publishers: It seems to me that fewer art books are being published by the major publishers.  I can still see a lot of self-published books around but I'm not persuaded that many of these are high quality

Manipulation of Amazon ratings: I've also observed what I regard as manipulation of Amazon.  One book in the list somehow managed to acquire 134 customer reviews within 3-4 days of publication.  When you see a very high number you have so fast you have to wonder what that was all about.  Is it genuine?  Who knows?

The Kindlisation of art books continues.  I don't tend to list these as new books unless they have also been out of print for some time.  I've also still to see many publishers who have managed the transition from print to ebook successfully.  I've seen a lot which are "so so" and some which are downright poor.

Did you know that Amazon now sells more ebooks that print books in the UK?  eBooks outsold print books in the USA4 years after the introduction of the Kindle.  It only took 2 years in the UK

For every 100 print books sold through the site, Amazon said it sold 114 titles for its Kindle e-reader device.

This of course is "hype" by Amazon as an awful lot of those who are reading ebooks - like me - are not dong this on a Kindle. We're using our iPads!

Valentin Serov (Best Of Collection)

The Best New Art Book

Of all the books in the list I think the one I'm most interested in buying is about the Master Russian Impressionist painter Valentin Serov.  I keep trying to get to grips with the Russian painters and this particular one reminds me very much of John Singer Sargent so I should really try to find out more about him.

Another reason is because the image websites don't have a lot of images of his paintings eg see paintings by Valentin Serov here

I'm also quite intrigued by the "look inside" Blogging for Creatives: How designers, artists, crafters and writers can blog to make contacts, win business and build success by: Robin Houghton.  I don't there's much it contains for me to learn but I'm interested in how it's presented.

You can see what I've actually bought this year in Making A Mark - My Book List

More about Best Art Books

You can find out more about my "best books" series of websites in Making A Mark's Art Book Lists

Makingamark's Top 10 Fine Art Books - March 2012

Here's the link to my website - Makingamark's Top 10 Fine Art Books - which has been wholly revised to list the top rated and best selling fine art books in March 2012.

Here are the links to the top rated and best selling books in each of the five sections

• How this list is compiled each month

• *** TOP DRAWING BOOKS ***
• DRAWING - Top Rated Drawing Book in March 2012
• DRAWING - Best Selling Drawing Book in March 2012

• *** TOP PAINTING BOOKS ***
• PAINTING - Top Rated Painting Book in March 2012
• PAINTING - Best Selling Book in March 2012

• ***TOP BOOKS ABOUT ARTISTS***
• ARTISTS: Top Rated Book in MARCH 2012
• ARTISTS - Best Selling Book in March 2012

• *** TOP BOOKS ABOUT ART HISTORY ***
• ART HISTORY: Top Rated Book in MARCH 2012
• ART HISTORY - Best Selling Book in MARCH 2012

• *** TOP BUSINESS BOOKS FOR ARTISTS ***
• THE ART BUSINESS: Top Rated Art Book in March 2012
• THE ART BUSINESS - Best Selling Art Book in MARCH 2012

The Best NEW Art Books in March 2012

After a month off last month (due to the Pinterest debacle) I'm back to highlighting new art books.  In putting my revised listing for March together (see end) I came to a couple of conclusions, namely:

• The good thing about 2012 will be that it will go down as the year when self-publishing really took off.
• The bad thing about 2012 will be that it will go down as the year when self-publishing really took off.

In other words, anyone can now publish a book - and anyone is.

As a result, there's a lot of new art books out there:

• There's some art books which we can now read which previously would never have been published
• however an Amazon listing is no longer any sort of indicator that the book is any good.  The filter which the publishers used to exercise has now effectively been removed.
• Amazon also doesn't appear to think it necessary to exclude books of an "adult" nature from its listings - and I don't mean "artistic nudes" - I mean graphic top shelf content.

CP Treasures - edited by Ann Kullberg
published 9th March 2012

All told, it's beginning to feel more and more as if I'm wading through treacle due to the amount of dross which is being produced.  However in amongst the dross are some gems!

Some of the books being produced independently look set to do well

• The Art of Urban Sketchers which was published on 1st February sold out straight away and went straight to reprint. It looks set to stay at the top of the charts for quite a while.
• Ann Kullberg has written and published a new book CP Treasures: Colored Pencil Masterworks from Around the Globe (Volume 1).  To my mind this reinvents the "Best of Coloured Pencil" books which have been so very popular in the past with coloured pencil artists and yet no publisher would continue the series.
• There are books which look like they might be little gems on niche topics - like one on silverpoint drawing.  Now there's a topic which would never have got a book deal with a major publisher and it's great that the advent of digital books enable us to learn more about niche interests and techniques.

Obviously since I'm highlighting new books, I've not seen them all.  Consequently I do recommend you look very carefully at the reviews rather than taking star ratings at face value.  Do also bear in mind that there's an awful lot of people with not much experience handing out five star ratings to books which are not very good.

I'm also NOT highlighting books which

• I don't rate.  For example, I've never seen a drawing book by Barrington Barber which I would ever consider buying.  
• Or can't rate - there's a lot of new books which don't have an "inside view" and the author has no track record

So here is a link to The Best NEW Art Books in March 2012

Let me know what you think about this month's list.

Makingamark's Top Ten Fine Art Books in January 2012

Find out about the the Top Ten Fine Art Books sold in January 2012 - and which new art books were published.  You can see more about:

• the Top Ten art books in January 2012 in Makingamark's Top 10 Fine Art Books
• the best NEW books in January 2012 in The Best NEW Art Books
• NEW books about drawing in 2012: NEW Books About Drawing
• NEW books about painting in 2012: NEW Books about Painting

Below you can find notes about:

• changes in where I post about the best and newest art books each month
• changes in the marketplaces for book publishing and book retail
• changes in the categories of best and top rated books

Changes to postings about my book listings

Over on Making A Mark, I've highlighted the fact I'm planning a new project on that blog which will focus on the production of books by artists or those working in the art field.

As a result I'm switching the regular monthly posts about art books to Making A Mark Reviews - and this is the first.

Changes in the marketplace

The book market continues to change.  It's very evident that it's now absolutely impossible to ignore the power of Amazon which seems to have ambitions way beyond its present set-up.

Morris Rosenthal has been writing the Self-Publishing 2.0 blog since 2005.  He indicates in Marketplace Sellers Provide 2011 Profit For Amazon (3 January) three important conclusions.  I've provided sub-heads for my readers

#1  Who's the biggest bookseller

 Amazon is now the biggest book retailer, both in North America and overseas,

That's partly because a lot of their business is now done via third party book retailers.

#2  What type of book sells most?

on January 2nd, 2012, the top 20,000 paid Kindle eBooks were outselling the top 20,000 paper books by a wide margin

It's no wonder that the book publishers are pricing their ebooks at a level far in excess of what they cost to produce ie with bigger margins to the publishers.  It would be interesting to know if those margins are being shared with the authors - although I suspect not.  My guess is they're mopping up the cost of the bottom falling out of the printed book market.  However there is a sting over which they have no control........

#3  How important are free ebooks?

In the middle of the range for the top 1,000 Kindle books, it appears that free eBooks “outsell” paid eBooks by a ratio of more than 5:1 .

Free is fine so long as it is also good quality.  Free which is dross only serves to downgrade the listings and submerge the better quality books so they never surface in the Amazon listings.

What I need right now are listings that separate out the free ebooks from the paid or very low priced ebooks.  This is possible on Amazon UK but not amazon.com

Changes to the Amazon listings

Amazon.com continues to present challenges with respect to how to make sense of that site's listings.  As I see it there are three problems

Art swamped by music/entertainment:  Changing the category on Amazon.com to include music and entertainment has done art books no favours whatsoever.  A lot of books which gained a good profile by being included in the top 100 art books now have no chance of getting on the list

The Amazon charts favour new books:  Amazon's focus is sales and they obviously think that the emphasis needs to be on new books.  However rankings which favour latest sales are worthless within the context of the bigger picture.  My analysis of the available data in the past suggests that there are some art books which continue to sell well for a very long time - as well as selling much better than new books.  However it's now far more difficult to identify these due to the way books are now listed.

Which I guess makes my listings a bit more important than I anticipated they might become when I started.

Self-publishing:  The Amazon charts are beginning to become swamped by author driven books - which might be good but for the fact that they are of extremely variable quality - and not necessarily written by the author! I cannot over-emphasise how much complete and utter dross now inhabits the listings!

Those that are being priced very cheaply seem to sell well. That doesn't mean to say they're any good or that they will sell well in the longer term. Some are complete rubbish - take a look inside this one. However cheap and free books seem to be successful at submerging books which deserve to do well - but now find it much more difficult to get into the lists. That just spells more and more problems for the traditional printed book produced by the traditional publisher.

New formats: The charts are also being swamped by the production of old books in new formats. There is no new book only a new format.

In general I'm finding that the Amazon.UK listings are lot less adulterated than the Amazon.com listings, plus they enable me to screen out the free Kindle books. I anticipate that my listings for 2012 might well draw more heavily on the UK pages than hitherto. The listings for January 2012 certainly have a more mid-Atlantic flavour.

Best and Top Rated Books

You can see the Top Ten art books in January 2012 in Makingamark's Top 10 Fine Art Books

I've changed the categories of best and top rated books.  For 2012 they will be:

• Drawing
• Painting
• Artists
• Art History
• Art business

Drawing:  The major story of January 2012 is the way The Art of Urban Sketching: Drawing On Location Around The World has topped both the drawing and painting charts but since it can only top one in my charts, I've gone for drawing.  It also rides high in art history charts but how it justifies that is beyond me!

Painting: James Gurney's Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter continues to be the top rated painting book.  However finding the best seller (given that the urban sketching book could only be top in one category) proved to be a tad more difficult.  In the end I selected a book which was doing well in charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

Artists: Having changed the categories because I was finding books about an artist were straying into painting and art history, I then find that January is not awash with popular or top rated books about individual artists.  There's many more fantasy artists and photographers getting good ratings compared to books about fine artists.

Art History:  I've retired the Hare.  I can't cope with the idea of yet another variation on this theme.  I am BORED with a very small hare with an amber eye.  Interestingly I think people are now buying it because people have bought it and it's a best seller - because when you look at the "wished for" books it's not quite so high!

The Louvre: All the Paintings now becomes the top rated art book in recent times.  I think however it's a book which is ultimately destined for the shelves of libraries.

Art Business:  This section has been home to a curious turn of events.  A new art business book has stormed the rankings for one month only.  Last month's top rated book now languishes at #78 in the best selling art business books - and there have been no more reviews.  I've been thinking why this might be and the only explanation I can come up with is that the glowing reviews did not translate to sales.  I have to say I'm always very wary of books which suddenly have a vast number of 5 star reviews - it never seems quite real to me - unless the individual has a strong and well known track record.

New Art Books

Check out The Best NEW Art Books in January 2012.

It's getting really difficult picking out good new art books is the main conclusion this month.  It's been getting progressively worse each month but it seems to have gone up a notch this month.  The main problem is wading through the books which I won't include in my listings.

However there are LOTS of new drawing and painting books published in January 2012 - some in ebook format for the first time.

I've also updated for

• NEW books about drawing in 2012: NEW Books About Drawing
• NEW books about painting in 2012: NEW Books about Painting
• changes in The Best Art Business Books

Book Review - Imaginative Realism by James Gurney

Cover of Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist by James Gurney

Title: Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist

Synopsis: This book has been described as the ultimate reference for fans of science fiction and fantasy illustration. Imaginative Realism links traditional techniques with contemporary visualisation. Award-winning fantasy artist and the creator of Dinotopia, James Gurney systematically examines and details practical methods for creating believable pictures of imaginary subjects. (Right click the Table of Contents on the right and open in a new tabe to see the contents page) This is NOT a book about the use of digital tools. Instead the focus is on the use of plein-air studies, models photographed in costume, maquettes, models and tableaus. He also demonstrates the use of thumbnail sketches, storyboards, charcoal comprehensive drawings, tone paper studies and a variety of approaches and techniques relevant to composition. This vast number of topics are typically covered in double page spreads with dense but succinct text and relevant images at various stages of development. The book also includes a useful section on careers and a detailed glossary.

Summary review: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED On publication this book became the #1 art instruction book on Amazon. A month after publication it holds on to the #1 slot in art books about Realism. The reason being that this book sets a very high standard for all art instruction books as it is jam packed full of useful content which is both very accessible and highly informative. The bias is towards Gurney's normal fantasy art subject matter but the principles are applicable to all painters who create works which involve some element of imagined realism. Many of the technical approaches he uses are also rooted in classical realism. This book reminded me of all the ways that artists who pre-date photography often worked - assembling finished paintings from studies, mock-ups and maquettes. I looked at the Degas maquettes in the Musée d'Orsay in a whole new light after reading this book This book is so good I'd recommend that any aspiring fine artist buys it just for Chapter 11 which deals with composition. The approaches to developing a composition and the various devices discussed in the book are also ones which are important to the education of any artist wanting to paint in a realistic way. They also go way beyond what gets highlighted when composition gets discussed in most forums and books. James manages to be is very informative about past practices of leading illustrators as well as providing very clear explanations about traditional concepts and his own particular techniques developed over many years in his very successful career as a creative artist. In doing so, he maintains a very accessible writing style of the type used by the very best teachers. I suspect some will hope this book will be published as a hardback as I think this will become a standard reference book and be used for many years to come.

Highlights covers an enormous amount of material a focus on classical, traditional and practical methods which enable the realisation of fantasy - updated for those using conventional media in the 21st century an emphasis on different stages of development and the amount of work which cam be involved in getting it right an excellent review of fundamental concepts relating to composition - with Gurney terminology well evidenced challenges to conventional wisdom on composition - which will surprise quite a few people a huge number of images used to illustrate and underline points useful section on careers extremely well written and very accessible. This book will appeal to all ages. excellent production values - colours reproduce well. Binding is good - but might possibly become strained over the years of use that this book is likely to generate

Think Again? You can access much of this material on his blog - but if you find that useful you'd regret not buying this book! some may find the fantasy element a little bit too much - but I'd recommend you stick with mining the nuggets of excellent advice in the text I suspect this book will be very well used by some artists who might value the option of a hardback as an alternative.

Who should buy this?: This is a MUST BUY who all those need to create imaginary realism - even for those working in digital format! Including: fantasy artists contemporary illustrators, Concept artists - for films and games Animators comic book artists figurative artists who would like to create imagined scenes - even if they don't involve dinosaurs!

Who should not buy this? Of limited interest to those not wanting to portray realism dedicated digital artists might think this book has little relevance - but they'd be wrong!

Author / (Publisher): James Gurney / Andrews McMeel Publishing

Technical data: Publication Date: October 20, 2009 in USA; November 2009 in UK Paperback: 224 pages ISBN-10: 0740785508 ISBN-13: 978-0740785504

I've been a long-time follower and reader of James Gurney's blog Gurney Journey. I also regularly highlight his blog posts in my weekly Sunday post "Who's made a mark this week?" Indeed sometimes it feels like I'm featuring him every week! One of the reasons for that is James is so generous in sharing his expertise as an artist and illustrator.

I've known for some time that he had a book planned and consequently it was great to be able to get hold of it, read it and now write this review.

This long time artist and author produces what he wants to do the way he wants to do it. He's writing about what he knows, he writes from a position of many years expertise and he shares an absolutely amazing amount of content and material.

It's very important to note that, at a time when many publishers of art instruction books are finding yet more ways to regurgitate existing content that they've already paid for into yet another format or cover, James Gurney confounds all the myths about the publication of art books.

• He tackles complex topics - and renders them easy to understand.
  
• He creates a book which appeals to those starting out and those who are experienced in this field.
  
• He packs a huge amount of information into one book rather than delivering a publication which is very thin in content terms.
  
• He tackles traditional concepts without any sense of the 'same old same old'.
  

I do hope some of the publishers take note and many thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing for letting James do what he does best!

A lot of what is in this book I'd already read on Gurney Journey. This has given James the opportunity to refine some of his material as prior publication on his blog means he's already got a very good sense of what interests his readers and devotees. I really enjoyed seeing it all again in book form and there's something about having it all together in a logical sequence which I think creates an overall sum which is greater than the parts.

You should also read Charley Parker's review on Lines and Colors - Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist. This one will particularly appeal to the fantasy artists and illustrators reading this.

This book is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by me. If you find somebody to buy you a copy as a present for Christmas I guarantee you'll have read it before the New Year arrives! :)

Links:

• Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist by James Gurney
  
• This review and book are now included in my resource The Best Books about Drawing and Sketching

Book review: The Coloured Pencil Artist's Drawing Bible

Title: The Coloured Pencil Artist's Drawing Bible

Author: (Publisher): Jane Strother (Search Press)

Synopsis: Aspires to being a comprehensive guide to coloured pencils - but fails.

Who should buy this?: People wanting to see examples of coloured pencil artwork by different artists.

Who should not buy this? People new to coloured pencils who want to learn how to use them as a serious art medium. The book provides poor technical advice about tools and materials relevant to coloured pencils and only generic and very basic art advice. There are much better alternative books available.

Highlights This is the redeeming feature of this book and to my mind the only real reason for buying this book. There is a good range of coloured pencil artwork from a number of different artists

Think Again? apparently written by somebody with little or no personal expertise in the use of coloured pencils. apart from the gallery feature, most of this book is covered better by other books and/or is far too generic eg much of the advice is generic drawing advice and has little to do with the properties of coloured pencils the tools and materials chapter is superficial and/or incorrect. It's a major weakness of this book for pencil artists interested in using coloured pencils as an art medium the techniques articulated by the artists who have provided artwork for the gallery are not reflected in the rest of the book. the chapter on Subjects recommends copying from 'copyright-free' stock photographs. The author appears to be unaware of UKCPS rules on use of photographs or the consequences for artists entering subsequent artwork in a coloured pencil society exhibition.

Summary: The Coloured Pencil Artist's Drawing Bible has its merits, however it's far too generic to be of interest to those wanting to become serious coloured pencil artists. It was very disappointing to find serious weaknesses in the discussions of tools and materials and techniques for working in this media. It would have been nice to see a recognised expert in the use of coloured pencils commissioned to write a book like this. I do NOT recommend this as a book for those wanting to become coloured pencil artists.

This is a summary of a book review which I did earlier this year.

You can find my comprehensive book review here Book review: The Coloured Pencil Artist's drawing bible on Making A Mark.

Below is the conclusion I reached after reading and reviewing this book.

Conclusion

I'm not sure the publishers were clear what audience they were aiming at. If it was artists beginning to use coloured pencil then the book simply doesn't deliver in enough depth and as indicated above there are other books around which deliver better value for money. If it's people starting to draw then I guess it might explain the choice of author and the wealth of very generic material that it includes - but I can't help thinking such people would be more likely to buy any of the really good drawings books which are around. I'm afraid I can't recommend this book because of the serious weaknesses it displays in relation to the more technical aspects of drawing with coloured pencils and because there are much better books around which tackle the subjects covered in a more accurate and comprehensive way.

I think it's a great pity that the artists whose work has been included in this book haven't had the quality of their work matched by the art instruction on offer.
Book review: The Coloured Pencil Artist's drawing bible

Below I've included links to sites where I do recommend books to those wanting to become coloured pencil artists. Plus a couple of comments on the type of book which these days is often missing from bookshelves devoted to art instruction.

Links:

• The Colored Pencil Artist's Drawing Bible by Jane Strother 192 pages Search Press Ltd (16 May 2008) ISBN-10: 1844483231 ISBN-13: 978-1844483235
• Making A Mark (website) - recommended books about coloured pencils
• Coloured Pencils - Resources for Artists
• Favourite Art Books - Resources for Artists - including Making A Mark - looks at art instruction books
• Making a Mark: What sort of art book is missing from our bookshelves?

Coloured Pencils - Resources for Artists

Find out about coloured pencils. This leading resource has information for everybody from experienced artists to beginners wanting to learn all they can. Topics include

• tips and techniques for working with coloured pencils,
• information about coloured pencil brands and associated products (CHECK OUT the poll - find out which make of artist grade coloured pencils is the favourite.)
• coloured pencil societies,
• coloured pencil artists and
• forums where you can discuss coloured pencil matters with artists working in coloured pencils

Product review: Artcoe - Bluebell panoramic drawing book

Product: Blue Bell Spiral Bound - Panoramic Drawing Book

Manufacturer / Distributor: Artcoe.

Technical Details: panoramic sketchbook - 152mm x 430mm (very nearly 6" x 17") 200 gsm cartridge paper. Distributor states cartridge paper is acid free long side spiral bound wide range of sizes of drawing books with different paper weights (1650gsm or 200gsm) and spiral binding options (long or short side) competitively priced

Summary: A panoramic sketchbook suitable for sketching using pencils, coloured pencils, pen and ink and (probably) light watercolour washes. Helps you break out of conventional formats for sketching.

Who should buy this?: Suitable for the art, craft and student market

Who should not buy this? Anybody wanting a proper watercolour paper (but the same company market sketchbooks filled with Saunders Waterford or Bockingford paper)

Highlights: the panoramic sketchbook is great for getting you to look at scenes with a fresh eye enables you to sketch scenes which 'go off the paper' in most sketchbooks good price for work which you're not planning to sell solid front and back boards provide goos support for sketching

Think Again? It's cartridge paper. Meaning it's OK for pen and ink work and coloured pencils but it it's still cartridge paper and some papers suit pen and ink and CP better not archival.

Suppliers: Available from Artcoe who Artcoe supply over 20,000 products to the art, craft and graphics trade. Stockists in the UK listed on website. I got mine at the SAA Art Event at Islington however a review of their online catalogue this morning suggests this panoramic sketchbook is not listed - although other sizes are. Very limited references on the internet suggesting this is a product supplied trade only to independent distributors.

The Serpentine Bridge
17" x 6"
pen and sepia ink and and coloured pencil in panoramic Artcoe Bluebell sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Last week I acquired a Blue Bell Spiral Bound Drawing Books. I've never seen them before but they appear to be very competitively priced.

The range of drawing books covers a wide range of sizes with most being from A3 to A5. Most have either 30 sheets of 200gsm cartridge paper or 40 sheets of 150gsm paper. The Jumobo version coimes with 100 sheets. Some are spiral bound on the short edge while others are spuiral bound on the long edge

What marks them out for me is that they also a have a panoramic sketchbook measuring 430x152mm in either 150 gsm or 200 gsm. I got the 200 gsm panoramic sketchbook (code 31042006) for £4.49 - and then couldn't wait to try it out on my sketching trip on Sunday!

I found it was OK for coloured pencils. It tends to be difficult to get a good depth of colour on cartridge paper due to the surface (HP smooth surfaces tend to work best for pigment rich colour).

The surface was however smooth enough for pen and ink work to be easy. It also blots nicely when you ink gets wet because it's raining!

I tried some pencil drawings of the geese and my guess is this is the sort of sketchbook which is probably best suited to graphite where you can vary the softness of the pencil to get changes in values while sketching.

The weight of the paper - 200 gsm - does mean that you can't see a sketch done on one side of the paper on the other side

I haven't yet tried it for watercolour - but I'd never recommend cartridge for watercolour work when there are sketchbooks with watercolour paper which work so much better!

The front and back boards provided a very solid support for sketching which is an especial concern when working in such an unusual format.

Art Bookshop Review: Thomas Heneage Art Books

Lots of excellent art history books
all photos copyright Katherine Tyrrell

This is a review of a shop selling art history books. It's also a shop which I shall definitely be going back to. Yesterday I visited Thomas Heneage Art Books and walked away with two excellent books - one a Tate Publishing catalogue of the 1998 retrospective exhibition of John Singer Sargent at the Tate Gallery and a 1984 book providing an overview of Pastels and pastel artists from the 16th to the 20th century by Genevieve Monnier.

Name of Art Bookshop: Thomas Heneage Art Books

Address: 2 Duke Street, St James's, London SW1Y 6DJ

Website: Thomas Heneage Art Books http://www.heneage.com

Shope hours: Monday to Friday 9.30am to 6pm, otherwise by appointment (closed public holidays).

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7930 9223

Of interest to: art lovers, students of art history, gallery owners, art dealers, art exhibition visitors, art students and art teachers

Highlights: my idea of a good bookshop - three rooms with books everywhere! an excellent range of high quality art history books about various artists - published at various dates and in various languages ad hoc selection of international exhibition catalogues from past exhibitions; strong on 'landmark' exhibitions all books in excellent condition new publications focus on very specialised topics very helpful staff

Think Again? not for those seeking a cheap book - although prices are fair no art instruction books

Summary: This is the bookshop to go to if: you love art history books you're trying to track down an art history book or catalogue that you want.

Exterior of shop at 42 Duke Street

Thomas Heneage Art Books was founded in 1977. The business focuses on selling art books. We specialize in books for the art market, our core business being in catalogues raisonnés, monographs and international exhibition catalogues. It is our policy to stock the most authoritative book on any subject and in any language, irrespective of its being new or second hand.

I'm never averse to stepping over the threshold of an art bookshop. However shops in the "very posh" St Jame's area of London can be a bit intimidating. However this one is very relaxed - there are books everywhere and you sometimes have to watch your step!

This shop also has extremely friendly and very helpful staff. For example, after I asked whether I could take photographs and explained why, I was given a complete tour of the bookshop - and the coverage of topic areas within art hsitory is extensive - including I then asked about a book I've been trying to get hold of Wilfrid Blunt's The Art of Botanical Illustration and one was located in a very short space of time and I had a price for it. Reader - I was impressed!

Lucian Freud on paper'
surveys what's on offer

Most of the books are about artists and painting - however there is also a set of shelves just devoted to the history of drawing. Extensive shelving is also given over to specialised areas of antiques and artifacts and the art associated with specific countries.

This is the sort of bookshop which is a recommended visit for serious art bibilophiles, art historians, art teachers and students of art history - not to mention the art dealers - many of whom get their reference books here.

The books are authoritative and the best quality. Some are new (the type which only get published in limited numbers for not insignificant prices) but the majority are secondhand. That said they are all in good condition. Some even come with some added extras inserted by their previous owners - always a small joy to find! I opened up my Pastels Book to find an item from the Galerie Camoin on the Quai Voltaire in Paris.

If you like art history and you really like books I recommend a visit.