 A beautiful, effective, and inspiring book |
| Review Date: September 1, 1999 |
| Reviewer: , |
| Lee Hammond instructs the reader to use a graphing approach to get a likeness, as it seems she does in all her books. She then describes in detail how to draw each feature of a face and gives many examples and exercises in using the blended pencil technique. Finally the reader is encouraged to put it all together and do a full portrait. The book is very well-organized and detail-oriented, not to mention visually appealing. At first I questioned the graphing technique--it seemed somehow "unnatural", plus you can't do it with a live model. However, after looking at my finished drawings, amazed, thinking to myself (as another reviewer said), "this is so good, I can't believe I did it", I can understand that however unnatural graphing may be, it certainly gives me faith in my abilities and inspires me to try more art. I think the visualization techniques I learned from this book will help me in whatever medium I choose, and I wouldn't be surprised if they helped me draw realistic portraits from life as well. A note about Lee Hammond's books: I looked at the Discover Drawing Series, and it seems that a lot of the material in those books is covered in this book. They do deal with some different types of models, but if you are going to get just one of her books, I recommend this one. I have just bought her "How to Draw Portraits in Colored Pencil from Photographs" and I am so excited to try it out! |
100% effective techniques, 0% fluff. Excellent.
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| Review Date: August 4, 2001 |
| Reviewer: H. Behrens, Caracas, Venezuela |
| "WOW YOU DREW THAT?! hahaha, yeah right, no way. You did? Come on.. Really? You drew it yourself? Oh my god. I cant believe it. Youre like - a genius or something. Wow." This is an actual real life reaction I had the other day from a friend after three months or so of practicing the lessons in this amazing book. She could not believe how quickly I had learned. Of course, once I showed her the book, she believed it right away. Why? because this book is all about achieving results. The BEST results for the most amazing realist drawings, period. There is no filling up space with needless extra pictures, no flaky artsy prose about something or other which doesnt help at all, like ive seen in other drawing books. From page 1 till the very last page you LEARN, and you learn FAST, so fast you will surprise yourself with every drawing. Today I have come to Amazon to order How to Draw Color Portraits from Photographs and How To Draw Flowers and Nature from the same author, Lee Hammond, and I tell you, I cant wait. I used to be a computer nerd with no creative side whatsoever. Thank you a million times over Lee for transforming my life! I only wish you included some sort of email address with your book so I could tell you this directly. |
Great Book!
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| Review Date: November 28, 2003 |
| Reviewer: , |
| This is one of the best books on drawing portraits I have seen. There are several other fine books that go into more detail about the basics of drawing faces, proportion, etc., but most don't go into detail about shading and technique to make the portrait truly come alive. There are tons of illustrations. Ms. Hammond's own artwork is awesome! They are an inspiration in and of themselves even without the instructional steps. (I was surprised that a couple of other reviewers didn't find her artwork to be very good. We must be talking about two different books!). The illustrations and examples are very clearly presented, and the photos are of excellent quality. She goes into detail about making eyes, lips, noses, hair, and even eyeglasses and clothing! Ms Hammond's instructional style is warm and encouraging. I have several other books by Lee Hammond, and I've found all of them enjoyable and informative. Whether you are looking for a book just to do family and friends portraits or to do professional portraits, I would recommend this book. The hardbound cover and glossy-like feel to the pages are pleasing as well. |
This book is worth every penny!!!
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| Review Date: October 2, 1997 |
| Reviewer: hope@bellsouth.net, Florida, USA |
| This book does exactly what it says! You don't need any prior art lessons to understand and learn how to realistically reproduce portraits from photographs. Lee Hammond meticulously explains each step in the process of drawing. She takes the reader from the materials to get, to each feature of the face, to hair, clothing, hands, composition, backgrounds, and special effects. Her book has a generous supply of her own outstanding portraits and her students' drawings, and they are absolutely beautiful. She also shows you some before and after drawings that are so professional looking that I was really challenged to see if it could really be done. I know that they are real because guess what?? I went through the book, and it really works! I believed I had no drawing ability until I went through this book. Lee Hammond is a master artist and teacher. The best thing is that these techniques can be transferred to drawing anything...not just portraits. If you ever wanted to produce lifelike, realistic portraits, get this book. It's worth every penny!!! |
Drawing for All That Is
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| Review Date: November 21, 2004 |
| Reviewer: Judith Rowland, |
I was a pencil artist over 20 years ago and took my almost natural gift for granted. I loved to draw from the very first moment I drew something well. I remember saying in suprize "It feels like I can breathe for the very first time...as though I'd been holding my breathe forever." I was taught using various methods with "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" as the basic text, so all my work was freehand. Thus I had great disdain for grafting. Even when enlarging from tiny old photographs I only used my eyes and I was very good. But things changed and I learned a much needed lesson in grace and humility.
Gradually over the last ten years there has been damage to the right side of my brain. I have for all intents and purposes lost most if not all of my artistic ability. I felt devistated when the Neurologist confirmed the test results last month. However, she did send me to a very good therapist who decided to work with me to cross train my left brain to do the right brain's artistic function as far as drawing was concerned. The first thing she did was an assessment, the next talk to me about learning to draw with grafts, and I remembered this book and how I no longer had my copy and needed a new one.
It's always easy to find fault with someone who does things differently than you do, and that stuck out in the reviews like a sore thumb. Grafting is not freestyle. It's not meant to be. It's meant to teach those whose skills are not strong, how to SEE. Right now their left brain won't shut off long enough to let them see and draw what's in front of them. A graft will help shut that down. Eventually, they arn't going to need grafts. I'm not going to be that lucky. But at least I'll be drawing and without Lee Hammond's work I wouldn't have that much.
If you are fortunate enough to draw well, that's great.It's a gift of life that is very rare. I am 1/4 Native American and for me this was a sacred experience that I disrespected instead of honoring. Perhaps this book will give me a way to make amends to All That Is.
I would like to say,I've read several reviews that have been written by well trained pencil artists and I'm suprized at what they've said. As artists, particularly pencil artists, we are suposed to be sensitive to all that is around us. We have to "draw it in" in order to draw it at all. We don't walk up to our work. We have our eyes and our brains coax it, to bring it's essence as well as it's form to us. None of us got this way overnight. Our inspiration had to be breathed into our being and our work. So, Please don't knock a tool or a person that can and will help those who are not like you...yet. They have the right and the need to feel what we feel, the "whole-y-ness" of our art." And they might turn away from this clear source of help if an "expert" says it's "no good," and never know that experience because of what they have read. This is not the book for a professional artist but it just might be step one for a person who has lots of blocks to cut through because of say "cartooning." Then they can go on to "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain," by Betty Edwards, or books by Maltzman, or Petrie etc. when they are ready. They can always prowl through the stacks here at Amazon and look inside at books before they buy. Thank you to Lee Hammond and to Amazon for the opportunity to write these reviews. |
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