Colored pencil revolution

I have often ambled through galleries where a certain painting catches my eye - it looks exactly like real life, and it takes me a minute to realize that the painting is not in fact a photograph.  I always wondered how the artist could accomplish such a feat, replicating the depth of life.

Here's how!  Alyona Nickelsen walks the reader through the process of imitating real-life portraits in bite-size steps.  I did not feel overwhelmed at the material covered in "Colored Pencil Painting Portraits," which was surprising, given just how in-depth and insightful Nickelsen's details were.

The star of this book was the last few pages:  Nickelsen outlines, in detail, the pros and cons of various solvents that work well with colored pencils.  I definitely will refer to these few pages in my future endeavors with colored pencils.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Art, guided by Al Gury

Al Gury's "Foundations of Drawing" is a guide in many ways - an impressively seamless weaving of art history, tools, techniques, and styles.  I have almost always read books about one of those topics, individually.  To my surprise, Gury gracefully ties in a general history of art as well as informative tips for the amateur (like myself) seeking insights on the actual practice of art.  Each component that makes up the "Foundations of Drawing" complements each other.  My understanding of the techniques and science behind the making of art deepened and was deepened by the outline of art history provided by Gury.

As a general and expansive guide through art (such a large, vague topic!), this is definitely a solid investment.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.