Complete Guide to Drawing and Painting - Softcover

Reader's Digest

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0276426894 ISBN 13: 9780276426896

Publisher: Readers Digest, 2008

Synopsis

A comprehensive introduction to drawing and painting for the complete beginner or the amateur who has mastered one medium and is interested in acquiring new skills. The book starts with a special drawing course devised by Stan Smith. an established artist with a wide teaching experience, whose paintings are regularly exhibited throughout Europe, often as one-man shows. It goes on to cover all the basic media, with detailed information about materials and techniques, including linked, step-by-step demonstrations by practising artists. Readers are encouraged to find similar subjects of their own, or, if they lack confidence, to learn by simply copying the demonstrations. Packed with colour step-by-step photographs and artworks, the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Drawing and Painting is a complete course which will guide beginners from their first strokes of the pencil or brush to their first satisfying pictures.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Here in one volume, is all you need to know to draw and paint, even if you have never tried before. This authoritative and comprehensive book covers all of the most popular drawing and painting media, and provides detailed information about equipment and material.

* Covers pencils, charcoal, pen and ink, watercolor, oil, acrylic, and pastels

* Contains over 800 full-color illustrations, including step-by-step, specially commissioned demonstrations of all the art techniques in the book

* Introduced by bestselling author Stan Smith

* Clear text and easy-to-follow details enable artists at all levels of expertise to create more exciting pictures and find shortcuts to great results.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction by the popular and accomplished artist, Stan Smith.

I'm a firm believer that anyone can learn to draw or paint. But you can't expect simply to pick up a pencil or paintbrush and start to draw like Leonardo da Vinci or paint like Van Gogh. All the great artists had to work at their craft, and you'll have to do the same. The first step is to learn the fundamentals of drawing and painting. Just as you have to learn vocabulary, spelling, and grammar in order to speak or write a language, so too in art you have to learn to handle the tools of the trade and to develop certain skills in order to produce a good picture. Learning to draw, getting perspective right, knowing how to mix colors, and much, much more-these things are the spelling and syntax of art. Complete Guide to Drawing and Painting sets out to show you all the basic skills and techniques you will need. The book is divided into a number of chapters that deal with the important disciplines of art. We begin with drawing, which needs a good deal of practice-ideally every day! You'll also learn about color and composition-these are important no matter which media you work in. Certain techniques, however, are specific to a particular medium, so drawing implements, watercolors, oils, acrylics, and soft pastels are all covered separately. You'll learn new methods that you can use at once to improve your work, and discover shortcuts to accurate picture-making. Find out how to make objects appear to advance or recede, and learn new ways to add texture to your paintings-scratching into the paper, scraping paint off, or layering it on. The techniques in this book are the artist's tools. You can use them in your own way, developing your own styles and systems of working. Remember, reading this book is only a starting point. with practice you'll master these techniques, unlock the creativity within you, and learn to express your ideas and feelings through your art. So pick up your materials and get going. Good luck, and above all, enjoy yourself. - Stan Smith

Edition details

• Publisher: Readers Digest
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0276426894
• ISBN 13: 9780276426896
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288