Rating: 
Summary: The Pencil - Friend or Foe?
Review: ...[an] attempt to promote the pedestrian pencil as a valid form of expression doesn't quite hit the mark with this intrepid reader. I found [Hillberry's] illustrations to be less than satisfactory and the description of his techniques to be rudimentary at best. I supppose if you *really* insist on using a pencil for artistic expression (think about that one!) then this book may have some merit. For the true artist, art fan or art critic, the book is a disappointment.Cheers!
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: I am a beginner drawer and find that this book is a must-have. I think that everyone, beginners and pros alike, will learn something valuable from Hillberry's book. He's a master artist and I am thrilled to be able to find out his "secret" techniques of which combination of paper, pencil, eraser and blending tool is used to create each texture. Get this book and you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Awsome Book!
Review: I borrowed this book from our local library, and it actually brought tears to my eyes! The drawings in this book are so realistic, they look like black and white photographs. I reccomend this book for anyone who wants to draw better.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book for learning techniques
Review: I found this book very useful in learning about the various belnding techniques and rendering textures. However I would prefer to have seen more material on clothing, hair and skin textures.
If you are already drawing fairly well in pencil or charcoal then this book is a must have, however if you want to learn the basic fundamentals of drawing such as proportions, shapes etc then you might go for some thing else.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am a great fan of JD Hillberry. He is a master graphite artist!
Rating:
Summary: Hillberry shows you that you CAN draw textures
Review: I had seen this book around (on websites) and even viewed JD Hillberry's website, but was finally 'sold' on buying it when I used the Amazon feature to look inside the book. WOW! Even the very first page, which lists the supplies - was a revelation! I have been working from home as an artist and illustrator for a few years now (I'm self taught, like Hillberry) and I was intrigued by his list of supplies.
You don't have to be a professional to get a lot out of this book. I wish I had found this book years ago. If you're like me and you've enjoyed Lee Hammond's books on drawing from photographs and you're ready to take your skills to the next level, then you definitely want to buy this book.
It is comprehensive but easy to read too - if you look at textures and tell yourself "I can't do that"...this book will break it down for you and you can realize that you CAN do this and it's a learnable skill. Hillberry takes you step by step in each process, and it's never boring.
My art has been transformed!
I would love for JD Hillberry to write another book!
Rating:
Summary: A complete success...
Review: I rarely read how-to books and think most of them are pretty lame, but this one is a clear exception. I hadn't read a how-to book on the pencil for decades (and I vaguely remember getting the basics from a couple of good books by Ted Kautzky and Paul Calle) and found this book by accident while looking for something else. I was instantly drawn to it (sorry...). Seriously, though, this is one of the best how-to books I've ever read. Hillberry sets out to do, and does, exactly what his title says it's going do. I can't imagine someone working with this book and not getting something valuable from it. The author's prose style is like his drawing style, very clear and straight ahead. It's not verbose or vague and it's not too terse either. In chapters 1 and 2 he describes the basic tools and general methods of using abrasive media (not ust pencils but powdered graphite, charcoal, graphic blocks etc.). Then he moves on to some tutorials, well chosen to explain the problems of rendering general types of things - metal, wood, he human eye... There are many little gems within the tutorial that will reinforce the general technical points in chapter 2. Like all how-to books there is kind of a jump involved, a certain point where to the naive (most of the market for how-to books, probably) it seems like the author goes from point a, b, c... to point r. That's inevitable. How could it not be? If this stuff was easy, then everybody could do it. Drawing is not easy, but it's the most direct means of creating art, an irreplaceable core skill, useful to painters and sculptors as much as anyone else, and potentially a wonderful end in itself (think about it... think what Raphael and Michaelangelo did with a pencil; look at Henry Moore's drawings, look at... no, there's too many great works of art that are drawings to even consider listing them). This book can help you with your drawing even if you're not a realist. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent, brief tutorial
Review: I try to avoid art books that read like cook books. The art books shelf at any bookstore is full of mediocre illustrations bound under titles like "Painting Realistic Waterfalls with Oil" or "Draw Spiderman Just Like the Pros". I was attracted to this book by the phenomenal cover rendering, but frankly I expected it to be another volume on how to paint an elephant's eyelashes in gouache.
That it is not.
Though it covers specific examples, the techniques illustrated by J.D. Hillberry can be effectively applied to pencil and charcoal rendering in general. Mr. Hillberry's rendering skills are incredible and inspiring. He illuminates mundane subject matter to the point of photorealism. This book is a must buy for a design student (or anyone fairly competant in rendering) who is ready to tackle the photorealism giant.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent, brief tutorial
Review: I try to avoid art books that read like cook books. The art books shelf at any bookstore is full of mediocre illustrations bound under titles like "Painting Realistic Waterfalls with Oil" or "Draw Spiderman Just Like the Pros". I was attracted to this book by the phenomenal cover rendering, but frankly I expected it to be another volume on how to paint an elephant's eyelashes in gouache.
That it is not.
Though it covers specific examples, the techniques illustrated by J.D. Hillberry can be effectively applied to pencil and charcoal rendering in general. Mr. Hillberry's rendering skills are incredible and inspiring. He illuminates mundane subject matter to the point of photorealism. This book is a must buy for a design student (or anyone fairly competant in rendering) who is ready to tackle the photorealism giant.
Rating:
Summary: Are you serious?
Review: If you are serious about doing realistic artwork in pencil this is a must book. Learn the nitty gritty of tools and techniques. This is very comprehensive and very detailed. Worth its weight in 'lead'.
Rating:
Summary: Very useful book
Review: In this book, J.D. Hillberry gives detailed descriptions of techniques for drawing a wide range of textures. A background in drawing is recommended, because the author does not "waste" time on teaching sketching, or basics of drawing, generally, but filling space with a texture is explained in very detailed way, including many examples.
Another advantage of the book is an introduction to drawing tools and mediums, which is very detailed, also.
I personally liked the approach of the author, he's always giving more than one way to achieve some realistic texture and everything he wrote is an advice or a recommendation, while he's calling the reader to experiment alone, also.
Very detailed and very useful book. Recommended!
| 
