Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic Book!
Review: It is easy to find books that try to teach you how to draw, but this book goes way beyond that. If you need something beyond the basics, I highly recommend this book! It is very detailed and has simple steps to help in rendering very realistic textures. Great buy!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book!
Review: It is easy to find books that try to teach you how to draw, but this book goes way beyond that. If you need something beyond the basics, I highly recommend this book! It is very detailed and has simple steps to help in rendering very realistic textures. Great buy!
Rating:
Summary: Photorealism using pencils
Review: It's all in the technique. This book is for artists who prefer the simplicity and versatility of charcoal, graphite and carbon for their works. This is not a teach-yourself-to-draw type book. It's a book of techniques for artists who already have learned the fundamentals of drawing and want to advance their skills to the next level.Materials and basic techniques are covered in the first two chapters. From there, the author provides seven step-by-step demonstrations of creating various textures from metal and glass to human skin and animal fur. Finally, the book concludes with two full-length, detailed still life demostrations. The text is profusely illustrated and well written in a clear, easy to understand style. When the author mentions something, there's a picture to show what he's talking about. This book is a valuable reference for anybody who works with graphite pencil, charcoal and carbon pencil.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book!
Review: Mr. Hillberry is an excellent photorealistic artist, and the step-by-step guidlines and tips in this book are very helpful. The only complaint I have is that it's not long enough.
Rating:
Summary: BEST OF THE BEST!
Review: Mr. Hillberry's book is a superb resource for the pencil artist already possessing good drawing skills wanting to move on and learn the subtleties of the art. This book does just what the title says. Teaches you how to draw photo realistic textures of all sorts through a wealth of tutorials, examples and easy to read text. As a relatively new pencil artist I wholeheartedly say Mr. Hillberry's book provided numerous big steps up in my learning process and will continue to do so. For an artist of Mr. Hillberry's talent and expertise to so candidly share his techniques and insight in such detail certainly makes this book stand out among the many I've perused. As soon as I saw it I knew it was a "must have". In fact, I'm quickly wearing out my copy from referring back to it so often.
Rating:
Summary: Superior!
Review: My daughter received this book for her 13th birthday and my whole family loves it. Even a beginner can benefit from this book. It's true that this is not a how to draw book, but how to make your drawings much better. My daughter had already studied online tutorials to learn to draw the basic figures from shapes. This book is teaching her to refine those drawings into a real work of art. J.D. Hillberry has a drawing forum link on his web site where you can post your drawings for critique or just ask questions about how to draw hair, eyes, etc. His site, of course, is jdhillberry.com. If you are an art lover with an interest in improving your drawing skills, I highly recommend Mr. Hillberry's book as well as paying a visit to his web site.
Rating:
Summary: An extremely useful manual for drawing lifelike images.
Review: Of all the art technique books I've ever looked at, this has been one of the most useful to me. Graphite is and always has been my favorite medium for drawing, and though I've tried others, I always find myself falling back on the trusty generic pencil. So when I saw this book in the store, I picked it up and thumbed through it and was so impressed by the author's example drawings alone that I bought it. The author is a magnificent artist, and the book has turned out to be a great reference. I've noticed a marked improvement in the realism of my drawings since I started using it. Hillberry begins by introducing us to various materials - graphite pencils, charcoal pencils, carbon pencils, types of erasers, blending tools, types of paper, and other miscellaneous items that can prove helpful - and describes the use and effect of each. He goes on to offer tips on choosing a composition, using light for different effects, using different pencil strokes, blending techniques, layering media, masking, and other helpful methods. The bulk of the book contains instructions on achieving realism when rendering different types of objects: metal, eyes, human hair, glass, broken glass, wood, leather, barbed wire, clothing, and fur. He even offers instructions on little details such as knots in wood, protruding nailheads, etc. At the end he talks about how to put all these methods together into a complete composition, and gives tips on working from photographs. I have not yet tried all of Hillberry's techniques, but the ones I have used have helped me immensely. I would highly recommend this book to any intermediate to advanced level artist.
Rating:
Summary: Most useful, and inspiring
Review: Of all the many "how to" art books I own, this is the one book I would grab if my house was on fire. The explanations as well as the illustrations make it delightful to recreate a 3 dimensional setting with all its textures and depth. And it's possible with simple, basic drawing implements. It inspires me.
Rating: 
Summary: Synopsis
Review: Pencil is the most popular medium among U.S. artists, loved for its ease, versatility and affordability. This book will help pencil artists explore the exciting textural possibilities of the medium, with techniques so easy that anyone--from doodler to advanced artist--can master them in minutes. Step-by-step demonstrations show how to create the look of metal, wood, hair and other remarkably realistic textures. Two detailed start-to-finish demonstrations show how to create drawings that look so real they seem to leap right off the page. About the author: J. D. (Jeff) Hillberry has shown his pencil works in some of the most prestigious invitational shows in the country including Artists of America and Great American Artists. He has taught a number of one day mini-workshops at art fairs and art stores. He has 17 pieces in print to date (self-published) and these show in galleries in at least 16 states. He lives in Westminster, Colorado.
Rating:
Summary: This is a rare find
Review: Refining your pencil work starts here. Hillberry pushes his medium and he pushes it hard. If you love the subtle, moody, sensitive qualities of pencil drawings and are working to take yours from the realm of rough diamonds to stand alone works of art, you are going to love this book. Very well photographed, Hillberry gives detailed, progressive steps of many of his drawings and is very forthcoming about the techniques he uses to get his results. Hillberry's work is photo-realistic, but even if that is not your goal he spends the first third of the book discussing how to develop the skill necessary to create the even, shifting tones of graphite vital to effective pencil work. The photorealistic sessions are important for everyone as they hone your awareness of what you are seeing and your ability to relay it. His finished examples are beautiful and inspiring. I love pencil, and there isn't a better book on the topic out there (after 15 years of collecting, I may just have them all). If you feel the same way, get this book. Then quit shopping and get back to your studio and work. PS--Another interesting book is Robert Zappalorti's "Drawing Sharp Focus Still Lifes" (Watson-Guptill) but it is out of print and you will have to search hard to find it. I feel Hillberry's book is superior, but it's always instructive to see how different artists approach their work. Good luck, draw hard.
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