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Summary: Blown Away by the Results!
Review: I've been drawing since childhood with some degree of success, but nothing I have ever done compares with what I can draw now after reading this awesome book. The technique presented is simple and fun and yields near photographic quality drawings. I've purchased other books on portrait drawing and can say without any hesitation, no other book compares, period! If you want to draw like a pro this book is a must have!
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Summary: My friends were clamoring for more!
Review: I've done drawings in pencil and pastels before, but only animals. I always felt too intimidated to do portraits. If you don't get the eyes, nose, or mouth quite right on an animal, who's to know? But if you don't get it right on a person, EVERYONE notices! But, after I read Lee's book, I did a portrait of a television personality and posted it on a heavy-traffic fan site. The most common response I got was - 'WOW!' I was deluged with requests to do more of other stars from the same show. Oh, by the way - did I mention that it was the first drawing that I had attempted in over 20 years?
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Summary: A beautiful, effective, and inspiring book
Review: 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!
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Summary: Excellent book!!
Review: Lee Hammond is a wonderful artist! All of her books are wonderful and well written. I highly recommend this book and all of her books. She has tons of drawings and examples. Thank you Lee!
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Summary: It's excellent-like all of Lee Hammond's books
Review: Lee Hammond writes books that really teach you to draw. I am a beginner in art and bought several how-to-do-it books. Of all of them Lee's books have proven the most useful. By following her methods I have produced drawings of a quality that I wouldn't have believed possible. If there were 6 stars I'd give them to her.
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Summary: Jumping in to Portrait Drawing
Review: Lee Hammond's book was the only book of several I purchased on drawing portraits that got me off to an immediate and credible start. The technique of gridding a photograph is a wonderful way to begin creating accutrate line drawings. Despite what many may say, there need be no apology for using this method. Many, many professionals use grid drawing as did the Great Masters. Beware the critic who says there is only one way or that certain techniques are "cheating". It is the result that truly counts. Nonetheless, every aspiring figure artist should make learning to draw from life their goal. Before then, however, build confidence with the method Lee describes.
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Summary: This book is an absolute MUST-HAVE for any artist!
Review: Lee Hammond, Thank you!!! You are an artistic genius! Anyone who is interested in drawing should own a copy of this book. The techniques that are taught are priceless!
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Summary: Hit or miss....
Review: The portraits in this book are awesome but the technique used is not really what I was looking for. The tips for blending and tools to use are great. I would rather sharpen my skills than use a graphing method used in the book. It's a great learning excercise for beginners because it allows you to see shadows and lines instead of what you think something should look like. If you are just starting out this would be a good book for you.
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Summary: not what I was looking for
Review: The portraits in this book are awesome but the technique used is not really what I was looking for. The tips for blending and tools to use are great. I would rather sharpen my skills than use a graphing method used in the book. It's a great learning excercise for beginners because it allows you to see shadows and lines instead of what you think something should look like. If you are just starting out this would be a good book for you.
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Summary: How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs
Review: The simplicity of this technique is wonderfull and very encouraging. I realy enjoyed this book from the start and learned alot about observing detail...shapes...shadows and the appearance and effects of light upon the subject. Althou I haven't had the chance to review many other books I definitely think this one is one of the best, if not the best ! Thanks Lee.
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