Painting Wildlife Textures Step by Step

Rating:
Summary: Could have done better on the illustrations !
Review: I bought this book based on the review and on the sample pages in the hope it would help me to improve my technique in painting wild animals. To be honest I was rather disappointed when I first opened the book. At first I thought the book was meant as a course book for illustrators of wild life books, not painters, due to the poor quality of the illustrations, and the fact that in most cases they dont represent paintings but only details. I found the sample pages looked much better on the screen, especially colorwise, than in the real book (Paperback edition 1996, other editions may be better). My first intention was to rate this book a 3-star because of the poor presentation and illustrations. Take for example, John Agnew's book "Painting the secret world of nature" and you will know what I mean. After a closer look, though, I found Lawrence's book was not as bad after all, especially for the part on the eyes p. 66 and 67, the many explanations and usefull tips and the abundance of step-by-step presentations. Now, after having read the book through and having used it in the past days I feel I have to upgrade my rating to a 5-star as this is one of the most honest, usefull and inspirational art instruction books I have ordered. I call it honest because it really gives you what is written in the title, which is, as compared to other books, already an achievement. Unlike so many other art instruction books, where the artists use the pages as a showcase for their own art pieces instead of communicating anything relevant, you feel Rod Lawrence really wants to share his technique with the reader and does it in a clear, understandable way. It is usefull because you can really sit down and follow the clear step by step demonstrations without having to go through lots of useless text or guru-like nonsense befor you get to the point. No other art instruction book I have seen brings so many step by step demonstrations (50 in total), allowing you to see the steps to follow to achieve the desired result, making your painted fur or feathers look real. The items covered include : fur (long : american elk, short: bobcat, curly: bison), feathers (wing, speculum, body, head), scales, eyes&ears, bills&muzzles, tails&feet, antlers&horns and the different types of whites and blacks. The mediums described are watercolor, oil and acrylic, with a preference for acrylic.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent reference
Review: This is an excellent reference with a step by step guide to bringing out the most vital of details in animal art. The techniques, while shown in mainly acrylic painting, are adaptable to any media of your choice. A wonderful tool for the serious or amatur artist.