Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9745 in Books
• Published on: 2004-11-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Synopsis
Drawing is one of the UK's most popular hobbies. Anyone can learn to draw with practice and sensitive instruction. Inspirational because it is a practical and comprehensive course showing clearly visible and attainable progress. Over 450 original drawings a thoroughly professional course. A new practical art book that combines the finest of two existing bestsellers - The Fundamentals of Drawing and Advanced Drawing Skills. With a little persistence and patience, anyone can learn to draw, and with the help of this book they can learn to draw very well. The subjects covered in the book make it entirely comprehensive, and the informative and helpful text works very well with Barrington Barber's specially devised and inspirational illustrations. The aim throughout is to help readers discover and develop their own unique drawing style.

From the Back Cover
What does an artist need to know about drawing? And what has to be mastered in order to achieve the drawings you want? In this beautiful book Barrington Barber shows you, offering advice and tips he takes you through the various stages.

From object drawing and still-life composition, the natural world and portraiture, to looking at form and shape, and assessing styles and techniques, The Complete Book of Drawing is a distillation of the many skills that the aspiring artist needs to develop.

As Barrington Barber knows from his many years of both teaching and practising art, it is crucial for you as an individual to find your own style and way of doing things. And, uniquely among practical art books, this is what The Complete Book of Drawing provides, by revealing new possibilities and enabling you to look at the world around you with fresh eyes.

About the Author
Barrington Barber has been a nationally recognised artist and teacher for many years. He is already an established best-selling author of instruction books.

Customer Reviews

Very Complete
This book is packed with useful information: it covers technique in detail, including body posture, not just the way you use your hands. Although at first the need for good posture may not be very obvious, follow the advice in this book and you will soon notice the difference. As the book says, you should be bodily involved in your drawing.
I have been drawing for years. I've shown my work in art galleries. Yet I do not come from a fine arts background; my training is in the humanities. This book has been immensely useful to me. I picked up very valuable tricks - how to use shadows, good crosshatching, how to draw convincing spheres, how to control perspective and convey a sense of space -- to name but a few.
An added plus are the chapters on composition and those on individual artists.
This book is worth reading: a) pencil in hand, paper at the ready, so you can do the exercises; b) just as you relax, looking at the examples, telling yourself "oh, how clever" and trying stuff out for yourself, later.
I for one am delighted with my purchase.

A good tutor
There are tons of books about various painting techniques out there, but it's surprising how few books about the basics of learning to draw there are. The ability to draw realistically is the bedrock from which an artist should build, and BB has produced a work here that could take you from a fumbling amateur to an accomplished artist (IF and only if you are willing to put a lot of time in).

What I like about BB is:
He is himself a very talented artist (witness his own excellent imitations of various artists to illustrate their different techniques) but is happy to spend time teaching the rest of us
He uses only his own drawings throughout the text
His books are actually enjoyable to read of themselves, even if you don't bother completing a single exercise
He recognizes the essential importance of endless practice over so called "natural" talent.

Happy drawing!

An excellent beginner/intermediate skills book
I bought this book as I enjoy drawing but need more skills, I was not dissappointed.

This book is for the beginner and intermediate. Over 350 pages it is mainly pencil and pen drawing, does not require specialit equipment. Starting with very basics such as shading and shapes progressing to foliage, facial features, animals and so on to fine art/artists and the human body.

I recommed this book for those wanting to practise their skills and for those who enjoy drawing.