Drawing the Head for Artists: Techniques for Mastering Expressive Portraiture

I have just received my paperback copy this book, to start off with, I must say that the artworks showcased in this book are absolutely awe inspiring, makes for some great inspiration to budding artists. As a student of art myself, I feel that this book reiterates the basics, the core foundation principles of realism/portraiture. The chapters are well structured and the language used is simple enough for easy reading. I am really impressed with the additional wisdom that Oliver imparts in this book, so its not just a "how to draw" book, it also talks about the conveyance of emotions and the dynamism that a portrait needs to depict, this tells me that the author is a serious art educator and has put out all his knowledge into this book in a very unbiased way. Art students and portraiture enthusiasts will surely enjoy learning from this book and overall It's a must have in any art enthusiast's collection.

This book is good

Not for Beginners, If you cannot draw Outlines of Portrait by themselves, it's better to buy this book after learning that. It's all about how to make your portrait lively. Only few general instructions for beginners is touched on surface. As the name suggests it's for artists. It helps to improve their art style better and their is only replacement option from Amazon's side.

The book shows sign of wear and aging.This should not happen for a new book. Not satisfied with the book condition.

Bought this to help me understand what are the differences with drawing Asian portraits. Very easy to read with lots of useful information. I like that part about expressions. Most of us who start learning may tend to be too technical and aim to for 100% likeness. His advice on this is very useful.

This is a really good portrait book and worth the money. The only issue is there is nothing in this book that is very original , most of the insights and techniques have been around and documented for a long time. The author is truly a great portrait artist , no doubt you will learn something, but having purchased over 7 portrait books on Amazon dealing with charcoal portraits and after awhile you could cut out the images, mix them up and put them back in books at random and you would not know the difference on technique discussions. There is a greatness to all these artists , but there is also a striking sameness. I do not mean to be critical, again this artist is really terrific and the book is worthwhile, just expect a rehash of the usual examples of light , shadow, and tools, applied in pretty much the same manner and look. There are limitations that everyone tries to get correct when drawing the human face and there are limitations in viewpoints and how the face can be lit, so since that part of the book is redundant with every other book like this what will amaze you is how this artist transcends those techniques and transcends the realism aspects to capture the exact persona of the subject. This artist has a book that goes well beyond drawing and he captures the inner person and that is what comes through, this is a great artist at going beyond the medium and going beyond technique and art, his work borders on a spiritual moment, not in a religious way, but almost like a meditative image of the persons soul. The actual technique sections and text may be redundant with others , it is the results that are fantastic This is an excellent book you wont regret the purchase. The most interesting aspect of most art instruction books authored by Asians, is most of them always include very loving and respectful in depth portraits of the artists parents, they always nail those to perfection.

Bewutiful book. Very valuble lessons in portrait drqwing.

O autor dispensa apresentações para quem acompanha o trabalho dos artistas figurativos/retratistas contemporâneos. O livro apresenta dezenas de imagens de alta qualidade artística onde é possível conhecer mais a fundo sobre o processo criativo e o pensamento desse grande mestre da atualidade.

Interesting and very different from what I expected. Somewhat of an advanced approach and it kind of freaked me out. Atelier, not illustration, no playing around and you've got to dive deep into his world of portraiture. Reminds me of Sargent drawings, the portraits literally look at you. Between Juliette Aristides 'Lessons in Classical Drawing' and her 'Beginning Drawing Atelier' and obsessing on Sargent's genius this is the cherry on the cake.