People & Portraits

Glorious color, realistic style, appealing subject matter and clear step-by-step instruction makes these books a great place for colored pencil artists to start. Hammond offers her encouraging "You Can Do It" techniques and demonstrations for brilliant and realistic results.

Even beginning colored pencil artists can create soft skin tones, subtle textures and delicate shadows in their portraits by following the blending, shading and layering techniques taught plain and simple.

Portraiture can be daunting for the beginner, who is often more comfortable painting a landscape that doesn't look back. In this regard, Hammond's experience as an author of nine titles for this publisher serves her well. Hammond gently helps the novice with facial structure, the details of lips, eyes, and hands, andtechniques for natural clothing. Even her medium colored pencils is a wise choice, as oils or watercolors would only multiply the inherent difficulties for beginners. For a more advanced audience, see Rachel Rubin Wolf's Keys to Painting: Faces & Figures (LJ 11/15/99). Monahan and Wiseman's Beginner's Guide: Figure Drawing is a fine companion to either of the above and manages to pack 15 detailed and engaging projects into only 80 pages. The authors capture the figure from different viewpoints, examine how the skeleton and muscles change with every action, and work with lighting. Sections on people in motion and in large groups round out this highly recommended volume. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.