The Beginner's Guide to Drawing Portraits by Carole Massey

Portrait drawing requires a great deal of thought and preparation and these are qualities that have gone in abundance into the preparation of this truly delightful book. Beginning with the basics, Carole explains how to get facial shape, structure and proportion right - these being the foundations you'll be building on later. Using specific examples, she then demonstrates tone and shading, composition, capturing character and working from life. There is a pleasant sense of progression throughout, with each lesson working with what has gone before rather than providing a further mountain to climb with each new chapter. Particularly useful are the facial studies that include male and female, young and old, as well as skin tones and smooth and rough features. Many readers will find the sections on drawing children particularly useful and Carole's work here is among the best. Although this started life in the Drawing Masterclass series, Carole has substantially revised, restructured and augmented her material to provide the ideal introduction to portrait drawing.

• Search Press
• Paperback
• 144 pages