Drawing the Head for Artists by Oliver Sin

Drawing the Head for Artists by Oliver Sin ISBN-13: 9781631596926 Paperback: 160 pages Publisher: Quarry Books Released: Aug. 6, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Written by celebrated portrait artist and veteran studio instructor Oliver Sin, this informative and beautifully illustrated volume leads readers step-by-step through his method, from establishing a point of view to applying the timeless principles for creating an accurate and expressive likeness.

Learn about necessary supplies and basic drawing techniques, including hatching, various stroke styles, and blending. Explore how the concepts of sight-sizing, value, negative space/shapes, and plane changes factor into a portrait’s underlying structure. Investigate how contrasting shapes, overlapping forms, and linear and atmospheric perspective are used to enhance depth. Examine how edges—contours as well as changes in value—are used to convey three-dimensional form.


My Review:
Drawing the Head for Artists teaches how to draw portraits using charcoal. The author talked about what tools to use and described some drawing techniques (both in general and for using charcoal). He then gave tips for drawing the head in proportion from the front, side, and three-quarters poses. He gave step-by-step directions for drawing the nose, eyes, ears, and mouth in each of these poses. Then he demonstrated the start-to-finish steps for doing a portrait. He also gave a step-by-step demonstration for hair and for facial hair.

He also talked about why you might use different lighting angles (three-quarters, rim, top, side, front, bottom), ways to make a portrait look less static, and how to convey the person's personality. He gave tips about drawing hats, scarves, collars, hands, children, the elderly, and the differences between men and women. He also talked about how do draw using toned papers and suggested some ways to create interesting background textures. This book is probably most useful to artists with some drawing experience, but I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to improve their charcoal portrait drawing.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.