Sketch! The non-artist guide to inspiration, technique, and drawing daily life by France Belleville-Van Stone
ISBN: 978-0-385-34609-2
Paperback, 144 pages
Publisher: Watson-Guptill
Retail: $18.99
About the book:
An inspirational manual for integrating sketching into daily life for artists and non-artists alike.
Urban sketching--the process of sketching on the go as a regular practice--is a hot trend in the drawing world. In this aspirational guide, French artist France Belleville-Van Stone offers motivation to move beyond the comfort zone, as well as instruction on turning rough sketches into finished work. By sharing her own creative process, which includes sketching by hand and digitally, Belleville-Van Stone emboldens readers to craft a method of their own and devote more time to art, even if it's just 10 minutes a day. Sketch will inspire artists both established and aspiring to rethink their daily practice, sketch for the pure joy of it, and document their lives and the world around them.
About the author: FRANCE BELLEVILLE-VAN STONE is a self-taught French artist who loved cars and drawing as a child. As an adult, she studied English instead of going to art school, and became a public school teacher. She has been living and teaching full-time in the U.S. since late 2004.
My thoughts:
Initially this was a book I chose because of the subtitle: "The non-artist guide..." I am an artist because I draw already. I had drawing classes in elementary, middle, high school and college. But my kids, who I consider artists as well because they draw all the time, have not had formal drawing. This book I thought would be helpful for giving them techniques and tips for drawing.
Admittedly, I was a little disappointed when I actually got the book. My disappointed stemmed from the author's natural talent, which I took to mean that this was not really a book for non-artists since the author was undoubtedly a true artist. Yes, yes; it was a foolish assumption. Perhaps fueled partially from envy of how well the author does draw. She didn't have much in the way of formal training and yet she does so well, naturally. The illustrations in the book are all very well done. Many look as if they were painstakingly drawn, when I am guessing from my reading, that they really didn't take a lot of effort on her part. That's one of the beauties of having natural talent. Even so, she does make the good point that drawing daily will make it a habit.
The tips in the book are helpful. She goes through the different tools of the trade and one thing I like here is that she doesn't necessarily promote the fancy-schmancy items, but rather her tried and true tools. My daughter loves to draw with a .07 lead mechanical pencil that we bought at a local drug mart. And she does well with it. I prefer to use a General's drawing pencil and different soft pencils when I draw. My son uses whatever is handy. This book's author is fine with that and encourages that to be part of the way to really draw.
There are other mentions of course in the book that are helpful but uh, I sort of skimmed over the section on papers because like my pencils, I prefer Strathmore paper and have only ventured a few times away from it. Perhaps I will look again at what she suggests in this section but I again like the way she advocates using what you have and what you like.
Finally that end of the book is an alphabetical prompts, A-Z, for drawing. I especially liked this portion of the book and feel that this will be the part I use the most, with the others ready for referencing.
Overall, I do like this book and it's a good addition to our arts section of our home library.
ISBN: 978-0-385-34609-2
Paperback, 144 pages
Publisher: Watson-Guptill
Retail: $18.99
About the book:
An inspirational manual for integrating sketching into daily life for artists and non-artists alike.
Urban sketching--the process of sketching on the go as a regular practice--is a hot trend in the drawing world. In this aspirational guide, French artist France Belleville-Van Stone offers motivation to move beyond the comfort zone, as well as instruction on turning rough sketches into finished work. By sharing her own creative process, which includes sketching by hand and digitally, Belleville-Van Stone emboldens readers to craft a method of their own and devote more time to art, even if it's just 10 minutes a day. Sketch will inspire artists both established and aspiring to rethink their daily practice, sketch for the pure joy of it, and document their lives and the world around them.
About the author: FRANCE BELLEVILLE-VAN STONE is a self-taught French artist who loved cars and drawing as a child. As an adult, she studied English instead of going to art school, and became a public school teacher. She has been living and teaching full-time in the U.S. since late 2004.
My thoughts:
Initially this was a book I chose because of the subtitle: "The non-artist guide..." I am an artist because I draw already. I had drawing classes in elementary, middle, high school and college. But my kids, who I consider artists as well because they draw all the time, have not had formal drawing. This book I thought would be helpful for giving them techniques and tips for drawing.
Admittedly, I was a little disappointed when I actually got the book. My disappointed stemmed from the author's natural talent, which I took to mean that this was not really a book for non-artists since the author was undoubtedly a true artist. Yes, yes; it was a foolish assumption. Perhaps fueled partially from envy of how well the author does draw. She didn't have much in the way of formal training and yet she does so well, naturally. The illustrations in the book are all very well done. Many look as if they were painstakingly drawn, when I am guessing from my reading, that they really didn't take a lot of effort on her part. That's one of the beauties of having natural talent. Even so, she does make the good point that drawing daily will make it a habit.
The tips in the book are helpful. She goes through the different tools of the trade and one thing I like here is that she doesn't necessarily promote the fancy-schmancy items, but rather her tried and true tools. My daughter loves to draw with a .07 lead mechanical pencil that we bought at a local drug mart. And she does well with it. I prefer to use a General's drawing pencil and different soft pencils when I draw. My son uses whatever is handy. This book's author is fine with that and encourages that to be part of the way to really draw.
There are other mentions of course in the book that are helpful but uh, I sort of skimmed over the section on papers because like my pencils, I prefer Strathmore paper and have only ventured a few times away from it. Perhaps I will look again at what she suggests in this section but I again like the way she advocates using what you have and what you like.
Finally that end of the book is an alphabetical prompts, A-Z, for drawing. I especially liked this portion of the book and feel that this will be the part I use the most, with the others ready for referencing.
Overall, I do like this book and it's a good addition to our arts section of our home library.
***Disclaimer: I received this book free from Blogging for Books program for the purpose of this review. No compensation was given. All opinions stated are my own. See Disclosure/Policies.***
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