Customer Reviews
Best portrait book in the world! - By: Artybloke, 23 Apr 2008 
I love this book, its made me much more aware of chiaroscuro & sfumato than ever before even my landscapes & other studies have improved from this book. The portraits are stunning & you could just admire those if nothing else. Get it, you won't regret it!
And I thought I could draw... - By: Beau Nidle, 07 Feb 2008 I don't know about you lot, but after a bit of a gap I find I need to rediscover the skills of drawing. Ten years, me. So when I got this little gemin the post, apart from thinking "S**t, this guy can do it," I found his text to be a little like sittingin a lecture. You can almost hear his voice. To benefit from the accompanying drawings, you have to read the introductory chapters - which, if you're serious about the art, is no great hardship. This is one of those "must-haves", a reference for those lazy gits who take their talent for granted. I know, 'cause I'm one of 'em.
Buy it. You won't regret it.
Easily the best book on this subject - By: SEC, 21 Mar 2006 I have many books on this subject, but this is by far the best. It is lavishly illustrated throughout, with page after page of delightfully competent examples by Maughan, demonstrating every aspect of the skill.
Maughan begins by explaining his methods & preferred materials. The Carbothello pencils he uses are wonderful to draw with. He moves on to explain chiaroscuro, value, form, shadow & so on, all of which I recommend you read it thoroughly before taking on his extensive chapters on the subject of drawing the head.
He deals with the subjectin ample detail, & to his credit he writes very well too. There is a lot to read but every word of it is useful. His examples (and there are very many) are not the unusably rough pieces foundin other books, but arein large scale, oftenin close-up & annotated, so you can really seein detail what he's doing & how he does it. He also rather cleverly provides equally high quality examples of how NOT to draw - for example, showing what happens when the proportions are incorrect or the lighting is poor. You could use this book to merely ape the Maughan style, but I believe it has much more value than that if you take the time to understand his methods & apply them to your work.
Often with such books, the benefit you derive from them depends to some extent on whether you like the artistic style of the author. I happen to like it, but even if you don't, Maughan's tremendous skill & understanding of his subject is such that it would be a shame to miss the opportunity to learn from him. This book has improved my skill greatly.
Even if you don't draw, the book makes an excellent coffee table piece.
I've had my copy from Amazon for while, but at time of writing (21 Mar 2006) the price is an absolute bargain at £12.89.
A consistent and convincing approach - By: , 11 Nov 2004 The value of any book on drawing technique is very much dependent on the experience of the reader,in particular the questions he or she brings to the book, the problems which are seeking solutions. The advantages of a book like this which takes one specific approach & deals with itin moderate depth are firstly that it is a document from which to work, not just a coffee table amusement, & secondly that one can see straight away whether it is addressing one's specific problems. As drawer of four or five years' experience with a preference for accuracy & what is misleadingly termed "realism", & having started drawing from life a little under a year ago, I found Maughan's approach consistent & convincing because it reinforced some of the directionsin which I was naturally being led.
The emphasis is on the balancing of light & dark (chiaroscuro) as the fundamental units of composition rather than on line or gesture. These techniques work best with soft pencil or pastel crayon on a slightly toothy surface of intermediate tone. The light & dark are laidin with white & sanguine or sepia. A crucial distinction is drawn between soft & hard edges. The emphasis is on looking & on simplicity & economy.
But I have one caveat. Experience also teaches that there is no one right way to draw, that the technique depends on the material, that what convices the eye is how well the hand has rendered the imagined world. In the end line & gesture are as important as the play of the light on the dark.
