Menorca Sketchbook

The Menorca Sketchbook is Graham Byfield's newest watercolor travelogue by Talisman Publishing. He is an English watercolor artist who summers in Menorca where he owns his own gallery. As with all the watercolor travelogues published by Talisman, the paper that the book is printed on is actual watercolor paper. This enhances the appearance of the drawings, making them look like original drawings. The publisher also uses a font that looks like handwriting for the descriptions of the drawings, which gives their books an arty feel. In addition, the travelogue shows Menorca by neighborhood, with some written material about it. Here, we have drawings of architecture and parks in Mahon, Cindadela, various villages, the countryside and the coast.

This sketchbook is different from Byfield's earlier sketchbooks in that there are only four full page drawings. Usually these types of books predominantly contain full page or double page drawings. I was disappointed that most of them have three to four drawings per page. For me, it is harder to see the detail in a small drawing. Byfield's style is somewhat loose, compared to other watercolor travelogue artists. However, with the written material on each neighborhood it is easy to figure out where everything is located on the island.  

While Menorca has been on my bucket list for years, this travelogue is not inspiring me to push it up my list.  It does not look as inviting as other places that Byfield has drawn, such as Cambridge. The Cambridge Sketchbook is my favorite of all of them.  

3 out of 5 stars.

Amsterdam Sketchbook

I have had a difficult time locating this book. After a year of searching various websites I finally found one that had a copy to sell. Artist Graham Byfield has published several other watercolor sketchbooks since Amsterdam was published, with Menorca coming out earlier this year. Byfield's style is loose. He is somewhat detailed in his watercolor paintings but not as detailed as France's Fabrice Moireau. I prefer lots of detail but that is not to say that I don't enjoy Graham Byfield.  

Amsterdam contains paintings of several neighborhoods.  Byfield created drawings in the Oude Zijde, Nieuwe Zijde, Leidsestraat, Rosengracht, Amstel and Vondelpark.  A handwritten font is used to describe each painting which adds a personal touch to the sketchbook.  I think that this sketchbook has more information for each subject than other sketchbooks by both Byfield and other watercolor artist sketchbooks.  I enjoyed reading about the buildings and parks that Byfeild drew.  There are 4 or 5 full page paintings but most pages contain 2 paintings.  The publisher, EDM, always publishes their watercolor sketchbooks on actual watercolor paper so that the paintings are shown in the best format.  

This is a first rate artist's book that inspires me to get busy on my own artwork.  I highly recommend it to artists of all mediums.  It makes a great coffee table book too.  5 out of 5 stars.

Sarawak Sketchbook

I have been trying to find a copy of this book for a year and finally found one on Ebay.  Although it was shipped to me from Australia, it arrived quicker than mail sent to me from within my own city.  The watercolor sketches of this major city on the island of Borneo were drawn by A. Kasim Abas in 2004. Sarawak is Malaysia's largest state and home to a multitude of ethnic groups with colorful material cultures.  It's unique history as the land of the "white rajahs" means that it architecture is varied in styles. Grand colonial edifices stand next to longhouses and modern buildings.  

The sketchbook is divided into the city's geographic areas and include Kuching, Iban, Miri and the coastal areas.  Abas drew prominent buildings and scenery in pen and ink and then colored them with watercolors.  There are handwritten notes by the artist for each drawing that explains what he has depicted.  I was surprised that almost all of these drawings were done in brown tones.  I expected that Sarawak would be a colorful city like other cities in Malaysia.  Another surprise was that there was only one two-page spread and just a few full page drawings.  Most of the pages inside this book were mini-drawings.  I was expecting the opposite as the other sketchbooks that I have in my collection have large sketches.  

I have 29 sketchbooks by various artists and Sarawak is the last one that I needed to complete my collection.  As I said above, it was difficult to find as the artist is from Malaysia. These watercolorists travel to well known cities and spend time there painting famous buildings and landscaping. The books can serve as travelogues as well as artist books. They are all published on watercolor paper to enhance the artwork.

I was a little disappointed that the drawings were small and brownish but cannot expect the artist to draw something that isn't there.  The architecture of the buildings is quite detailed, which is something I love to see.  Not all of these watercolorists are detail oriented.  Later this year Graham Byfield will publish his Menorca Sketchbook.  I am looking forward to seeing this book, even though his style is loose.

4 out of 5 stars.

Landmarks of Malaysia Sketchbook

I was so pleased when this book arrived in the mail today as it has 360 pages, 5 times the length of the other watercolor sketchbooks that I have.  Most of the drawings are full page drawings printed on actual watercolor paper that enhances them.  It is unusual for watercolor sketchbooks to have this many full page drawings. In fact, there are many two page spreads too. Artist Chin Kon Yit has a style that is detailed, similar to Fabrice Moireau who I believe is the best watercolor travelogue artist at this time. 

The drawings are divided by area.  The areas are the capitals and Selangor, the northwest peninsula, the south, the east coast, and Sarawak, Sahab and Labaun.  I was surprised that Malaysia has so many areas with exquisite architecture. I thought that Kuala Lumpur was the only modern city but I was wrong. There is so much to see in this country that I could spend a few weeks there. Before I read this book, I thought that there was only a small area in Kuala Lumpur that was modern. Travel companies only give their customer a half day in Malaysia, which is where I got my view of this gorgeous country.  

A paragraph is written to describe each drawing.  I love the font used for these paragraphs.  It is a handwritten font and makes it look like the artist handwrote the descriptions himself.   Lim Take Bane wrote the descriptions as well as the introduction.  I have Kon Yit's Penang and Kuala Lumpur sketchbooks.  They are just as gorgeous as this book is. He has become one of my favorite artists.

5 out of 5 stars.

Lisbon Sketchbook

I have all of Fabrice Moireau's travelogue sketchbooks. His Lisbon Sketchbook was published last month and I couldn't wait to receive it in the mail.  When it finally arrived I was delighted to view its pages, printed on actual watercolor paper as were all of his earlier watercolor sketchbooks. This fantastic book is just like his Paris, Provence, Loire Valley, Brittany, Gardens of Paris, Rooftops of Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, Sicily, New York, and Berlin sketchbooks.

The bucolic scenes of Lisbon are described in written word by Gonzalo Tavares. Moireau always has a 2 page spread showing the colors of the city he has drawn.  It is interesting that Lisbon is the most colorful of those cities, something that I wasn't expecting. As an artist myself, I view his books frequently as I learn alot from them concerning perspective and how to draw details in architecture. Moireau is the most detailed watercolor artist I am aware of. Britain's Graham Byfield and Malaysia's Chen Voon Fee and Chin Kon Yit as well as Singapore's Gretchen Liu all have looser watercolor styles. Moireau's detailed sketching style is perfect for drawing his native France with all of the intricate features of its buildings.

Lisbon Sketchbook is a wonderful book to display on a coffee table. I have several of them on my coffee table and visitors always love flipping through them. I highly recommend this book for artists and art lovers. 5 out of 5 stars.

Botanical Portraits with Colored Pencils

I came across Ann Swan's YouTube channel earlier this week and was pleased to find a botanical artist who only uses colored pencil in her botanical drawings. Usually colored pencil is only used as a final highlight after pen, ink and watercolor have been used. I immediately ordered her book from Amazon and it arrived yesterday.

This book is not for beginners.  The author assumes that you know how to draw as well as how to use colored pencils.  You need to be a high achieving intermediate colored pencil artist or an advanced one before taking on botanicals. The first thing the author teaches the reader is the need to know the scientific structure of the plant that you are drawing. How does it grow? How is it constructed? How are the leaves on the stem arranged? You need to study the pattern of the veins on the leaves, all of them, as no two leaves are alike. In addition, the artist needs to study the life cycle of the plant, making measurements of each part of the plant as it changes.  It seems like the artist needs to buy a botany book on the plant before getting started as there is so much scientific information needed before you can start your drawing.

The author recommends using a small sketchbook to record details about the plant's growing habits as well as making a series a thumbnail sketches of the flowers, stems, roots, leaves, and buds.  She also recommends taking a series of photographs to use as a reference for your drawing.

One fact I learned is that botanical paintings are always lifesize. That was why you needed to take measurements of the plant in the planning stages of your drawing. Also, Ms. Swan shows the reader how to use the Divine Proportion, which occurs in nature everywhere, when planning the composition of the drawing so that it is aesthetically pleasing. I also learned that there are 3 styles in botanical illustration. There is the traditional style which was the only style I was aware of, the contemporary style where the focus is on just one part of the plant and the abstract style where one part of a plant is enlarged and it's the only part of the plant that is drawn.

The author also includes great tips on which colors to use when shading leaves in the foreground versus shading them in the background as well as how to develop a critical eye toward the style and elements in your drawing.

The latter half if the book consists of how-to demonstrations of various plant subjects.  Ms. Swan primarily uses Polychromos pencils but will also use Prismacolor and Luminance pencils for blending. I was surprised that she didn't use the Luminance pencils more often since they are 100% lightfast but the colors they come in are not suited for botanicals. In fact, they are not very vibrant for other types of drawings and I wish Caran d'Ache would create more colors for us.

Botanical Portraits with Colored Pencils is a wonderful addition to the colored pencil instruction books. It is quite unique from the rest since botanical art requires a different skillset.

This book is a must-read.

Drawing Birds with Colored Pencil

Kaaren Poole's Drawing Birds is a beginner's guide to drawing birds with colored pencils.  However, more advanced colored pencil users may be able to pick up a few tips from her too.  I know I did.

Ms. Poole begins her book with the usual beginner information on supplies, creating a sketch, how to transfer it to the paper you will be using and color theory.  However, she has a section on bird shapes and anatomy that I think is unique in colored pencil instruction books. Anatomy is a subject that I have neglected in my own drawings and perhaps I need to study it.

The skeletal structure of humans has always been taught in the classes I took in art school when we were learning how to draw the human form in various poses.  It makes sense that when you are drawing a bird or other animal you need to first draw its skeleton and then smooth out your lines to the shapes that your eyes actually see of the creature.

The author moves on from there to the anatomy of the eyes and beaks and shows how to correctly position them. The tip regarding the eyes is going to help me tremendously with my drawings. Now that I see how she does them I can see that my drawings fall flat because of the eyes.

The bulk of the book consists of step-by-step demonstrations of various birds. These demonstrations are quite detailed and even include the type of pencil to use as well as the color to use and in what order.  There is an emphasis on layering.  The author layers color over three times and her instructions tell the reader exactly how to do that.

Drawing Birds with Colored Pencil is a great resource for the artist.  I definitely rate it 5 out of 5 stars.

Drawing Comics

Robyn Chapman's Drawing Comics is a beginner's guide to getting started in comics.  The book covers each step you need to take to get a finished comic book.

The initial exercises are on drawing.  However, most of the exercises in the book are on character development and storytelling. The layout of each of the 52 exercises is the genius of the book.  Each exercise is encompassed in a 2 page spread. One page has a small box with a materials list, another box with an inspirational quote, and a photograph. The second page consists of a half page set of instructions for the exercise and a half page of tips from a cartoonist. The layout makes each step look easy to accomplish so the reader can feel relaxed about the process.

Some of the other exercises include page building, panels, lettering, inking, publishing pages at home and writing proposals for publishers. If you do all of the exercises you should have a comic strip at the end of the book.

Drawing Comics is a book for the absolute beginning cartoonist. The instructions are so well laid out that anyone should have a product at the end of the book if they do each exercise before reading the next exercise. No other comic instructional guide makes writing comics this simple nor do you have a comic strip done at the end of the book.

Simply the best comic instructional guidebook!  5 out of 5 stars!

Painting Light with Colored Pencil

Cecile Baird's Painting Light with Colored Pencil is chock full of inspiration and instruction in its 128 pages.  After an introduction to composition and lighting the author delves into instructing the reader on how to create fruit and flowers that glow. She then spends a chapter on how to capture light on water.  The final chapters have 7 step-by-step demonstrations on how to use the techniques she discussed in the earlier chapters.

The author has the easiest teaching on how to produce light in your colored pencil paintings that I have ever seen in any colored pencil instruction book. However, she shows you how to do it in step-by-step instructions with Prismacolor pencils which I no longer use.

Prismacolor was sold to a company based in Mexico 5 to 10 years ago and quality control was eliminated.  The pencil casings were made thinner and with cheaper wood. The pigments are still the best but when they are encased in a wood pencil that breaks too easily that you need to replace them 4 or 5 times they are not worth the trouble or extra expense.  If you are not an experienced colored pencil artist you may find it difficult to substitute pencils from better brands that will get you the same results.

One thing the author gets right is adding in demonstrations on working with metal, glass, wood, and in draping fabric. These topics are usually in separate books or dvds and here we are lucky to have them all in one place which is a great value for the reader.

One new skill I will take away from this book is how to create fabric folds.  This will be useful in portraits as well as in still lifes that have fabric in them.

4 out of 5 stars!

Leaving China

When I purchased this book I thought that it was a graphic novel.  It is more of a memoir told in both the written word and in paintings. On each double page spread James McMullan shares a written page about a phase in his life and a painting showing that phase.

McMullan begins his story with his grandparents arrival in China as missionaries and their departure from preaching the gospel to providing practical assistance that their Chinese neighbors desperately needed. In this process some people became Christians but the family also became wealthy, by Chinese standards, as they created business enterprises to support their practical ministries.

His parents continued the work but when the author came of age he was more interested in art than missionary work. McMullin left China for training but returned with a family. When WWII began the family had to find other places to go to for safety and hence, leave China. This is what this book is about.

McMullan has a captivating story to tell and he tells it well.  While his paintings are nice, I think his written word about his experiences are what makes this book excellent. It is a family saga covering 3 generations.  Their story is shaped by the historical events of the era which also makes this book a learning experience for those unfamiliar with the late 1800s through the mid twentieth century.

I enjoyed the book immensely. It was a relaxing read and I rate it 5 out of 5 stars.