Please vist our affiliate below and help support our site.
AMAZON.COM ITEMS WILL POP UP THE PRICE WHEN YOU HOVER
THE MOUSE OVER THE IMAGE OR TITLE.
If you are a professional portrait painter,
your input regarding favorite books would be appreciated.
Please email me. Also, if you disagree with some of the
selections here, let me know that also. Some books here
may not make a "favorites" list for a professional
portrait artist, but keep in mind that this page attempts
to address both the beginner and experienced artist.
Creating a likeness of a person is one of the greatest challenges
an artist can face. In this book, John Howard Sanden makes the
challenge much more achievable by breaking it down into 29 logical
steps. Working in the exciting premier coup tradition, you will
learn to execute a finished portrait in a single sitting, starting
with your very first stroke. Perfected by Sanden over three
decades of painting and teaching, this 29-step method will help
you create convincing, lively portraits every time.
Painting People by Burt Silverman
– Hardcover: 142 pages Publisher: Watson-Guptill Publications
(1977)
Making Color Sing by Jeanne Dobie – Paperback,
160 pages (April 15, 2000) Watson-Guptill Pubns
Through clear, illuminating exercises, this best-selling book
stimulates new ways to think about color, generating responses
that unlock personal creativity and allow artists to express
themselves with paint as never before. Readers are shown how
the interplay of complementary hues can trigger vibrations;
how the push and pull of warm and cool colors can create a feeling
of space; how to disguise one color in a scene to accent another;
and many more tidbits of colorful advice.
From SOG artist Chris
Saper: "Hands down, one of the most well written and
usefully illustrated book on color theory available."
The Painted Word by Tom Wolfe – Paperback, 112
pages (October 5, 1999) Bantam Doubleday Dell Pub
Much of The Painted Word is a superb burlesque on that
modern mating ritual whereby artists get to despise their middle-class
audience and accommodate it at the same time. The painter, Wolfe
writes, "had to dedicate himself to the quirky god Avant-Garde".
The Painted Word isn't about the history of art. It's
about the history of taste and middlebrow acquisition—and nobody
has chronicled these two topics as hilariously or accurately
as Tom Wolfe.
Within his treatise on art and its many facets, well-known artist
and teacher Robert Henri shares insight on the making and viewing
of art. He offers insight on areas which all artists must eventually
come to terms with, including proportion, technique, color,
style, and subject matter. He discloses a lifetime of his personal
"life-lessons" about his own art and his personal struggles
as an artist, and he shares honestly the perils and triumphs
of both he and his students. In a mere moment the reader learns
lessons about art and its making which take artists years to
learn. This book is a joy in every sense of the word—from
Henri's suggestions on rendering light reflecting from a woman's
lower lip to his secrets to making a portrait "glow". Henri's
The Art Spirit is a must-read for any reader interested in any
aspect of art.
Color Choices by Stephen Quiller – Hardcover,
144 pages (October 1989) Watson-Guptill Pubns.
Color Choices by Stephen Quiller – Paperback:
144 pages Publisher: Watson-Guptill Publications; New Ed edition
(May 2002)
From SOG artist Chris
Saper: "Hands down, one of the most well written
and usefully illustrated book on color theory available."
Internationally renowned artist and best-selling author Stephen
Quiller shows readers how to discover their own personal "color
sense" in Color Choices, a book that offers readers a fresh
perspective on refining their own color styles. With the help
of his own "Quiller Wheel," a special foldout wheel
featuring 68 precisely placed colors, the author shows artists
how they can develop their own unique color blends. First, Quiller
demonstrates how to use the wheel to interpret color relationships
and mix colors more clearly. Then he explains, step by step,
how to develop five structured color schemes; apply underlays
and overlays; and use color in striking, unusual ways. This
book will bring out every artist's unique sense of color whether
he or she works in oil, watercolor, acrylic, gouache, or casein.
David Seidner's portrait photography is elegant, lavish and
exceptionally wonderful. With their hedonistic overstones
andsumptuous beauty, they always stand on sphere of their
own. Impossible to do them justice, the work must be seen.
In this extraordinary and beautiful new book, Seidner's work
pays homage to the great portrait painters of the early nineteenth-century.
Fusing history and stylish antiquarianism with a contemporary
sensibility, Seidner creates a distinctive and remarkable
array of images. Modern day actors, actresses, aristocrats
and others who fill the social pages, don the costumes and
postures of their earlier counterparts. Counterparts who were
painted by artists such as Ingres, Boldini and Americans,
John Singer Sargent and John Singleton Copley.
With models such as Jessye Norman, Helena Bonham Carter (this
photograph was selected as one of the top 100 photographs
of the century by the National Portrait Gallery in London),
Lord Glenconner, Princess Alexandra von Furstenburg, Edwina
Hicks, and India Hicks, David Seidner captures the present
in the past and the past in the present. The photographs assume
at once both history painting and portrait.
Problem Solving for Oil Painters by Gregg Kreutz
Paperback, 144 pages, Watson-Guptill Pubns, 1997; (see review
of hardcover below)
Reader review:I stumbled on this book by accident in
an art store library. Upon browsing through it, I realized
that I was looking at something very different than the bulk
of "art instruction" books available. The author is exceptionally
knowledgable about the medium of oils, as well as surfaces
on which to paint, but most importantly, he shows many color
photos of "bad" paintings and how to correct them. He discusses,
composition, lighting, unifying color, shadow color,etc. It
is an education in itself. An outstanding work.
The insights, philosophy, painting hints, and general comments
of David A. Leffel, a popular instructor at the Art Students
League in New York. David did a painting demonstration
at the ASOPA 2000 Portrait Arts Festival at the Met.
Human Figure by John H. Vanderpoel – Paperback
(May 1985) Dover Pubns
Reader review: One of the finest books available
on figure drawing, written by someone who could do it! His
advice helps you look at the big picture, rather than getting
lost in details. It requires some patience to read, but most
worthwhile things do. A real gem!
Reader review: This book is a treasure. I have checked
it out of the library several times already and now have finally
decided to buy it. I have yet to find a better guide to traditonal
painting techniques. In a world of modern techniques based
on 20th century aesthetics, this is the book for those of
us who follow a different path. If you want to paint like
Velasquez, Titian, or Nerdrum, this is the place to start.
Classic approach to the dynamics of drawing by brilliant teacher
with insights and practical advice on line drawing, mass drawing,
visual memory, materials and much more. 84 plates and diagrams
reinforce Speed’s clear presentation.
** In order to ensure that A Stroke of Genius receives
credit for your order you will need to start your
shopping session from our book pages. Any qualifying item you place in your shopping
cart within 24
hours following your entry from A Stroke of Genius will be credited to us if the
purchase is made
within 90 days. Credit will not be given for items already in your cart from a previous
visit.
DISCLAIMER: There
are many books where Amazon does not have a cover image and we have searched
the web to find one. We have made every effort to accurately represent books and
their covers.
However, we are not responsible for any variations from the cover displayed.
Portraits
from Life in 29 Steps 
Painting People
Breaking the Rules of Watercolor
Making Color Sing
The Painted Word
The Art Spirit: Notes, Articles, Fragments of Letters and
Talks to Students, Bearing on the Concept and Technique of Picture
Making, the Study of Art
Color Choices
Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing: A Contemporary
Master Reveals the Secrets of Drawing the Human Form
The Best of Portrait Painting
Problem Solving for Oil Painters 
Oil Painting Secrets from a Master 
My
People: The Portraits of Robert Henri
Human Figure
Oil Painting Techniques and Materials
The Practice and Science of Drawing 
