Sketching School
By Judy Martin
Quarto Publishing, plc. 1991
Reader's Digest, Association, Inc.
Third printing (January, 1994)
Hardcover, 176 pages
Rated 3 Stars of 5 Possible
To begin with, I must take issue with some of the promotional material which was prepared for this book. Specifically, the back cover states "40 specially designed projects." Inside the book, I've only been able to locate 39 projects. Additionally, there are four sections titled "Focus On" which are focused on four different topics. These "Focus On" sections may be helpful, but, do they, I wonder, constitute the missing project #40? Another statement from the back cover promises "Sketching demonstrations by leading artists." There are, indeed, three demonstrations included, yet none of the three demonstrations goes into as much depth as I would like to have seen.
The back cover also states "For artists of all levels", yet there is very little content here for the inexperienced artist. The promised step-by-step instructions are quite vague rather than specific, and not too detailed. That type of instruction might be okay for intermediate or advanced artists, but I would not recommend it for beginners at all. I'm rating the book as three stars because I think, after seven years of working on my drawing that I might be able to take advantage of some of the techniques included here; but I can't recommend the book to artists at less than an intermediate skill level, and at least a few years of experience. Can we say disappointed?
This review has been posted on Dragon Views, LibraryThing and Amazon.com. and has not been solicited by either the publisher or the author/artist.
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