Painting Beautiful Skin Tones with Color & Light: In Oil, Pastel and Watercolor

So disappointed. Page 13 and overleaf has been cut out so that 1/2 of the page is missing. This was NOT noted before I purchased the book.

I bought this book based on the reviews so I think it is just right to give my own feed-back now.If you are into portraits in whatever medium and you can only afford one book, buy this one, because if gives you more (unlike the title suggests) than just tips about skin colours. The introduction about the five elements in painting (drawing, value, colour, edges and composition) is clearer and more practical than in many other books I have ordered (I ordered 7 art instruction books in total). For example, Chris Saper presents colours theoretically with a colour wheel and the definition of the terms hue, intensity, but also gives you practical advice on which colours to buy first to make your palette and on how to mix them to make the different skin colours (hispanic, caucasian, black/african, asian/pacific). She even gives you a different receipe for mixing colours whether you're painting a brunette, redhead or blond type caucasian. Better than others she explains you the difference between cool and warm shadows, the colour and temperature of light and shadow, colour harmony and more importantly the three fundamental problems to overcome when working from photographs. The other books I've ordered that dealt with these items, did it often in a less accessible, practical or complete way. The second half of the book gives you mini-demonstrations and step by step demonstrations always with a materials list and colour reference.The book doesn't explain you how to draw portraits, so you should already have acquired some ease at that in order to benefit completely from this book, because it is of course useless to know how to colour a face if you can't draw that face in the first place ! Then again, in my opinion, the drawing is the lesser important part because you could just transfer the contours from a picture and still make it artistically worthwile by your composition and use of colour. That's why I would rather buy a book like this one than one about how to draw faces if I could afford just one.I you want to get even further into the matter of portraiting I would recommend the book "the Artist's complete guide to facial expression" of Gary Faigin that not only gives you a hint on how the facial muscles are related one another to form our expressions but also gives you a very complete explanation of the proportions of the head, the skull, the eyes, and the position of the gaze in different situations and positions that will help you draw faces more realistically and internally coherent.If you want advice about design & composition about more than just portraiting and just one artist's point of view, I recommend "design & composition secrets of professional artists" from international artists.

If you are aspiring to be a portrait artist, or wish to improve your skills, this is the book for you. Chris Saper presents the needed knowledge for capturing the essence of a good portrait in a clear and concise manner. This book is beautiful in its presentation with its many colors charts, demos, and wonderful portrait examples. After reading this book you will be inspired to try portraiture. There is so much useful information given and it will translate into all art endeavors if realism is your aim. Thanks for an outstanding source among the many how to books in print today.

This is a wonderful book for everyone interested in portraiture or figurative painting. Although the emphasis here is on the use of clean, fresh color and how it applies to different racial groups, everything about painting is addressed: edges, value, negative space, etc. The artist includes many invaluable tips about working from photos - how to avoid color distortion, value clumping, etc. - as well as urging us all to work from life. If you love Harley Brown's work you'll also love Chris Saper's exciting portraits!