The ability to draw the human figure is an essential skill for the trained artist. And for the independent amateur, painter John Raynes’s new book is the equivalent of an art school course. With meticulous renderings of the skeleton and the muscles, he explores how the underlying structures support and give shape to the body. Many of the drawings are shown step-by-step, starting with a photograph of the model and accompanied by a discussion of such issues as balance and motion, light and shadow, composition and volume. Through drawings of different body shapes, from underweight to overweight, both nude and clothed, the student learns how to capture the character as well as the appearance of the subject.
Artist
John Raynes has written sixteen instructional books on Drawing, Painting and Human Anatomy. They include "Drawing Cars", "Drawing Figures", "Starting to Paint in Oils" and "Starting to Paint in Acrylics" for Studio Vista in the sixties and seventies, followed by ‘Painting Seascapes’ in 1980, also for Studio Vista.
Hamlyn published ‘Human Anatomy for Artists’ in 1979, ‘Figure Drawing” in 1981 and ‘Step by Step Guide to Drawing’ in 1982. The first two were later combined as ‘Figure Drawing and Anatomy for the Artist’ which has been continuously in print for twenty years.
‘The Figure Drawing Workbook’, published in 1997 by Collins & Brown, won the Artist’s Choice Art Instruction Book of the Year award in 1998. A follow up book entitled ‘Drawing and Painting People’, was published in April 2000 and also won the Art Instruction Book of the Year.
Three teaching videos have been made based on these two books. A book co authored by John Raynes and his son, Jody Raynes, entitled ‘How to Draw Figures’ was published in 2000 by Paragon.
‘The Complete Drawing Course’ was published September 2002 and won the Art Instruction Book of the Year for the third time. A companion book, ‘The Complete Watercolour Course’ was published in 2004 and ‘The Complete Perspective Course’ followed in 2005.
"The Complete Guide to Perspective" strips this daunting subject back to its simplest principles and shows how, once these have been grasped, the other, apparently more complex rules simply build on the basic concept. The principles of perspective are developed in a series of step-by-step projects, from one-, two- and three-point perspective, to different viewpoints and multi-view perspective. The reader is guided with the help of line diagrams, grids and photographs with perspective lines superimposed. The projects develop from the basics to fully realized drawings. A wide range of subjects is explored in a variety of media and styles. This book is a must for all artists, illustrators and architects.This book is new in paperback. It shows how to grasp and successfully apply the laws of perspective. It provides clear step-by-step exercises by renowned artist John Raynes. It includes aerial perspective, scale and tone and landscape.
What is drawing? Well, it's many things: the term describes "realistic" depictions of the world around us, but also includes the making of totally abstract shapes and patterns and of marks that attempt to describe states of mind and concepts that exist solely in the imagination. In The Ultimate Drawing Course John Raynes demonstrates how to observe and describe the appearance of scenes and objects around you and how to select and interpret aspects of those scenes in your own way. Throughout the emphasis is on building up your skills and confidence through a series of short, easy-to-follow practice exercises. Once you've mastered the basic skills, you can move on to a series of longer projects designed to encourage you to give full rein to your creativity. Written and illustrated by acclaimed artist, John Raynes, The Ultimate Drawing Course is packed with practical tips and step-by-step demonstrations and will enable you to tackle any subject with confidence.
Discover the great potential of watercolours and how to achieve professional results. Acclaimed artist John Raynes covers simple to complex techniques using glazes and additives on a range of papers to give an enormous variety of effects and finishes. With dozens of inspiring examples and hundreds of easy-to-follow, step-by-step projects, this book offers useful tips and helpful advice to build your confidence and skill.
Use a variety of methods, from wet-into-wet washes through to the elegance of dry-brush techniques discover the great potential of watercolours and learn how to translate what you see into a painting. Detailed step-by-step projects reveal the artist s thought processes, as well as offering useful tips and helpful advice to build your confidence and skill.