The Art of Pencil Drawing (The Collector's Series/#CS01-5)

Rating:
Summary: Takes Pencil Drawing to a New Level...
Review: If you really want to see how amazing pencil can look on paper when you have master it, get this book. Gene Franks creates all his own textures with just simple strokes and the drawings come off the page! I used to use a blender for most of my shading. Not any more! It will take alot of practice to be able to even come close to his style, but you will get so many amazed faces when people see what you can do with a simple pencil and a blank sheet of paper. I highly recommend it!

Rating:
Summary: Stunning artwork, but not useful as a guide
Review: That Gene Franks is an amazing artist is unquestionable, yet I wouldn't recommend this to the aspirant. It doesn't give much advice on actual techniques, there are no photos to work from, and the writing style is quite monotonous. Having said that, the pictures are a joy to look at, so this gets an extra star for this alone :D

Rating:
Summary: Stunning artwork, but not useful as a guide
Review: That Gene Franks is an amazing artist is unquestionable, yet I wouldn't recommend this to the aspirant. It doesn't give much advice on actual techniques, there are no photos to work from, and the writing style is quite monotonous. Having said that, the pictures are a joy to look at, so this gets an extra star for this alone :D

Rating:
Summary: REALIZING THE GREAT POTENTIAL OF PENCIL
Review: The book contains impressive drawings of Gene Franks in pencil. It offers a wide spectrum of drawing models for the reader-- from toys to cars, animals, portaits and landscapes. By mere study of his drawings, one gets a pretty good idea of the many ways varying pencil strokes maybe used to define the texture of a still life drawing. His drawings look like the real thing, except that they're in black and white. His notes and tips on how to render each drawing are also very helpful to the reader. This book is something you'll keep using for the rest of your drawing career.