Our Advanced Higher Graphics pupils will be illustrating their main desktop publishing (DTP) piece using pastels this session.  As I’m a beginner myself with the medium, I’ve been practicing (see earlier post) and reading instruction books.

A few days ago I purchased:

Painting Beautiful Skin Tones with Color & Light, by Chris Saper.

In the introduction of her book, Ms Saper states:

‘Intuitive instruction – “just pick out some color,” “use color that expresses the way you feel” – has never helped me.  But instructors who have taught me how to see – what to look for and why – have given me tools I can use for a lifetime.  This book is designed to give you tools you can use, too.

The book is superb, and covers portrait painting with oils, watercolour and especially pastels, really well.  It’s particularly strong on colour theory and colour use, and breaks it down in to clear do and don’t guidelines.  These guidelines are relevant to any branch of painting, not just portraiture.  The book is beautifully illustrated by Ms Saper, using step by step views of her own paintings, which are stunning.

Ms Saper’s web site is at:

http://www.chrissaper.com

As well as displaying examples of her work, she lists her fees for undertaking portraits.  I expect she’s one of the few artists around who earns a living from traditional portraiture.

Ms Saper has written a second book and, interestingly, has chosen to publish it via Blurb.com, the same ‘on-demand’ printer we’ve used for our pupils’ children’s story books.  It’s at:

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/152139

Jim