Giovanni Civardi's Complete Guide to Drawing (The Art of Drawing)

A compilation of Civardi's shorter books, it's not for an absolute beginner who requires many step by step examples on each topic. The copy I got was poorly bound and started to fall apart within a month of reading, however it was in perfect condition when I got it, so I think this was a fluke. I'd estimate the whole book is roughly 1/3 actual instruction and 2/3 completed drawings which you can copy on your own for practice. Almost every section begins with a 4-6 page overview on tools, techniques, and practical advice before jumping into the instructions. Details on each section are below:Drawing Techniques - shows what effects would be achieved by using different drawing mediums (pencils, charcoal, pen and ink etc.) on different types of paper. This was repeated in summary form in the other sections, so felt like filler to make up the page count.Portraits - has approximately 30 pages of basic instructions that can be found in any other art book and 29 pages of sketches and completed drawings. This section was not of much use to me as Loomis and Hamm covered portraits better in my opinion.The Clothed Figure - how to demo and instruction covered in 19 pages and 40 pages were completed drawings. This section made me glad I decided to buy the complete guide instead of paying the cost of the separate books because it did not cover the topic adequately - he had a section on drawing groups on people that did not give any hints on how to kept them in perspective, (and one or two more step by step demonstrations would have been nice!) but there are some beautiful drawings of medieval clothing that I am enjoying copying.Hands and Feet - more detailed than the previous sections and had some interesting poses to copy. This was one of the best sections of the book for me.Scenery - as with the other sections started off with 2 pages showing the effects of using differing media on different types of paper. I liked his demonstrations on finding the horizon and vanishing points from his photographed examples. All in all a good basic overview of the topic.Light and Shade - this final section bumped my review from 2 stars to 3. He covers light and shade, form and cast shadows, touches on perspective and shadows, and gave useful pointers on tones and shading. He provide black and white photos of a man's head and other ordinary objects for practise and I learned a few composition tips I did not know before. If I'd purchased this book separately, I'd have given it 4 stars.In summary, if you were planning to buy each book in the series, this would be more cost effective for you. It's a nice edition for your art library but apart from the light and shade section there isn't much you would not find covered in more detail in other art books.

If I were to recommend a single reference for realistic drawing, this would be the one. Why buy the individual chapters as separate books when you can buy them all in one package? Civardi has combined six of his stand-alone books into a comprehensive reference, as did Blake with his complete painting course  The Complete Painting Course: A Guide to Techniques in Oils, Watercolors and Acrylics . About the only thing missing are his figure drawing books  Drawing The Female Nude , although he includes a few fine figure drawings in his portraits chapter.

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Happy with everything i order and happy i get them when you say

I cannot recommend buying this book. It is a compilation of drawings done by the author with incredibly little instruction. The drawings themselves are acceptable but certainly not incredible.

Dad ❤︎ it

Wow! A tremendous book on all aspects of drawing!

This book is not for beginners. I am a decent artist and was looking to work on my techniques and I suppose it is good for that but I did not find it very "user-friendly." I think it would be fantastic if you were just looking for some extra tips.

A very good book for understanding of shadows,shapes and general art tips. Explanations are concise and easy to follow. Recommend

Thorough book for beginners.

Excellent book

Excellent, un des meilleurs

luv it