Mar 13
The muscle structure, movement and physique of horses makes them quite hard to draw while capturing their glossy coats in paint can be very hard. Dave White has created an extremely useful book designed to help artists overcome these problems. Even beginner artists can achieve a satisfactory result by using the tracings supplied. Hints and advice are given in drawing and painting horses in different styles - a show jumper, mare and foal, steeplechaser and a grey Connemara horse running in the sea. There are step by step projects that can be followed, with full directions as to the individual paints and techniques required to complete the picture. This is a very helpful book, which can be used by both novice and advanced artists to develop skills in drawing and painting these beautiful animals. Definitely worth a place on any artists bookshelf.
* Monstersandcritics.com *
Mar 13
Horses have a reputation for being difficult, and not just in the hand or on the plate (sorry, topical reference at the time of writing!). They're a particular combination of shapes and proportions that even the most competent artists struggle to get right. Good books are hard to come by - in fact, the last one was actually about unicorns. This, however, is a humdinger. Dave White is an accomplished animal painter and he's chosen a nice selection of approaches to illustrate here, from a head and shoulders portrait to a mare and foal and a steeplechaser, the latter conveying strength, movement and speed with effortlessness and elegance. As ever, the Ready to Paint format provides pre-printed tracings that take the hit-and-miss out of getting the drawing right, leaving you to concentrate on the colour and shading that are also central to a convincing result.
* Artbookreview.net *
May 2013
Artist Dave White has been painting and teaching people how to paint animals for many years, exhibiting annually at Crufts Dog Show and the New Forest Show. In this book he embarks on the difficult task of capturing horses in acrylics. To help, there are six reusable tracings to pull out and transfer to your support so that you can get painting straight away. Five easy-to-follow projects and clear step-by-step photographs will help to develop your skills with a difficult subject.
* Leisure Painter, The *
April 13
Animals are always tricky subjects, but horses are particularly difficult due to the variety of shapes, textures and contours they present. In this remarkably straightforward guide, experienced equestrian artist Dave White demonstrates five quite different approaches. He covers animals both in repose and from different viewpoints. The stock-in-trade of the Ready to Paint series is its pre-printed tracings that allow you to get the outline right and concentrate on the use of paint. For those who are uncertain of their skills, these will be invaluable but, if you have more confidence, the demonstrations here stand well on their own. Because they allow corrections to be made as the work progresses, acrylics are an ideal choice for a subject such as this and Dave White is a confident and generous demonstrator.
* Artist, The *
May 13
Horses are notoriously hard to capture on canvas; now help is at hand with a Ready To Paint book on the subject. In common with all the others in this award-winning series this is a great place to get to grips with painting something you love. Drawing ability takes a backseat with these six tracings and as ever the excellent and foolproof staged instructions mean everybody can have work they can display and be proud of. You can find some good advice in here about choosing paints and brushes and here is one artist who does not advocate buying everything in the store. Five of the tracings is covered by a detailed project where every step has a photo of what needs to be done next, plus a useful caption. The sixth tracing has no instructions; you are on your own to work it all out with the aid of a large picture of the finished work. Each one teaches you a bit more about painting with acrylics, from getting the color of a horse to look convincing to capturing a sense of speed and movement. Choose from a showjumper, a mare and foal scene, horse head, steeplechaser, horse and rider plus my own favorite of a white horse galloping happily in the surf. What you don't learn here is how to draw horses and understand their anatomical structure but these things are covered in other Search Press books. This one does very well what it sets out to do; give horse lovers who are beginner artists a chance to see how much they enjoy painting with acrylics. You can even share your masterpieces with the online world on a special Facebook page. These books are the best way I know to discover the joy of painting without a flesh and blood tutor.
* Myshelf.com *
