Artist's Photo Reference: Wildlife
Bart Rulon
North Light Books
Nonfiction, Art/Photography
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DESCRIPTION: Photographer Bart Rulon gathers reference images for many different animals, from squirrels and deer and bobcats to tigers and orcas and elephants. Also included are five painting demonstrations, showing how to use these images when composing original works, as well as quick tips for taking professional-quality reference pictures on your own.
REVIEW: I found this book in the clearance section at a local wild bird store, unbelievably. For the price, I can't say I'm too disappointed. Several of Rulon's photos are disappointingly dark, the form of the animal partially obscured or even cropped altogether. Still, it's interesting just how many different animals he manages to cover in this book. The painting demos, while interesting, are way beyond my meager expertise, so I can't comment on their usefulness yet. In the end, while I'd hoped for a little more, this one manages to retain a place on my admittedly-overcrowded art reference bookshelf.
You might also enjoy:
Illustrating Nature: How to Paint and Draw Plants and Animals (Dorothea and Sy Barlowe, Art - Drawing accurate images of plants, animals, and their surroundings)
Eyewitness Books: Cat (Juliet Clutton-Brock, YA Nonfiction - An introduction science book on cats, with many great images)
Cyclopedia Anatomicae (György Fehér, Art - Artistic anatomy book with an extensive section on animals and comparative anatomy)
How to Draw Animals (Jack Hamm, Art - Drawing mammals)
Animal Drawing - Anatomy and Action for Artists (Charles R. Knight, Art - How to draw various animals)
Encyclopedia of Bird Reference Drawings (David Mohrhart, Art - Line drawings of bird wings and beaks for artists)
Eyewitness Books: Eagle & Birds of Prey (Jemima Parry-Jones, YA Nonfiction - Part of the Eyewitness science book series, featuring raptors)
Anatomy of Animals (Ernest E. Thompson, Art - Detailed studies of various animals)
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