Customer Reviews

Draw Real People!

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am just getting back into my artwork after many years. Although I have always drawn many things I never thought I possessed the talent or ability to draw a realistic portrait. Whenever I would attempt it, the portrait would be a beautiful picture of someone, but NOT the person I was attempting to draw. I just could not seem to make it look life the person. When I followed Lee Hammond's method using the grid, my portrait came out not only realistic, but it looked exactly like my daughter. My friends and family were amazed by the exact likeness of the portrait. This was on my very first attempt. I would highly reccomend her book. I plan on getting seriously into portraits now. I cannot believe what I was able to accomplish through her instruction. I am definitely going to be purchasing more of her books.

I am half way finished with the book. Gridding photograohs makes you break down the parts and shapes of the nose, mouth, eyes, and ears. It changes how you veiw subjects you see shapes and not the whole face. I found trying to draw the whole face very over whelming as a person getting back into drawing. The gridding process teaching you symetry and helps you draw individual features better on the face.

"Draw Real People" is one of the best art instruction books out there. Many art instruction books that teach you how to draw are too boring and difficult to follow, and the drawings aren't really all that interesting either. In Hammond's book she breaks down everything into simple steps. Hammond's techniques, gridding and shading, are so obvious that I wondered why I'd never thought of them before.

Throughout the book you'll find step-by-step instructions, exercises, examples of Hammond's own work and before and after drawings of her students. After implementing Hammond's technique, my drawing skills improved greatly. Instead of looking cartoonish and sketchy, they looked realistic and smooth. I was so thrilled with my progress that I went and got the rest of the "Discover Drawing" Series. I was bit disappointed, however, when I saw that half of each book was devoted to gridding and shading. They were the same exact things Hammond taught in "Draw Real People."

I recommend to beginners to only get two of Hammond's books: Draw Real People (good for portraits) and Draw Fashion Models (good for people, clothing, hair, etc.). Once you get a hang of gridding and shading you can basically draw anything, so there is no need, in my opinion, to get the rest of the "Discover Drawing" Series. All you'll need to do after that is practice.

This book is the BEST drawing book I own. By following Lee's advice, which included her shading tecnique - it's easy, and makes your drawings look really good, and using circle stencils for the eyes so they look natural, I was able with some practice to draw some realistic looking faces and be told I am a good artist (and truly - I needed help!) Lee goes step by step with each part of the face, then teaches you how to draw an entire face with important facts to remember (like there is one eye width between the eyes). She included some drawings done by her students, and a couple of fun exersizes with scrambled bar graphs where you have to draw in each square how you see it in the right spot to see what the mystery picture is. If you are curious about drawing faces or wish you could draw better, get this book!

I'm not going to put anyone down for using a grid because the Old Masters used to use it,but I personally think the grid doesn't work.You still have to know how to draw in the square.If you look at the picture of the little girl with the graph over her you will see her eyes are perfect circles.A graph is not going to help you draw perfect circles,you'll have to use a circle template for that.She made it seem like drawing a line drawing from a photograph was easy.When you draw from a cartoon you just draw the lines you see.In a photograph you can't see the lines because they don't exist in real life.She doesn't show you how to create lines from a photograph.This is something a graph will not show you.As for her blending method,you really don't need to know all those fancy names like cast shadow for instance.When you look at a black and white picture I doubt it if you could determine where all the different names of light are.All you need to know is that if you see a certain shade, color in the same shade in your drawing.How you do that I have no idea.I'm still looking for a book to explain that to me.Her book has astonishing before and after drawings.This makes me wonder if they really used her teaching to draw better...

Hi. I'm thirteen years old, and drawing has always been kind of an enjoyable hobby for me. My sister owns this book, and I was impressed with it so I started going through it Step-by-step. I did EVERYTHING the book told me to do, and I was AMAZED at the results!! Lee's blended pencil technique is easy to learn, and like she says repeatedly in the book, your drawings will only get better and better. Soon realistic drawings begin to become second nature to you.

Try it out for yourself! Do EVERYTHING the book tells you to do or you'll miss out on great things!! It's fun, and rewarding, so go ahead, "Draw Real People!!!"

Lee Hammond must be a remarkable teacher. Her book " Draw Real People " creates joy, confidence and insight into our own natural ability to to be creative. I would love to attend her class but I am a little further than a 'cut lunch' away. Best Regards...... Garth Crabb.

After many attempts using other methods or instructions my drawing were never anything I was satisfied with nor would show someone else. Ms. Hammond's technique is not only effective, but also easily learned. People who have seen my work respond, " I did not know you had that talent". Almost makes me want to keep the method a secret, but it is more fun to share!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has the desire to learn drawing. You will be impressed with what you can do after learning through the book.

My daughter is 14 and has been using this book for a few months. Before that she did okay, but her drawings were all so much alike. Now she is making "Real People" I love it!