Art Fundamentals: Color, Light, Composition, Anatomy, Perspective, and Depth

I have a large library of art and art instruction books and this one has to be one of my favorite. I was a bit concerned about the ambitious scope of the material when I was deciding whether I should buy it or not. I'm happy to say that the authors did an amazing job covering all the topics with just the right level of detail. The quality of the book itself and the illustrations is excellent, which makes this book not only very informative, but also turns it into a source of artistic inspiration. I'd recommend it to any serious art student, especially to those who've set their sights on the entertainment art industry.

I'm not very good in proportion, in perspective or composition, I've always find it hard to mix them all together to get the final piece. I saw this book and i wasn't sure if this was the one that i needed or if it was explained correctly so i decided to take a chance and try it. When it arraived I opened it immediatly and started reading it. By the time I realized it, I was on chapter 3 and I was understanding perfectly what I was missing on my art that I never got to understood very much. I saw examples of what they were explaining and I never got confused by weird or peculiar words that sometimes makes it sound so professional that you have no idea what's going on X'D I highly recommend it because this is a very usefull tool for you to understand the aspects of designing a character or environment like the pros do. :D All that's left is to keep doing it and practice and practice and practice to get even better :D

I created a short video that shows what the pages look like. Below is my brief summary of the actually written content. The first chapter on "Color and Light" is about 25 pages long. It is written by Gilles Beloeil (Assassin's Creed). Obviously, 25 pages (when there are lots of images included) isn't enough to go into great detail--but he does introduce several key concepts and he provides some very good images to illustrate his points. I wish this chapter was longer because what it does contain is very good! In short, I feel this is the best chapter of the whole book. The second chapter on "Composition" is about 30 pages long. Most of the chapter deals with the Golden Ratio and how it is applied. While this is an important compositional device I was a bit surprised that so much of the chapter was devoted to this single theme and the mathematical approaches used in constructing it. The last few pages of this chapter do include material on topics such as rhythm, point of interest, size and ratio, light contrast, and five rules for creating a thumbnail--but the material is very brief. At the end of this chapter I felt a bit disappointed. The third chapter is on "Perspective and Depth" and it is about 25 pages long. It does a good job of showing the different types of perspective, but if you are hoping to learn how to draw in perspective I don't think this book will do it for you. The last couple pages briefly touch on topics such as using light and color to show depth--but it does not go into much detail. Once again, I was hoping for more. The fourth chapter is on "Anatomy" and it is 76 pages long--basically as long as the first three chapters combined. It includes a lot of drawings (see the video). If you are hoping for step-by-step instruction you may be disappointed--but the diagrams and written information are good. The last chapter is the "Reference Gallery" and it 100 pages long. Many of the images do contain a reference back to some key concept mentioned in the first four chapters. Personally, I would prefer fewer pages in this chapter and more pages in the first three chapters since there are already numerous books, magazines, and websites that display contemporary work. Bottom line: Overall, this is a good book and some of the parts are very good. It does introduce a lot of important art concepts. I just wish some of the areas were covered in more depth.

A very comprehensive reader that touches on concepts and techniques often neglected in other like books. I didn't think it was possible to cover so much ground so succinctly in one book. I'm very happy with it and will be on the lookout for others by this author.

I learned the basics of art through this book back in school. Now that I have children who are also into learning about creating their own pieces I really wanted to find this book! I'm so happy that it's still being sold... it's well worth the price. :) It is a paperback book but arrives in a hardcover protective sleeve. Very nice and practical packaging for usefulness. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in learning the basics of how to create works of art that look the way you "see" the image in your mind. It takes practice of course but knowing about light, shading, shape, perspective, and color helps everyone become a better artist!

LOVE THIS BOOK, Not at all what I expected. This is about how the elements of design, color and composition interact to create intended effect. Not about the effects of technique, talent or theory. It is about intent, painting so that the intent of the artist /s viewpoint is revealed.

If you had to choose one book, and one book “only”, for being a better painter, fulfilling all your needs and “desires” in painting, then this is the “ultimate” book for you! This book is my favorite painting book “so far”: however; You have to practice and apply what you learn. What an amazing book! I’m speechless…

Good read