Drawing Scenery: Seascapes and Landscapes: Seascapes Landscapes

I chose this book partly on price, but also because it's 'old school' as far as being down-to-earth, no-frills and with excellent tips and techniques. It's jam-packed with clear examples, with no waffle to wade through. I can see that it's been in print since 1972, so it's obviously been selling for 40 years and yet it's still very relevant to the drawing beginner as well as the 'returner' to art like me. Brilliant.

Very Good. I have learnt so much. My only regret is I did not come across art books by Jack Hamm sooner as I went to art college for years when younger and have never been taught anywhere near as much as I hvae in the books by because jack Hamm and Loomis books my art has improved a great deal. They inform you of tried and tested methods which have artists have used for down the ages. Worth getting you wont regret it.

This is a great book to learn about the principles of landscape drawing. It demonstrates how to "guide the eye" through the scenery and how to "hold the balance". Very simple and understandable sketches demonstrate the change of mood or the difference between "this image is right" and "there is something wrong". The impact of light and shade is demonstrated excellently or how to paint a landscape during the different times of the day in the different type of light. Beside the small demonstation sketches are very impressive, full scale examples given. I absolutly love this book. The only disadvantage in my opinion is, that almost every image is drawn in a rough soft pencil stile as seen on the front cover. I still strongly recommend this book for all those who like to learn how to composite and balance a landscape image.

I have found that this book encourages you to experiment, copy the drawings and provides a great deal of information on how to structure your drawings to make them come alive. I am feeling more confident of taking a sketch book on holiday this year and drawing in public. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to be able to sketch and act as a sound basis for moving onto painting landscapes.

This book is absolutely packed with ideas and techniques, and is a lot better than i was expecting, it tackles many more aspects of the environment than I had thought of, and although I bought it mainly to practice drawing trees, I love the cloud formations and seascapes, I can't wait to get started! I am a self teaching beginner to drawing, and I think it will work for me very nicely.

A real old fashioned common sense book. All the theory you will ever need.

An incredible book for every skill level

Arrived on time and is in brilliant quality. Not a book I'd read all in one go (there's a loooot of text) but I can see myself referring back to it for various things.

漫画家の間の隠れたベストセラー「人体のデッサン技法」の著者ジャック・ハムによる、風景画のハウツー本。 この本の特筆すべき所は、構図の基礎が丁寧に解説されていることである。その分量、実に約２０ページ。この本の約１／６を占める充実ぶりだ。 学校教育ではおざなりに扱われたり、必要以上に神秘化されたりしがちな、画面の分割や視線の誘導といった基本事項が、直線や四角形、矢印といった分かりやすい図形を用いて、懇切丁寧に説明されている。 続く章では、地面の起伏や岩や山、植物、雲や水の具体的な描き方が、様々なパターンの実例と共に紹介されている。画材はいちおう鉛筆画が想定されているが、この本で身につくテクニックは、他の画材にも容易に応用がきくので問題はない。私自身、水彩やおえかきBBSで、この本の知識を存分に活用している。 この本でただ一つ扱われていない分野を挙げるとすれば、透視図法の作図法である。この本から得るべき知識を得てから、他のパース等の専門書で補えば、万全といえよう。 風景画やCGイラストなどの背景などを描き始めたが、どうにも画面が引き締まらない、という人が基礎を身につけたいなら、是非おすすめしたい一冊である。

Avevo questo libro ai tempi della scuola, poi andato perso. Ho deciso di riacquistarlo perchè offre sempre spunti utili per il mio lavoro di illustratore.

Excelente material, fue por este medio que me permitió encontrar fácilmente este ejemplar.

Obwohl das Buch in englischer Sprache geschrieben ist, ist es ausgesprochen hilfreich. Die schrittweisen Illustrationen allein sind schon sehr nützlich, wenn man ein paar Brocken Englisch versteht, erschließt sich einem noch einiges mehr. Von vorn bis hinten sind hier alle Schritte zum Zeichnen von Landschaften enthalten, wie man einzelne Elemente zeichnet (es gibt eine Doppelseite mit verschiedenen Baumarten und weitere Seiten, wie man beginnt einen Baum zu zeichnen) bis hin dazu, wie man das Bild zu Beginn aufbaut und Tiefe erzeugt. Alles ist mit einer Fülle von Beispielen versehen. Sogar verschiedene Wolkentypen sind einmal beispielhaft aufgezeigt. Für totale Einsteiger in Sachen Landschaft fehlen allerdings ein paar grundlegende Techniken, aber die könnte man sich mit Geduld auch selbst erarbeiten. Wer schon ein bisschen gezeichnet hat, der sollte keine Probleme haben. Hervorragendes Buch, ich kann es nur weiterempfehlen.

Jack Hamm's three books "Drawing the Head and Figure," "How to Draw Animals," and this volume together form what I consider a complete course in commercial illustration but for color theory, which you can find in many other art books. Drawing well is the basis for every other art form especially in illustration. This is the most difficult of those three volumes. Prepare to spend some time reading and studying it. I felt like I was back in college, and progressed through it one page at a time doing sketches on index cards with a soft pencil to test the ideas and theories he put forward -- and unlike many other art books I've read or classes I've taken, concepts like composition, balance, light and perspective made sense to me after studying this book. It's not a light read but it's so rich. Jack Hamm's style is engaging but it's very content-dense. His books are the peak of the example-heavy content-rich concise style of art instruction. Step by step projects and long personal essays on technique and feeling aren't what Jack Hamm is about, although his style is engaging he doesn't seem to have the ego that many art instruction writers do. He doesn't claim his methods or compositions or styles are the best. He describes as many different ways to do things as they are and constantly encourages imagination, originality and personal style. He distinguishes realism from artistic exaggeration and explains effectively why you can't just rely on a photo or even on what you see to create a good believable picture. I'm a writer who has spent a lifetime trying to learn self-illustration and his explanations have successfully broken some mental barriers like overdetailing, lack of focus, bad composition, inconsistent lighting. He encourages boldness and daring. He has specific examples and details of everything I'd need to use in a scene, from clouds and waves to rocks and trees and houses. Most of all he shows how to create drama within a scene, no matter what the subject is it can be rendered a little bolder than life, it can convey emotion and tell a story. I'd recommend this without reservation, order all three of them if you don't have them. All of these books have one quality in common. Even after they're read, they are great permanent references with examples of trees, waves, houses, styles of clouds -- the cloud chart pages are great -- so if I'm doing a drawing I can flip to the right section and get ideas for how to handle the sky or what I can do to make the gnarled tree look like endurance. These books are the kind that will wear out from constant use and need replacing if you're at all fond of drawing, because there's always something new and interesting to find for any future artwork. This is why these classics are still in print. Check out the other two and consider his cartooning book as well if you have any interest in cartooning.