ART BOOK REVIEW: Dark Arts: How to draw... - Bob Hobbs

BOOK BLURB:

This work presents a fantasy art gallery of visual inspiration, authentic reference and practical guidance on drawing and painting imagery from the diverse world of witchcraft. It is perfect for fantasy artists who want to explore the fascinating history of witchcraft and enhance their images of witches, wizards and related paraphernalia. A wealth of visual and textual information offers artists the chance to introduce more realism into their work and gives advice on digital fantasy art. Featuring a rich tapestry of finished paintings, work-in-progress illustrations and sketches covering types of witches, castles, settings, tools of the trade and symbology, this is the essential guide to witchcraft for any fantasy artist or enthusiast.


REVIEW:

After last year’s release of Bob’s other book (Fantasy Artists Pocket Reference to Phantastical Fairies) its great to see him return to tackle another subject, that of the darker (graphical) arts of the Witch in this latest offering. What Bob offers however is not just the perspective about traditional methods to create but also allows the reader to comprehend, understand as well as use other art mediums such as those offered by the digital age in quite some detail. Its fascinating, its enthusiastic and he also brings to the fold other artistic friends to demonstrate each of his points in a clarity that makes it easy to comprehend as lessons that have taken years to learn can be absorbed within minutes with visual guides to back up the POV. Simple tricks such as colour wheels to explain what does and doesn’t work is something that I’ve struggled to comprehend for a long time and if it can teach me something quite easily (with no real artistic background) then its going to be a illustrative book for the young artist in your life. Definitely a book to encourage that allows the reader to grow in spates in their own time that really does allow easy to access information that can be dipped into at any point. A cracking offering for all artists, whether they’re professional or just an amateur starting out.