Valerie Wiffen

Quite a nicely put-together book on drawing and sketching. Though she strays more into the finished drawing stage than most of the sketching books that I've read. The sub-title is "Planning and Drawing" and I think Valerie does this really well. For example, she has a section on "landscapes: pencil" and works though the development of the whole drawing from introducing a thumbnail sketch, to introducing the main features ...developing the composition....introducing contrast tones then shade/light features and adding marks (preventing the drawing from becoming too lifeless). She does the same sort of thing for other subject/media combinations such as still life with pen and ink. I must admit that I rather like her approach and attention to detail. I think I'll keep this book for inspiration and reference....at least for a while. I give it five stars.… (mehr)