“Artist Kay’s book vibrantly showcases the work practices of an ever-expanding international community of artists. She launched a “portrait party,” via social media, where artists take turns sitting for each other’s portraits. Readers will not find any step-by-step exercises here. Instead, the book is comprised almost entirely of hundreds of examples from the portrait party group’s vigorous creativity over five years. Examples are accompanied by artists’ comments about their choices and are grouped in chapters by media, style, or theme, with additional sections on featured artists and general insights about portraiture. VERDICT Unconventional in its approach and organization, this volume will capture the imagination of readers of all skill levels.”
—Library Journal, Starred Review
CONTENTS
about julia kay’s portrait party 6
PORTRAITS BY MEDIA
• Pencil 12 • Colored pencil 16
• Charcoal 18 • Ink 22 • Ballpoint pen 26
• Markers 28 • Digital drawing 32
• Crayon 34 • Chalk pastel 36
• Oil pastel 38 • Water-soluble pencils and crayons 42
• Watercolor 44 • Gouache 50
• Acrylic paint 52 • Oil paint 58 • Digital painting 62
• Traditional printmaking 68
• Digital printmaking 72 • Collage 76
• Mixing traditional and digital media 78
• Needle arts 82 • Unusual media 84
PORTRAITS BY STYLE
• Realism 88 • Abstract 90 • Composing around the rectangle 92
• Drawing blind 96
• Monochrome 98 • Limited color 102
• Cool tones 106 • Warm tones 108
• Full palette 110 • Contour drawing 112
• Drawing with shapes 116 • Patterns 118
• Preprinted paper 120 • Dramatic light 122
PORTRAITS BY THEME
• Babies 126 • Double portraits 128
• Portraits within portraits 130 • Animal companions 134
• Musicians 138 • Artists at play 142
• Artists at work 144 • Hats 150
• On location: indoors 152 • On location: outdoors 154
• Telling a story 158
• Drawing from art history 160
FEATURED ARTISTS
• Samar Alzaidy 164 • Martin Beek 166
• Anna Black 168 • Patricio Villarroel Bórquez 170
• Joan Ramon Farré Burzuri 172
• Sue Hodnett 174 • Julia L. Kay 176 • Marion Lokin 178
• Theresa Martin 180 • Maureen Nathan 182
• Daniel Novotny 184 • Mariah O’Neill 186
• Gila Rayberg 188 • Jerry Waese 190
• Janice Wahnich 192
ON MAKING PORTRAITS
• Why make portraits? 196 • Working with photographs 198
• Tracing 202 • On seeing and drawing 204
• The process of making portraits 206
• Holding a portrait party 213
FEATURED SUBJECTS
• Omar Jaramillo 20 • Jacquie Ramirez 30
• Rajesh Kumar John 40 • Angel Zhang 48
• Patricio Villarroel Borquez 56 • Gary Tausch 66
• Valérie Mafrica 74 • Arturo Espinoso Rosique 80
• Julia L. Kay 94
• Yip Suen-Fat 104 • Ujwala Prabhu 114
• Rodrick Dubose 132 • Pepe Fárres 140
• Mariah O’Neill 148 • Giorgio Bordin 156
