Art Book Review:
“In every single case, [Lucy’s] subjects have depth, texture, life and character… she is one of the best animal artists I’ve come across.”
Henry Malt
Booklist, January 2020:
After some introductory material on history, materials, and getting started drawing animal portraits, UK based artist Swinburne (Drawing Masterclass: Animals, 2013) delves right into the hardest features to capture correctly: facial structures like eyes, ears, and noses; hands and feet; and texture and pattern. Swinburne chooses a four-footed creature for each example: a giraffe’s eye, an African wild dog’s ear, a buffalo’s nose, squirrel hands, leopard paws, the texture of a snake, and the pattern of a Scottish wildcat. In the same way, she walks readers through the steps of ten full portraits, from the exotic red panda and cheetah to the domestic short-haired cat and lop-eared bunny. Nearly the same process guides each drawing: outline, background, unusual features, eyes, shading, depth, and final touches like tone and impact. An almost hand-holding course in capturing animal portraits that are so lifelike it’ll be difficult to understand why no one can hear or smell them. Full-size, ready-to-copy photographs are available on the author’s website to aid with drawings.
— Barbara Jacobs
