This book will have beginning artists of all ages drawing faces that are strikingly realistic and detailed. Artist Carrie Stuart Parks honed her fast and effective drawing skills as a professional forensic artist. Here she makes drawing fun and easy, showing beginners how to render vivid self portraits and portraits of others, all in a matter of hours.

Artists will successfully learn how to master proportions and map facial features accurately. They will then study shapes within a composition and learn to draw them realistically. Lastly, artists will study the subject's values and use them to bring life and accuracy to each portrait. A final "checking" step helps artists capture heightened realism and accuracy.

This book features clear step-by-step instructions, before-and-after examples from students, and proven drawing exercises used to train artists throughout the country....

Children are a powerfully popular subject with beginning and intermediate artists. Whatever age or skill level, even if they think that they can't be taught, readers learn how to draw incredibly realistic children in basic black and white with time-tested drawing principles refined into a foolproof program by authors Carrie Stuart Parks and Rick Parks....

Reaping the joys of drawing doesn't have to be a long and painful process. With Secrets to Realistic Drawing, even complete beginners can get great results fast. It's easy to create lifelike sketches in no time, with:

-Encouraging instruction on all the drawing basics, from proportion and scaling to values and shading

-Answers to the beginning artist's most frequently asked questions, as well as recommendations for materials and supplies

-Easy-to-follow advice for fixing parts of a drawing that don't look quite right

-Techniques and strategies for making a drawing look real

-Five detailed step-by-step demonstrations showing the entire process from start to finish

The authors' infectious, you-can-do-it attitude is sure to make budding artists feel like they've finally found a true cheerleader for their creative dreams!...