ORBITAL BY SAMANTHA HARVEY
This was so not for me, I’m shocked I finished it. A meandering contemplation of our planet as a group of astronauts aboard a spacecraft circle the Earth for multiple orbits.
Read for ruminations on the fragility and beauty of Earth as seen from space. Do not read for plot, characterization, dialogue, introspection or action, there is none. And, although the prose at times could be quite beautiful, most of the time it felt like wording for word’s sake. ★★★☆☆
JAMES BY PERCIVAL EVERETT
A retelling, or perhaps a reimagining rather, of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from the perspective of Jim, the enslaved man that joins Huck for a portion of his adventure.
I really enjoyed this. The book is well-written, and James, in particular, is an agonisingly well-drawn character. The final lines gave me the good kind of chills. Read it, it’s very good. ★★★★☆
FACIAL EXPRESSIONS FOR ARTISTS BY OLIVER SIN
Thanks to NetGalley, I was able to read a digital ARC of Facial Expressions for Artists by Oliver Sin.
The book begins with a short preface of the importance of anatomy, and then dives right into the five chapters covering the skull and essential muscles of the head, anatomy of the eye, anatomy of the ear, mouth and nose, expressions and the ageing face, and finally capturing expressions. It ends with a four-page index.
This book is dense with text and beautiful drawings. Covering facial anatomy in-depth and with clarity, it’s a book to return to time and time again, but it’s absolutely not aimed at beginners. Confident artists who want to level up their portraits should immediately buy a copy and devour it, they won’t regret it.
I’m buying a copy upon publication and will study it to the best of my ability, but in truth this is more of an inspirational and aspirational work for me right now. Meanwhile, I’ll be returning to Sin’s previous book, “Drawing The Head For Artists” which is also fantastic but a little more accessible for my level. ★★★★★
DEBT-FREE ART DEGREE: FOUNDATIONS IN DRAWING BY MARCO BUCCI
Thanks to NetGalley, I was able to read a digital ARC of Debt-Free Art Degree: Foundations in Drawing by Marco Bucci. Caveat: a scant few illustrations were missing from my copy, so I’ve not seen every single picture contained within the final copy.
The book consists of a short introduction, then eight chapters covering 2D shapes, gesture drawing, 3D form and space, building the figure, capturing poses, shapes and characters, constructing the head, shading and lighting, and finally colour, before ending with a helpful index.
The introduction details Bucci’s own journey and concludes with a helpful section on how to effectively study using the book. The chapters are very informative and thorough. So thorough, in fact, that I can in all honestly only give a cursory review. I’ll really need time to absorb and study the information in order to fully understand it all.
The QR codes scattered throughout lead to some fantastic videos showing the concepts in a way that can be easier for some to absorb. I also really like that assignments are given at the end of each chapter. Another thing I really appreciated was Bucci using pictures of himself showing poses etc. throughout, it’s helpful in reinforcing references are useful and that you can and should make them yourself.
This isn’t a book for complete novices, but I believe any experienced beginners and those of higher skill levels will gain a lot from this book. I’m a somewhat experienced beginner, and this is squarely aimed at my skill level and well above it. I can understand the concepts covered, and studying this book will help me learn how to leverage them better.
I really, really, really liked this book. I’m buying a copy of this to add to my art library immediately. ★★★★★
A SORCERESS COMES TO CALL BY T. KINGFISHER
You get what it says on the tin with this one. A sprinkle of romance, some mild horror elements, a bit of cosiness, believable characters, and Kingfisher’s signature pragmatic protagonists.
While I vastly prefer her Paladin series, this was an enjoyable read while I wait for the next White Rat book to be published. Could have done with a bit more fancy geese, but all in all, a nice read and I liked it. ★★★☆☆
