Art of Drawing: Flowers, Fruit & Vegetables: Simple Approaches to Drawing Natural Forms

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Giovanni Civardi has built a formidable reputation worldwide for his skills as both an artist and a teacher, and here he provides a unique introduction to the art of still-life drawing focusing on natural forms. The focus of the book is very much on Giovannis exquisite drawings of a broad range of flowers, fruit and vegetables, which are accompanied by concise, clearly written explanations of perspective, composition, vegetable anatomy and structure, and light and shade. At the start of the book there is a useful section on the various drawing materials that are available, where to find botanical subjects and how to make careful studies and observation. The authors in-depth knowledge of the subject is apparent throughout, making this book an ideal introduction for the beginner, as well as a source of information and inspiration for artists of all abilities.

Reviews

Subtitled "Simple approaches to drawing natural forms", this is an excellent primer in capturing the subtleties and characteristics of botanical subjects. Giovanni Civardi uses very few words after the initial introduction and some notes of perspective, composition and botanical anatomy. He teaches by example rather than instruction, which makes the book very easy to follow as long as you have a reasonable grasp of the basics. The beautiful and delicate pencil drawings that make up the body of the book demonstrate how to use line, shading and hatching to record form and shape, and the book is a total delight from start to finish.-Artbookreview.net The author covers a wide variety of subject matter, sensitively portrayed in pencil, and includes topics such as composition, lighting and structure; the rest of the book being taken up with topical sketchbooks that demonstrate what can be achieved with line, tone and hatching. Best known for his books on figure drawing, Giovanni Civardi also has a nice line in botanical work. Instruction and text in this book are limited to introductory notes and the method of teaching is largely by example, but if you prefer to do your own thinking and interpretation, it has much to tell you and is unlikely to disappoint.-The Artist Follows the established format of the Art of Drawing series, with the text restricted to the first few pages while the majority of the book is given over to plenty of drawing examples with brief annotations. Looks at the components of still life compositions and includes information on drawing materials, finding and understanding botanical subjects, perspective, botanical anatomy and structure, composition and lighting.-Leisure Painter

Author Bio

Giovanni Civardi was born in Milan in 1947. While training to become a sculptor, portrait artist and illustrator at the Free Life-Study School of the Accademia di Brera, he also studied medicine and surgery. For over a decade, he worked as an illustrator, producing commissions for newspapers, magazines and book covers. During frequent trips to France and Denmark, Civardi put on one-man exhibitions of this work and pursued his interest in studying the relationship between medical anatomy and the human form as depicted by the artist. His experience gained from teaching anatomy, life drawing and portraiture in schools and institutions over many years has led to the publication of numerous books in which Civardi's experiences are brought into focus.