Great book, but light in the “how to” department…, April 13, 2003

By 

Mark Savary “moon_city” (Seattle, WA) –

  

  

One problem I find with watercolor instruction books about painting the human figure is that so few of them are in a style I actually like. Charles Reid has a few, of course, and there are some others that offer insights, but even so the styles are not always what I’m aiming for. Mel Stabin’s “Figure in Watercolor” is a happy exception to that lamentable rule, although not without its shortcomings.

Overall, this is a fairly inspiring book with great paintings and a few nuggets of information about painting the figure, but I found that the actual instruction was a bit thin. There are a few step-by-step examples, but most of the book consists of Mr. Stabin’s wonderful paintings, along with a paragraph or two about basic composition, studio conditions, or back story behind the painting.

Perhaps the artist was going on the assumption that the student should be given inspiration over step-by-step instruction. That can work very well in some instructional environments (such as college-level courses), but I think I would’ve found more of the step-by-step examples helpful. What few step-by-step examples there are in the book (three, I think), are condensed at best, and really don’t give the student a good sense of how the painting was made (kind of like watching the opening credits, end credits, and a scene in the middle of a movie, and trying to understand what the movie was all about). Here we see an early step, a somewhere-in-the-middle step, and the finished painting. Even with the accompanying text, the complete evolution of the work is still something of a mystery.

One of the few really frustrating things about the book is that several of the large paintings that start the chapters are positioned in such a way that the figures (obstensively the most important part of the painting), are placed right between the inside edges, so that it is almost impossible to get a good look at the figure without flattening out the book (and thereby ruining the spine).

All in all, it’s still a great book, but definitely aimed for an intermediate level, rather than the beginner. I’m not sure if that was the artist’s intention, but it seemed to be the end result. Even so, the beginner will still find value in the book, in the form of inspiration if not direct instruction.

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A GOOD BOOK RUINED BY SPLITTING PAINTINGS, February 23, 2004

By 

S. T. Lightsey (BLAKELY, GEORGIA) –

  

I rate this a good to very good book on loose watercolor figure painting. Stabins flowing line brush drawings of the female figure are outstanding.
THE REASON FOR ONLY 3 STARS,THERE ABOUT 10 OF THE BEST PAINTINGS COMPLETELY RUINED BY BEING ON TWO PAGES. ONE COMPLETE PAGE AND ABOUT 1/3 ON THE ADJACENT PAGE. PROBABLY THE BEST IS OF A DANCER SITTING ON THE FLOOR, AND HER FACE AND SHOULDERS ARE BURIED IN PAGE TO SPINE CURVE. I HAVE THE BOOK AND ONLY WAY I CAN SEE FULL PAINTING IS DISSEMBLE THE BOOK. WATSON/GUPTILL, ARE YOU LISTENING?

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