Portrait Revolution: Inspiration from Around the World For Creating Art in Multiple Mediums and Styles

by Julia Kay

Based on the popular international collaborative art project, Julia Kay's Portrait Party, this book features hundreds of portraits in multiple mediums and styles teamed with tips and insights on the artistic process.

The human face is one of the most important subjects for artists, no matter their chosen medium. Pulling from 50,000 works of portraiture created by the artists of the international online collaborative project Julia Kay’s Portrait Party, Portrait Revolution presents a new look at this topic—one that doesn’t limit itself to one medium, one style, one technique, or one artist. By presenting portraits in pencil, pen, charcoal, oils, watercolors, acrylics, pastels, mixed media, digital media, collage, and more, Julia Kay and co. demonstrate the limitless possibilities available to aspiring artists or even to professional artists who are looking to expand creatively.

Along with works in almost every conceivable medium, Portrait Revolution shines a spotlight on different portrait-making techniques and styles (featuring everything from realism to abstraction). With tips, insights, and recommendations from accomplished portrait artists from around the globe, this all-in-one inspiration resource provides everything you’ll need to kick-start your own portrait-making adventure.

Genres: Art, Drawing, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

Published April 11, 2017

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I thought it was one of those books I would flip through and stop to look at whatever caught my eye and then take it back to the library, but I read every word and studied way more of the portraits than I thought I would. I will probably keep it until the library makes me give it back and then I'll buy myself a copy. It's one of the most inspiring art books I've read in awhile.

[Barbara McEwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the blurb is a little misleading? I wouldn't consider it a guide to portraiture as there are no real portraiture instructions. That isn't to say it isn't worth checking out. You get to see a variety of portraits done in all kinds of mediums and get glimpses into the artists processes and inspiration. I like the idea that you can go through and make notes about what you like about some portraits and what you may not like, and why, and use those ideas in your own work. The book is so full of tips from artists it can almost be overwhelming. I can see using this book for inspiration and a reference for tips when experimenting.

[Teela · Rating 4 out of 5]

APR
19
Portrait Revolution

I feel like I've been watching the Wizard of Oz in Black and white for decades but the PORTRAIT REVOLUTION opened my eyes to see Oz in full CinemaScope color this time. Julia L. Kay's wonderful storytelling brought her book to life with so many different styles and mediums being used in the art world and more specifically in her JKPP (Julia Kay's Portrait Party), that it had a certain dizzying effect on me - as I looked at the different artists' renderings of the same subject.

Kay's project started back in 2010 with her inviting artists from all around the world to make portraits of each other, and now seven years later after exchanging hundreds of portraits, techniques and tips, we have Kay's book of over 200 pages that could well serve as a text book, and most certainly inspiration.

One of my favorite mediums is watercolor. As stated by Jennifer Lawson, "watercolor offers a great opportunity to draw and paint quickly. You have the freedom to be loose with your paint strokes and color choices." And one of my favorite paintings is a 9.75"x8.25" watercolor of Tim W. by Jennifer Lawson.


Even if you have no artistic talents, I believe you will enjoy this book, as it can it very entertaining. For more information on this project go to:studiojuliakay.com/jkpp.
Thank you blogging for books for this book as read in exchange for my honest review.






Posted 1 week ago by Teela

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[Via Bella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well done book and will use for my students as well as browsing.
Read the full review here: http://viabella-thebeautifullife.blog...

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I'm going to buy a copy. And I don't buy many these days. For portraitists and artists of all styles. This is a great view from many different disciplines.

[Sarah Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book if you want to see how various artist working in every all types of media interpret portraits using their artistic style. The book is filled with color pictures of all of this art. This is not a how to but rather a way to see what other artists are doing and gather inspiration from or just admire their work. There are snippets throughout the book from the artists themselves as well which is fascinating to read.

[Elle C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book. I may end up purchasing it. (PPL) It’s easy to gaze at it and lose all sense of time. The many, many contributions of worldwide artists is an incredible feat. Best of all, to me, is the huge variety of media used in portrait creations. It’s just impossible to believe humans lack creativity when flipping through this book.

[Hazel Beddows · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very little in the way of practical tips but great for inspiration and where there is advice, its golden. Biggest takeaway for me is how much an accurate or inaccurate depiction of your subjects eyebrows can affect the overall likeness!

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

nonfiction (sample portraits by various artists from JKPP https://www.flickr.com/groups/portraitparty/)

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an inspiring book to read. I love the project and how diverse the portraits were. It's a book I'd consider buying for my permanent collection so I could return to it over the years.

[Susan Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was extremely excited to read and review this book. The book cover is absolutely gorgeous and eye-catching. As someone who works in a variety of materials, I knew I was going to find even more ways to express my creativity.

Portrait Revolution is broken down into five distinct sections:

• Portraits by Media
• Portraits by Style
• Portraits by Theme
• Featured Artists
• On Making Portraits

The book begins with an introduction to the Julia Kay’s Portrait Party, which is “an international collaborative project in which artists all over the world make portraits of each other”. The group has been in existence for seven years and this book is their way of sharing their art with readers.

There is so much to see and admire in this book. It’s loaded with creative portraiture, created in pencil, crayon, marker, oils, acrylics, collage and more. There’s also a great section on digital art. Portrait Revolution contains so much wonderful work to inspire both beginner and advanced artists.

I’m not sure I’d call this a guide – since it really is designed more as inspiration. However, the “On Making Portraits” chapter has a lot of valuable information for readers, and includes:

• Why Make Portraits?
• Working with Photographs
• Tracing
• On Seeing and Drawing
• The Process of Making Portraits
• Holding a Portrait Party

Portrait Revolution is a wonderful book for artists and for anyone who admires art. Thanks to Blogging for Books and the publisher for providing a complimentary copy of this book!

5 of 5 Stars, Review by Susan Barton, https://ebookreviewgal.com

[Gooshe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has different sections about kinds of portraits; Portraits by media: Pencil, color pencil, charcoal, ballpoint pen, ink, markers, digital drawing, crayon, chalk pastel, oil pastel, water-soluble pencil and crayons, watercolor, gouache, acrylic paint, etc.

[Robert Durough, Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Portrait Revolution: Inspiration from Around the World for Creating Art in Multiple Mediums and Styles by Julia L. Kay is a beautiful and inspiring journey into the what, why, and how of portrait making through the mind’s eye of artists around the world. Wonderfully organized according to media, style, and theme, most of the book presents portrait samples of the same person as rendered by different artists. Every portrait includes subject, artist, medium, and size (when applicable), but many include notes by the artist—a brief explanation of the image or insight into method. The book concludes with featured artists and a helpful collage of quotes by included artists on portrait making.

While many may stumble upon this up at a bookstore, flip through its pages to see what he or she does and does not like, and then put it down—let’s be honest, not all of the included portraits are going to be aesthetically pleasing to all—Kay has included text for a reason. Read it! While I did not enjoy a great many of the portraits, I did enjoy hearing from the artists themselves, which caused me to think more deeply about how I might interpret a portrait in different ways. I learned.

Kudos to Kay and all contributors. I’ve been inspired to do more portraits and, perhaps, even look into finding interest from other artists in my area who may want to start up our own “portrait party.”

*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

[claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun book to look through. There’s a wide variety of styles and mediums represented here. It’s a great source for new ideas and techniques, but not a “how to” guide to portraiture. The book is full of words from the artists on how they work, tips, and feelings about their art. I appreciated the respect paid to each artists here and letting them speak for themselves. As someone who already has experience drawing portraits, I enjoyed this book much more because it was like a packed gallery space of new ideas, and not telling me that one technique was any better than the others.