A fantastic, accessible and practical guide to contemporary portraiture. Learn from master artist and author Hashim Akib as he shows you how to produce striking, interesting portraits in your own style.
Hashim Akib's striking portraits are at the heart of this inspirational book. The subject of portraiture is seen by many as the zenith of art, and Hash's easygoing, unpretentious style puts fantastic results within the reach of hobby artists and aspiring professionals alike.
Assuming nothing and starting from the basics - making it suitable even for the enthusiastic beginner - this book includes six step-by-step projects to follow; along with friendly but in-depth advice on color palettes; skintone; composition; working from photographs and models; markmaking; lighting; atmosphere and much more.
The book covers many types of portraiture - from the self-portrait to full-length portraits - all with a striking, contemporary style.
Hashim Akib is an internationally renowned artist and is represented by several galleries in the UK. He has exhibited with the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, New English Art Club and Royal Society of Marine Artists at the Mall Galleries in London. Before becoming an artist, Hashim worked as an illustrator for 15 years. His clients included the likes of Times Newspapers, The Telegraph, Time Magazine and New Yorker Magazine.
Hashim has taught his unique techniques to art schools in the UK, Italy and France. His first book, Vibrant Acrylics, was published by Search Press in 2012 and has now been translated into French, German, Italian and Dutch.
ArtBook Review, September 2019
“Exciting” isn’t normally a word I’d associated with portraiture. “Thorough”, “lifelike”, maybe even “vibrant”, but it’s not normally a subject to get the pulses racing.
This, though, is astounding. Hashim’s style is quite blocky and, if you were looking for almost photographic realism, this is not for you. You actually have to look at the finished results for a few seconds before the features of the faces emerge. When they do, however, they’re full of character and these are people whose presence you can feel. This is something that all portrait painters strive for, but it’s one of the most difficult qualities to achieve. If personality is your goal, place your order now.
I think it also helps that Hashim appears simply to like people. I don’t think it would be possible to get results like this if you simply regarded your subjects as a job. There’s a warmth here, and an understanding of the life and light behind mere structure and outward appearance. This isn’t really something that can be taught, so I’d suggest you might simply want to learn from example here – don’t expect a magic ingredient.
In practical terms, the book offers all the variety you could want. There are male and female figures, different hair styles and skin colours and a wide range of ages. Hashim explains colour, lighting and perspective and he’s also rather good on the main features – eyes, noses, ears, etc. Here, his style is your friend as its vibrancy makes what is inevitably a rather technical section interesting and – well – exciting.
