Kingfisher

Jia Lu was born into a Beijing that stood relatively unchanged by the ravages of the Chinese Communist Revolution. Land reforms and a fundamental reorganization of government and civil life had transformed relations between individuals during the five years of Communist rule preceding the artist’s birth. But the Beijing landscape, with its narrow, winding alleys and compounds enclosed by gray walls, the palaces of the Qing emperors and aristocracy weighted under their yellow and kingfisher roof tiles, the lakes and parks where one could swim during the summer and skate in winter, the songs of vendors falling through the dawn air like the swallows appearing at first light—these were the permanent aspects of a Beijing that filled the artist’s memories and provided the earliest inspiration for a lifetime of work.

Like others in Lee J. Ames' popular, ongoing, virtually wordless series, this book, which he's done with P. Lee Ames, will be a great help to art novices wanting to hone skills while turning out impressive, sophisticated sketches. As usual, the process starts with a foundation sketch of simple lines and shapes. Then there's a series of increasingly detailed pictures (there are between 6 and 12 separate sketches on a page) that culminate in a fully developed drawing. The difficulty level of the plants is nicely varied, and the sequences are as thoughtfully orchestrated as ever. However, the green pencil used in the demonstration sketches is occasionally too light to be seen easily. Artists who want to search out more about an interesting-looking specimen will appreciate the inclusion of each plant's common and scientific names.