The Real World of Pencil Portraits: A step by step guide to creating stunning portraits with graphite. (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781448644230)

Michael Brinkley grew up in a small town in Southeast Missouri. One winter, while living on the top of a small mountain, he and his family were snowed in for three months. During that time he had little to do to keep himself occupied, so he started to draw Disney cartoon characters. That began a life-long love of art. He spent the next 35 years learning every art medium he could think of and he came to realize that creating art is simply a series of steps using specific techniques. The trick, he thought, was to learn how to see before learning how to draw. That realization brought the understanding that absolutely anyone can create incredible works of art, all they need to do is learn a few simple techniques and believe in themselves. He is now working on a series of books that teach the reader how to see what it is that they are drawing and painting. The readers come to understand that they are not recreating objects in their art, but rather reproducing light and shadow. They realize that art is an illusion and the artist is a magician. They learn how the mind works and they use that knowledge to improve their work.