Presentation Techniques by Dick Powell
The second of Marc Gellen‘s book recommendations is Presentation Techniques by Dick Powell, first published in 1985. Whereas Technical Illustration – Techniques and Applications was more of a textbook of tools and techniques, this book is a practical guide to accurately drawing and rendering for the purpose of communicating design ideas. While both books are reminders of how much illustration has changed in 20 years in terms of media and style, I think this book’s techniques are well presented and still relevant today.
Here’s the table of contents:
- Introduction
- Materials
- Perspective Drawing
- Computer Aided Design – CAD
- Colouring Up
- Marker Rendering
- Airbrush Rendering
- Coloured Paper Rendering
- Automotive Rendering
- Descriptive Drawing
- Backgrounds and Mounting
- Conclusion
The ‘Magic Marker’
Presentation Techniques deals exclusively with traditional media; pencil, colored pencil, pen, marker and airbrush (the chapter on ‘Computer Aided Design’ is three pages). These may not be the materials used for finals any more, but for learning technique and developing concepts they can’t be beat. Nothing trumps the immediacy and intuitiveness of drawing on paper.
The structure of the book is logical starting with sketching from observation, then drawing in a measured perspective system )with good emphasis on ellipses), then surface rendering and finally shadow casting. It closes with a gallery of process and finished automotive concept art.
There are no secrets to be found here. It’s just good drawing technique and rendering systems based on observation.
Rendering chrome, plastic and matte materials from observation
Coupé by Anthony Lo of Lotus Cars
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- Presentation Techniques by Dick Powell
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- The ‘Magic Marker’
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- Two-Point Perspective
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- Object drawing from elevations
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- Rendering chrome, plastic and matte materials from observation
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- Rendering chrome, plastic and matte materials
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- Rendering chrome, plastic and matte materials
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- Rendering chrome, plastic and matte materials
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- Rendering with marker
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- Rendering with washes and airbrush
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- Coupé by Anthony Lo of Lotus Cars
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- Artwork by Grant Larson and Julian Thomson
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- Computer Aided Design
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- Descriptive Drawing
Presentation Techniques contains a wealth of knowledge, and I highly recommend it for students of technical illustration. I might even secure a copy for my bookshelf, I feel it deserves a more thorough reading.
Update, April 16, 2014: The author of this book, Dick Powell wrote in with the following:
Thank you for endorsing it – amazingly, it’s still in print (it has become a bit of a standard for UK design students!). But just to correct one thing – it was written in 1984 and first published in 1985, the year we got our first Mac. So that first edition, which has a blue cover and different cover illustration, had no CAD at all. I re-wrote much of it, adding the 3 pages on CAD (which at that time was still a high end business) and much other new material (I even specified 30 new colours for Magic Marker to make, which they did). They asked me to update it a few times over the years but, by then, prices for CAD were coming down, Photoshop and Freehand were increasingly in use and there seemed no point!
Thanks for taking time to present these books. I have often wanted to find books such as these but have found Library / Google searches to be futile when one doesn’t know what search terms to use.
Your reviews are helpful too, as it helps one to determine whether one should take the time to try a find copies.
Perhaps you could pen a new book, illustrating tried and true methods as well as some of the new techniques that illustrators may not be aware of. I’d buy a copy :-)
I had a class last summer at the Academy of Art University in the Industrial Design Department that covered a lot of what this book seems to teach. Another book similar to this is called “sketching: drawing techniques for product designers” by Koos Eissen and Roselien Steur. The ISBN is 978-90-6369-171-4 for those of you how might be curious.
Hey – I’ve got that book! (But with a different cover. Must be another edition.)
@Steven Thanks for the tip. My library has that too, I’ll check it out!
Wow, I’m sure I read that back in the 90’s. It’d be great to have it in my hands again. I can almost smell the magic markers… : )
Dick Powell and his work partner Richard Seymour presented a great series of TV programme here in the UK – probably in the late 90’s ? Each was a case study on a particular product design challenge – a motorbike, airline seat, bra design (that one sticks in the mind for some reason ; ) … and a few others i think.
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…well, curiosity got the better of me and I wondered if video of the programme was still available. You guessed it… just the bra episode!
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/better-by-design/4od#2917621
Yes, I’m it’s author. I just Googled the book in an idle moment and up popped your site. And thank you for endorsing it – amazingly, it’s still in print (it has become a bit of a standard for UK design students!). But just to correct one thing – it was written in 1984 and first published in 1985, the year we got our first Mac. So that first edition, which has a blue cover and different cover illustration, had no CAD at all. I re-wrote much of it, adding the 3 pages on CAD (which at that time was still a high end business) and much other new material (I even specified 30 new colours for Magic Marker to make, which they did). They asked me to update it a few times over the years but, by then, prices for CAD were coming down, Photoshop and Freehand were increasingly in use and there seemed no point!
Thanks for writing in, Dick. I’ve updated the post for accuracy.