Read This if You Want to Be Great at Drawing

I have a weakness for books on the subject of drawing (which goes with my weakness of not being able to pass by the colored pencil display at the craft store!) and when I saw indexthis book on the book store shelf I couldn’t resist picking it up. On the back cover it says that the book is “a jargon-free guide packed with simple diagrams and practical activities” and that’s exactly what I found when I opened this book. There is nothing fancy about this book – the cover is pretty plain, it looks and feels like a plain everyday sketchbook, the inside is all in black and white and there are no glossy pages of beautiful artist sketchbook pages that look ready for framing. But this deceptively plain looking book is absolutely packed with all you need to start drawing and to do it with confidence and success. Broken into 5 sections: Starting, Tone, Accuracy, Perspective and Explore each of the lessons and exercises within each section are easy to understand and follow and are accompanied by the authors drawn illustrations as well as inspirational drawings by some of the greats including Picasso, Matisse, Duchamp, Escher and many more. This is definitely one of my favorite books on the subject of drawing.

An interesting book which is not the usual pedestrian ‘how to draw’ manual. It does contain some practical drawing exercises and has lots of practical advice about materials and techniques, but is more about exploring different approaches through perspective, angles, tones, shapes, methods of shading, etc., and ultimately developing your own style. Each subject or tip is illustrated by an example of an accomplished artist’s work. It is written in a clear, easygoing style which encourages you to have a go. May not be everyone’s cup of tea but personally I have found it enjoyable and inspiring, and it’s not expensive either.

Really love this book. Have already tried afew exercises. Really helpful!

It's a fun book filled with useful suggestions for better drawings. Some of the ideas are good basic drawing principles and others go a little further and are more creative than what you would find in a typical "how-to drawing book" It is also a good resource for ideas when teaching drawing!

This is a great book. Lots of ideas and tips on how to learn to draw or improve your technique. Clear, friendly writing style, with examples of a range of artists' work. I bought this book as a gift, but showed it to some other friends - I now need to buy several more copies for friends who have put it on their wish lists for birthdays/Christmas. And, of course, I now want one myself!