Best Figure Drawing Guides
Drawing and Painting Beautiful Faces is an inspiring, mixed media workbook on how to draw and paint beautiful, fashion illustration-style faces. "From an upbeat, lighthearted point of view, this workbook, written by working artist and art educator Davenport, encourages readers to get in touch with their creativity through drawing female faces in whimsical styles. Simplified styles of drawing prevail, but the author still takes on anatomy and underlying facial structure, explaining how to represent them convincingly in two dimensions.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book is great - not a quick flick, but an ongoing reference which has helped me understand more about drawing portraits with my own unique style."
"The book has a breezy, cheerful quality, but don't let Jane's relaxed attitude fool you -- she teaches serious drawing techniques. The author also has crazy, beautiful artistic skill and the book is liberally illustrated with her lovely and inspiring work."
"Beautiful Book, pictures and colors soft and enjoyable to look at, directions easy to follow."
"I have just demanded my husband send me to "my room" (aka studio) for an unreasonable amount of time! I purchased the art lesson - Whimsical faces this past weekend and have just finished my second try."
"Wonderful book!"
"I can't comment on whether this is suitable for experienced artists, only for myself, so if you want to learn to draw beautiful faces, you are a nervous beginner or looking for ways to make your faces more interesting with colour and shading then this is well worth purchasing."
"An update: I am now enrolled in my 7th online class with Jane and I can tell you, buy the book AND treat yourself to her classes!"
"i got my book in september and after two weeks of reading it i joined Jane Davenport's online drawing course and i ve been taking courses with her regularly."
By joining circles, ovals, rectangles, cylinders, and other common shapes, even the budding artist can easily create 30 different characters — a fireman, a drummer, a mailman, a cowboy, an astronaut, a roller-skating girl, a boy on a swing, and more. Barbara Soloff Levy has created over two dozen "How to Draw" guides for Dover, plus many other activity books.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Gifted for 2017 Christmas."
"Love the book."
"This is a good book for kids learning to draw."
"Niece loves to draw and absolutely loved this book and how easy it made it to learn!"
"Great gift for a 9 year old."
"It's OKay, it is rather helpful in drawing."
"My granddaughter loved it..."
"My Grandson loves this book!"
This inspiring book makes drawing in a realistic style easier than you may think and more fun than you ever imagined! Mark and Mary Willenbrink are also the authors of North Light's Watercolor for the Absolute Beginner .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This has worked very well for me."
"My sister loved this (: it gives really good instructions and basic knowledge."
"I was going to return this."
"Great book with lots of techniques!"
"But rather than talk about it, I've attached a photo of the steps 3 and 4 (out of 4 total steps, although step 1 technically isn't a step) of the 5th mini example (out of like 30) you are supposed to follow."
"You were meant to just follow their exceedingly difficult instructions that leave you frustrated, demoralized, and ready to put down your pencil forever. Shame on these people for putting this book out, just to make themselves feel like hot shot artists and leave the rest of us in the dust."
"There is some good instruction, but the ABSOLUTE beginner needs at least one drawing course before tackling this book. An absolute beginner only needs paper, pencil, and instruction about drawing free hand."
Best Human Figure Art
The illustrator Andrew Loomis (1892-1959) is revered among artists - including comics superstar Alex Ross - for his mastery of figure drawing and clean, Realist style. After studying art he moved to Chicago, eventually opening his own studio, working in editorial and advertising for most of the top clients at the time including Kellogg's, Coca Cola, Lucky Strike and more.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"As stated in reviews of his other books, one can't go wrong reading and learning what Loomis had to say."
"Andrew Loomis is one of the most talented artists that ever lifted a pencil and this book was lovingly composed as a personal gift to those who might be inspired to follow in his footsteps."
"Although the figures are exaggerated a bit, this book is wonderful and beautiful."
"excellent quality well written a must have for any budding artist a great hand book ."
"Most artists can't draw well - this book will help eliminate that problem."
"I had started studying a low quality, crooked scanned version of this book I found online."
"I always had an issue drawing the human figure and now I have one of my favorite artists showing me the ropes in this educational book."
"If you want to learn how to draw, you can do no better than to use this book as a training manual."
Best Children's Cartooning Books
Nothing satisfies anime artists more than creating original characters for comics and graphic novels—and bestselling author Christopher Hart helps them achieve this goal. Christopher Hart is the leading author of art instruction books in the US.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I am a professional animator myself and this books reminds me of the things I learned while getting my fine arts degrees. And the images are large enough to trace with tracing paper so my daughter can begin to get a feel for the correct angles and proportions of the character's features."
"My teen daughter is super into drawing anime and manga characters, but always has issues with things like hands and eyes."
"My only suggestion is the author could provide a more detailed step by step on how to draw, but it's good enough for now."
"My daughters review because it was a gift for her: I love that it actually explains the steps on how to draw specific things; however I didn’t like that it didn’t explain how to draw the hands, eyes and heads thouroughly."
"I bought this as a gift to an aspiring artist and she was impressed as well as I at the attention to detail and how easy it was to learn from a book."
"I would say this is a decent good book but I wouldn't recommend it for beginners because the book doesn't completely go over the steps."
"I bought several of these kinds of books."
"According to the recipient, "It's cool"."
Best Children's Sculpture Books
Find the sticker, peel the sticker, place the sticker. Workman Publishing Company has been producing award-winning calendars, cookbooks, parenting guides, and children’s titles, as well as gardening, humor, self-help, and business books, since 1968.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I bought this book for my six-year-old hoping it would be an activity he could do independently."
"Stickers and pages are thick and good quality."
"This was one of my 9 year old son's favorite Christmas gifts."
"A lot of fun for kids and adults alike."
"Such a fun book for a kid that loves to paint, draw, lover of animals, anyone who loves stickers!"
"Bought this for my 6 year old daughter for Christmas."
"Grandkids (ages 6 and 3) love it."
Best Pencil Drawing
How to Draw Cool Stuff: Basics, Shading, Texture, Pattern and Optical Illusions is the second book in the How to Draw Cool Stuff series. Illustrated optical illusions involve images that are sensed and perceived to be different from what they really are, showing examples of how the mind and the eyes can play tricks on each other. Catherine V. Holmes is an art/ELA teacher and visual artist from historical Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The author starts with the basics and builds up to more complicated drawings."
"Simple step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow and sample drawings to show how to get there."
"Some people can't automatically draw illusions, not sure if anyone can."
"The Artist breaks things down so a person can understand how to draw!"
"I love the cool things that I have learned to draw so far and am looking forward to learning more."
"I wasn't sure that this book could live up to the first one I read but it does!"
"Some really basic instructions."
"Lot's of cool examples."
Best Pastel Drawing
Turn your stress into success with this best-selling motivational swear word adult coloring book by John T! Jam packed with funny and unique motivational adult coloring book pages! Don't forget to pick up a copy for your friends, family, and co-workers and check out the other swear word coloring books by John T! My name is John T here is something about me I am an all-around artist and best-selling publisher-ist My catalog contains over 10 adult coloring books but with a sorta different look you will find swear word designs to make you laugh when you feel like to cry Did someone ruin your day?
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I took 1 star off because the coloring pages are rather basic and I like a little more detail in my coloring books."
"Bought as a gift, recipient is very pleased with the quality, black pages, phrases, and lineart!"
"I've already finished this book."
"Love the humor in this coloring book."
"This book is hysterical... purchased as a gift and recipient LOVED it!"
"Snarky and fun to color."
"This was a gift."
"You're basically just coloring words."
Best Colored Pencil Guides
Take colored pencils beyond the ordinary with Colored Pencil Painting Bible ! ALYONA NICKELSEN is an award-winning artist whose work has been featured in numerous national and international exhibitions as well as in most of the country’s major art magazines, including American Artist, American Artist Drawing, The Artist’s Magazine, International Artist, American Art Collector, and Art Business News.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I also liked the fact that it said Colored Pencil PAINTING, because I have always thought the style and technique I favor - a heavy, opaque coloring, rather than a soft sketchy style - was more akin to painting than the drawing/sketching that most people think of when they think of colored pencils. I knew that when I was last heavily involved in this medium, a good 25 or so years ago, this style or approach, and the colored pencil medium in general was still considered a relatively new medium (in the general scheme of artist's media through the ages) and that people had been experimenting and pushing the techinique envelope, and new products had been developing as well. Not only does this book cover the ultrarealistic effects and luminous colors that are the author's forte, it also gives a good overview of principles of design, composition, color theory, fundamentals of light, shading and shadows, and other topics that are applicable to just about all visual art media, not just colored pencil. The focus of the book, as promised by the title, is on colored pencil drawing (painting), specifically with "dry" wax or oil based pencils (not watercolor pencils) So naturally a lot of pages are devoted to materials, media, supplies and tools. It covers the difference and similarities between wax and oil based pencils and specific brands thereof - including hardness, blendability, color range, and the "feel" of the pencil on the page plus an appendix with charts of all the major manufacturers' colored pencils and their ratings for lightfastness. This book is an essential in the library of anyone who is interested in making art with colored pencils."
"(Hopefully you can see that without my help) also I included a sample of a crystal candle stick, a leaf with a water droplet or two, pears, an apple, a brass pitcher, we'll you can tell what they all are except maybe red , yellow and blue peppermill."
"May I suggest additionally using the same techniques with water and watercolor pencils too, if you don't feel like getting fancy."
"cherry, orange-peeled and unpeeled, red pepper--cut and uncut, peach--cut and uncut, strawberry, indian corn in husk, dandelion, mortar and pestle, brass pitcher, crumpled paper, white eggs, glass of water, multicolored glass shaker, swirled marbles, and decorative perfume bottle."
"If you're an intermediate or advanced artist with colored pencil experience this is a good book. If you're new to colored pencils like I am this is not the right book for you. And it shows one small photo of the drawing. You need a lot of experience drawing and working with colors and so much else to create drawings that look ultra realistic."
Best Pen & Ink Drawing
Chalkfulloflove was created to encourage, inspire and make you giggle, so just pour yourself a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and settle in to start your own unique, adorable lettering creations! Hardcover, oversized gold wire-o binding and gold corner protectors Step by step instructions on how to create various fonts and designs Thick premium paper, perfect for lettering Beautiful coffee table book and practical workbook. A day in her life looks like taking a crazy number of photos, dancing in the garage while packaging up orders, and cuddling with her pups.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book is beautiful!"
"I just started brush lettering and already trashed one pen on another book, so this book is perfect in my opinion."
"Gorgeous book!"
"BUT, the blank pages.... About 45% of the book is blank pages, not to mention all the white space. Pages 96-110 are ENTIRELY BLANK but for the page number, and so is almost half of the book."
"I should have listened to the other people who reported that this book was full of nothing, but I was encouraged by the the claim that additional content was added."
"If you want to learn upper case, you have to also buy Hand Lettering 201."
"I bought the book on my cell phone and should have taken the time to read the reviews on this book."
"In purchasing a $30.00 book I expect more inside information, tips and tricks and showing me HOW she achieves her style of lettering, etc... For example, the flourishes pages literally just tells you that flourishes and illustrations are great to add to your lettering then shows you a 2" x 2" example of the author's own "Bless Your Heart" design (with zero instructions on how she achieved it) and has about a 6"x3" area next to that design that says "Practice Here.""
Best Drawing Specific Objects
Using superb, specially commissioned photographs of male and female models, together with historical and contemporary works of art and her own illustrations, Sarah Simblet shows us how to see inside the human frame, to map its muscle groups and skeletal structure, to capture its balance, poise, and grace. Sarah Simblet teaches at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford University, and at the Royal College of Art in London.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Arrived quickly, in great shape, just as advertised."
"Fantastic."
"Complementary for your figure drawing lessons, ilustration and art very well done, my only, if I could say "issue", was they didnt focus on the anatomy of eyes, nose and lips and facial tissue."
"This book is the best anatomy book i have seen.the see through sheets of internal anatomy line up with with actual human photo's so you see where in the body they really lay,and how it affects the topographic(?"
"An awesome book!"
"I find that the pictures are useful as supplementary material to more rigorous books, such as Goldfinger's famous Human Anatomy for Artists. Also, most of the models that you find in online image stores (or other anatomy books, for that matter) are not nearly as fit or well-proportioned as the models from this book. The pictures you get are very good, but trading some of the more "artistic" poses for neutral positions from multiple angles would make the book much more useful. If you want to develop figure drawing skills and care less about learning the exact details of skeletons and muscles, I'd recommend the books by Andrew Loomis and Gottfried Bammes(his German books, not the English ones!"
"I bought this book when I took a figure drawing class, it was helpful in studying the bone and muscle structures."
Best Coloring Books for Grown-Ups
Through a series of creative and quirky prompts, acclaimed guerilla artist Keri Smith encourages journalers to engage in destructive acts — poking holes through pages, adding photos and defacing them, painting pages with coffee, coloring outside the lines, and more — in order to experience the true creative process. “ Wreck This Journal encourages you to stop fretting about quality and start relishing the artistic process.” —Oprah.com. “I love this book and the playful way that Keri Smith teaches people the act of creating by putting you right on the spot. Wreck This Journal is a fun, interactive book that you will want to work in every day. “Wreck this Journal makes a great gift for someone who's going through a stressful time, needs a form of release, or anyone who could use a few minutes of fun.” — Jactionary. “Calling all bookworms and creative doodlers, Wreck This Journal is the perfect book to spruce up your summer. “A conceptual artist and author luring kids into questioning the world and appreciating every smell, texture and mystery in it.” — TIME Magazine.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I never even realized I was creative until this book came around."
"Somewhere in the book you will find a page that tells you to attach a string to the spine of the book and swing wildly."
"The book so them we are on the hunt for those. It's a very creative book and I think she really likes it cause it's everything you have been told to never do with books."
"My one complaint is that if you did everything the book tells you to do, the book would never survive."
"They had fun throwing it out the window, freezing it, taking it in the shower...just all kinds of things. My daughters girl scout troop uses them as well and they have fun."
"I plan to purchase another copy for myself, it will be a fun summer activity."
"The book can be purchased with several different front covers, so you can choose the one you like the best (they’re all the same book, so don’t get the set unless you want 4 of the same book in order to start another when you finish your first one or give the others as a gift)."
"My 10 yr old daughter loves this book."
Best How To Create Comics & Manga
In these action-packed pages, graphic novelist Mark Crilley shows you step-by-step how to achieve an authentic manga stylefrom drawing faces and figures to laying out awesome, high-drama spreads. This is the book fans have been requesting for years, packed with expert tips on everything from hairstyles and clothing to word bubbles and sound effects, delivered in the same friendly, easy-to-follow style that has made Mark Crilley one of the "25 Most Subscribed to Gurus on YouTube." Mark Crilley is the creator of several manga books, including the Akiko series, Miki Falls , the Billy Clikk novels and Brody's Ghost .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I've watched lots of Mark Crilley's tutorials, but there's something special about seeing the drawing printed on the page in front of me, there as a reference. The written instructions give tips about showing the gender, age and personality of the characters. There's information about inking drawings, laying out panels and adding speech bubbles and sound effects. Everything included in the book is great and it's absolutely packed with helpful information on every page, but I do think the author has even more to offer and I'd love it if this turned out to be the first part of a series. One final note: There's no nudity in this book; all figures are drawn either fully clothed or wearing simple underclothes."
"I got this for my artist son, but tried it myself first to see whether it was as easy as this author makes it look---and it was (well, at least the very first drawing was easy)."
"Great book for beginners wanting to learn how to draw manga."
"It is bad because it does not teach you "real" drawing before it gives you a specialized drawing (like manga style), but then again, its not a how to "figure draw" book its a manga only. It lists a lot of body tipes, proportions, shows the reader how to draw head-eye-hands and other usefull stuff. It even has a collection of eye tipes, and a list of moods, BUT when i got to that point i realized...instead of explaning and showing why "sad" experssion makes the character look sad, it shows the reader a sad manga character..."here it is, this is how it looks like"."