“How To Draw Everything (Book Review)”

In the last posting, I reviewed How To Draw Anything (Book Review), by Mark Linley (published by Clarion). This is one of the best learn to draw books I’ve seen so far.

The drawing course structure is clear-cut and should be easy enough for anyone to follow. The idea is that you copy the illustrations - with such a simple strategy you cannot fail.

For a beginner, ‘How To Draw Anything’ is a must buy at £1.99 (I’d pay more)… you don’t need high drawing skills to begin with… the mechanical structure almost guarantees success.

However, as always, there is a big ‘BUT’

The question is...

When you have finished copying all of the drawings in the book…

“What do you do next?”

Although the book title suggests you can learn ‘How To Draw Anything’…

“Are you going to be capable of drawing anything more than you’ve been shown?”

The likely answer is…

“No, I need more help”

Today’s book for review is “How To Draw Everything”, by Barrington Barber (published by Capella).

Here, the title is even more ambitious… you are being promised the dream of being able to draw “everything”

"Is that possible?" Surely, not!

Before opening the pages, I suspected that I was going to be disappointed. I am glad to say that…

“How To Draw Everything is unbelievable”

Barrington Barber seems, quite definitely, capable of absolutely anything… the 352-page book is crammed with top quality illustrations that prove it…

The book is so full of drawing information that it is almost impossible to tell you enough about it… it covers everything that you would want to know.

You’ll find information about…

• Drawing 3-d shapes and shading them to give substance and texture
• Perspective construction
• Technical aids… Grids, camera obscura and camera lucida
• Proportions and foreshortening

Moreover, Barrington’s superb drawings show you how to distinguish between a pinecone and a wine glass.

He shows you…

• Garden watering can
• Bowl of fruit
• Whicker basket
• Boots and shoes
• Bananas
• Brass candlestick
• Headphones
• Leather satchel
• Wooden toy train

There are still life drawings of…

• Violin and metronome
• Jacket draped over a chair
• Room interiors
• Bicycle
• Motorcycle
• Car
• Boat

And masses more…

Perspectives show you how to construct…

• Town scenes
• A church
• Street scene

And there’s…

• Human architecture
• Simplified animals
• Movement
• Riverscape
• Seascape
• Lakes

You find about…

• Water and reflections
• Earth and rocks
• Sky and cloud formations

Yet, the most important message Barrington can give you is contained in the first few words of the book…

“Learning to draw is not difficult. Everyone learns to walk and talk and read and write at an early age, and learning to draw is less difficult than all that…”

Doesn’t this sound reasonable?

“Drawing is merely making marks on paper which represent some visual experience…”

Pretty obvious?

"All it takes to draw effectively is the desire to do it, a little persistence, the ability to observe and a willingness to… Carefully correct any mistakes”

Ouch! That hurts!

“This last point is very important as mistakes are not in themselves bad… Regard them as opportunities to get better… and always correct them”

Barrington Barber, in those few words of introduction, has told you all you need to know about yourself.

In How To Draw Everything, you are given…

• First stages
• Object drawing and still life composition
• The experience of drawing
• Form and shape
• Forms of nature
• Figure drawing and portraiture
• Styles and techniques
• Composition

Finally, Barrington also recommends you look at Old Masters drawings, including…

• Ancient Greek art
• Leonardo Da Vinci
• Raphael
• Michelangelo
• Rubens
• Hans Holbein The Younger
• Rembrandt (a favorite of mine for his drawings)
• J M Turner (magnificent)

Isn’t that what you need?

Isn’t that what you want to know about drawing?

How can you top all that? I know I can’t match that in a book of 352 pages for only £1.99 (even the publishers price of £5.99 is low)

And, in the full knowledge that there’s a whole lot more I haven’t mentioned…

So, for now…

I’ll see you soon

Michael

p.s. I suggest you buy both books, How To Draw Anything and How To Draw Everything (use How To Draw Anything first)

p.p.s. Typically, as you might expect, I find that Amazon doesn’t stock this particular book… so, in the next posting I’ll give you a list of Barrington Barber titles available at the time of writing.

“How To Draw Anything (Book Review)”

There are hundreds of art books. In Drawing… First Steps To Becoming an Artist I reviewed Mike Chaplin’s book, as found in Bookthrift bookshop. Typically, the first book I reviewed cannot be found at Amazon.

Fortunately, you can be confident that any drawing instruction book of his will be worth getting… with the high quality of Mike’s drawing and his obvious enthusiasm.

A search at Amazon gives you “The Complete Book of Drawing & Painting: Essential Skills and Techniques in Drawing, Watercolor, Oil, and Pastel”

Today’s book review is very different. It is one of 4 books I bought on the same day…

“How To Draw Anything” by Mark Linley (costing only £1.99).

Mark gives a very structured, down to earth, step-by-step approach to learning how to draw.

This is definitely a book where you start from the beginning. It never forgets that every person who wants to draw is not naturally confident with their ability.

I quote from the first chapter ‘You Can Learn To Draw’…

“Yes you really can! Many people think that learning to draw is difficult if not impossible. If would be artists treated the subject as fun and went about it in the right way, it could be possible for nearly everyone, like learning to drive. At first it may seem hard, but it isn’t if the basic instruction is correct”

So…

1. Are you going to treat learning how to draw as fun?
2. Is ‘How To Draw Anything’ going to give you correct basic instruction?

Only you can answer question 1.

However, I can answer Question 2…

For a beginner the answer is “Yes!”

I completely agree with the structure of the course… you are taken through easy stages beginning with LANDSCAPE drawing…

From the start, Mark Linley does not mess about… Fig. 4 on page 11 shows how 3 line weights can show foreground, middle ground and distance…

• Heavy line thickness for foreground
• Narrower line thickness for middle ground
• Thin line for distance

This is a great start that I hadn’t thought about.

Understanding how to distinguish distance is vital to good landscape drawing…

Fig.5 illustrates the difficulty you will face. Here an extended landscape is shown. Once again it is a line drawing. The problem is that the drawn lines don’t distinguish between foreground and distance… the line weights are exactly the same for each line.

However, In Fig. 6, Mark shows you a technique that helps you overcome the problem found in Fig. 5... HATCHING (a series of closely drawn lines that fill a shape)

Personally, having spent 20 years on a drawing-board, as an Engineer Draughtsman, I don’t like to use hatching in my artwork… it reminds me of techniques I want to escape from. Yet, there can be no doubt that the way Mark Linley uses hatching will make it easy for you to quickly create effective landscape drawings.

Mark moves you quickly on with…

• Simple building structures (bridges)
• Trees (something I often have difficulty with)
• Hills and mountains
• Farm buildings and cottages
• Waterscapes / seascapes, including boats

‘Be A Good Composer’ will be an important chapter to any keen artist. It discusses how an artist’s viewpoint (sitting down or standing) changes the finished picture. Mark shows you what is right and wrong…

“He shows you the common landscape drawing mistakes you will make”

And, he shows you how to make a tool that helps you see what is in front of you…

A simple grid

From Chapter 10 (page 80), you move into how to draw animals…

• Sheep
• Cats
• Squirrels
• Horses
• Dogs
• Birds

Here's where the difficult to draw stuff begins...

• Chapter 18 (page 145) starts with drawing people… You are shown how a simple shape can transform into a person’s head.
• Chapter 19 (page 152) concentrates on nose and lips
• Chapter 20 (page 160) looks at eyes and ears
• Chapter 21 (page 169) examines hair styles (Fig. 153 is impressive, showing a girl with long flowing hair)
• Chapter 22 (page 176) works on hands and feet
• Chapter 23 (page 184) arms and legs
• Chapter 24 (page 193) concentrates upon the body

To bring the human anatomy together, Chapter 25, spends time looking at posture (how people sit, stand and lie down), working with life models and how clothing affects body shape.

And there’s more in this 286 page book… it includes a section about ‘How To Draw Cartoons’

‘How To Draw Anything’ is a compilation from 5 other books…

1. The Right Way To Draw
2. The Right Way To Draw People
3. The Right Way To Draw Landscapes
4. The Right Way To Draw Animals
5. The Right Way To Draw Cartoons

As good as ‘How To Draw Anything’ is, it can’t possibly show you how to draw absolutely everything, but…

“I can recommend Mark Linley for the simple, almost mechanical, process he gives to help you learn to draw… It sure makes a great starting point!”

See you soon

Michael

p.s. Lucky break! I looked at Amazon and there were 108 new and used copies of ‘How To Draw Anything’ available (at the time of writing) Price £1.99 (New)

p.p.s. Ebay also had plenty of copies (Warning - you could pay more than at Amazon)

p.p.p.s. Each of Mark Linley's other books (listed above) are also available at Amazon, along with others not listed.

“Drawing… First Steps To Becoming an Artist (Book Review)”

As promised in the last Blog Where Can I Find The Best ‘Learning How To Draw’ Lessons? I have taken time to review one of the best sources for learning to draw... BOOKS!

Recently, I was looking at the shelves of my local low cost bookshop, Bookthrift, for ‘How To Draw’ books. There were around 10 books offering different approaches to drawing instruction.

The first, and lowest cost, book was Mike Chaplin’s “Drawing - First Step To Becoming An Artist” in the Discover Art series from Capella. The price was only £1.99 (Publishers price £5.99).

So, as far as cost is concerned, whatever the quality inside the slim volume of 48 pages, it wasn’t expensive. The question was…

“Is it any good?”

The answer is ‘Yes’

What set the standard for me was the quote on the back (Hardback) cover…

“Making marks is a human instinct that we all explore in early childhood, but as we progress into adulthood confidence in our ability to make ‘art’ diminishes”

Inside the short book you are treated to a wide range of topics that are important for a balanced overview of drawing. Mike Chaplin expertly explains what you need to use in few words, including…

• Paper… wood based and cotton rag
• Drawing tools… pencils, charcoal, inks and chalks
• Drawing equipment… Drawing boards, easels and seating.

Next, you are guided through organizing your work directly into line drawing and how to use different marks.

Visualization is covered, using simple measuring tricks and recognizing basic shapes and negative shapes.

Drawing format is covered…

• Portrait
• Landscape
• Elliptical

You are then shown scaling and the use of a viewfinder for landscapes followed by tonal exercises and how shadows add strength and substance to your sketches.

What I liked was the Experimental Mark-making section, with its encouragement to use different markers and biro pens for rapid sketches… You will be amazed by how Mike Chaplin uses a bird feather.

5 drawings show you how to get the best from ‘Lights’ and ‘Darks’ (I really like the 3-minute sketch of snow covered cottages)

Along with discussing what kind of subjects to choose to draw you are given guidance about…

• Composition
• Perspective
• Texture
• Light sources

The elements… weather and water reflections lead towards using your drawing as natural preparation for painting.

Overall, Mike Chaplin, a member of the Royal Watercolor Society, amply demonstrates his drawing and artistic skills. Equally, his enthusiasm radiates through the book. And, I really like the still life exercise at the end of the book that shows how the artist created a drawing of his studio.

The only possible problem is that, for a beginner, I imagine more detail would be wanted… but I think you will find encouragement and a boost towards your own enthusiasm for drawing and sketching.


My final comment is…

“What more can you expect for £1.99 (or even £5.99)… A full time art tutor?”


Unfortunately, at the time of writing, I couldn’t find any evidence of the book at Amazon. However, when I entered Mike Chaplin’s name into the Amazon search engine 2 books appeared…

1. Complete Book of Drawing and Painting: Essential Skills and Techniques in Drawing, Watercolour, Oil and Pastel (Paperback) £5.86 (Second hand)


2. The Complete Book of Drawing & Painting: Essential Skills and Techniques in Drawing, Watercolor, Oil, and Pastel (Hardcover) £6.99 (New) £4.08 (Second hand)

See you soon


Michael


p.s. I should mention that Diana Vowles is Mike Chaplin’s co-author.

p.p.s. I’ll review another of the low cost drawing books I picked up from Bookthrift in the next Blog.

“Where Can I Find The Best ‘Learning How To Draw’ Lessons?”

Like you, I’ve spent some time looking for other ‘learning how to draw’ resources. Sadly, on the internet, there seem to be far less than I expected.

I’m surprised that there are so few websites concentrating upon giving enthusiastic basic advice to interested amateur artists.

In the last posting How Can I Draw What I See - And Make It Look Real I gave you a link to Learning How To Draw with basic perspective drawing. This is a super introduction to perspectives.

What I found difficult was that Part 2 isn’t as good for me.

This isn’t a criticism…

“How can you expect a simple 2 part series of lessons to give you all there is to know about learning how to draw?”

You can’t, but you can see what is possible to you… take a good look at the Portrait of Einstein and see the possibilities with drawing eyes, nose and mouth.

The website is a site aimed at teaching. Teachers will already have their own artistic skill that they are going to pass on to their students. The site is aimed at opening eyes of children to the possibilities in art and design.

You are different…

“You are already interested in art and design and want to find resources that quickly improve you drawing skills”

I guess there are many answers to why I can’t find many other drawing websites…

• Perhaps, I haven’t been looking hard enough (I’ll keep looking)
• Artists with the skills are too busy producing finished drawings and paintings
• Artists have forgotten the basics
• Artists don’t think they can teach

Or, dread the thought; the professional artists think drawing isn’t important enough to waste time thinking about…

If you are a painter, you can use the paint to define shape, form and texture. If so, drawing using pencils, charcoal and pens seems unimportant… and thinking about how to draw unnecessary.

For instance, when I paint, I rarely draw more than a simple outline before starting to paint. Even the most technical paintings of steam trains had very simple lines and arcs drawn to define position and mechanical outline…

“I prefer to paint”

In fact, I rarely draw sketches to prepare to paint… I just draw a few lines and start to paint.

I think that to many artists…

“It is easier to paint than it is to draw”

Is this just good fortune? Or is it that an artist already presumes, without thinking, they have expert drawing skills.

Ask any artist if drawing skills are important to them and they will say “Yes!”

In representational paintings, good drawing skills are vitally important. Great design also uses superior drawing technique.

Whether your interest is in design or fine art, you are drawing.

When you paint you paint, you are drawing with color. To make a realistic looking painting you use color to give form and depth… you mold the color with the same skills you use to control a drawn line.

• Yet, with painting, you have an advantage…
• You have huge advantage over drawing
• You have hundreds of colors to choose from, to play with, and to create vibrant realism.

Compare this to drawing…

When you draw, you use just a single color… the color of the pencil, charcoal or pen.

In many ways, drawing needs higher skill levels than painting.

It’s a little like the old black and white movies…

“Could you see the color of the hero’s eyes?”

No, but you still felt the atmosphere and action, the mood and temper, the love and romance… silliness and humor…

Using only black, white and a mixture of grays.

“Drawing still works… it is the foundation of good art”

Over the next few postings, I will try to bring you a selection of ‘learning how to draw’ resources…

• Some you will find are good and some not so great
• Some will be free and some you will have to pay for
• Some you will find useful and others just won’t interest you

See you soon

Michael

p.s. the best sources for learning how to draw are still good old fashioned books. In the next posting, I’ll be reviewing a typical drawing instruction book that cost just a few pence.

“How Can I Draw What I See… And Make It Look Real?”

Its time to get back to basics…

In “Did you know… You create lines, circles and arcs every day?” you learned that you use lines, circles and arcs every day in writing notes and messages.

Before that, you found that How To Draw A Straight Line and How To Draw A Circle made it easy for you to use…

1. A ruler or straight edge to draw straight lines of any length you wanted
2. A coffee jar or any round household item to create circles and arcs

With this vital knowledge, you know that there is nothing stopping you from drawing anything you could ever want…

“You can draw any number of lines or curves you will ever need”

But, as always, there is something stopping you… there is still the big question…

“How can I draw what I see… and make it look real?”

Ouch! That hurts!

What you need is a fresh perspective (a word used for thinking and writing)

Perspective is used in art to describe how things that are close, look large, hard and real… while distant objects look small, flat and out of reach.

Look out of your window…

• Your car is solid. You know that you can walk out of the door and climb into it and drive wherever you want to go.
• However, the hills on the horizon look different… they are so far away that they seem unreal… they look as if they are melting into the sky.

You need to know how to use perspective rules to help your drawing show ‘near’ and ‘far’.

You don’t need to know all the fancy terms like ‘foreshortening’

What you need is a simple and easy to understand guide you can quickly use to make your drawings… LOOK REAL.

Well, here’s some good news… Learning How To Draw has a namesake that has been around for some time. Click the text link Learning How To Draw and check it out for yourself.

Guess what… it is a quality resource for new artists to get the basics. Better still, it has a great FREE drawing course that tells you what you need to know about perspectives.

The FREE drawing course is aimed at 9 to 14 year olds interested in careers as…

• Artists
• Architects
• Video game designers
• Cartoon artists
• Special effects artists
• Interior Designers
• Draughtsmen
• Fashion Designers
• Surveyors, Engineers, Builders
• Illustrators
• Graphic designers
• Computer designers
• Set designers for film, opera, ballet, stage etc.

This is an incredibly wide subject range. It is unlikely that you will be interested in all of the subjects.

In fact, it would be unrealistic for any drawing course to be able to cover such a wide scope… so don’t expect too much.

However, although you shouldn’t expect a great deal from a free website that is aimed at schoolchildren… don’t dismiss it.

As a brief introduction to the world of perspective drawing, the first lessons are as good as you need (Click the LESSON links)…


LESSON ONE - ELEMENTARY PERSPECTIVE
LESSON - PERSPECTIVE TWO - CITY STREET (UP)
LESSON - PERSPECTIVE THREE - CITY STREET (DOWN)
LESSON - PERSPECTIVE FOUR - CORNER OF ROOM
LESSON - PERSPECTIVE FIVE - WESTERN RAILWAY
LESSON - PERSPECTIVE SIX- ROOM INTERIOR (CVP)
LESSON - PERSPECTIVE SIX- ROOM INTERIOR (CVP)
LESSON - PERSPECTIVE SEVEN - LETTERS
LESSON - PERSPECTIVE EIGHT - BASIC SHADOWS
LESSON - PERSPECTIVE NINE - SHADOWS 2
LESSON - PERSPECTIVE TEN - ARCHWAY
LESSON - TEN ... CONTINUED
LESSON - PERSPECTIVE ELEVEN - ROAD
LESSON - PERSPECTIVE ELEVEN - ROAD (CONTINUED)
LESSON - TWELVE - BOOK
LESSON - TWELVE cont.


Although the sequence of the lessons is slightly confusing, they each give a clear idea of how the tools of perspective work.

More importantly, when you practice using the rules of perspective from the lessons, you will understand what is working in your drawing and what looks out of place (something a great number of artists find difficulty in seeing).

Perspective drawing is a great challenge to be met by each and every artist who wants to draw and paint lifelike pictures…

With care, patience and plenty of practice your drawing will benefit immensely from meeting the challenge, with the result that…

“Your drawings will stand out and come alive”

See you soon

Michael

“Do You Want To Learn How To Draw… The Head and Neck? (Review)”

As much as you might want to avoid the technicalities behind figure drawing you do need awareness of the structure beneath the skin.

The previous post “Figure Drawing Secrets - Skeleton (Review) describes how Part 2 of Figure Drawing Secrets shows you important information about the skeleton and how it works. Victor Perard’s drawings clearly show how the bones of a human skeleton affect various poses.

I’m not sure that there shouldn’t have been more skeleton detail given. Personally, I think I would have liked a little more. Alternatively, you could consider that the body is usually cloaked in clothing. This generally masks and hides the areas you might find difficulty with.

Meanwhile, Part 3, The Head and Neck, gives you 17 pages of detail drawings that do give you everything you need

So, you can be confident that Victor Perard covers the issues of arms, legs, hands and feet later in Figure Drawing Secrets. (I’ll try to review other chapters in later postings)

As you would expect, the skull bone structure is well described (pages 3 to 6)… including a description of how the skull changes shape as you get older (now, there’s something to look forward to - skull deformation - Thanks Victor, I’d prefer not to know)

• Pages 7 to 10, show the complex muscles arrangements that control the movement of the face and head. The structure of the throat is shown, complete with thyroid cartilage and trachea.
• Page 11, gives you internal and external views of a man’s upturned head and shows other vies that describe the muscles that connect the head to shoulders.
• Page 12, shows a young man’s head with detail of the spinal connections, tendons and muscles.
• Page 13, concentrates on the neck and back muscles.
• Page 15 shows more throat details including epiglottis and vocal chords (in normal breathing and wide open condition)
• Page 16 shows the line of gravity, head movements and how the chest modifies under breathing
• Page 17 puts the head in context, showing an elderly man sitting with his right arm outstretched.
  
  

Part 3, Head and Neck, is alone worth more than $14.95 to any artist. This is especially so when used together with Bonus 1 “Face Drawing Secrets”

Without a clear understanding of the head, jaw and neck muscles you don’t have a chance of drawing subtle expressions that capture a subjects character… this is so important to drawing realistic looking, lifelike figures.

Click the link At Last! You Can Draw People and Figures Perfectly In Any Position…Without a Model to find out more about ‘Figure Drawing Secrets’

I’m positive that for only $14.95 you will get a great human anatomy resource with great drawing illustrations you can copy and learn from.

There are 9 parts (plus Bonus 1, Victor Perard’s, “Face Drawing Secrets”) including…

Section 4: The Torso
Section 5: The Arm
Section 6: The Hand
Section 7: The Leg
Section 8: The Foot

And, I quote…

Plus in section 9 you’ll get: -

• Insider secrets of applying anatomy for composition
• 37 illustrations of foreshadowing and…
• 31 full images of people and groups of people in multiple positions.

Reading 'Face Drawing Secrets' alone won’t make you an expert figure painter, but...

"If you practice what it shows in your own figure drawings, whilst you keep looking at people’s posture, mannerisms and expressions, you will become a great artist"

I hope you find Face Drawing Secrets interesting and helps you improves your drawing.


See you soon

Michael


p.s. Post a comment here and let me know what you think.

“Figure Drawing Secrets - Skeleton (Review)”

I was impressed by the first section of Figure Drawing Secrets The Right (And The Wrong) Way To Learn Figure Drawing (Review).

The artist knows his human anatomy. Also, it is clear from the sure lines he draws that he is a highly skilled artist. What impressed me most was how so few marks have quickly produced a true human likeness in a variety of different poses. Each sketch shows life.

For Part 2, dealing with the human skeleton, I can see how Victor Perard has built his understanding of the structure beneath. His knowledge is crucial to your figure drawing.

However, if you stand back awhile and consider what you already have available there is an obvious resource…

You have your own body of to use as a template, but the downside is…

“Do you know how your body works?”

It sounds reasonable that you’ll have no trouble using parts of your own body as reference for your drawing. However, there is still a problem… unless, of course, you already know how the framework of your body looks. And, if so, obviously, you know how every joint works…

“Are you sure you know?”

You’ll agree… If you don’t know how the body structure fits together, you’re in trouble…

“How can you draw something that you don’t know?”

Part 2, ‘The Skeleton’ begins with 2 fine drawings showing a skeleton in movement… 2 views of the same action pose… a dancer.

Altogether, 8 pages show each of the bones in your body. There doesn’t seem to be anything left out (I can’t be certain - I’m not a doctor).

What I like is the way the artist shows how the skeleton fits within the body outline.

You are shown the outline of both a male and female side by side.

Obviously, men and women have similar skeletons but Victor Perard shows how the different bone structures influence the body form…

• 
  Page 6 shows construction of the spine. It shows how the spinal vertebra combines with varying muscle thickness. It shows the spinal curvature that helps you stand vertical.
• On page 7, you can see how the female hip structure is wider in proportion to height. You can also see that the rib cage is deeper (an extra rib) and wider for a male.

I am sure more could be said about the human skeleton... But do you want to be spending all your time studying a boring medical journal?

Maybe you do… I don’t know.

Alternatively, if your interests are in learning how to draw the human body, Part 2, the Skeleton, in Figure Drawing Secrets is just what you need. You will understand all you need to know about the human skeleton… it will help to improve your figure drawing.

It’s your choice… click the text link At Last! You Can Draw People and Figures Perfectly In Any Position…Without a Model

Take the risk… The ebook ‘Figure Drawing Secrets’ only costs $14.95 and is fully refundable if you don’t like what you see.

See you soon

Michael

p.s. Soon, I will be reviewing Part 3, ‘The Head and Neck’ to make sure the promise continues to be met.

The Right (and the Wrong) Way to Learn Figure Drawing (Review)

This posting is for the more experienced artist…

If someone told you that you could quickly learn to ‘Draw People and Figures Perfectly In Any Position…’ would you believe them?

Might your answer be… YES?

Or, more likely, will your answer be No!

If so, why not? Surely, you want to learn the secrets of discovering the right and wrong way to learn figure drawing?

I’ve been struggling for more than 30 years to get reasonable lifelike representations of men, women and children in my paintings and drawings.

Why have I been struggling all these years? I still want to improve my figure drawing skills.

There must be a trick or two that could save me time and stop me making the same mistakes.

A couple of days ago I found someone who made that claim with an ebook titled ‘Figure Drawing Secrets’. It is supposed to be a long lost manuscript containing “1016 detailed illustrations that cover every aspect of anatomy for the artist”

Should I ignore the claim? Is it just junk?

Or, should I take a chance that it is true? Should I find out whether there are secrets revealed in the ebook? Is there anything I can learn?

These are questions you might be asking yourself.

Well, here’s where you can find out what I discovered a few days ago.

Is ‘Figure Drawing Secrets’ a resource you need?

I’ll try to answer as honestly as I can.

First, let me tell what some of the publisher’s claims are for Section I, which discusses ‘Proportion’…

• The ultimate shortcut to creating perfect proportion for male and female figures
• How to determine the center of the male and female figure
• 7 complete illustrations of males and females in proportion and 14 illustrations of major bones in proportion to each other
• Exactly how to obtain expression using simplified skeleton sketches
• 3 quick sketch secrets including 72 illustrations of 5-minute and 25-minute sketches
• Plus 53 different illustrations of unique poses and sporting activities and more…

Are the claims justified? Are there other questions?

• Is this really the ultimate shortcut to creating perfect proportion for the male and female figure?
• Do you learn how to determine the center of the male and female figure?
• Are there 7 complete illustrations of males and females in proportion?
• Do the 14 illustrations of major bones show proportion to each other?
• Will the 3 quick sketch secrets really help?
• How can only 53 different illustrations of unique poses and sporting activities really give you a figure drawing edge?

Personally, I hate counting numbers to check if such claims are true. So, sorry, I’ll let you answer these question for yourself.

What is important is…

"If the artist has spent hundreds of hours making fine detailed figure drawings, do they help you learn the secrets promised?"

Here, I can give you good news that…

‘Figure Drawing Secrets’ is not junk.

It answers questions I didn’t even know needed asking about human anatomy… There are endless facts that help you to get the picture.

Here are 7 secrets I learned about proportion…

1. The greatest width of a male is at the deltoids (a little below the shoulders)
2. The average figure height should be 7 and a half ‘heads’
3. The female torso is proportionately longer than a male’s
4. Female buttocks are rounder (perhaps I had noticed this)
5. Female arms are shorter in proportion to the trunk
6. A 3 year old child is roughly half as tall as an adult
7. A human’s height reduces with old age

These are useful facts. In total, there’s loads of other vital facts about figure drawing given in the first 5 pages.

And, there are eleven more pages that show…

• Male and female figures standing and sitting
• Mechanical properties of the human body
• Human bones with ‘head’ proportions
• Simple sketches of running, sword fencing, dancing, baseball and sketching poses… including golf, boxing and horse riding

Page 16 gives you a 13 step method for drawing from life. This is followed by a 9 stage sequence showing you how to draw a female nude. Finally, there are freehand sketches of male figures in action.

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I'm sure you will be impressed by the quality of the artist’s drawings. With quick fluid lines they show the flow of motion and beauty of the human form… the sketches show great technique for you to copy.

On page 18, I like the quote “Speed should be acquired through judgement, not haste”… If you need drawing encouragement these words sum up the best approach.

‘Figure Drawing Secrets’ looks good. I reckon Part 1, Proportion, makes a promising start and offers you a convincing guide to getting the best figure drawing facts.

So, rather than take my word, make your own judgement from the following statement…

“Time spent working with body proportion is essential to all great figure drawing and painting”

Check out the following text link to find out for yourself…

At Last! You Can Draw People and Figures Perfectly In Any Position…Without a Model

See you soon

Michael

p.s. I’ll be reviewing Part 2, Skeleton, in the next Blog posting.

“The Best Way To Great Drawing… Practice!”

I don’t know what you thought about the last posting Did You Know... You Create Lines, Circles And Arcs Every Day.

I wonder… Do you understand, with this knowledge, you already have a high level of drawing skills?

You are in a fortunate minority. You are one of the few artists who know…

“You know you already have the drawing skills before you learn to draw”

Do you recognize the immense advantage this gives you over anybody else struggling to learn how to draw?

With this knowledge, can anything stop you from learning to draw whatever you want?

"What is stopping you from drawing?"

As with any skill it has to be used. It has to be used to improve and perfect it. You can only draw well if you are prepared to put the effort in.

Drawing practice is what you need...

• In the beginning, it doesn’t matter if your lines aren’t straight
• It doesn’t matter that you can’t draw a perfect circle

In fact, even as a professional artist, it doesn’t matter if you can’t draw a true straight line or a perfectly round circle…

Drawing practice hides the imperfections. A professional artist relies upon their skills developed from many years practice.

"Do you expect to be different?"

Let’s take a moment out…

Go back to the time you were taught to write the alphabet. At school you were praised for copying your letters. They had to be good copies. If your ‘X’ looked more like a ‘K’ you were in trouble.

Soon, with practice, you could easily write great words like ‘CAT’ and ‘DOG’, ‘MUMMY’ and ‘DADDY’. And, with more practice you could write a simple sentence like “The cat ran up the tree”

But you don’t need to told any of this… you can already write as well as you want to write.

Now, answer this question…

“Does your writing look like it did when you were a child?”

NO!

Of course not… It would be an insult to your intelligence for anyone to suggest that an adult would write like a child. Even as a child you quickly developed your writing. The words you write now use letters that flow into the next letter (it was called joined up writing when I was at school - a long time ago). Similarly, your writing will have words that you didn’t know as a child. As an adult your writing has a style of own…

"Your handwriting reflects you and your personality"

Your handwriting is unique to you. No one else can copy it exactly unless they are the perfect forger…

"Your handwriting is in a class of its own"

Likewise, your drawing doesn’t have to look like it was drawn by a child…

Your drawing should be the same as your writing. It should show your personality and have a true character of its own. With this quality…

1. Your drawings will become unique
2. People will recognize your drawing style
3. You will be congratulated upon your drawing skills

This will only happen if you are prepared to practice your drawing skills… don’t be afraid… just draw.

I repeat…

• It doesn’t matter if your straight lines are slightly curved
• It doesn’t matter if your circles aren’t perfect

Your confidence and flair will make up for any shortcomings you might think you have… your drawings will have life and character that only you could give them.

Practice your drawing like you do your writing skills. You don’t have to think about every single mark that forms the letters and words you write. Even an occasional spelling mistake doesn’t spoil your writing. You could even use the wrong words and still get your message across. Your writing is almost automatic from years of practice…

"Can you expect to draw as well as you write unless you practice?"

For example, wouldn’t you prefer to know that you can draw the exact curves you need to create a deer’s antler? Or, would you be happy with…? (Sorry, I think I‘ve said enough - you‘ve got the idea)

"Be proud of your drawing skills and be prepared to show off…"


See you soon

Michael

p.s. Now its time to bring you drawing ideas from another artist… I’ll soon be reviewing the first 3 parts of ‘Figure Drawing Secrets’ - a reference source every artist wants and needs.

“Did you know… You create lines, circles and arcs every day?”

“What?” You will ask.

Alternatively, you will just think I am being ridiculous and be thinking “Rubbish… this man’s a fool!”

I repeat…

“You draw lines, circles and arcs every day”

It is true…

• It might not be every single day you create the lines and circle shapes
• You could be using a computer instead of a pen or pencil
• You will be amazed that you create the kind of shapes you need to draw every day.

Almost every one who will be reading this Blog will create hundreds of lines, circles and arcs almost every day of their life.

Knowing this will help improve your drawing skills quickly…


For the last 2 posts, How To Draw A Circle and How To Draw A Straight Line you have been finding simple ways to draw straight lines, circles and arcs using everyday items that you can easily find around you.


The real challenge of drawing is to be able to draw freehand.

Imagine that…

• You can draw freehand any straight line of any length you want
• You can draw a good circle whenever you want
• You can draw a curved arc… or a string of arcs
  

But you do this already.

Did You know… “You were taught how to draw straight lines, circles and arcs from a very early age…”

“You were taught how to write”



How can this help you draw well?



Look at my name… ‘Michael’


Here you see a combination of straight lines and arcs. The only thing missing is a circle. Look through the rest of the words on this page and count how many circles you see.

When you write with a pencil, fountain pen, ball pen or felt tip pen you create a sequence of lines, arcs and circles…

To you… “This is so easy”


You don’t even think about the expert drawing skills you are already using. You are confident that you can write and you don’t need to think about the techniques involved in creating your writing…

“You just write”

Using letters of an alphabet…

1. You form words and sentences
2. You construct messages using these words and sentences
3. You create wonderful stories using these same letters, words and sentences

You draw lines, circles and arcs every day to create the amazing pictures in other peoples minds…

• It could be a recipe for a magnificent dinner
• It could be directions leading to a holiday destination… the seaside or a walk in the hills
• It could be a house improvement guide to create dream home

Your writing will use your imagination and bring out your ideas…

And, best of all, you will create the same lines, circles and arcs that you use to draw like an artist.

Remember this…

1. It doesn’t matter if your straight lines are curved (if your ‘M’ has round tops like ‘m’)
2. It doesn’t matter if your ‘O’ isn’t an exact round circle
3. It doesn’t matter if your letters flow smoothly into the next stylish letter

When you are writing… You just write… and your words are understood. The story in your words is understood.

You are already an artist…

• You use the tools of an artist
• You draw lines the same as an artist
• You draw arcs and circles the way an artist does
• You use your imagination to construct the words… as an artist constructs shapes to form a picture.

You are already an artist!



Here’s today’s challenge…


Write down each letter of the alphabet. Recognize the components lines, circles and arcs being used. This isn’t quite as simple as you’d imagine.

Consider the letter ‘A’…

As a capital it looks like ‘A’. you don’t use capital letters for most of the words you write…normally it looks like ‘a’

Each are exactly the same but the capital uses only straight lines.

Now, try looking at the letters in different text fonts (each letter ‘A’ shown is capitalized)…




Each letter is very different from the next.

Think for a while… you have been creating shapes using art techniques for most of your life…

If you already freehand create lines, circles and arcs every day with your writing, the question is…

“How difficult can drawing really be?”


See you soon

Michael

p.s. you never know, as you improve your drawing techniques your writing could get a whole lot better too - mine has.

“How To Draw A Circle”

Okay, since the last posting you’ve spent all your time finding different ways to draw straight lines. I’m sure you’ve been having a wonderful time.

You could have thought that drawing straight lines was difficult. In practice it has been easy for you… Apart from the occasional slip of the pencil, drawing straight lines with straight edges has made it simple.

The only difficulty you will have is to draw a freehand straight line without the aid of a straight edge. This won’t surprise you too much… it’s like jumping from an airplane without a parachute… only the landing is just a little less painful.

We’ll come back to the subject of freehand lines (and curves) in a future posting.

Now its time to think about circles and arcs using the same tricks…

“How many things can you find in your house that have a round shape?”

1. Coffee jars
2. Wine bottles
3. Tin cans
4. Vacuum cleaner hoses and fitments
5. Broom sticks
6. Door handles (door knobs)
7. Pencils and crayons
8. DVDs and CDs

You can easily add to this list. There are endless items that are round shaped. Each round shape can be used to draw a line around to create circles. With a variety of different household items you can quickly draw any number of different sized circles.

As a child, I remember there was a toy called ‘Spirograph’ that used different circles with gear teeth and holes for pens to point through that gave intricate patterns and designs… it kept me quiet for hours… great fun.

But, you don’t have to spend a single penny. There are hundreds of things you can draw a line around. You don’t need to use clever toys. You don’t have to buy expensive designer equipment to draw circles.

I know this will sound dumb… Using any round object gives you exactly the same possibilities that high cost drawing tools give you.

Provided you have imagination, you can create complex and wonderful designs using items that you use every day.

Here’s your challenge for today…

Using a few different sized kitchen items (bottles and jars) try to create some intricate designs…

• Circles inside circles
• Circles that intersect (cross) other circles
• Circles inside circles combined with circles that intersect
• Circles that combine into flowing links and chains

Let your imagination go wild while you create your designs… don’t worry if you don’t get anything remarkable. My bet is that you will surprise yourself with incredible patterns and flowing shapes.

The idea is that you will be confident that you can draw a good circle any time you want.

If you want to make things more challenging try to create a design with just one circular item alone…

I’d like to see your results.

See you soon

Michael

p.s. Don’t forget… an arc is nothing more than part of a circle… so nothing dramatic here.

“How To Draw A Straight Line”

I gave you a challenge in the last posting “What is stopping you drawing?” The challenge was to list as many different ways you could find to help you draw a straight line.

Here are 7 easy solutions to the problem of drawing a straight line…

1. Use a ruler
2. Use a straight edge (draughtsman’s square, T-square, engineer’s rule.)
3. Use the straight edge of the paper or sketch pad
4. Use the edge of the drawing board
5. Use a DVD box edge
6. Use a book edge
7. Use the straight edge of a kitchen work surface or table top

Finally… Draw a freehand straight line.

You’ll agree that it’s not hard to find a straight edge to help you draw a straight line. There are straight edges all around.

It’s easy to say that there are straight edges you can use. However, it isn’t quite so easy to understand how some of the straight edges can be used.

Let’s take a look at each device listed and see what they can do to make it easy for your straight lines…

1. Almost every school child will understand how to use a ruler. They wouldn’t think twice about placing their ruler on a piece of paper and drawing a pencil along the edge. Whether it is a cheap plastic ruler or an expensive steel engineer’s rule you can get a straight line any time you want.

2. There are many draughtsman’s aids that you can buy from your stationary store… T-squares, set squares, rulers and many other tools I have forgotten about (I used to be an engineer draughtsman).

If you want to draw a line at an angle you can easily find that there is a device that has been designed to help.

3. A sketch book has a straight edge. If you hold a pencil in your hand normally, between thumb and first 2 fingers, you have 2 fingers spare. You can use the little finger as a guide.

You draw a straight line by running your hand down the edge of the sketch book. If you want to draw parallel lines you just increase or decrease the gap between the guide finger and the pencil… really easy.

4. If you use a drawing board the same technique can be used as with the edge of the sketch book. The advantage here is that you can swivel the paper to draw lines at different angles.

If you aren’t using a sketch book and aren’t using a drawing board, this is where you improvise.

Anything with a straight edge will help…

5. A CD case or DVD box can be used a ruler.

6. The edge of a book will help you draw a line.

7. The table top or kitchen work surface that you are drawing at could have straight edges. As with a drawing board, this straight edge is all you need to draw as many straight lines as you like.

So, are you getting the idea that drawing a straight line isn’t really too hard? I hope so because there will be a greater challenge in the future…

One day you will want to draw a freehand straight line. This is hard to do but don’t worry about it… I’ll give you some thoughts that make it less scary.

See you soon

Michael


p.s. In the meantime, have some fun drawing as many straight lines as you can. Try to find as many different ways you can think of to draw your straight lines.

p.p.s. For those artists who already know how to draw… I’ve just found a figure drawing resource that sounds great. I’ll give it thorough look and let you know how good it is.

“What Is Stopping You Drawing?”

I’ll repeat the question…

“What is stopping you drawing?”

Tell me…

“What is stopping you from drawing anything you want?”

Look at the introduction above…

• Do you want to draw people… To draw your son or daughter?
• Do you want to draw animals… a cat or dog, lion or wolf?
• Do you want to draw cool cars?
• Do you want to draw dragons with flames?
• Do you want to draw a garden of roses?
  

Let’s choose one example…

“So, you want to learn to draw a picture of your child… your young son or daughter”

Why don’t you just get a clean sheet of white drawing paper and a pencil and draw a portrait?

Surely it can’t be too hard… a few lines here and a little shading there… where's the problem?

But you know better.

Yes, it really is hard to make your drawing look like the child you’ve known and loved from the very day they were born.

The best you can manage with your drawing looks nothing like your baby.

Is this what is stopping you draw?

Does this mean that you are rubbish at drawing?
Does this mean that you are a bad artist, who will never draw anything?

Listen! Its okay!

Let me tell you a secret… many of the biggest names in art couldn’t draw a decent portrait of beloved child. So why would you be disheartened?

There is nothing to be ashamed of.

Portrait drawing and painting have been considered the highest levels of art that only the best will ever succeed.

The reason why most people can’t draw is that they give up too easily. They give up trying too soon.

The reason they give up can be that they are too ambitious. They attempt subjects that are too difficult.

Portraits and figure drawing is hard to do because of all those curves. It is hard to get a likeness. It is hard to get character. It is hard to capture real life with a drawing.

Technical studies are another difficult subject field. How many people do you know who can draw a car? Who do you know can draw a sailing ship complete with all the rigging?

I used to specialize in painting and drawing steam trains. There aren’t too many people who can do it well. There aren’t too many who care to try. I know that I can do a fair job of trains and cars but I wouldn’t know where to start with sailing ships.

As dumb as you like, I started my art career with a difficult subject. Fortunately, you are far cleverer than that. You are going to start with easy stuff.

You know that you want to have some fun. So, you will begin with simple drawing and build your drawing skills.

You know the benefits of being comfortable with what you know. And you understand that you know the skills and expertise you gain and are comfortable with makes it easy for you to draw well.

Of course, it is up to you. It is your choice whether you make it hard or easy. You are welcome to make a fool of yourself, as I did.

You are welcome to try drawing family portraits that make your husband look like a well known farmyard animal. You might draw a smile when you recognize that the drawing of your wife looks remarkably like a hippo.

Seriously, this isn’t what you want. Start simple and easy and you will get it right.

And the first step is to draw a straight line. It is not as easy as you think. Here’s a challenge for you before the next posting…

“Make a list of as many different ways you can draw a straight line”

See you soon

Michael

“Draw With Imagination”

The danger with my last blog “Learn To Draw Like A Child” was that you were going feel insulted. This was not the intention…


Why would any grown adult want to draw like a child?


Of course, it is ridiculous to think anyone could learn from a child’s drawing… Is that so?


You can’t learn from looking at a child’s painting.


Isn’t that foolishness? Are you sure?


If your answer is ‘Yes’ … then there is no way this posting can help you.


If the answer is ‘No’, you’ll be asking me if I found any important lessons from children’s drawing and painting…


“Yes, I have learned plenty from children’s artwork”


I remember when my son brought his first paintings home from school. They were like most infants pictures. They showed big ideas, painted with fantastic simplicity and speed. Naturally, they were short on technical drawing and painting skill but long on story and meaning.


What I found fascinating was that the full meanings of the pictures were lost to me. As a parent, I found that my first impressions were usually wrong. Daddy wasn’t necessarily the largest figure drawn. It could be mother or grandmother, father or grandfather.


The likelihood is that you cannot read a child’s picture without asking the child who painted it…


Always, you will be surprised by the story that is contained. Even the simplest of drawings will be described with great excitement…

• It could be a day at school


• It could be about a birthday party


• It could be a holiday

Children’s artwork is incredible and always worthwhile. They are bright, lively and colorful.



Even the most basic pictures have clean drawn lines.


What is most fascinating is the directness of line and brush stroke that allows a child to produce their striking drawings. They may be basic but cannot be bettered by any adult… here’s where even Picasso failed (if he really was trying to paint like a child)


Also, children often use enviable technique in their artwork. Children don’t understand how they get the effect but they instinctively use pencil, crayon and paint.


Indeed, I remember some of the first pictures my son painted before he went to school. He would have been around 4 years old, using cheap paints and brushes. Yet, with just a single brushstroke, there was huge ENERGY. It didn’t matter what the pictures were supposed to represent. With that brush mark, he had combined 2 or even 3 colors that kept their individuality (difficult with a single brushstroke). At the same time, the colors combined to give secondary colors that take an artist years to discover.


I found that my son could equally surprise when he used pencils to draw. It was the same with felt tip pens or crayons… amazing pictures were made.


No doubt your children are the same… showing remarkable imagination and drawing skills.


The key learning children can give is that they don’t worry about their drawing and painting skills…


You won’t see a young child worrying about whether or not they can draw or paint… They just get on with it.


That’s right! A child isn’t restricted in any way… there’s no doubting what they can do. Without the limitations of doubt, they can do anything they want…


“Just like you can!”


A professional artist’s advantage is in the knowledge of their skill… their confident technique. You maybe aren’t sure about your drawing skills. If that is so, remember…


“Technique is learned”


Your own skills and technique are learned. With practice, your skills and technique will improve.


It doesn’t matter how experienced you are. When you use your skills to the maximum, along with confidence gained from practice…


“You will draw with style”


Crucially, it’s your imagination makes the real difference… There’s no substitute for imagination. Imagination is what turns a drawing into a work of art. It is your imagination, combined with skill, that makes the difference between your drawing and a mechanical computer produced image.


“Draw with imagination”


Always remember, you had imagination as a child and you still have imagination now. Use your imagination in your drawing and they will come alive. Your drawings will have story and meaning. Your drawings will have value.


Combine drawing skills with your imagination and you will achieve artistic miracles.

See you soon

Michael