The Complete Beginner's Guide to Drawing: More than 200 drawing techniques, tips & lessons (The Complete Book of ...) Hardcover – Illustrated, February 8, 2016

I've been an artist for nearly 20 years and unfortunately my beginners books were damaged and had to be thrown away. So when I started to teach young children for free, I needed a new book for them to learn from.The moment I opened the book, I could tell it was very informative and well-prepared to teach a beginning artist. It has everything from pencil techniques to figures, leaving me very impressed. Quite honestly, even with all my experience, I feel as if this book could even teach me more about my trade. I cannot wait to use this with the young children I teach, as their young minds will learn so much from it.Also, I'm sure it was mentioned in the description, I was really surprised by three things. One was how thick the book is! It's a good half an inch. The second thing was it was a hardcover instead of a paperback. I didn't notice that when buying it, so it was a joy! Then the last thing was in how it looks to be like a school book. As if it could be used in a classroom.On a separate note from all of this, the book itself has beautiful illustrations and actual pictures in his to do things. It's instructions take their time with explanations, both showing in their own way what a beginning artist needs to do, and what materials to use.

Best beginners reference book ever

It is lacking in many aspects. There aren’t enough step by step, and any of the ones that do, are hard to follow. It’s got decent information, and would be a nice book to add to other better drawing books.

Art books by Walter Foster are one of my favorite art reference books. I purchased this guide as a gift for my 11-year old nephew, and I believe it will be an amazing starting point for him. The book has appealing visual aids and easy-to-follow explanations of various sketching techniques. It covers all major sketching subjects like still life, nature, animals, portraits etc. The book has step-by-step illustrations that are easy to recreate. I'd say this guide can be a useful tool for children and adults alike.Watch out for the weight of the book though - the hardcover copy is a tad heavy, and I believe would be a little difficult to walk around with. But, for the content and the price, this guide is an excellent purchase. It also makes for a great gift! Highly recommend!

I grew up on Walter Foster books. Heck, they were even recommended by the instructors in art college! As a professional artist, I probably go back to the OLD Walter Foster books more often than any. This book is like the best of all their earlier publications on drawing. Not too impressed with their newer publications. This book, is wonderful! I purchased this for our grand daughter who is a young but talented aspiring artist. I told her no matter how in the future you feel about this book, hold on to it because I guarantee that you will go back to it many times.I bought myself a copy for my library as well.

As a beginner, I had high hopes for this book. It's a great condensed primer on drawing different subjects, but this is NOT the artistic equivalent of "couch potato to 5K". Start this when you are already capable of comfortably "running a 5K" to refine technique and improve times. What's needed for beginners is a workbook with step-by-step exercises with detailed explanations that provide plenty of opportunity for practice and build upon each other in complexity. I'm sorry, but just because I'm looking at this 3-step progression of a complex form in detail doesn't mean I can reproduce it.

Good Book with variety of categoriesFor drawingGreat techniquesIt will take practice to understandA few times drawingStudy it & the techniques seemEasyIt will take a few times practiceI recommend buyingAmazing book

It is just what I needed as a beginner pencil drawer. I feel it has good examples and explanations. I would buy again.