Drawing for Dummies by Brenda Hoddinott

Drawing for Dummies

Features

Cover Type: Paperback with 360 pages

Published by: For Dummies

Edition: 1st Edition March 4, 2003

Written in: English

ISBN 10 Number: 076455476X

ISBN 13 Number: 978-0764554766

Book Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches

Weighs: 1.2 pounds

Product Description
On a simple piece of paper, a fierce bird of prey can swoop down upon its terrified victim, an adoring father can share laughter with the infant daughter cradled in his arms, raindrops can glisten on the hood of a vintage sports car, a lightening bolt can cut across the night, offering a glimpse of trees ominously silhouetted against the blackness. Drawing can enrich your life in extraordinary and unexpected ways. Drawing your everyday experiences can change how you and others see the world, while drawing from imagination can give rise to fantastic new worlds. And, despite what you may believe, it’s something just about anyone can learn to do.

Drawing For Dummies offers you a fun, easy way to learn drawing basics. Its author, professional illustrator and long-time art educator Brenda Hoddinott, has a simple philosophy—that only you can teach you to draw. With that in mind, she arms you with the tools you need to explore the basics and then coaches you through thirty hands-on drawing projects. You'll quickly

Conquer the basics of line and shading
Develop an eye for basic shapes and contours
Discover how to create the illusion of three dimensions
Render still-life subjects and landscapes
Bring animals and people to vivid life on the page

Brenda helps you tune into your right brain and see the world as an artist does. You’ll discover how to break things down into basic lines and shapes and then reassemble them on the page. Other topics covered include:

Understanding and exercising the basic skills of drawing lines and shapes, adding life and depth with shading, and rendering textures
Mastering the basics of composition and planning drawings
Creating lifelike doodles and cartoon characters
Drawing the natural environment including both plants and animals
Keeping a sketchbook and drawing from memory
Drawing people, starting with babies and exploring the human face from childhood to old age

It’s never too late to unleash the artist within. Let Drawing For Dummies put you on the road of discovery and self-expression through drawing.

Back Cover Copy
Hone your drawing skills with thirty hands-on projects

Discover how to draw still-lifes, landscapes, animals, people, and more!

Worried that you dont have enough talent to be an artist? Relax! All it takes is some practice – and the tips and techniques youll find in this friendly guide. Beginning with the very basics – lines, shape, shading, textures, perspective – artist Brenda Hoddinott shows you how to draw just about anything, from flower petals to a childs eye.

The Dummies Way

Explanations in plain English
"Get in, get out" information
Icons and other navigational aids
Tear-out cheat sheet
Top ten lists
A dash of humor and fun

Reader Reviews
I got a bit of an "artistic bug" a while back and thought I'd try learning drawing techniques - so far I had been able to take a standard #2 pencil and do some pretty horrid sketches on copier paper, but that's about it. Drawing for Dummies is, as another reviewer states, like a classroom in a book. Throwing you right into your first simple drawing project in Chapter 1, she talks about the types of pencils and erasers you should be using (before getting this book I had no idea that you could buy different types of pencils to get different shades of darkness, or that with a kneaded eraser you could lighten an area and not completely erase it). She then talks about how to see as an artist - how to see the lines in objects, different levels of shading are, etc. Also covered is how to create the illusion of 3 dimensions using shading, how to shade using hatching and crosshatching, how to create textures in pencil, and there is a chapter devoted to perspective. And that's not all! The author then covers composition, sketching and sketchbooks, how to draw from memory, drawing still lifes, and drawing animals. There is also an entire section of the book devoted to drawing portraits, starting with babies (as they are allegedly easier to draw than adults) and then moving through childhood and to adulthood. Although she doesn't cover them quite as in depth as the other subjects, she also touches on things such as gridding, preservation of your drawing, your work area, cartooning, and how to develop your own style. There are drawing exercises through almost every concept, and several "bonus" exercises are included in the back of the book. The only issues I had with this book were that when it comes to shading, hatching and crosshatching are the only types it covers (or even acknowledges). Hatching is not the only, nor the most popular, form of shading, and although I'm sure it depends on the artist I'd have to say it's not the easiest either - some coverage of blending techniques would have been nice. I was also frustrated starting out because it was very rare during the step-by-step drawing exercises that she states which pencil you should be using for what. After enough practice it becomes somewhat natural, but when first starting out it would have been nice to see "Use your 2B pencil for the shading under the wings." All in all though this is an incredible book, definately the best of all the drawing books I've looked through at the book stores (and there are a lot of drawing books out there!). Comment | | (Report this)

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Updated on 6-4-2008.