The Complete Guide to Drawing for Beginners: 21 Step-by-Step Lessons - Over 450 illustrations!

Description

An easy-to-follow, yet comprehensive beginner's guide to drawing . In The Complete Guide to Drawing for Beginners, experienced art instructor Yoshiko Ogura explains the basics of pencil drawing through a series of lessons that provide insights on artistic composition, simulating highlights and shadows, depicting realistic forms, rendering texture and creating a sense of depth in your artwork. At the beginning of the book, she provides you with all the information you need to get started—what materials to buy, how to prepare your work surface, pencils and erasers—even how to sit correctly when drawing. Once you know these, Ogura provides a series of easy and clear step-by-step lessons showing you how to draw simple objects while gaining an understanding of the essential concepts of perspective, how to convey hard and soft surfaces and textures, composition and balance. From here, you progress to more complex shapes and objects including landscapes and portraits of people and animals, as she explains all the additional concepts needed to draw these realistically. This book teaches you how to draw the following interesting subjects: Simple forms (an apple, a milk carton, an egg, a mug) Hard & soft surfaces (a cloth, a loaf of bread, a stone, a book) Transparent objects (water droplets, a glass) Complex objects (a pumpkin slice with seeds and pulp, a sunflower) Human figures (hands, portraits) Landscape (trees, buildings) Animals (a cat, a parakeet) Still life (fruit, flowers) Plus, many other inspirational examples and ideas! By the end, all your drawings will begin to look impressively polished and realistic! As you work through the lessons, you'll master all the skills and knowledge that seasoned artists demonstrate in their work. Title Page Contents Quick Lookup Index How to Use This Book Terms Used in Drawing Let’s Start Drawing! Gathering Your Tools Getting Ready to Draw Sharpening the pencil Preparing a kneaded eraser Checking the paper surface Having good posture Part 1: The Basics Getting to Know Your Tools How to hold the pencil Gradation palettes Expressing color with the pencil Work with the kneaded eraser Practice Observing the Object Understand the Five Basic Techniques 1: Position 2: Lighting 3: Shape 4: Texture 5: Spacing Sidebar: How Do You Use a Viewfinder? Sidebar: What is a Surface? Part 2: Drawing Lessons Basic steps Drawing Simple Shapes Lesson 1: Apple Lesson 2: Milk Carton Lesson 3: Egg Lesson 4: Mug Drawing Inspiration: Simple Shapes Sidebar:: Understanding Perspective Drawing Hard and Soft Surfaces Lesson 5: Blanket Lesson 6: French Bread Lesson 7: Rock Lesson 8: Open Book Drawing Inspiration: Hard & Soft Objects Drawing Transparent Objects Lesson 9: Water Droplets Lesson 10: Glass Drawing Inspiration: Transparent Objects Sidebar:: What to Observe When Drawing Drawing Complex Shapes Lesson 11: Piece of Squash Lesson 12: Sunflower Drawing Inspiration: Complicated Shapes Sidebar:: Portraits vs. Generic Drawings Drawing Human Anatomical Features Lesson 13: Hand Lesson 14: Face Lesson 15: Upper Body Portrait Drawing Inspiration: People Sidebar:: Draw Young and Old People Drawing Landscape Elements Lesson 16: Tree Lesson 17: Building Drawing Inspiration: Landscapes Sidebar:: Draw from Life—Not from Photos Drawing Animals Lesson 18: Cat Lesson 19: Parakeets Drawing Inspiration: Animals Sidebar:: Warm up with Quick Sketching Combining Objects Lesson 20: Color Contrast Lesson 21: Different Textures Drawing Inspiration: Combining Objects Inspirational Works Humans Dreams Life While Traveling About Tuttle Copyright Page Back Cover