Playing with Sketches: 50 Creative Exercises for Designers and Artists

by Whitney Sherman

Drawing is the backbone of art and design; with all of the tantalizing wonders of the digital world, the best designers, illustrators and artists know that its good to step back occasionally and hit the refresh button on your hand and mind. "Playing with Sketches" is a hands-on, fun approach to exploring drawing principles. Beginning with an introduction to the philosophy of learning through the process of play, this book brings you through a series of basic warm-up exercises that can be combined with later projects. Then youll move quickly on to more challenging and engaging exercises, including word games, dimensional shapes, and inventive sketchbooks and letterforms, eventually creating a toolkit of ideas and skills developed through the process of play. This book features creative, adaptable ideas, and numerous examples of designers and artists responses to each exercise, giving you a peek into their way of thinking and seeing.
With over 25 contributors, from high-profile designers, illustrators and artists to talented graduate students, you see work that will walk you step-by-step through a process or inspire by example. The book provides meaningful outcomes for your practice, including building an image archive, being exposed to new ways to use media and tools, inspiring you to break the rules, to collaborate, and much more!

Genres: Art, Design, Nonfiction, Art Design

194 pages, ebook

First published December 1, 2013

Reviews

[Patrick Sherriff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's another book that I feel vastly unqualified to offer an opinion about, being neither a designer nor an artist, so take this review with the necessary doses of salt.

But here I am tapping away at the keyboard, supping at a Chilean red when I should by rights be in bed and dead to the world. I'm here because this book inspires me. I bought it to give me a few hints in my self-educumationing of how to draw and although the beautiful people and their sketches are way out of my league, I'm not left feeling like I'm on the sidelines.

I'm left feeling that I could do this.

As Sherman mentions in the book, so many people say they can't draw, when what they really mean is they can't draw like an Italian French or Flemish master. But who can? Instead, she offers hundreds of examples of great drawings where the idea is at least as important as the execution. She cares about what you can learn to do and gives practical advice to close the book and get sketching.

I devoured the book in a day, but it's already made a mark. I have vowed to myself to sketch everyday, to keep a blog of those sketches, and there are a dozen ideas in these pages that I will apply to my sketching to make my next book cover a success. But that's just me thinking of my own applications. Read this book and I'm sure you'd have your own ideas. And that's the point.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a creative type of person looking for inspiration I'd suggest you get your hands on this one. The book delivers on what the title says, and it is full of fun and creative ways to play and get your juices flowing. Each exercise is accompanied by a gallery of art that pertains to it. I have no doubt that I will dip into this fun and informative book again when the well runs dry.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب خیلی خوبی راجع به انواع اسکچ کردن بود.
یه سری شیوه های رو اصلا نمی‌دونستم وجود داره، مثلاً cuboMania
یه سری هنرمند جالب از وسطش شناختم و آثارشون رو رفتم دیدم.
کلن کتاب خوبی بود.
اگه یه روزی دوباره برگردم به نقاشی یا اسکچ بوک بگیرم دستم مدلای جدیدی دارم برا کشیدن.

[Jorge Reyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuando un artista quiere educar, por lo general falla en sus intensiones, cuando un educador quiere hacer arte por lo general atina, la posición es sencilla: servir a los demás, no quiero decir con esto que ningún "artista" (según los parámetros de la modernidad y la sociedad de hoy) pueda educar, mas bien el mensaje adecuado es que todo buen educador es un artista.
Sherman logra educar y propone una aproximación a la creación de dibujos y bocetos asertiva y creativa. Gran libro.

[Hannah Cattanach · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good, but it needed some more robust editing. The first exercise is practicing line control, the second exercise is 'smoke drawing' and those two don't logically sit next to each other for me. It also seems focused at intermediate/advanced people rather than beginners with some quite complicated exercises.

Lastly, for a book about playing, it was oddly proscriptive with many of the methods. For example, there was a cool exercise for drawing at a distance by sticking your drawing material to a long stick to intentially lose control, but for some unfathomable reason the author specified the stick must be 36 inches precisely. Why not just say grab a stick, any stick?

A good book with great artist examples, but one with a lot of incongruities.

[iamsaharons · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a hands on exploring , awesome book that helps unlocking creativity and giving up perfection. I love the exercises in each subject. It’s a must have\read for all artists and creative individuals

[Brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun ideas and exercises, would check out again.

[Ada Selçuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was very inclusive and gave me amazing ideas for drawing and sketching. It also helped with brainstorming for original content.

[LSC-University Park SLRC]

Read it through Lone Star College's EBSCO Ebook Collection.