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50 Ways to Draw Your Beautiful, Ordinary Life: Practical Lessons in Pencil and Paper
The mindful pleasure of learning to draw, with paper goodies and creative secrets from expert illustrators.
Draw the Flow way. In this innovative approach to drawing instruction, the illustrators from Flow magazine open up their tool kits, sharing secrets and techniques to teach the creatively curious how to draw. And paper goodies bound into the book encourage artistic exploration and remind us of the mindful pleasure of doing creative work.
The lessons, 50 in all, show how to render the kinds of things we see every day: a bouquet of flowers, a beloved teacup, colorful mittens, the kitchen table, a bike, jam jars, a cat, an apple tree. Along the way we learn about color, materials, perspective, tools, and negative space.
Filled with paper goodies:
Paper doll fashion sketchbook to draw your favorite outfits
Mini daily drawing pad
DIY postcards
Watercolor, tracing, and colored papers
House interiors to unfold and decorate
Draw the Flow way. In this innovative approach to drawing instruction, the illustrators from Flow magazine open up their tool kits, sharing secrets and techniques to teach the creatively curious how to draw. And paper goodies bound into the book encourage artistic exploration and remind us of the mindful pleasure of doing creative work.
The lessons, 50 in all, show how to render the kinds of things we see every day: a bouquet of flowers, a beloved teacup, colorful mittens, the kitchen table, a bike, jam jars, a cat, an apple tree. Along the way we learn about color, materials, perspective, tools, and negative space.
Filled with paper goodies:
Paper doll fashion sketchbook to draw your favorite outfits
Mini daily drawing pad
DIY postcards
Watercolor, tracing, and colored papers
House interiors to unfold and decorate
256 pages, Paperback
Published April 17, 2018
17 people are currently reading
626 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 28, 2023
Great way to break into the beauty of the ordinary and embrace it. Make it your own and be free.
December 6, 2020
I got this book as a Mother's Day present, and I resolved to draw each day in it until I made it to the end of the book. I've now finished it after drawing every day for six months, and wasn't it fun?
I'll be publishing a post at Readerbuzz (readerbuzz.blogspot.com) at the end of the month with photos of some of the drawings I made with this lovely book.
I'll be publishing a post at Readerbuzz (readerbuzz.blogspot.com) at the end of the month with photos of some of the drawings I made with this lovely book.
October 22, 2019
50 Ways to Draw Your Beautiful, Ordinary Life
Practical Lessons in Pencil and Paper
Irene Smit & Astrid Van der Hulst & The Illustrators of Flow
Workman Pub, Apr 2018
247 pages
Art how-to
B&N Salem, NH
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This book caught my eye on the shelf filed between other books because it looked like it had a bunch of things stuck into it that caused the pages to bulge...and it did. But these things are part of the book itself. This is a fun book to simply pick up and thumb through right there at the shelf in the store. And I certainly did! The cover is very busy with all sorts of things, just like our lives, filled with all sorts of things. Jam jars, plants, houses, pens, and pencils. Pretty ordinary things, right? Well, Ms. Smit and Ms. Van der Hulst have taken lots of ordinary things and had the illustrators from their magazine put them into this book to help us be able to draw our own lives.
There are paper dolls in there that they show you how to dress in contemporary clothes so that you can recreate yourself and pick out an outfit for the day or create an outfit you’d like to go buy. And they have a choice of dolls so that you can choose one that looks most like you.
They show you how to draw your house or a dream house to add decor to. There is even a mini-lesson on perspective to help you make the furniture look like it is really standing on the floor and not floating in the air.
This cute little box is a project to write and draw all about you or a trip or something inside the sides, bottom, and top of this box and send it like a letter to a friend of relative or keep it as a memento of a fun event. I really like this one. This would be a great project to do with a child and keep them for when the child is older to look back on. Like a child’s diary before they can write much.
And there’s a project to create your own postcards. If you are still a correspondent these days, this can be a fun way to stay in touch. Cute little postcards with your own designs and they don’t take much, just a note to say hello!
There were so many great ideas and projects in this book that I was overwhelmed and really couldn’t decide what to try first. The style of the artwork wasn’t my style, but it worked well with what was being done, it didn’t take away from the projects, the explanations. And in spite of being done by several artists, the styles were cohesive. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys working with paper and pens or pencils. Perhaps someone who is looking for a new or different way to record the days of their life. This is a fun approach that seems to be a cross between straight sketching and mixed media journaling.
Practical Lessons in Pencil and Paper
Irene Smit & Astrid Van der Hulst & The Illustrators of Flow
Workman Pub, Apr 2018
247 pages
Art how-to
B&N Salem, NH
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This book caught my eye on the shelf filed between other books because it looked like it had a bunch of things stuck into it that caused the pages to bulge...and it did. But these things are part of the book itself. This is a fun book to simply pick up and thumb through right there at the shelf in the store. And I certainly did! The cover is very busy with all sorts of things, just like our lives, filled with all sorts of things. Jam jars, plants, houses, pens, and pencils. Pretty ordinary things, right? Well, Ms. Smit and Ms. Van der Hulst have taken lots of ordinary things and had the illustrators from their magazine put them into this book to help us be able to draw our own lives.
There are paper dolls in there that they show you how to dress in contemporary clothes so that you can recreate yourself and pick out an outfit for the day or create an outfit you’d like to go buy. And they have a choice of dolls so that you can choose one that looks most like you.
They show you how to draw your house or a dream house to add decor to. There is even a mini-lesson on perspective to help you make the furniture look like it is really standing on the floor and not floating in the air.
This cute little box is a project to write and draw all about you or a trip or something inside the sides, bottom, and top of this box and send it like a letter to a friend of relative or keep it as a memento of a fun event. I really like this one. This would be a great project to do with a child and keep them for when the child is older to look back on. Like a child’s diary before they can write much.
And there’s a project to create your own postcards. If you are still a correspondent these days, this can be a fun way to stay in touch. Cute little postcards with your own designs and they don’t take much, just a note to say hello!
There were so many great ideas and projects in this book that I was overwhelmed and really couldn’t decide what to try first. The style of the artwork wasn’t my style, but it worked well with what was being done, it didn’t take away from the projects, the explanations. And in spite of being done by several artists, the styles were cohesive. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys working with paper and pens or pencils. Perhaps someone who is looking for a new or different way to record the days of their life. This is a fun approach that seems to be a cross between straight sketching and mixed media journaling.
April 28, 2019
This is a hip, fun book suited to the current fad of maker culture. I bought it to create together with my grandchildren, and it is an effective source if prompts for that.
January 1, 2021
Lots of good ideas, though as with any drawing book, a handful of "and then draw the effing owl". And I haven't been able to bring myself to draw on the blank pages. It feels so wrong to draw in a book!
December 5, 2020
I was hoping for something that is a little more instructive. This "workbook" has pages of things to draw, but there aren't really any instructions on how to improve one's drawings. The pictures are all in watercolors, but I am still learning to draw so I didn't find it very helpful.
In truth, I didn't really finish it, but I keep it hanging around because every once in awhile I decide to do a page.
In truth, I didn't really finish it, but I keep it hanging around because every once in awhile I decide to do a page.
June 18, 2020
Sadly like most others, I'm quick to comment on something I dislike rather than brag about something good. However this book threw me totally off guard.
To say I have a collection of books is an understatement, especially art based books. So prior to ordering, I assumed the book would follow in the same lead as the others I own, how wrong was I.
This book is hands down one of the best illustration books I have ever owned and worth every penny.
I don't want to add spoilers to the book but there are multiple 'gifts' shall we say with the book, which aid with some of the tasks given. The book has also helped me to plan projects with my collab team.
I 10/10 recommend.
To say I have a collection of books is an understatement, especially art based books. So prior to ordering, I assumed the book would follow in the same lead as the others I own, how wrong was I.
This book is hands down one of the best illustration books I have ever owned and worth every penny.
I don't want to add spoilers to the book but there are multiple 'gifts' shall we say with the book, which aid with some of the tasks given. The book has also helped me to plan projects with my collab team.
I 10/10 recommend.
February 10, 2019
Incredibly inspirational. My only complaint is that though they show you "step by step" instructions, they don't tell you what media they are using, if they are using more than one, and which to lay down first. For example, if you are using watercolor, it's important to learn to work from light to dark and leave white areas unpainted for highlights. Gouache and oils, however, can go from dark to light. If you use mixed media, you could add white highlights at the end if you choose to use white marker or ink. I just would have liked to have known what medium each artist used so I could emulate or figure out a workaround if I didn't have the material. Mostly I wondered how much was digital art, because I don't do that at all.
November 7, 2021
I was lucky enough to find a second hand copy of this book - lucky because (a) I don't feel bad about marking the pages, someone already has and (b) the someone who owned this book before me was even worse at drawing so it's a double confidence booster!
Seriously though, this book is an absolute joy, both to work through and to browse through for inspiration and is highly recommended for anyone of any age group wanting to learn to make art.
Seriously though, this book is an absolute joy, both to work through and to browse through for inspiration and is highly recommended for anyone of any age group wanting to learn to make art.
January 30, 2020
I thought this would be a fun thing to try but was a little too complicated for some one with no drawing experience. there was a lot of fun and interactive projects in her that I probably would have enjoyed, but it was a library book so I couldnt do the paper dolls. and use the little notebook, etc.
January 22, 2019
A fun and pretty mishmash of technique how-tos, advice from working artists, ideas for exercises, and general encouragement. An odd choice for libraries since it includes many seductively blank and beautiful pages to practice on, but so far nobody has besmirched the copy I read.
April 6, 2025
50 Ways to Draw Your Beautiful Ordinary Life is complete with coloured papers, tracing papers, artist papers for paints, postcards, paper dolls, and an inspiring poster hidden beneath the book cover sleeve. Draw Every Day. #art
December 20, 2025
Really great book with step by step visuals on how to improve your drawing skills; perfect for a beginner like me- I just wish it had more detailed, specific text, but that’s just me and my learning style
October 18, 2018
This is a fun book for someone who wants to draw but is hesitant to try. There are a bunch of cut how-tos to get you started.
July 12, 2019
Very inspiring and fun book to read! More flip through and do than actual reading.
October 15, 2019
Fun little prompts. 🙂
June 6, 2020
Such great art projects, and I love that the book cover unfolds to a poster! So many creative pages indeed!
April 11, 2021
Fun sketching workbook!
October 24, 2022
Very simple techniques that are easy to follow. Pulls out the artistic side of you!
Read
August 25, 2023Not something you rate per se. It's a genre you enjoy or don't. I do.
Read
October 27, 2024Excellent books on practical drawing lessons with prompts and interactive pages. Got me started on a drawing adventure I'd never done before in my life.
February 4, 2021
Inspiring, non-intimidating, fun drawing guide.
April 16, 2024
After browsing through a library copy I ordered my own! Excited to continue following the exercises.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews