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Magnificent Fantasy Creatures and How to Draw Them
Discover how to draw 30 fantastical beasts from folklore, literature and the farthest reaches of your imagination in this how-to-draw guide. As you explore each magnificent creature you'll not only discover a detailed finished illustration along with exciting ideas, hints and practical lessons for how to recreate it. Blank practice pages built into the book ensure you have plenty of space for practicing techniques like adding movement and texture to your beasts of lore.
- GenresArt
160 pages, Paperback
First published October 9, 2018
10 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Walker
376 books14 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Kevin Walker is a British comics artist and illustrator, based in Leeds, who worked mainly on 2000 AD and Warhammer comics and the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering. He is now working for Marvel Comics.
(source: Wikipedia)
Sometimes credited as Kev Walker
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Kevin Walker is a British comics artist and illustrator, based in Leeds, who worked mainly on 2000 AD and Warhammer comics and the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering. He is now working for Marvel Comics.
(source: Wikipedia)
Sometimes credited as Kev Walker
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 29, 2018
2,5/5. More of a inspiration book or how to develop your own inspiration then drawing technique, there is that too but not that much and not enough in my opinion for a «How to Draw» kind of book. Not bad, the inspiration part, showing where to start, from something you knew, something real and turn it into a monster/creature is good, but enough to make the book worth it...? Not so sure!
November 2, 2018
This is a nice book that helps with ideas and gives us directions how to draw our own fantasy creatures. The author even gave some hints how to use inspiration from real life animals and how some pose will make the creature more dangerous on the drawing.
Just to say this is not a step by step drawing lessons.
Just to say this is not a step by step drawing lessons.
October 29, 2018
Good selection of characters from the fauna. Great amount of tips. The book helped me to generate my own ideas. Every creature looks really fierce to me. Sadly for me no sweet ones in the collection. You should try this book even if you are a beginner.
August 26, 2022
Even with my basic sketching abilities these how to instructions while thorough were above my skill level, but it will not be that way for everybody. Definitely a lot of great tips in this book can be used for beginners to far more experience artists looking for how to instructions on drawing fantasy creatures.
August 23, 2020
Do you or does someone you love enjoy dragons, fairytales, adventurous creatures, Tolkien or the world of Harry Potter? Do they doodle? This is a fun illustration instruction for folks who enjoy fantasy, while the results may vary it’s definitely worth some time.
November 13, 2018
I reviewed this as a digital copy on my kindle, courtesy of Quarto Publishing, F+W Media and Netgalley. I would have preferred a print copy to view the illustrations more clearly.
I will refer back to it on a monitor to see if the images come across more impactfully.
This book is not for the true beginner. It did not take the reader by the hand and say which basic shape to draw, how to add another basic shape onto it, etc. Although one can get an idea of how to begin from several of the illustrations.
This book is more cerebral, helping the artist focus on how the resulting creation should look. What function do the horns perform, how should the body balance, which direction will the eyes look, and what sort of camouflage does this beast need in its environment.
There are wonderful directions on techniques at the beginning of the book and definitions of various media. So there really is something in this book for every level, from beginner to well experienced artist.
Next time I am out in the wild or at a zoo or museum, I will view things differently.
I will refer back to it on a monitor to see if the images come across more impactfully.
This book is not for the true beginner. It did not take the reader by the hand and say which basic shape to draw, how to add another basic shape onto it, etc. Although one can get an idea of how to begin from several of the illustrations.
This book is more cerebral, helping the artist focus on how the resulting creation should look. What function do the horns perform, how should the body balance, which direction will the eyes look, and what sort of camouflage does this beast need in its environment.
There are wonderful directions on techniques at the beginning of the book and definitions of various media. So there really is something in this book for every level, from beginner to well experienced artist.
Next time I am out in the wild or at a zoo or museum, I will view things differently.
November 2, 2018
This book is about finding inspiration for and the process of deciding what your fantasy creatures will look like. It's not a step-by-step to drawing his fantasy creatures. The intent of the book is to help you come up with your own fantasy creature designs.
He talked about real animals that inspired him, hints about posing the creature, and various ways you might draw the claws, teeth, etc., and what impression these variations might give (like longer claws make them look more dangerous). Each page had a matching "now you practice it" or "now draw your water dragon" blank page, so half the book was blank practice pages. He made up lore about and gave suggestions for 29 fantasy creatures that live in the night, sea, desert, swamp, forest, and snow.
I received an ebook review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
He talked about real animals that inspired him, hints about posing the creature, and various ways you might draw the claws, teeth, etc., and what impression these variations might give (like longer claws make them look more dangerous). Each page had a matching "now you practice it" or "now draw your water dragon" blank page, so half the book was blank practice pages. He made up lore about and gave suggestions for 29 fantasy creatures that live in the night, sea, desert, swamp, forest, and snow.
I received an ebook review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
November 12, 2018
I found this book to be very interesting and informative. It is definitely not good for beginning artists—some skill level and experience is inferred, and I feel like someone with little experience would be very lost in this book. However, it is still a great book for those with some experience and a desire to draw Fantasy creatures. A word of caution-this is definitely the beast side of fantasy creatures—there aren't fairies, unicorns, pretty mermaids, etc. This book is geared towards the monsters. I did really like the break down of the book. Each creature has a few pages of inspiration, then a more technical breakdown of bone structure, etc. I found this to be a really great source of inspiration.
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
March 24, 2019
Not really a ‘how to draw’ as much as a ‘how to create’. There were far more tips on creating your perfect monster, thinking about its lair and its diet and things
like that rather than how to draw a tail.
It had some interesting points but I did find that it was far too wordy for me.
As it was an e-arc the formatting was all over the place and many times there were pages and pages of blank, which it turns out are blank pages for you to draw your own creatures in the physical book. (Sort of pointless in an e-book.)
Nice if you already have a basic understanding of physiology and perspective but not so much if you are a beginner.
like that rather than how to draw a tail.
It had some interesting points but I did find that it was far too wordy for me.
As it was an e-arc the formatting was all over the place and many times there were pages and pages of blank, which it turns out are blank pages for you to draw your own creatures in the physical book. (Sort of pointless in an e-book.)
Nice if you already have a basic understanding of physiology and perspective but not so much if you are a beginner.
October 30, 2018
Kev Walker gives us a book that explores how to develop drawings of fantastic characters and creatures. The book is clear and makes sense.
While I didn’t try the drawings myself, I enjoyed the author’s approach. An accessible book for the artist in your life.
While I didn’t try the drawings myself, I enjoyed the author’s approach. An accessible book for the artist in your life.
November 14, 2018
This is a lovely book that guides artists through the research process in order to draw fantastical creatures. However, this book is not for beginners. Tips are given throughout the book on techniques, but you should have a firm grasp on basic drawing, particularly aspect and shapes.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews