What do you think?
Rate this book
Drawing School: Fundamentals for the Beginner
A traditional drawing class in a book to help you master basic skills, including form, space, depth, proportion, composition, perspective, and more.California State University art professor Jim Dowdalls starts new students out by demonstrating how to use the different types of drawing tools, including how to hold a pencil, how to use supports, and how to make a variety of marks and strokes. Artists will discover helpful information for understanding value and learning to create a value scale, as well as how to build value in their drawings using various techniques.Throughout this educational book, myriad step-by-step exercises and drawing projects encourage artists to put their newfound knowledge to use and practice the concepts and techniques demonstrated. With the skills and techniques they acquire in this comprehensive yet affordable drawing course, beginning artists will be ready to take their artwork to the next level. Filled with beautiful artwork that will inspire budding artists to continue to build and grow their craft, Drawing Fundamentals for the Beginner is the perfect place to start a mastery of fine art.
235 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2018
122 people are currently reading
79 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 26, 2018
What can I say about Drawing School: Fundamentals for the Beginner A comprehensive drawing course by Jim Dowdalls. I found this book Excellent someone who would like to learn more about how to draw etc.
This wonderful book covers everything you need to start your drawing skills off. It will show you how to master the basic drawing skills needed, How to master basic drawing skills, including form, space, depth, proportion, composition, perspective, and more within your drawings. How to use the different types of drawing tools, including how to hold a pencil etc. How to make a variety of marks and strokes. What drawing equipment you will need i.e Easels etc. This book also had lots of clear guidelines with excellent excerises and drawing projects to help you create your master piece, which I found very informative and very helpful.
Overall, this book is a must have for a new artist and a perfect start to create your master piece in the Art world.
10/10 book.
Big thank you to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster for letting me review this amazing book
Big Fat 5 Stars from me.
This wonderful book covers everything you need to start your drawing skills off. It will show you how to master the basic drawing skills needed, How to master basic drawing skills, including form, space, depth, proportion, composition, perspective, and more within your drawings. How to use the different types of drawing tools, including how to hold a pencil etc. How to make a variety of marks and strokes. What drawing equipment you will need i.e Easels etc. This book also had lots of clear guidelines with excellent excerises and drawing projects to help you create your master piece, which I found very informative and very helpful.
Overall, this book is a must have for a new artist and a perfect start to create your master piece in the Art world.
10/10 book.
Big thank you to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster for letting me review this amazing book
Big Fat 5 Stars from me.
March 7, 2019
This book was a great resource for the self-taught artist. Lots of drawing exercises. This book covers all the important drawing topics, proportion, value, grid drawing, perspective and more.
I received this galley from NetGalley.
I received this galley from NetGalley.
August 15, 2018
What a wonderful book this is! As a self-learner and someone who is passionate about arts and crafts, I found this book to be a fantastic resource for learning and practicing the foundation skills needed for drawing.
It is presented as if you were taking a traditional drawing class, starting from how to hold your pencil and the purpose of different tools for drawing, different working surfaces, light conditions when drawing, etc. It has a visual and practical approach with a lot of images to guide you through the lessons, homework and exercises so that you can practice right away. Some of the subjects covered are: proportion, perspective, composition, grid drawing, value and coloring. My favorite part of the book was the explanation about "eye level" or "horizon line". Although this is a very common term mentioned in most beginner's books, the explanation and example images helped me have a better understanding of it. Like this, I have many other examples where I found myself getting a better grasp of subjects I thought I already knew.
As many artists would say "If you don't properly know your basics, no amount of rendering will be able to fix it". So, whether you are a digital or traditional artist, this book contains invaluable lessons to help you level up your art. *I read this book as an eARC, but my bday is coming and I need this book in my life, so I will be buying it too*
It is presented as if you were taking a traditional drawing class, starting from how to hold your pencil and the purpose of different tools for drawing, different working surfaces, light conditions when drawing, etc. It has a visual and practical approach with a lot of images to guide you through the lessons, homework and exercises so that you can practice right away. Some of the subjects covered are: proportion, perspective, composition, grid drawing, value and coloring. My favorite part of the book was the explanation about "eye level" or "horizon line". Although this is a very common term mentioned in most beginner's books, the explanation and example images helped me have a better understanding of it. Like this, I have many other examples where I found myself getting a better grasp of subjects I thought I already knew.
As many artists would say "If you don't properly know your basics, no amount of rendering will be able to fix it". So, whether you are a digital or traditional artist, this book contains invaluable lessons to help you level up your art. *I read this book as an eARC, but my bday is coming and I need this book in my life, so I will be buying it too*
April 16, 2020
Comprehensive book that takes you through all the technical sides of drawing and art through different medium.
I found this quite a struggle as a beginner and I feel like a second read would help me really gain a better understanding of some of the key concepts.
I think this book is great if you want to get serious about your art but maybe not so great if you are just starting out and want to only work on rendering or finding a genuine love for art. Maybe it’s just me but I found myself panicking with the level of technical detail rather than encouraged.
Maybe as I get more confident through practice I will appreciate this book more. I think in a few months or years time it will become a great reference tool, especially if I move from beginner to intermediate level.
I found this quite a struggle as a beginner and I feel like a second read would help me really gain a better understanding of some of the key concepts.
I think this book is great if you want to get serious about your art but maybe not so great if you are just starting out and want to only work on rendering or finding a genuine love for art. Maybe it’s just me but I found myself panicking with the level of technical detail rather than encouraged.
Maybe as I get more confident through practice I will appreciate this book more. I think in a few months or years time it will become a great reference tool, especially if I move from beginner to intermediate level.
June 25, 2018
I was sent a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
The rating is more like 4.5 stars, but there was that spark missing that made you want to pick up the pencil and draw, you know?
Drawing School is a great book to set the base (or fundamentals) for any beginner. The material in this book are presented just like the drawing school courses I took - starting you with still nature, understanding form and shape, pencils, shading, and then going into experimenting with different tools like pastels or colored pencils.
The pacing of this book is great too. Each chapter starts from the easiest task then goes into depth of the technique. Also, the homework from each big lesson is a great way for the passionate artist to learn - usually featuring a main homework and a lot of practice exercise to help built on the base.
It's a great book for someone completely new to art, for someone wishing to understand a certain technique - I knew nothing of colored pencils because I usually avoid them, but after reading this book I might pick them up and put them to good use.
The rating is more like 4.5 stars, but there was that spark missing that made you want to pick up the pencil and draw, you know?
Drawing School is a great book to set the base (or fundamentals) for any beginner. The material in this book are presented just like the drawing school courses I took - starting you with still nature, understanding form and shape, pencils, shading, and then going into experimenting with different tools like pastels or colored pencils.
The pacing of this book is great too. Each chapter starts from the easiest task then goes into depth of the technique. Also, the homework from each big lesson is a great way for the passionate artist to learn - usually featuring a main homework and a lot of practice exercise to help built on the base.
It's a great book for someone completely new to art, for someone wishing to understand a certain technique - I knew nothing of colored pencils because I usually avoid them, but after reading this book I might pick them up and put them to good use.
May 2, 2018
Drawing School is a well paced, comprehensive fun book of drawing fundamentals that is approachable enough for beginners. I found it easy to understand, and the 'homework' that is scattered throughout introduced practice and drawing goals. The book does recommend the purchase of few specific pencils, but nothing too excessive.
*eARC Netgalley*
*eARC Netgalley*
August 30, 2018
This is an excellent book for beginners. It can be used in the classroom by the students or by teachers to prepare their classes. The techniques are very well explained. The author did an extraordinary balance between theory and practices by providing examples and explanations for different sort of medias. Also, this book can used in schools or by new artist who are looking to improve their techniques. The content is wonderful.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews