Draw People Every Day: Short Lessons in Portrait and Figure Drawing Using Ink and Color

by Kagan McLeod

A lively, colorful figure drawing instruction book that encourages aspiring illustrators to work in ink and watercolor to create quick, confident renderings of diverse, contemporary people.

While today's illustrators work primarily in ink and watercolor, figure drawing instruction still tends to emphasize work in pencil. Commercial illustrator Kagan McLeod offers an approach to figure and portrait drawing more in keeping with today's preferred tools and techniques, one that focuses on cultivating spontaneity, energy, and confidence by providing exercises for brush work in ink and watercolor. By breaking figure and portrait drawing into the three major aspects of line, tone, and color and recommending time limits for each exercise, McLeod encourages working fast and fearless, rather than worrying about getting your figures just right. Filled with numerous illustrative examples of diverse, modern people, Draw People Every Day reflects practical, applicable techniques to get you drawing the people you see in the world around you with speed and proficiency.

Genres: Art, Drawing, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

Published June 4, 2019

Reviews

[Jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the meatiest book on drawing I have read in a while. It just keeps on going, with tons of examples and suggestions, and you're really only dealing with ink and one type of subject matter! It's a cornucopia of expertly organized information and inspiration. I'm glad I bought this, because I have a feeling I won't be exhausting the book's contents any time soon.
I'm terrible with ink and brush techniques, so I timidly applied one of McLeod's techniques to a doodle - and it looked great! Some other doodles didn't, but luckily McLeod was very quick to assure that a lot of what you are practicing with is going to look sucky until you learn how your brush and ink works, and to do that, you just gotta continue going at it.
Now, after reading the whole thing, I just need to go back and start applying what I learned and take it step-by-step.

[Allen Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really a “how to” book, but is instead filled with inspirational drawings done with a brush and ink style for the most part. There are some good examples of how easy it is to overwork a piece of art.

I think I’ll try some brush and ink drawings.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned so much about sketching people in ink and watercolor from this book - I would definitely recommend it!