How to See, How to Draw: Keys to Realistic Drawing

by Claudia Nice

Imagine having the ability to draw any subject with precision, detail and expression. With Claudia's help, you can do it In "How to See, How to Draw," you will discover how to tap into your powers of observation, strengthen your hand-eye connection, and draw the world around you with new skill and accuracy. Just take it one step at a time.

Claudia is an expert teacher, breaking down complex compositions into a series of achievable shapes and values that even beginners will understand. Through dozens of mini demonstrations, fun-to-do exercises and complete step-by-step instruction, you'll learn everything from basic drawing techniques to more challenging methods for rendering wonderfully rich, in-depth compositions.

Her visual instruction details how to:

Use a variety of drawing tools to suit your style and artistic intentLearn to let go of preconceived ideas so you can observe lines, shapes and spatial relationships as they actually areCreate strong compositions through comparison and proportional controlFind, fix and avoid common mistakes by using simple grids and guide lines Understand and work with perspective to create the illusion of depthReveal form through light and shadowExplore the potential of texture to create mood and movement Claudia's drawings illuminate a range of subjects, including portraits, landscapes, animals and still life. You can practice using her reference photos and drawings, or you can apply her exercises to your own subjects.

Start today, Claudia's way Following her masterful guidance, you'll see the world through new eyes and draw better than you ever have before.

Genres: Art, Drawing, Nonfiction, Realistic Fiction, Reference

351 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2010

About the author

Claudia Nice, a native of the Pacific Northwest, attended the University of Kansas, but gained her realistic pen, ink, and watercolor techniques from sketching nature.

She spent over 15 years traveling across North America for Koh-I-Noor/Rapidograph and more recently Grumbacher as an art consultant, conducting seminars, work shops, and demonstrations at various schools, clubs, shops, and trade shows. Her relaxed, informative method of instruction is geared to put the beginner at ease, and encourage the seasoned artist to new heights.

Claudia has authored over a dozen successful books, including "Creating Textures in Pen & Ink With Watercolor." This fully illustrated text book was not only a Northlight "Book of the Month," but a best seller for F & W Publications. Her art work has won numerous awards and is often found in leading art instruction magazines.

Reviews

[NafizaIsAddictive · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite reads of the year so far! I loved this book so very much. I'm a VERY new hobbyist that couldn't even draw a week or so ago so I'm reading as many books as possible on how-to. Nice sets out explanations, lessons and examples that are full of information but at the same time not condescending nor overwhelming. It really helps that she puts side by side comparisons in her explanations as well which allowed me to see where I am then where I could possibly go with enough practice. It not only reinforces the lesson, it also encourages. I was just very glad to find a drawing instruction that wasn't vague or snobbish.

it's VERY approachable for a beginner with highlights of the author's own works in very good clarity. I'm going to return this ebook to my library and buy my own copy from Amazon to keep for reference.

[Fatimah]

people starts to like my drawing after this book! I think it`s obvious what`s that mean!

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best info about shading and perspective

[B.J. Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for learning the basics of realistic drawing

[Manoj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just my kind of book! She doesn't beat around the bush, doesn't try to fill in pages with non-information and isn't all over the place like so many other authors. Lessons are well organized, each piece of information is accompanied with plenty of relevant pictures and all concepts are presented in easy to understand and concise manner. No lengthy non-visual explanations of theories behind this and that, when just a picture would suffice. To the point and very informative - For example, most books seem to just skim over 'n' point perspectives (n > 2), but here I actually learned pretty straightforward techniques that can be applied to any number of perspectives, with step by step procedure and pictures (for each step)! I usually highlight as I read so that next time I can just go through the highlights whenever I need to revisit something (thanks to Kindle's highlighting feature) - In this book, I guess there are more highlighted parts than the not highlighted parts by the time I was done with it! That says it all! Might apply only to beginner-intermediate skill levels though, so read the ToC before buying.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Using this with Girl Scout Juniors Drawing Badge.

[Maryann Jorissen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy-to-understand writing style that does a good job with instructions.

[Reuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best basic drawing instruction book I've seen--clear, complete, and concise.