Just for Fun: Drawing by Lise Herzog

Just for Fun: Drawing by Lise Herzog ISBN-13: 9781633222816 Paperback: 160 pages Publisher: Walter Foster Released: May 1, 2017

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from NetGalley:
With Just for Fun: Drawing, aspiring artists and art enthusiasts who have never before picked up a pencil can follow incredibly simple step-by-step instructions and discover how to draw everyday subjects. Each featured subject starts with basic lines and shapes, and slowly progresses with each new step to a fully rendered, completed drawing.

Saving the nitty-gritty technical aspects of drawing for the more advanced student, Just for Fun: Drawing simply touches upon key drawing concepts and fundamentals, including perspective, proportion, volume, shading, and composition, among others, that are relevant to a beginner's core understanding of the craft. With its abundance of approachable and contemporary drawings, as well as loads of tips, instruction, and inspiration, Just for Fun: Drawing will have even the most artistically challenged individuals mastering the art of pencil drawing in no time.


My Review:
Just for Fun: Drawing is an art book to help beginners learn how to draw. It combined text describing what to do and why you do it with simple, step-by-step drawings. This allows the person to learn how to draw cats in general, for example, not just the pose shown in the book.

I'd recommend this as a good beginner artist book for tweens and teens (or older). It's done in a style that should keep a younger person interested, but it also taught some basics found in adult drawing books. So we learn how to draw basic shapes--in perspective--and how to add simple texture and shading.

The book began by describing what drawing tools to use, and you can start out with as little as a common pencil and a sheet of computer paper. Other tools were described, but you don't have to start fancy. We then get the step-by-step "add a circle here and here, combine the shapes, add some texture" instructions. These usually involved four steps that were easy to understand and weren't complex to draw.

We're taught to draw animals like cats, big cats, dogs, wolves, rabbits, horses, cow, and birds. There were brief descriptions on how to draw people standing and in motion, the parts of the body, and clothing. And we learn to draw nature in part (like a tree, flower, or water) or as a whole landscape drawing. The finished drawings should look recognizable without being complex to draw.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.