Brush Pen Illustration by Sho Ito

Brush Pen Illustration by Sho Ito ISBN-13: Paperback: 104 pages Publisher: Quarry Books Released: June 26, 2018

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Brush pens are a unique medium that comes in hundreds of colors and produces a beautiful, soft, watercolor effect which has had lettering artists buzzing. Now, though, illustrators in all walks of art are incorporating brush pens' into their repertoire as a simple way to include color and motion into their art.

Brush pens' style is reminiscent of Chinese brush painting and drawing. They offer a gentle, paint-like quality that replicate watercolor paints without having use paint and brushes. Brush Pen Illustration shows you how to draw things in 2-4 easy steps. Apples, zebras, penguins, flowers, this book shows you how to draw everything under the sun with fun and colorful brush pens.


My Review:
Brush Pen Illustration is a step-by-step drawing book that uses brush pens. The author started by briefly talking about brush pens and paper and then explained some brush pen techniques. Most of the book was 2-4 step demonstrations on how to draw over 200 everyday things, like food (vegetables, fruit, sweets, meals), animals (dogs, cats, and other animals), flowers, zodiac signs, and more.

The objects and animals were drawn with a Chinese brush painting look. The book was also Asian-oriented, so the author choose to demonstrate foods like sushi, which may not be of interest to everyone. During the step-by-step part, the focus was on what strokes to do in what order, so each stroke was numbered.

I now have a better feel for how to create the Chinese brush painting look, and the animal and flower drawings were of interest to me. However, while there's enough instruction to allow you to jump into creating his demonstration objects, I had been expecting a little more discussion about what to look for in brush pens and on using the techniques.


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.


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