Pencil Drawing Book - Project for beginners

 Pencil Drawing Book: Project  for beginners by Michael Butkus, Eugene Metcalf, William Powell and Mia

The age-old art of drawings book is one of the most important foundations of all the visual arts—and it’s also a relaxing and enjoyable pastime! This book offers a simple, step-by-step approach to learning the fundamentals of sketching—from starting with basic shapes to rendering accurate still lifes, landscapes, animals, and portraits. You will learn techniques used to render various textures, including glass, metal, foliage, and fur. Even if your only experience with a pencil is writing with one, you’re still perfectly capable of executing these easy-to-follow basics. Everyone who wants to practice and perfect their drawing skills will find this project book created by Walter Foster Publishing and Reeves to be a valuable tool.


Editorial Reviews
From the Publisher
The Walter Foster/Reeves "Getting Started" Series

Walter Foster Publishing--the leader in art instruction for more than 80 years--has paired up with Reeves--the leading manufacturer of quality art materials for beginners since 1776--to create the "Getting Started" series books. This exciting series gives aspiring artists the knowledge they need to create beautiful drawings and paintings, no matter what previous art experience they've had. Each title provides simple, step-by-step instructions for rendering a variety of subjects, as well as clear, uncomplicated instruction to aid the beginning artist with a specific medium.
About the Author
Michael Butkus was trained at Otis Parsons in Los Angeles and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. He has taught illustration and rendering techniques, along with character design and visual development, to art industry professionals and commercial art students. Michael has worked on more than 2,500 films in the areas of advertising, movie poster art, set design, and character design. Michael also invented and illustrated hundreds of characters for Lucasfilms' Shadow of the Empire. Clients include Paramount, Warner Brothers, Universal, Disney, Dream Works, and Lucas Arts, as well as a number of toy companies that employ his imaginative creations and conceptual renderings for product design. Michael lives in Los Angeles, CA.


Recognized as one of America's foremost colorists, William F. Powell has taught art classes and workshops for 35 years in various art media. Today he is an extremely popular author, and he attracts more admirers each year with the numerous titles he has produced for Walter Foster Publishing, including Color Mixing Recipes, which he originally conceptualized, designed, and illustrated himself.


Mia Tavonatti is an artist with a variety of interests, including a strong passion for painting and drawing. She moved from Michigan to California to attend art school at California State University, Long Beach, where she earned her BFA and MFA in illustration. She has also studied painting abroad, and she loves to spend her summers painting in Greece. Mia has exhibited her work extensively, both in Europe and throughout the United States. She is the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards, and her work can be seen on more than 45 book covers and in several magazines. In addition to her illustrative work, she has created a number of murals and commissions for restaurants, private residences, and corporations. She teaches illustration and painting and the Art Institute of Southern California in Laguna Beach and currently resides in Costa Mesa, California.


Customer Reviews Drawing Book

I love this book and have been using it often. I only gave it a 4 as it seems to jump so quickly from easy to hard in the exercises, but that is my only criticism. This is an excellent book with a large variety of lessons to choose from. I just thought it would go a bit slower for the new artist, so I am supplementing with other art tutorials to get more practice with the basics. But the exercises are very inticing and I am looking forward to doing more of them. By L. Anderson


I purchased this book on a whim at my local art store. Having gained curiosity into what else is out there I found myself with mixed thoughts on the reviews of this book, some saying that the person they bought it for liked it, others claiming that it's pedantic or insulting, etc., so I thought I would offer a review as one for whom this book claims to be written. This book, subtitled "Project drawings book for Beginners" is me. I am a true beginner. I'm the guy that is content with being able to draw not just stick figures, but gender-appropriate stick figures (the triangle for the dress!). I'm the guy that looks at all those "real" artists saying "wow" as they draw something with distressingly impressive ease. For me, the difference between a kneaded eraser and silly putty is that a kneaded eraser does not make imprints nearly as well as silly putty. I have never taken an art class nor have I spent years just drawing whatever I see (though I do admit to some impressive doodles over the years!).


So what this book has to offer:

A decent intro for the concept of starting tools. Being published by Reeves, it should be no surprise that they recommend Reeves supplies, but I assure you that I have seen far worse by way of shameless promotions - The book on Colored Pencils by Veronica Winters, I hope she received a lifetime of free Prismacolor supplies for all the advertising she did for them!By K. Malley


This book has many good sketching examples and ideas. Their methods are helpful, too. (I'm always looking at different ways to take a run at a challenge!) There is a certain familiarity to the style and viewpoint to the drawings. What a contrast to the Betty Edwards' "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" books, as the emphasis here seems to be on the object drawings book, whereas in Ms. Edwards' lessons the results seem to be more about the setting for the object (cat; car; truck; dog; face; full-figure). By this I do not mean one way is 'better' than the other, just that there are differences. As I say, always good to look at alternative methods and results. By
J. Keith "saxunltd"