Customer Reviews

The Artist's Guide to Drawing Realistic Animals

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book so I could learn how do draw not just animals accurately, but also parts of the animals and positions of animals. I was disappointed when I got this book because the directions are not very good. This author wants you to use tracing paper and gives the exact same directions at the beginning of every drawing. They say to make sure you get the shapes of the animals accurate and on tracing paper, then on another sheet of tracing paper, make your lines more accurate, then transfer to your final piece of paper. I personally do not use tracing paper, and would like to know how to "accurately" draw the animal shapes. This is not explained in this book.

Throughout the book, you will see beautiful sketches of all the animals, but the author does not show you how to draw them. The sketches in the book are completed in 3 to 4 steps. I'm not sure how they get from a bunch of circles, to a really nice outline of the animal, to a completed and shaded drawing.

I was also excited to learn how to draw an owl but highly disappointed when I found the owl page. The Female Snowy Owl is completed in 4 steps. Each sketch is about 1 1/2" to 2" tall. There is no focus on detail. How the artist got from step 3 (basic outline) to the final drawing is beyond me.

I do not consider myself a beginner when it comes to drawing. I have taken many art classes in my time and thought it would be fun to get a couple books on how to draw and start drawing again. This book is a big disappointment and I'm really glad I ordered "Drawing Wildlife" by J. Amberlyn. I've checked that one out at the library and have now purchased it. When that comes in the mail, I will use that one mainly and will probably get little use out of this book.

If you're a beginner at drawing, do not get this book. If you are looking for a book to explain to you what to look at when looking at a picture, this may work out for you. I'm a visual learner myself, so again, this book isn't that great.

I really adore this book. It's got gorgeous pictures, and the author is very skilled.

Like the other reviewer, I was a bit surprised at the simplistic sketches the author used to illustrate the animals. However, I don't believe that this books was directed towards someone who just wants to "sketch" animals. A bigger level of dedication is required, as written about in the book. The author constantly refers to working in the field, or setting up at a zoo, and drawing by eye. The author himself claims to draw many of his pictures off of a photograph.

The author seems to assume that most artists are able to do this, when it really takes a lot of practice to get to that point.

In my opinion, this makes a wonderful book for reference and inspiration, but it isn't very good at laying out the actual steps. For artists like me that enjoy drawing off of photographs or references, this book is an amazing resource, but those who prefer to learn step by step and draw from memory may have a harder time.

the book has a lot of information and clear understanding on how to do the art work. It had a lot of good points and made drawing more fun.

I don't particularly understand the low ratings for this book; It has great drawings, not the loose chaotic scribbles you see in many other animal drawing books. It's well made with high quality paper, offering full color reference images for each one of its guides, in addition to tips, a step-by-step guide on how to draw them, and even a bit of information about the animal that will help with drawing them. Since it was made in 2006, it is presented in a more modern manner, and won't feel like the old-of-date, scratchy-papered, black-and-white-with-yellowing-pages texts that schools often provide, and therefore provides a more casual and entertaining experience. It has a nice array of animals, with large sections for the most popular animals (ex: the cat family, the dog family) and smaller sections for the more "out-there" animals, like giraffes and owls.

The only downside I can see here is the lack of anatomical information; however, this is not advertised as an anatomy book. Also, this is not a book for beginners. It assumes you already have a basic grasp of drawing, but would like more practice in the drawing of animals. Most of the step-by-steps provide only 3 images: the very basic structure of the animal, followed by a loose guide on where the details should go, and a finished drawing. As I've said, for anyone who has a good drawing background, this should be sufficient, but beginners are better off looking elsewhere.

My son 8 years old like animals and he likes drawing too. So I bought him this book.He likes it very much, he can step by step to learn how to draw those animals well.

This is an fantastic book on drawing animals complete with how the skeleton is built and how the muscles are attached there are a number of drawing techniques that are well explained and close ups on things like noses on dogs and how to make them look real, getting the proportions right in animals can sometimes be a problem and this book shows you how.The Artist's Guide to Drawing Realistic Animals

I purchased this book as a gift for my 13-year old granddaughter who likes to draw wolves. This book includes a list of art supplies for pencil drawings, plus techniques and illustrations. I bought the supplies suggested in the book as part of the gift. She was delighted and continues to get hours of enjoyment drawing.

Doug Lindstrom is one of THE best animal artists, and has some of the best advice for artists, as we continually work on bettering our craft. Good for all levels.