Customer Reviews

Draw Ocean Animals (Learn to Draw (Peel))

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

 

 

My 7 year old daughter chose this book at her school book fair. She loves to draw, and with the step by step instructions in this book, her ocean creatures are great. People are always amazed at the drawings. We have tried other drawing books, without success. This book gets an A+. 10 year old big sister and her friends enjoy the book also. They are studying animals in 5th grade, and have a project to do on the different types. Each report must include a drawing of the animal they write about. This book has helped greatly with the fish. A fifth grade teacher was so impressed she asked me if I would order her this book and 4 other Draw titles by Peel Books. Thanks, from a very satisfied mom.

In general, I like "how to draw" books. Specifically I like the books created by this author and illustrator, Doug DuBosque. My first exposure to his work was through is wonderful Draw Insects (Learn to Draw (Peel)) a number of year ago. That particular book led the student step by step through the process of drawing quite a large number of common insects. The work being reviewed here does the same for sea creatures.

Anyone who works around children; children of various ages, will know that the great majority of them like to draw. As a matter of fact many of them find drawing almost addictive even if they are not required to do so. Take a peek inside of any student binder - you will see what I mean.

DuBosque has given us a work here that allows the student or the interested "scribbler" to learn very simple techniques that produce very nice drawings of various critters of the sea. The student is led step by step using simple and basic geometric patterns and shapes to produce a very fine likeness of the animal involved. The visual instructions are quite precise and the text which accompanies each drawing provides many times on angles, shading and prospective which is not found in many such books written for children at this age level. The important thing to remember here is that all the information, as presented by the author, is extremely understandable and all follows a very logical order.

I also like the way that this book, while teaching the basics, sets up a great platform on which the student can build upon and become more and more creative on their own as they practice.

Now the age group targeted by this particular work may be a bit misleading. Yes, it is absolutely appropriate for the 4-8 groups but don't let that fool you. I have noted that in middle school and high school that this book, and the others by Dubosque, is some of the most popular books in the art departments and the libraries. Young folks like these books and the use them and they learn from them. Now I will tell you truthfully - While I have absolutely no talent what so ever when it comes to drawing, I can attest to the fact that even a no talented wretch such as myself can, with a bit of practice, turn out a recognizable drawing of f watery creature! I have filled-up three rather large sketch pads using this book alone as a basis. What I am trying to say is that this book is perfectly suited for anyone at any age that has an interest in having fun drawing.

This is a delightful book to use, is very informative, while at the same time being a lot of fun.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

My mother purchased this book for my son for Christmas 2 years ago. He has this fascination with the ocean and loves to draw! We had a blast with this book!

The pictures are VERY easy to do, and the direction....if you notice even down the to pressure of the pencil....this book is awesome!

For my son - who is 9 - and me, who has taken many classes, this simplifies it.

I have purchased many of the "How to Draw" genre of books as an elementary art teacher looking to stimulate my students and enhance the lessons I teach. I am always looking for books that can work for younger students but do not simplify the object so much as to be unrealistic and cartoon-like. I was very pleased with this book in particular. It has everything I want in this type of book. It simplifies to basic geometric shapes enough to allow almost anyone to achieve good realistic results. It is also very comprehensive in that it really does cover a large number of ocean animals. It also includes drawing tips on contours, shading and patterns which many of these books do not offer. These would allow a student to go farther and discover more aspects to drawing than blind copying. I highly recommend this book.

My son received a set of DRAW books as a gift when he was 8 and still uses them several times a month (he is now 12). We are fairly impressed with the results he is able to produce.

The book takes the most simplistic approach to drawing, braking the process down to three steps (basic shapes, detailing, "cleaning up"). Each image includes 4 or 5 illustrations and the corresponding instructions presented in an easy to understand format.

The "Tips" section is worth reading as well.

Highly recommended! You might also be interested in Draw Really Cool Stuff, which contains this book and 5 others.

My son loves everything about the sea and the animals that inhabit it and he really enjoys this book. He has become very good at drawing these undersea creatures. He needed no help from me, the visual instructions were enough for him to jump right in and draw beautifully.