Customer Reviews

Drawing Comics is Easy! (Except When It's Hard)

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

 

 

A 7 year old wrote this book to teach other children how to draw, but her lessons will be of help to artists of any age. Alexia reminds us, on every page, the importance of honesty, simplicity, and perseverance. She does not lecture the reader on the importance of doing anything her way, she simply invites us to learn from her art work. She makes no assumptions that anyone should follow in her steps. Yet her techniques are fabulous! Her work is successful because of her obvious love of drawing and her talent. She passes on to us her advice and experience thus inviting us into her world and welcoming that we try it too (shading: scribble, cross hatch, and pure dark shading, and light sources: sunset colors). Her book is honest, ego-less and impressively mature for a girl of her age. Her priceless spelling resembles Winney the Pooh ( try different feelings: expressions: frightened, embarrassed, devil invaded) and made this book even more fun to read. It's nice to know that an adult publisher did not censor or correct her voice. Beginner artist, young and old, will get true pleasure and lots of laughter from reading this humorous and wonderful book.

Drawing Comics is Easy (except when it's hard) by Alexa Kitchen

I bought this book as a gift because I presumed that if a 7 year old
girl had written it, it would be perfect for my daughter, also age 7,
who loves to draw. Little did I know that I would be so enthralled
that I'd keep it for myself. To say that Alexa is talented and
imaginative is an understatement. It's uncanny how sharp and artistic
she is. Her simplistic yet remarkable drawings convey great messages
and humor. The reader experiences an invitation to enter Alexa's
world of fantasy and free expression. Her book is full of sketches
of her cat, Denis. This is how she teaches us to freely experiment
with drawing. She shares much wisdom ("Never be scared to make a
mistake, that's why they invented erasers!) Mark Schultz wrote the
introduction and Robert Crumb is one of the raving reviewers. I hope
that Alexa will be able to publish another book when she has free
time after completing her third grade homework. This book will not
disappoint.

five stars

This is a truly remarkable book for a 7 year-old! Not only can Alexa Kitchen draw in a remarkably sophisticated style for her age, she has genuine insights into the creative process and can articulate it quite well, in spite of charming misspellings and a somewhat disjointed narrative. I was especially struck by her characters' facial expressions and her slightly naïve but earnest "philosophy" of art. I think any creative grade school child will benefit from this book, as will any adult, like me, who appreciates the process of creation. I can't wait to see what Alexa is doing in a few short years, if she continues to develop her skills.

I loved this book. I bought it for my children and was amazed to discover that it is a great and valuable book for adults too! It is entertaining, insightful and fun! Alexa is a natural born teacher. I hope she writes more books! The title of the book is just wonderful and the drawings really cute and amusing!