Observational Sketching: Hone Your Artistic Skills by Learning How to Observe and Sketch Everyday Objects

by Mariko Higaki

Learn to draw by sketching what surrounds you everyday. In Observational Sketching, author Mariko Higaki—an ISDA Gold Award–winning industrial designer based in Japan—teaches you how to practice and learn to sketch by using well-established observational techniques.

Perspective, proportion, lines, shapes, shading, and many other techniques can be learned through everyday practice and observation of the items you come in contact with everyday, from a backpack to your sunglasses. This book addresses how to approach sketching a range of shapes and materials and how to disassemble each object to accurately capture its unique design elements. Inspiration and examples from the author and other well-known artists accompany a variety of projects that you can try right away and skill-building projects that will strengthen your talent. Find within:

• An introduction to observational sketching
• The basic concepts and tools used in observational sketching
• Observation techniques
• Illustrated step-by-step instructions for creating observational sketches of 20 common objects, from a alarm clock to a wooden stool 

Hone your artistic skills with this daily sketching practice. Whether you are an urban sketcher or an industrial designer, this books should be part of your reference collection.

• ISBN13: 9781631598883
• Publish Date: 14 April 2020 (first published 10 March 2020)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Rockport Publishers Inc.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 128
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Observational Sketching: How to Draw Almost Any Object is a tutorial art & technique guide by Mariko Higaki. Originally released in Japanese in 2019, this English translation from Quarto on their Rockport imprint is due out 7th Jan 2020. It's 128 pages and will be available in paperback format.

The style is technical, almost isometric (see cover). The author includes a number of short essays from other technical artists and engineers on various aspects of observational sketching such as product design and packaging design. I found the design process very interesting and enlightening. These include a Q&A format on the artistic process, the artists development and careers, and other information about how to actually get what one sees onto the paper in a recognizable form.

The chapters are arranged thematically: What observational sketching is (and what's the appeal), basic tutorials and techniques which anyone can use right away, how to observe and render different surfaces (such as metals, plastics, etc), and the step by step specific tutorials.

I find the style very appealing (then again, I'm an engineer and pretty much anything I need to draw on a daily basis -needs- to be pared down and technical). I found a number of really good tips for rendering drawings which actually look like what I'm aiming for.

Lots of worthwhile tutorial information here.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.