annieb123
Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
Adorable Art Class is a delightful drawing guide with tutorials by Jesi Rodgers and book five of the Cute & Cuddly Art series. Due out 10th Jan 2023 from Quarto on their Rock Point imprint, it's 160 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.
The text throughout is upbeat and positive and very fun. There are lots of confidence building exercises for all ages to get pencils moving. The individual tutorials are arranged thematically: food & drink, the natural world, delightful doodads (like an umbrella, book, teapot, etc), holidays and combinations/larger pictures. The introduction includes a good beginning tutorial with tips and tricks for getting started, choice of tools and supplies and other support for making progress. Tutorials are shown in step by step completion series with lines added over several drawing steps to make a final drawing. The author has included colored versions of each finished drawing for inspiration.
One of my favorite aspects of this book is the lessons on how to combine and build on simple elements to produce hybrid drawings with two of more elements (like a cat donut and a snail with a house on its back). There are practice pages at the end of the book which are provided develop techniques, but which would also a good tutorial for planning full page illustrations.
I've been using doodling as an awareness/mindfulness exercise and it really does work. These are cute and good fun. It would make a really fun rainy day activity for younger kids to adult age. They're appealing and whimsical and sweet.
Five stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.