Reviewed by annieb123 on
The Art of Drawing Animals is a reformat and compilation which contains some content published between 2006 and 2008. This release is due out in late 2021 from Quarto on their Walter Foster imprint, it's 128 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats (ebook available currently).
The layout follows the familiar Walter Foster tutorial format. An introduction covers tools and supplies and is followed by a short and easily accessible general drawing tutorial and an introduction to texture and perspective. There's a good subchapter on blending, texture strokes, and pencil techniques as well as a short intro on how to compose a drawing and textures and shading for animal drawings as well as a short intro on reference photos.
Each of the chapters includes several start to finish projects illustrating the concepts and techniques from the chapter. The tutorials are grouped roughly thematically: baby animals, cats & dogs, horses & ponies, wild animals, and rendering with colored pencils.
This is a very basic book but full of good technique and will provide some useful takeaways for the majority of readers/artists. This entire series is worthwhile and will be a valuable addition to the artist's home library. Although the tutorials are not aimed at new beginners, there are numerous takeaways for artists at all levels of expertise and the specific step-by-step tutorials will give all readers a benchmark to aim for.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 11 April, 2021: Finished reading
- 11 April, 2021: Reviewed