The Drawing Lesson by Mark Crilley Book Review

For the first time ever, drawing instructor and graphic novelist Mark Crilley brings his easy-to-follow artistic instruction to aspiring artists in the form of a comic book, providing you with a one-of-a-kind how-to experience. In The Drawing Lesson, you’ll meet David—a young boy who wants nothing more than to learn how to draw. Luckily for David, he’s just met Becky—his helpful drawing mentor. Page by page, Becky teaches David (and you!) about the essential fundamentals that artists need in order to master drawing, all in a unique visual format. In panel after panel, Crilley provides lessons on shading, negative space, creating compositions, and more, with accompanying exercises that you can try for yourself. Are you ready to start your drawing lesson today?

About the Author

Mark Crilley is the author of nearly twenty books, including The Realism Challenge, Mastering Manga, and Mastering Manga 2, as well as several series of books and graphic novels, including Akiko, Miki Falls, Billy Clikk, and Brody’s Ghost. Since being selected for Entertainment Weekly’s “It List” in 1998, Crilley has developed a massive Internet following for his drawing demonstration videos, which have received well over two hundred million views on YouTube. His books have been featured in USA Today, the New York Daily News, and Disney Adventures magazine, as well as on CNN Headline News. He resides in Novi, Michigan. 

My Thoughts:

I have a 10 year old son who has recently started to learn how to draw. I thought this book would intrigue him and capture his attention to the process of drawing.

I've never heard of Mark Crilley before, nor have I read any of his prior books.  

This was a unique drawing book set as it is set up like a comic book. It’s about a young boy, David who stumbles upon an artist at a park drawing. He is a persistent kid who begs her to teach him how to draw like she does. Becky is very reluctant at first but, David keeps showing up and turns out to be a good student.

The illustrations are fabulous and are drawn in pencil in a sepia tone. They are fabulous drawings with a lot of details. It’s very impressive.

Each chapter covers a different technique. 

Drawing what you see
Shading
Beginning with a loose sketch
Understanding light and shadow
Checking proportions
Simplifying things Creating a Composition
Bringing it all together

At the end of the chapter, the reader is given an assignment that was learned from that chapter.

I like that it shows over and over that criticism is okay when learning. You learn from those criticisms to be a better artist. Every artist has a different style and not one way is right but, the foundation is still the same with the basic techniques. 

I would recommend this book to anyone wanted to learn how to draw. It gives you a full spectrum of drawing. 

I received a free copy of this product from Blogging for Books- Waterbrook in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this information accordance with the FTC Regulations.