The Drawing Lesson

This is just what I needed. I read “The Drawing Lesson” in pretty much one sitting and will be reading it again and again. I draw birds and stuff – mostly birds. Like everyone else, I want to develop my own style, but I also needed more info on some of the basics in visual art. For example, what author Mark Crilley calls “negative space” (this is probably the common term in professional art), which is like the pieces of the picture that don’t really have interesting details yet hold the whole drawing together. One thing that makes this such a helpful book is how it summarizes each lesson and builds upon all previous lessons.

I am becoming more interested in graphic novels as a form, too – a major reason for my interest in this particular book. The story is simple and relatable, and again I’ll use the word: helpful. This is what you would want from a mentor. Becky doesn’t just teach David whatever he thinks he wants to be able to draw, but gives him something specific to do, until he gets it right, then he can use that however he wants. She tells him why it’s ok to draw what you see, and how you can also draw what you don’t see. Being able to see where you need improvements is of high importance, and she almost forces him to work through these revisions. David practically stalks Becky – not ok! – but Becky can see that he really does want to learn, and that he is doing his homework, incorporating her advice. Because each chapter is in a different setting, this helped me remember each lesson; having something to relate to makes it easier to access from memory, so that it doesn’t all blur together. Not just for the title, this is similar in some ways to Victor Wooten’s “The Music Lesson,” and is an excellent book for learning how to draw.

Note: I received a free copy of this title through BloggingForBooks in exchange for an honest review.

Blog Bonus: one of my pictures of a bird – the Loica, or Long-tailed Meadowlark of Chile. Seeing the finished drawing, I want to make the next one slimmer, less robin-shaped, and I will have to begin drawing everything around it – so my birds aren’t floating alone in space. Every lesson from the book, really, will help me improve my drawing.