Draw Realistic Animals: Wildlife, Pets and More

First I should say - in my opinion, everyone who enjoys drawing will respond differently to different styles of teaching. With that said, what I look for in Realistic Drawing books is indepth demonstrations. This one has them in spades. The author recommends particular materials for the best results, which many often do - however - for me - these particular materials suite my drawing style/needs better than some others I have bought.I've always had trouble getting fur, feathers and weathered skin (as on Elephants/Rhino's) to come out looking truly realistic - and these demos gave me the missing steps I needed to achieve an accurate outcome. He covers pets (cats and dogs), lizards, tigers, birds, elephants & rhinos. All of which appeal to me. He starts out with the easiest and the demos become increasingly more difficult as your skills improve.I've previously purchased several realistic drawing books - all different styles & approaches - all of which I gained some knowledge & skill from - but this one grabbed me from the first day & I have yet to put it down. While I'm only half way through the book/demos - I look forward to opening it up each day to work on my current exercise.From this book I have learned that many layers are needed to achieve a truly realistic outcome - at least for me. I found this author's style best suites my needs & am quite amazed at how well the end products have been turning out. Patience will be needed, but if you're willing to put in the time - you'll be surprised at the outcome.The only negative thing I have to say about it is - that on some of the demo's - the photos of first step or two are so light - it's difficult to see the example - however, that's not the fault of the author. The good news about that is - part of the process is to do an initial sketch before attempting to draw the end product - so you become familiar w/ the subject matter and can simply read the instructions on the initial step(s) rather than go by the photo example. Younger readers may not have as much difficulty as I had with those - it could simply be my aging eyes.

This is an excellent book, but not for the beginner. Intermediate is ok on up and it is all graphite work. I have found that I am a mixed media artist, and primarily do pencil work, including watercolour pencils and watercolour. This book is definitely graphite but I tend to like to go really dark on some subject matter so prefer to lay down either charcoal first to get the blackest blacks. It is the only way, and you must apply it BEFORE graphite, because graphite is shiny and smooth and thing do not stick to it. You build up values by going from lightest, usually an "h" pencil, to the darkest graphite which is usually "9B". In some of my work that is not dark enough for the effect, dramatic usually, I am looking for. Also, love using pastels first to help with the greys as they are soft and can be layered on.If you hate charcoal you HAVE TO GET "CARBON" pencils, they are in between. Just bought "General's" set and I absolutely loooove "Wolff Carbon Set". They get as dark as any darkest of the charcoal and without the mess. It is like in between a graphite and pastel pencil, with a matt finish. If you like the shine of the graphite, just layer it on top! Wolff's Carbon Pencil Set but unless you have the basics down, including forms and perception, composition and perspective wait until you get some more work under you belt. Definitely got some pointers but in the end we all create our own way of doing things.If you want a good book on animal form and perspective get this one, it is really good and works for any artist at any level Complete Guide to Drawing Animals

I'm a fairly experienced artist, but am always looking for new books and ways of doing things. I have a couple of other books on the subject "Drawing Masterclass: Animals" by Lucy Swinburne, and "Drawing Animals In Nature" by Lee Hammond. So I hope to provide some good, objective comparisons here.Several things struck me as not ideal while reading this book. For one thing, even though he strives for detailed drawings, he recommends watercolor paper, which is extremely textured. This seems counterintuitive to me. Most other authors tend to use smoother paper for portraits, and that makes more sense to me. Secondly, he uses a lot of cross-hatching for the underlayers of fur. Again, many authors don't recommend doing that, but rather always doing your work in the direction of the fur. If you do underlayers with cross-hatching, then put the more detailed fur on top of it, it probably won't look as good. And third, many of the pictures are a little small, and I found myself wishing I could see them more close-up. Lastly, he never even mentions using your eraser to "draw" in highlights or lighter strands of fur. This is an important part of drawing.However, you can't argue with his results. He definitely has his technique down, but I can't help but wonder how much more crisp and detailed his drawings would be on smoother paper. If you are a drawing-book junkie like me, then certainly get this book, but if you're looking for a good first book on the subject, I'd recommend one of the other two I mentioned.

A must have for realistic animal drawings.

Good step by step guide

Very detailed and precise directions for getting the best results for one's effort.

Good

Enjoyed, this book helped in my quest to draw realistic animals

I purchased this book when it was first published. I was impressed but thought it was beyond my abilities at the time. Since then I've done quite an amount of animal drawing in both graphite and coloured pencil. I've also attended a number of workshops to hone my skills. Recently I decided to tackle the book. Wow. My work has been transformed! It's a different technique from the one I'm used to but I love it. My drawings have come to life. From henceforth I am adopting this method of building up the layers of graphite to give depth. I would say that paper quality is really important. The paper recommended is very expensive but I've been getting excellent results with a Fabriano Classico 5 Fat Pad.I agree with the reviewer who discovered that there is no free bonus demonstration on the website. In fact they don't appear to have any knowledge of him.

Very poor print quality. Drawing technique cannot really be seen. Website link offering a free bonus demonstration of the techniques (advertised at the foot of every page) doesn't exist and nor do the "free bonus materials" also advertised on every page. The only reference made about the method of drawing is on page 18 "Continuous Tone" which consists of a few lines and doesn't tell you enough and, for the vast majority of the drawings and demonstrations in the book, there are no reference photographs. So not a good instruction book - disappointing.

This fantastic book is perfect for both the new beginner and those who are more advanced artists. It's easily read and beautifully illustrated. A 'must' for every bookshelf!

Ok

fantastic very good