Everyday Sketching and Drawing: Five Steps to a Unique and Personal Sketchbook Habit Paperback – April 19, 2018

Steven's style is appealing to me and so are his books. This book has some of the best instruction I have come across. The book's construction is top of the line, the paper used is on the thicker side and the printing and colors are crisp. Would recommend to anyone just starting out or experienced in sketching.

Did you click "Buy it now?" Ok, welcome back!I "met" Steven Reddy through two classes he teaches at Craftsy.com. Oh, you didn't know? Go there now and then come back again!!Ok, you bought both? Great! You won't be disappointed.Now, why do I love this book? Besides the instructional content, he inspires you to let go of the perfectionist in you. He teaches you (in all of his books and classes) that your sketches do not need to be perfect. (BTW, he has been an elementary school teacher for many years, so he knows how to teach!) He includes a list (and sketches (!)) of all of his favorite supplies. He teaches you how to lay down an underpainting, aka grisaille, before adding color to your sketch. He provides several steps to get you to a final sketch IN ONE SINGLE CHAPTER!If that's not enough for you, this book also has MANY of his sketches. You will clearly see that he practice what he preaches. EVERY page has one or many of his illustrations. You will be inspired by his loose, yet very effective, style. Each image is accompanied by a short description of the when, where and how he drew that particular piece.The content of the book is amazing, really. But I also love that there was no skimping on the quality of the actual book itself. The paper is a glossy, thick paper that shows off the drawings very well. Lately, I've received a ton of badly printed books with no attention paid to the little qualities such as weight of the paper.It took me nearly a year to write this review because I wasn't well for quite some time. Throughout those times when I only have enough physical strength to flip a page in a book and dream about the art I want to make, Steven's three books have been lovingly flipped through and pages bookmarked. I just ordered his fourth book to add to my collection.Oh, you didn't know?? He has THREE other books. Those are memoirs, thicker than this book, stuffed with even MORE artwork, printed on the same quality paper, and even larger, too!!He sells them on Etsy. Go get them!! I bought them as soon as I took his Craftsy classes.If you are a lover of all things art, drawing, ink, urban sketching, watercolor or just beautiful images you need these books on your shelf. All four of them.You can thank me later.

This book is fantastic!I started learning to draw/paint a year ago and in that time I've checked out many books. Out of all of them, this one is in my top 3 of most helpful. Might be my #1.It has the basics that all these books have: materials, examples, how-to's for drawing, for painting, and much more.But what makes this book so special is it helps you realize that where you're at right now in your journey is part of your STYLE. Now when I draw something imperfectly, I don't see it as "Dang, I screwed that up because it's all wonky looking." I see it as "Wow, this is characteristic of where I'm at in my journey. This is drawn in my own style, it's MY interpretation of it."Thinking like this gives me a special confidence I didn't have before, and that confidence in turn makes my art even better. Thank you, Mr. Reddy!Highly recommend this book to anyone interested in creating art. Even if you're intermediate or above, this has plenty for you. Has good instructions on grisaille painting too which I hadn't seen covered in any of the other books like this I've read.

There are a lot of people now who like to do "urban sketching" or just drawing wherever you happen to be, a cafe, a street, inside a hotel room, a locker room, you name it. The technique involves a light pencil sketch, followed by contour sketching in ink and then wash with watercolor. You can do this in a notebook or on various papers.The author has a sort of cartoon illustration style that is very different from mine, but his explanation of how to go from what you are seeing in a room or on the street, to a finished sketch is very useful, and it was recommended by a Youtube artist Teoh Yi Chie who does a lot of tutorials on watercolor sketching.Things I really like about this book:How to see past the clutter in a sceneDemos from start to finishStealth sketching of peopleAnatomy notes, body angles, proportionsMaterialsDrawing from photos if you can't draw on location (I don't like to be jostled in public and feel vulnerable sitting to sketch in a lot of foreign places. So unless I'm on a step or in a cafe, I find public sketching very annoying.)A very good instruction book on the art of sketching on location with ink and wash and something you'll want to study if you are planning a vacation with time to record scenes in your artwork.