Lee Hammond

If you haven't heard about Lee Hammond's books and you want to create realistic drawings, you have been missing out. She uses the grid method to accurately achieve realistic drawings. This is a time tested method that works really well, specially if you are a beginner and struggle with wonky proportions when drawing from reference (a picture or someone/ something in front of you).

The fist part of the book teaches the fundamentals of drawing using graphite and after that there is a huge show more repertoire of 3-step projects (if you own any of his previous books, it is the same style but new projects) of common objects, nature, animals, portraits, body parts, fabric and clothing. Part two tackles colored pencil techniques, followed again by many projects with relevant instructions and tips.

Keep in mind that the book focuses on teaching techniques to achieve realism from a reference (drawing from observation). This is not meant for those whose main focus is to draw from memory or learn art fundamentals (like perspective, anatomy, etc.) If you own the Big Book of Drawing from 2004, this one covers the same subjects with the good old stuff plus new tips and a different set of projects to work with. I would strongly recommend for art students and hobbyists alike. I got my eArc from NetGalley show less

Most of the book is essentially a gallery supplemented with instructional comments. There are a few exercises, but not near as many as I have come to expect in art books. Many of the pictures I would've loved a tutorial on, as many kinds of animals on different types of papers were included. Personally, I'm bummed about the lack of tutorials. However, overall the book would be good for the average beginner to drawing animals in colored pencil.

Most of the book is a gallery format of human portraits by Lee Hammond supplemented by brief instructive comments. It's a good book if you're new to portrait and colored pencil drawing. Nothing about it is overwhelming. In fact, at my stage of learning it's more underwhelming. I would've liked more tutorials. There are tutorials for an eye in graphite, noses and lips in colored pencil and graphite, and an ear and a hand in colored pencil. Many pages are dedicated to drawing clothing, yet show more there's no tutorial or some other step by step. That's minimal compared to art books I like beyond GoodReads's three star "like". I've noticed other books by Hammond have the same problem, as I call it in my case. However, I can see how this book would be more popular with other artists. Others may like the descriptions of technique in chapters based on type of paper instead of tutorials. show less

Lee Hammond's All New Big Book of Drawing Beginner's Guide to Realistic Drawing Techniques by Lee Hammond is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary.
I love this book! It has so much for the beginner like me. There are almost 90 step by step exercises in pencil and colored pencil! She has always been one of my favorite artists anyway, but I am definitely going to buy this book! There are so many tips and techniques to show how to achieve realistic drawings from skin to show more feathers, sunsets to clothes, how to pick the right tool, technique, perspective, and so much more. Just reading this book made me feel more confident that I could do this with her instructions and practice. I really enjoyed the step by step projects. She broke it down and made the instructions easy to understand. This was such an exceptional book and a great tool for the beginner like me! Thanks! show less