Art for Kids: Drawing

As the cover states, "The Only Drawing Book You'll Ever Need to Be the Artist You've Always Wanted to Be!" I think it just might be true! Although written for kids, it doesn't speak down to them, instead it reads like it was written for adults. The reason for this is the author is actually addressing artists - and the effect is wonderful! She knows that all kids are artists, and becoming a wonderful artist is something they are all completely capable of. Consequently, the text and instructions are filled not just with encouragement, but with complete confidence. I really love the coverage and progression of this book. It explains many wonderful drawing techniques and tricks that I learned in a college drawing course and should be taught to children when they are just beginning. It starts with the simplest concepts, like appropriate materials (nothing fancy here, just a brief summary of different types of basic pencils and paper), exploring how to really see what you're drawing, and various types of lines. These lessons provide the foundation for the later lessons, which cover light and shadow, proportion and scale, perspective, drawing faces, and drawing bodies (don't worry - no nudity here!). Throughout each lesson, lots of great advice and a handful of effective, beneficial drawing exercises help children practice each concept. Another great thing about this book is that it is high-quality - the pages are thick and glossy, with color used throughout - it's hard for children to learn drawing with black and white pictures and then try to move on to real objects and suddenly have to translate color into their drawings. Any child with the motivation for working through this book will reap huge benefits in their artwork, and the exercises can be done again and again for additional practice, so even after it is complete it's worth having around. 112 pgs, pb.