I tried to make sense of the Four Books, until love arrived, and it all became a single syllable.

Open this book as an absolute beginner, and come away as a proud portrait artist. Mark and Mary Willenbrink's Absolute Beginner books have helped thousands of novices tap into their inner artists. In this book, Mark and Mary help the beginning artist take on portraits, showing that absolutely anyone can draw faces. Their encouraging, easy-to-follow instruction style makes learning fun—you'll be amazed by how quickly you achieve impressive results. Drawing Portraits for the Absolute Beginner covers everything from warming up with sketches, and capturing facial expressions, to framing your finished work. Page by page, you'll build the skills and confidence you need to draw lifelike portraits of your friends and family. What's Inside: • A simple two-stage approach to drawing portraits: sketch a likeness, then build up values to bring it to life • Step-by-step instruction for drawing eyes, noses, mouths, hairstyles, hands, glasses and other tricky elements • 13 complete demonstrations featuring a range of ages and ethnicities • Tips for evoking more personality in your portraits by using props, costumes and accessories

This inspiring book makes drawing in a realistic style easier than you may think and more fun than you ever imagined. Authors Mark and Mary Willenbrink (Watercolor for the Absolute Beginner) cover it all—from choosing materials and the correct way to hold your pencil, to expert advice on the tricky stuff, like getting proportions and perspective right, drawing reflections, and designing strong compositions. (It's not as scary as it sounds…not with Mark and Mary as your guide!) At the heart of this book, a series of fun, hands-on exercises help you practice and perfect your strokes—24 mini-demos lead up to 9 full step-by-step demos. Each exercise builds on the previous one as you develop your skills, build your confidence, and enjoy yourself along the way. The lessons you learn by drawing simple subjects such as coffee mugs, clouds and trees will help you take on progressively more challenging matter like animals, still lifes, landscapes and portraits…the kinds of subjects and scenes you've always dreamt of drawing. This book is just the ticket for budding artists of any age. It's never too early and never too late to discover the pure joy of drawing.

An introduction to drawing, cartooning, and capturing the essence of a subject all while having fun. It features step-by-step instruction from Professor Blook, Loomis' alter ego on the page.

Andrew Loomis (1892-1959) is revered amongst artists - including comics superstar Alex Ross - for his mastery of drawing. His first book, Fun With a Pencil, published in 1939 is a wonderfully crafted and engaging introduction to drawing, cartooning, and capturing the essence of a subject all while having fun. With delightful step-by-step instruction from Professor Blook, Loomis s charming alter ego on the page. Andrew Loomis was born in 1892. After studying art he moved to Chicago, eventually opening his own studio, working in editorial and advertising for most of the top clients at the time including Kellogg s, Coca Cola, Lucky Strike and more. He also became renowned as an art teacher and his instructional books on realist illustration and art are acclaimed classics in the field. He died in 1959.

This complete kit makes it easy to start exploring the exciting art form of pencil drawing because it comes with everything a beginning artist needs—from a set of high-quality materials to comprehensive instructions. The project book covers the basics, such as handling the pencil and applying shading, before delving into simple step-by-step lessons that give would-be artists a chance to apply their newfound knowledge. And every lesson can be accomplished with the array of drawing materials provided. The hardcover case includes a 40-page paperback book with corresponding Spanish instruction, 6 drawing pencils (B, F, H, HB, 2B, 2H), a flat sketching pencil, a charcoal pencil, a sharpener, kneaded and rubber erasers, an artist’s triangle, 2 tortillons, a sandpaper block, and drawing paper and pad. Warning! This product is intended for use by ages 13 and older and is not intended for use by children.

Learn to draw the human figure with a two-step approach used by the biggest animation studios in the business with Figure Drawing for Artists.