You Can Draw in 30 Days: The Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less Kindle Edition

He makes learning to draw fun and easy for the absolute beginner. But don't think that because of his simple style you're missing out -- he explains the foundational principles then walks you step by step through applying a principle so that by the end have the experience of how to use the principles for a drawing of your own.

Good teaching book

This is a well-balanced book. While many how to draw books are overstuffed with text, this book focuses on providing the reader with a clear visual guide to drawing. Many other drawing books also seem to be more showcases for the author and short on the actual steps-this book is a pleasant exception. Most of the examples carefully show the reader each step in the process, which is rather critical for the beginning artist. However, some simply show the finished drawing and this is not very helpful.On the downside, the book stops a bit short. At the end, there is a very brief introduction to drawing hands and eyes, but it stops at this point without going into how to draw, say, a complete person.When considering a book like this, the main question I ask is this: did the book help me improve my drawing to a degree that is worth the price? In the case of this book, the answer is yes. By going through the 30 days of lessons, I could see a significant improvement in my drawing. However, the book mainly just takes the reader through some key basics-so if you are looking to learn more complicated matters (such as drawing a person, animal or scene) then you will want to also get another book to pick up where this very good introduction leaves off.Overall, this book is well worth buying. If you want to get the basic of drawing, get a a copy. Plus pencils, paper and a good kneaded eraser.

Over the years, many years, I have attempted to draw. I have worked my way through an enormous number of books, taken college classes, and attended other local classes without any real results. About five years ago I gave it up and only drew to enhance my ability to study an object or design it. All with a pencil, no computers.Then I discovered Zentangle and my interest in drawing was revived. What was good about Zentangle was its lack of judgment. After doing this for awhile (I still enjoy tangling) I spotted You Can Draw In 30 Days. I had given Draw Squad to my grandson so I wondered about this book. I bought it for my Kindle, and it was a good decision.The difference with Mr. Kistler's book is fun. While he is teaching serious lessons he is making the process light hearted and interesting. He tells you it is OK to draw weird cratered landscapes and funny aliens. He also employs many techniques that are taboo in the “serious art” community, such as tracing. Yes, Mr. Kistler encourages the student to buy tracing paper and trace drawings – including the great artists such as Leonardo and Rembrandt. And not just once. Ten to twenty tracings of the same artwork is urged. Dubious, I went ahead with the assignment and traced the Madonna of the Rocks over 10 times. The second and third tracings were boring, then I began to see what I had been missing and began improving my drawing. It was enlightening. Among the innumerable teachers and books I have encountered Mr. Kistler ALONE recommend this technique.The projects in You Can Draw in 30 Days are entertaining to go back to and easy to expand upon. Using the basics taught to draw a tree, for example, you can easily take up drawing many kinds of trees.His advice on using a clear clipboard with markers to practice landscape drawing is excellent advice. Mr. Kistler is a unique and positive teacher who has obviously put a lot of thought into making drawing possible for us mortals with little talent and he has tested these ideas in the classroom to insure they work.Most of Mr. Kistler’s work has a cartoon feel about it, but he is teaching lessons applicable to realistic drawing as well as fanciful. His drawing of the Madonna of the Rocks and the lesson on drawing eyes stresses realism. Make no mistake, after completing Mr. Kistler’s book you will have an increased ability to draw realistically.I also recommend How To Draw Anything by Linley. Although the approach is different I think his advice is excellent for those struggling to draw.AD2

The lessons in the book are broken out in a slow roll to teach you different lessons on perspective and shading, and scaling. All of the basics. I have never been able to draw, so I am very pleased with the results I have experienced with each and every lesson.

For about 30 years I've been saying oh I wish I could draw and one day I figured out no one was stopping me... Took me a long time, I know. So I just googled "how to draw books" and that's how I found this one. Took me maybe 34 days but I finished it. And it does what it says: it gave me the confidence or desire or curiosity to just sit down and draw things. It doesn't matter if they're pretty or technically perfect, nobody cares. I am having fun and coming up with crazy projects way above my level like "oh I'm gonna copy that photo of Lana Del Rey from the new album in my sketchbook" which was fun but of course doesn't look much like the original model. But, again: I am having fun, and I've drawn more in the past month than I have since elementary school and for that I am grateful. Money well spent.

I used to draw an exceptionally long time ago. However, I always wanted to get back to it, but staring at a blank page was not working for me. I purchased multiple books to get me started and finally found the right one. In all fairness, I started with colouring books until I got the confidence to dare to do more.This book will take you through simple activities that you can use to create your own masterpieces after just a few short lessons. The approach used to teach encourages students to experiment and be brave. As an educator, I can attest that this is a phenomenal textbook for any learner. After each lesson, students are challenged to a bonus activity that allows them to use the concepts learned.The writing and explanations are straightforward and fun. I just enjoy reading the instructions, as the writing is friendly, humorous, and feels directed right to you. It is like the after sees your fears and apprehensions and provides encouragement and advice to overcome it.This book not only got me started to draw again, but it provides you with sound fundamentals from the first lesson. You learn to draw properly. I like to complete the lessons in pencil and challenge myself to use coloured pencils and introduced colour to complete the bonus activities.Attached images are copies of bonus activities I completed within the first few lessons. The book exceeded my wildest expectations.If you have kids or friends interested in drawing, this is a phenomenal resource to complete the classes together. I highly recommend this book.

Continuo sendo um péssimo desenhista. Mas com o livro aprendi muitos conceitos e técnicas que me ajudam a desenhar de maneira mais consciente do que estou fazendo enquanto desenho. Recomendo ele para quem não sabe nada de desenho

En un principio dice que son lecciones como de veinte minutos pero más adelante te dice que les dediques unas tres o cuatro horas a ciertos ejercicios, de ahí en fuera es muy bueno para entender lo básico del dibujo, además de que el autor te explica las cosas de manera bastante clara y amena.Si tienes un nivel en inglés de medio para arriba creo que puedes entenderlo sin muchos problemas. Lo recomiendo.

Como tantos otros llego al dibujo tras años (décadas) pensando que yo no podría dibujar nunca por mi torpeza. Este libro ayuda y motiva a comenzar a dibujar, y se nota, en 2 semanas ya se aprecia la gran mejoría . Queda muchísimo por aprender y otros libros que estudiar, sí, pero para empezar de 0 es muy bueno.

I wanted to brush up my drawing skills, and needed a book to take me through a few basic exercises quickly. This book fit the bill perfectly.I worked through all the exercises in this book in the span of around 10-12 days. I was not unhappy with the results. I have now moved on to other books to further my education in drawing. I feel a bit more confident in my drawing abilities than when I started, now that I have a basic repertoire of interesting (but simple) images that I drew from this book.What I like about this book: it takes us through very simple exercises that expose us to different elements of drawing, such as shading, mark-making, and perspective. I especially liked the author's system of 9 rules of drawing. The author is not hesitant to recommend tracing and copying to learn drawing skills. I hadn't done this in a while and had forgotten how much fun it was. I also liked the author's emphasis on getting the student to draw images well quickly.The exercises themselves weren't very difficult since I used to draw and paint quite a bit as a kid and was somewhat good at it (relatively speaking). But I am revisiting these skills after a period of several decades, and my skills were definitely rusty.I wish the author had more practice exercises that took us through further elements of drawing. He also could have gone through a bit more technicalities of how to accurately draw from life, and how to shade. But I guess this book was meant for actual beginners in drawing. Note that you won't be able to draw complicated pictures right after this book. That will require further studying and practice. But this book will get you started in that journey.All in all, it was money well spent, and cost me less than a couple of in person drawing classes (in Indian terms). I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get started in drawing.