10 Step Drawing: Flowers

This is the companion to Heather Kilgour’s 10 Step Drawing Animals (also found on this site).  Just like its fellow you can learn how to draw seventy-five beautiful flowers and arrangements in just ten steps with this useful primer. Each flower is shown being constructed a stage at a time on one or two pages taking you from a mere shape or line to a finished colored drawing.

First the introduction explains how the process works and tells you what you need to buy and why.  Pencils or paints are the suggested mediums for adding color, and anybody who is even mildly interested in art or a keen crafter will already own most of what they will need.  The book is divided into four sections comprising blooms, blossoms, botanicals and displays.  Blooms are your basic garden favorites, blossoms can be found on trees in spring, botanicals are more unusual items (actually rather a mixed bag) and displays are bouquets and wreaths.  Even a drawing novice can easily get the line drawing right; adding color is trickier and a true beginner will probably want to purchase a basic book in their chosen medium.  This is, after all, a book about drawing not coloring and it certainly succeeds in showing how simple it is to draw a line drawing of a flower. One thing to help you with the color aspect is the row of circles at the bottom of each page showing the colors used, which is a nice touch. Choose from garden flowers like foxgloves, a water lily, rose and bluebell or depict cherry blossom, crab apple blossom or magnolias.  Draw botanicals such as aloe vera, pitcher plants and Christmas cactus or sketch a festive wreath, wild flower bouquet or a bunch of spring bulbs.   Each flower has a short piece about it and to help you choose your project there is a list of contents at the front.  If you want to learn to draw flowers from scratch this is a good place to do so.

-- Rachel Hyde * myshelf.com *

This new series presents what we might call a quick route to drawing. Each of the 75 projects includes nine outline stages, plus a final one where the colour is added. What is most useful is the simple shapes with which each begins. If you’re new to drawing, getting this right can be the hardest part and represents the foundations on which the finished result will stand or fall. Beginners should find the process reassuring and the routines easy to follow and get to grips with. The method and results are really quite attractive.

-- Henry Malt * Artbookreview.net *

These guides provide a simple introduction for the absolute beginner. By using a standard way of working and a repeated template, they help to ensure reliable results every time and a level of success that can only be encouraging. 

* The Artist, April 20