An actual quality how to draw book for young teens.
#1
So this is something that has been brewing in the back of my mind for a while. A how to draw book where anyone who actually knows anything doesn't cringe like hell when we look at it.

The idea is to make a book in direct competitions of the likes of Christopher hart, in terms of it is supposed to be a cheap fairly short book that relatives will buy a kid as a shitty Christmas present because they heard they like drawing. But it will be peer reviewed by professional artists, and contain strong fundamentals.

The more i think about it the harder i realize it is going to be, as i want to punch in as many fundamentals as i can, but still be straightforward, and provide a perfect basis in which the kids then can jump to traditional drawing texts. I'm not really thinking too much about how i would get it published, whether crowd sourcing is a valid solution after i have it written, or to approach traditional publishers.

So far I'm making this thread as a commitment to get it done.

Essentially it's going to be the opposite of this

[Image: C4SVqOD.jpg?1]

Ok the goals.
  • To be approachable by absolute beginners
  • Inspire creativity
  • Promote good drawing habits, squash bad (petting lines ect)
  • layout a simple but solid foundation of fundamentals
  • Not look too adult or difficult that an adult will not buy it for their
  • draw characters of varied ethnicities and genders. I don't want to make it a big issue, but maybe have a character that is subtly gay? And avoid stupid stereotypes like "dumb kid" "glamorous teen".

Specific non goals
  • it won't teach colour theory
  • It won't compete with the likes of the traditional life drawing



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Another concern that i have is that i am not good enough, but i hope to circumvent that with peer reviewing and iteration on all the drawings.

Drawing out of perspective is like singing out of tune. I'll throw a shoe at you if you do it.
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#2
Started writing it in google docs, so far all the drawings are going to be placeholder, and the text will be far more verbose than the final.

I think it is far easier to condense complex text than to expand simple text.


https://docs.google.com/document/d/10efh...JDPK8/edit

Drawing out of perspective is like singing out of tune. I'll throw a shoe at you if you do it.
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#3
This is a really awesome idea! I used how to draw books when I was a lot younger, and I picked up some terrible drawing habits from them. I don't know how half of them even made it to publication.
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#4
I think its because most serious attempts have been seen as too complicated for kids by the publishers, and thus don't make it through.

Learning how to draw a shitty drawing is nowhere near as daunting as learning to draw something well.

I think the hardest thing will be to make drawings which are approachable but also teach good habits.

Drawing out of perspective is like singing out of tune. I'll throw a shoe at you if you do it.
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#5
Great idea!
Really hope it will work out and that you find a publisher ^^

Good luck!
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#6
I recently watched http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctkRwRDdajo Betty Edwards - Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain. She explains drawing really good for someone who never had contact before with art. Also it make ME realize how different I see world in comparison to non-artists. Maybe this will give you some ideas for topics to prepare :)

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#7
That's a great idea, I'm watching it now. ( i should probably sleep though haha)

I've got a pretty decent idea about how people draw in symbols but it's helpful to learn other ideas on the subject.

Drawing out of perspective is like singing out of tune. I'll throw a shoe at you if you do it.
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#8
That's a really cool idea Muz :p Can't wait to see more of this

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
-Lao Tzu

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#9
Man, yes! This is a really good idea. I hope we get to read some, I might learn some stuff. Looking forward to this!

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#10
Kickass idea! I wish I could come up with some good stuff for this summer pitch.

BTW, The tick rules.

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#11
I need to do more work on this, I'm just focusing on getting everything ready for this job interview on Tuesday though.

:)

I am having second thoughts about whether i am actually good enough to make such a book, maybe a better approach is to do the bulk of the writing work but also outsource a bunch of work on it to better artists. Focus on making it a collective input of knowledge of pro's and not just one.

Drawing out of perspective is like singing out of tune. I'll throw a shoe at you if you do it.
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#12
Good luck with that, dude!

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#13
i wasted a lot of money on useless how to draw books when i was younger and innocent so i wish you the best of luck with this project! Also, good luck with that interview!

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