How to Draw Cool Stuff: Shading, Textures and Optical Illusions

I opted for a used in good condition book. The book arrived quickly and appears to be in a like new condition.I'm just getting back into art and was looking for something easy and with enough detail to help me accomplish what it is I'm drawing. This book accomplished that, it provides enough details without weighing me down with a bunch of extra nonsense.I'm very happy with my purchase and will be buying other editions of this book. It's 238 pages long, 1/2 inch thick and well with the price!

If you liked Catherine Holmes' first book, How to Draw Cool Stuff: A Drawing Guide for Teachers and Students, then you'll like this sequel as much.Once again, Holmes opens with similar encouragement and general tips for students, slightly reworded (and some saved/elaborated upon for an ending in this book rather than ending abruptly with a lesson). The teacher specific instructions aren't as extensive; personally I think inserting the same instructions verbatim from the first book would be fine for continuity and a refresher.This book includes a table of contents (hooray!) whereas the first didn't.This book is structured like the first with each lesson containing the know, understand, do and vocabulary prior to actually drawing. I think this works great for teachers and students alike. If students understand the principles behind the lesson, they are more prepared for the actual mechanics of drawing. Many will probably produce better, more skilled artwork with this background knowledge.This book, as the title suggests, covers shading, textures and optical illusions. Lessons are new and not repetitive from the first book. Shading lessons include flowers, ribbon, a pear, and a portrait. Then some lessons are broken down into a line art drawing (studies simple shapes, curves, etc.) and their counterpart shaded version. Other lessons include the skeleton, mandalas (I especially like the personalized mandala), a dreamcatcher, Zen Doodles, optical illusions, and "impossible objects" ( MC Escher-esque geometrics). Zen Doodles are basically zentangles, but covered briefly from a beginner standpoint.The "cool stuff" section includes a chain link heart lock, hourglass, baseball cap, koi fish, t-Rex dino, self portrait with text, Rube Goldberg machine, sugar skulls and a human heart. Some students might not find some of these to be "cool," but most should enjoy at least some of them. The basics of the human head portrait are repeated, but not the detailed features like eyes and lips as in book one.One thing I would've like to seen:-- an illustration showing how the placement of shading changes with the position of the light sourceThe book wraps up with encouraging tips such as the uniqueness of your own art and the rewards of creativity.How to Draw Cool Stuff: Shading, Texture, Pattern and Optical Illusions is a worthy sequel and Holmes fans will enjoy it.

This review is for the Kindle version. I am always cynical when I buy drawing books because most start with ellaborate drawing exercises the author tells you to do daily. Which if that is not part of your daily drawing routine you are short changing yourself. When I was in the military there was a saying train as you fight and I have always practiced that motto which has paid dividends with this book.The book starts out simple to complex, which any logical drawing book should. The first chapter is is about more efficient ways of drawing proportional basic 3D geometry. This has made my basic shape practice vastly efficient, I am not filling whole pages just to get the proportions correct.As you get further into the book things start to get more complex with proper shading techniques and which pencils should be used in which ways. Then into mandalas which are extremely complex but the way Catherine lays them out the process is easy.I will definitely pickup her other books due to her method of instruction that out the complex drawing theories and makes them easy to digest. One thing I would like to add her other book some reviewers have bashed because of the content. As a beginning artist you want maximum exposure to everything. This will directly tie into whatever discipline you choose to draw and will make you more well rounded regardless of your beliefs.If you serious about drawing progression I would highly recommend this book. It has opened my eyes to the other diluted drawing books I own.