Illustrator's Guidebook 1

A lot smaller then I expected, but beautifully made and wrote and illustrated and easy to follow.

When using art resources online, I always feel like there's this "missing step" between the tutorial and the end result. This book helps fill some of those gaps for me. (Granted, the real answer is "time and patience.")

Let me be clear: this book is not a tutorial. This is selection of artists showing how they do their work. I find it helpful because it's a set of examples of real people showing how many concepts they start with and how many steps they take to get their end result. Which vary! And that's okay.

I personally love this book. It's not super in-depth, and some of the topics get the lightest of touches (the composition section is notably sparse), but on the other hand, the book featured more topics than I expected. And, well…they've got to give you reasons to purchase the other volumes!

I splurged on the hardcover edition, and for the most part it's really nice. The cover, the bookmark accent and ribbon, they're all nicely accented. The binding is a little weak in the center—not enough that pages are going to fly out, but enough that if you're constantly using the book for 10 years, they might.

If you've got the money, it's a "buy" from me, and I'm happy enough with it that I'll be looking at their other books. Very happy I came upon the 21-Draw website!

The content touches on a (very) broad range of topics. The overall substance of the book is limited by its page count to being an overview, a sampler, a white, Midwestern protestant super hero from the Marvel Universe. Aka: nothing substantial.
If the British soldiers from the movie Bridge Over the River Kwai were to give this book a cheer, it would be "Hip, hip... Meh."

I am almost done paying 169 dollars for 2 books that have still yet to make it to me…… very upset about this

This guidebook really did help me break through some mental barriers when it came to drawing by hand. Gave me a fresher and better understanding on the whole concept of art and perspective!