Sketching School

by Reader's Digest Association

A guide to developing artistic skills presents simple projects that guide readers through the necessary tools, developing themes, keeping a sketching workbook, and more. 25,000 first printing.

Genres: Art, Drawing, Nonfiction, Crafts, Reference

172 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1992

About the author

The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. is a global media and direct marketing company based in Chappaqua, New York, best known for its flagship publication founded in 1922, Reader's Digest. The company's headquarters are in New York City, where it moved from Pleasantville, New York.

The company was founded by DeWitt and Lila Wallace in 1922 with the first publication of Reader's Digest magazine, but has grown to include a diverse range of magazines, books, music, DVDs and online content.

Reviews

[Melanie Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled across this book at a used bookstore when my sister came to visit earlier this summer. It was first published in 1991 in England and in 1994 in the States, and it's an unexpected treasure of information.

This is not a how-to book--it's more of a survey of various types of sketching with coordinating sketches and process work and quick, written tips. It covers a wide variety of themes from landscapes, life studies, portraits and figure study, nature, sketching on vacation, still life and interiors, cityscapes, animals and birds, and more.

There are also great tips on getting started, such as sketching outdoors and sketching on the move, sketching at the zoo, color notes and color studies, kitchen interiors, the magic of the line, visual shorthand, and more.

I read a handful of pages, slowly, each day for the past 3 weeks or a month, which is a good pace for a read-through of the entire book, although it has a handy glossary that would make zeroing in on a specific topic easy.

Unsurprisingly, while some of the information about designing fabric and sketching about new technology are way out of date (there's absolutely nothing about digital drawing, which understandably didn't exist yet in 1994), there's still much to be gleaned from this book as the basics of drawing--from the physical materials of pens and line-making, paper, and the techniques of making marks--remain timeless, despite 30+ years, which is part of the charm of drawing.

There are a lot of full-color plates of examples by several professional artists who have differing styles to illustrate the techniques discussed with captions. These drawings make just paging through the hardcover book for inspiration fun as well.

I'll keep this one on my bookshelf, handy for a page-through for inspiration for my sketchbook. It's a good reference for people interested in sketching or brushing up on what they already knew about drawing to get back into making images.

[Shanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Garage sale purchase. A page description and examples of every subject, technique, material and purpose for sketching. If only reading a book could improve my technique! With luck it will serve as motivation to practice.

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good reference book... I found it at the library and spent a month going through it. I'm not inclined to buy it, but it was worth my time to peruse it.

[Sweet Succubooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really give it 3 1/2 stars.

[Srivani · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fun to look through the sketches. I got some good ideas from this book. It certainly helped me loosen up a bit.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent examples.