Sketching With A Pencil, for Those who are Just Beginning

by John Hamilton

“Hamilton explains, in a fine text accompanied by many simple sketches and finished drawings, how to sketch. He succeeds in encouraging development of competence and increasing satisfaction for amateur artists using the simple materials of paper, pencil, and eraser. Concentrates on fundamentals: how to hold a pencil and compose a drawing; and creating the illusions of depth and distance.” —Kliatt.

Genres: Art, Visual Art

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John Hamilton MC (1919–1993) was a British army officer and artist.

Reviews

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great little book about how to sketch and draw with pencil. It has some lovely sketches in various stages, so you can see how each effect was reached. It really made me think about composition and some basic techniques that, although simple, are still very effective.
I'm no artist, but I found it interesting to see these little sketches explained and analyzed.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short book covering some basic sketching concepts like perspective and composition. The pencil drawings throughout are stunning and the advice is useful. Rated higher than I would have otherwise because I liked the art so much.

[Lendl Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just what I was looking for: a short book with brief/simple tips and some great examples to imitate.

[Nancie Lafferty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet. Minimal suggested needed drawing tools and nice, concise instructions on choosing a subject and executing a sketch. Quite helpful.

[Beverly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'd give it 1.5 stars if I could. I'm a not-quite-advanced beginner, yet I could not wrap my head around his sparse explanations of basic sketching concepts. I suppose I could imitate the sketches he includes and learn that way, but I had hoped to find written explanations that would enable me to understand basic concepts intellectually as well as in practice.

[Skippy Mclizard · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are great sketches in the book that are inspiring, throughout. The explanations he gives on perspective and vanishing points are intentionally sparse, he even says so, he's pretty much saying "DRAW!" which I think is great advice for the beginner. Nice, short, and to the point, and great examples to play with and be inspired by, totally worth the time investment. Enjoy!

[Blue Caeruleus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nice for learning to sketch. The sketches in this book are done in such a way as to make it seem that you could immitate the artist. It's very encouraging in its style and technique.

[Jose Araguz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not amazing but great for wrapping your head around some ideas as you begin to explore sketching.