You might get lost and end up frustrated in the later chapters. You might feel left behind without much genuine instruction. I've gone on about how people are using this and other reference books incorrectly. Here is my personal strategy to using reference resources to effectively learn without wasting time and getting lost in the weeds: With this book you’ll learn how to create perspective without any tools. Perspective does have specific rules, but if you learn how to eyeball these rules you’ll have a much easier time putting pencil to paper. Beginners should be wary only because this book won’t teach you everything, and it does have a big jump in skill level towards the later chapters.

And if you really like Scott Robertson’s writing style then you might also enjoy his other book How To Render. This is another book covering novice-to-intermediate topics and it works well for self-taught artists. The biggest challenge is the jump in skillset as you move along through each chapter. Once you move beyond the chapters on shapes & volumes the difficulty increases dramatically. Same with the chapters that talk about drawing environments, aircrafts, and vehicles. The goal isn’t to tell you how to draw. Instead it’s to get you thinking about how you want to draw and how you want to exaggerate.

the FUNDAMENTALS of LIGHT, SHADOW and REFLECTIVITY

I would say this book will help you improve certain fundamental skills, but not everything needed to become a pro.

In the very first chapter you’re given an outline of resources to use for your drawing lessons. Scott recommends working solely in ink to restrict erasing mistakes. For instance, three-point perspective is only afforded three short paragraphs, with the recommendation to use 3D software to achieve it. The reason? Real designers rarely have the time for three-point perspective. The result is a feeling of having signed up for a four-year degree program majoring in drawing with a minor in design, but ending up with the inverse.

Even while you work through these, do not hesitate to jump in and make a mess! Celebrate falling short of your own hopes and expectations! This is how we grow, not only as artists, but as human beings. For many of us, the only books we ever read are linear fiction and non-fiction, and maybe the occasional textbook in high school, where we skim for answers to a fill in the blank worksheet. This is not how reference material is utilized. Think of it like the old choose your own adventure stories, except instead of the possible endings being a mystery, you know your desired end goal and you have a table of contents to guide you. I see so many people reading this book like a story from cover to cover. Some take it a step further and do some exercises - which is a step up - but we can still do better.

This book teaches you how to draw perspective from the point of a comics artist. You’ll learn about characters, landscapes, animals, and construction techniques for drawing anything you want in realistic perspective. Readers might make the assumption that they’re expected to become incredibly skilled artists by the last 3-4 chapters. Note this will not happen unless you put in hours of time for months on end. So don’t be discouraged if you reach these later chapters without as much progress. This is why many people feel “How To Draw” isn’t really made for total beginners. Novice artists can work their way through basic lessons but will eventually hit a wall.How to Draw" (commonly referred to as H2D) by Scott Robertson is regarded by many self-taught artists as the pinnacle of resources - and for some it may very well be. To start with, is "How to Draw" what you need? We must be mindful and honest with ourselves when it comes to artistic goals, but as a beginner or intermediate, it is not surprising or bad to not fully know what our goals fully are. US college students change majors an average of three times before graduating, and about 80% of students change at least once. Perspective! for Comic Book Artists by David Chelsea is a fairly old book first published in 1997. But as with most art fundamentals, the topics never go out of style and there is no wrong way to learn. Scott’s knowledge is seemingly endless and it shows in this book. He teaches very powerful principles to master perspective and train your eye for imaginative drawing. You’ll find a ton of illustrations and links for online video tutorials that supplement the written content. Early chapters start with the basics of convergence, foreshortening, and just seeing the world in the right perspective.