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I need a good drawing textbook for my 5th grader


TKDmom
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I'd like a book that teaches the student directly. DD's drawing abilities surpassed mine years ago. :tongue_smilie:

 

She's already worked her way through several Ed Emberly Books, "What Shall I Draw Today?", and now she's going through her brother's Draw Write Now books in her free time. I think she's ready for something more realistic in style--especially when it comes to drawing people. She's always making ds's sit still for her while she tries to figure out how to draw people. A book geared to older students would be fine, as long as there's nothing...ah...inappropriate for young children's eyes.

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I would start with the local library. They are likely to have any number of drawing instruction books. She could sample and see which ones appealed to her. My 11 yo is obsessed with drawing manga-style figures now, for instance. Don't forget to check both the adult and the children's sections.

 

The one I really want to get is this course (the first 19 lessons are free) http://www.alienthink.com/ which teaches figure drawing from the inside (skeletal and muscular structures) out. I've done the first few lessons and was amazed at how it helped me produce something that was recognizably human (and I have just about zero artistic ability ;)). I haven't seen anything yet that would make it an issue for my 11 yo daughter, but I can't guarantee there are no full nudes at all in the program. To give context for our level of comfort, we've never had an issue with her seeing nudes (statues or paintings) in an art museum as long as they aren't portrayed as engaged in certain activities, but I don't seek them out. If you look at the figure sketching samples, the "bits" basically aren't shown on the male (more like a Ken doll in that region than anything). I'm considering buying it at some point this year and trying to convince her to give it a real try.

Edited by KarenNC
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123 Draw People is 2 steps up from Ed Emberly and Draw Write Now.

 

123 Draw Knights, Castles, Dragons has slightly easier figures, with round heads instead of ovals, and a stiff rectangle trunk instead of 2 trapezoids with a waist.

 

I don't have most of this book anymore. I only have a few pages of it. But I remember liking it, a LOT.

 

http://www.amazon.com/More-How-Draw-Manga-Volume/dp/B003JTHVJW

 

It covers 12 female personalities and explains the subtle ways to draw them differently.

 

I have no memory at all about what it includes for nudes. I just remember I was able to apply information from this book, to fairly basic figures like in the books above. This might be going to far for a child, but I remember being absolutely fascinated with this book. How even changing the size of the pupil affects the drawing. I adored being able to apply such advanced technique to such basic figures, without needing to make more advanced figures in general.

Edited by Hunter
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Thank you ladies! The Lee Hammond books look most like what I was thinking, so I've got a couple of those on her wish list now.

 

If you choose (a) different one(s) than my son has, could you tell me which and how your daughter likes it. My son is coming to the end of the one we have and I'm thinking about which to go to next.

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This complete series is available free:

http://archive.org/details/cu31924014453967

 

There are also several drawing classes available for download via iTunesU.

 

The Augsburg books really are fantastic, especially the never grades 1, 2, and 3. My favorite parts are the crayon "paintings" which are just classic. They do include fantastic figure drawing of a 4 head high body, but I've already gotten started with using a 5 head model.

 

Jack Hamms Drawing the Head and Figure is a natural step up from the resources I listed perviously. It obviously includes nudes.

 

Also look at fashion design books. They are expensive, but some of them are fantastic for teaching proportion and balance.

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If you choose (a) different one(s) than my son has, could you tell me which and how your daughter likes it. My son is coming to the end of the one we have and I'm thinking about which to go to next.

 

I found a reasonably-priced copy of Bruce McIntyre's Drawing Textbook (I've looked at it before but it's OOP, and copies on Amazon are ridiculously high for a little booklet). DD grabbed it out of the mail and immediately started learning how to draw cubes and othe 3-D shapes. I will probably buy the Lee Hammond books after she works her way through this. The other Lee Hammond book I was looking at is on drawing fashion models--I figured drawing realistic clothes would be a good next step after drawing the people themselves.

Edited by bonniebeth4
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Drawing Textbook was hard to find for awhile, but is readily available from a variety of homeschool providers now, including Rainbow Resource. Just because Amazon doesn't have it new and is selling it for a high price does not mean it is OOP. Look up the ISBN# at Amazon and google the ISBN and you will often find it available from a small publisher, or from Book Depository.

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