Aspasia Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 I want to get some simple how-to-draw books for my 5-year-old. I'm not interested in Drawing With Children or anything teacher-intensive like that. I just want those books with step-by-step drawing instructions. I've been looking at the Dover books as well as some Ed Emberley books. Can anyone compare the two, and what else would you recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PookieMama Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 My children (5-9yo) love the Draw Write Now series. We have all 8 books. Nice step-by-step instructions on how to draw all sorts of stuff. We have several different series of step-by-step drawing books, but these are the ones my dc reach for over and over again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Ed Emberley Or the Doodles for Lunch series Or subscribe to Mark Kistler's site... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Ed Emberley Or the Doodles for Lunch series Or subscribe to Mark Kistler's site... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
three4me Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 We like Draw Write Now and the Kumon drawing book (which starts out easier than DWN). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlight Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 we liked the usborne let's draw people book. i think it would be perfect for a 5 year old. seema Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 The Big Yellow Drawing Book (O'Neil) -- awesome, simple first drawing book for ages 4+ -- don't be fooled by the simple cartoon look -- you really learn a TON from this book! Afterwards, move on to Mark Kistler's Draw Squad (age 6+) And a wonderful step-by-step drawing book for age 5+ is the "1, 2, 3 Draw" series, especially the ones by Freddie Levin. Our DS drew an incredible tiger at age 5 following the steps in the book; he was so proud! :) Enjoy! Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 (edited) I want to get some simple how-to-draw books for my 5-year-old. I'm not interested in Drawing With Children or anything teacher-intensive like that. I just want those books with step-by-step drawing instructions. I've been looking at the Dover books as well as some Ed Emberley books. Can anyone compare the two, and what else would you recommend? It's time to start a home art library. What fun! Ed Emberley, 123 Draw, Draw Write Now, as already said. Augsburg Art with a Purpose Sachiko Umoto books Using Color in Your Art is written to be used with paint, but most of it can easily be adapted to crayons. My Very Favorite Art Books Drawing Textbook Edited April 22, 2012 by Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Five More Minutes Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Ed Emberly is good, but my daughters prefer Draw Write Now. They also love anything by Mark Kistler -- both his books and his videos online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 My children (5-9yo) love the Draw Write Now series. We have all 8 books. Nice step-by-step instructions on how to draw all sorts of stuff. We have several different series of step-by-step drawing books, but these are the ones my dc reach for over and over again. :iagree: and over, and over, and over...... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I'm getting ready to purchase Mark Kistler through the Homeschool Buyer's Co-op. I don't know if you are a member or not but it is free to join and you can really end up saving a lot of money on great resources and curricula. My problem is I'm a member but constantly forget to buy through them. :glare: In any event, they have Mark Kistler, Meet The Masters, and Atelier on sale through them right now for art. Worth taking a look... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Ed Emberly and Draw Write Now were huge hits when mine were younger. Caveat, perfectionist 5 year old first born dd went insane when it didn't look exactly like the picture and I had to put the DWN away for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGHEALTHYMOM Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 My children (5-9yo) love the Draw Write Now series. We have all 8 books. Nice step-by-step instructions on how to draw all sorts of stuff. We have several different series of step-by-step drawing books, but these are the ones my dc reach for over and over again. :iagree:I just got the 8 set and my 3 dd's are drawing up a storm! They love them. And I have had tons of drawing, art, painting books for years. Boys seem to like Ed Emberly some. I just got the Fun Prints book and need some stamp pads. I also just got a Calligraphy kit since we are going to be studying the Middle Ages and I could not find the Chinese Kit new or at a decent price. Also, we have used Mona Brooks book: Drawing with children, but it takes more of my time. I was impressed with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Boys seem to like Ed Emberly some. I just got the Fun Prints book and need some stamp pads. . For now have them just draw circles instead of making thumb prints. I've been using the books for years and never purchased stamp pads. The strength of the fun print (finger prints) is the simple characters that tell such amazing stories with just a few strokes. If you have Ed Emberley's Green book with the "Prada People", all the "Bean Buddies" can be be converted into Prada people. Use the "Feelings" faces on the DWN figures. They work perfectly. Unless you think the stamp pads will be fun, I'd actually avoid introducing them and instead encourage the children to add the simple strokes learned in Fun/Fingerprints to their other more advanced figures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitterpatter Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 :bigear: I came across this series the other day. I'm considering it for DD, at least the animals one. I'm going to request it from my library before purchasing it. http://www.amazon.com/Animals-Easy---Read--Draw/dp/084314548X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335134550&sr=8-1 PS - I'm soooooooooooooo in need of a regular art program that satisfies me. You find anything yet? I ordered The Usborne First Book of Art, but it's not what I'm looking for. :sad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitterpatter Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 (edited) I'm not the OP, but thanks for this one. I'm digging it. The animal one is a step up from tee-total cartoons, yet not totally realistic. Kind of a middle step. :001_smile: The Big Yellow Drawing Book (O'Neil) -- awesome, simple first drawing book for ages 4+ -- don't be fooled by the simple cartoon look -- you really learn a TON from this book! Afterwards, move on to Mark Kistler's Draw Squad (age 6+) And a wonderful step-by-step drawing book for age 5+ is the "1, 2, 3 Draw" series, especially the ones by Freddie Levin. Our DS drew an incredible tiger at age 5 following the steps in the book; he was so proud! :) Enjoy! Warmest regards, Lori D. Edited April 22, 2012 by pitterpatter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 :bigear: I came across this series the other day. I'm considering it for DD, at least the animals one. I'm going to request it from my library before purchasing it. http://www.amazon.com/Animals-Easy---Read--Draw/dp/084314548X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335134550&sr=8-1 PS - I'm soooooooooooooo in need of a regular art program that satisfies me. You find anything yet? I ordered The Usborne First Book of Art, but it's not what I'm looking for. :sad: I think these same drawings might be in a $1.00 Scholastic book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I love the Usborne I Can Draw books! I just blogged about my DD using them (she just turned 6) http://evergreenhomeschool.blogspot.com/2012/03/drawing-success-and-plugging-along.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekfk Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I recently got a few of the Watch Me Draw books. My 7 year old loves them. They have stories that go with the pictures. Draw Write Now is excellent too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I recently got a few of the Watch Me Draw books. My 7 year old loves them. They have stories that go with the pictures. I like the looks of these. The style is compatible and could be combined with drawing from DWN. These books contain some subjects not covered in DWN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 (edited) pitterpatter said: I'm soooooooooooooo in need of a regular art program that satisfies me. You find anything yet? Neither DS was ever very "into" art, but we ALL liked this one -- VERY do-able, with real art instruction information, variety of projects and art media, not hard to prepare or do: How to Teach Art to Children (Evan-Moore). It says for grades 1-6; I'd say for homeschool use, it's more like Kinder-5th. We did about 1 lesson every 2-3 weeks, on our "fun Fridays", which gave us 1-2 hours of relaxed time to just have fun with the projects. BEST of luck in finding the art program that is a good fit for you and your family! Warmest regards, Lori D. Edited January 22, 2019 by Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALB Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Mark Kistler's online program is awesome for teaching young kids to draw well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LucyRev Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Since about age 6, my daughter has loved Drawing the Head and Figure by Jack Hamm. It isn't a curriculum. My husband and I had it on our bookshelf already, but it's an amazing resource if your child is very interested in art and wants to learn more. Granted, it might be overkill for most, but when my kiddo was obsessed with drawing faces, this book was great. She's a more right brained/whole to part learner and doesn't like being instructed step by step. She would look at the the examples in this book and then experiment with drawing noses in different ways, or try drawing faces from different angles. There is text also, but she couldn't read it at that time. Such fun to watch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Draw Write Now Simply the best drawing books for children to use solo, even at age 5. And one of the best investments I have made for our library. Simple easy to follow directions (non reader friendly) to create very nice, not cheesy pictures. There are even examples of how to use the picture in a scene. They have been used for pleasure drawing and school notebooking. I have scheduled for the first week of school 3 drawings from their books...grapes to go with Jesus is the Vine memory verse, Lizard for Amphibians notebook page, Alligator for Reptile notebook page. We used them all last year for our American History notebook and will use them again this coming year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Another vote for Draw Write Now! This is my favorite homeschooling purchase ever. It also really helped my dd with her motor skills as far as handwriting goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnylady303 Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Caveat, perfectionist 5 year old first born dd went insane when it didn't look exactly like the picture and I had to put the DWN away for her. :lol: This is so my first born too. She's 8 now and I'm trying a Mark Kistler book this year. Hope she can handle it because she really wants to learn to draw. We will see. OTOH my 6YO is completely content even when her drawings look nothing like anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daisylynn Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 I'm thinking about getting the Draw Write Now books. For those who have used them, how many in the series did you go through in a school year? I want to get enough to last us the year. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 I'm thinking about getting the Draw Write Now books. For those who have used them, how many in the series did you go through in a school year? I want to get enough to last us the year. Thanks! It's not so much about how many I go through a year. It's about having access to the topics we are studying in other curricula. I use them as a complete set, the way I use a set of encyclopedias as complete set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Five More Minutes Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 It's not so much about how many I go through a year. It's about having access to the topics we are studying in other curricula. I use them as a complete set, the way I use a set of encyclopedias as complete set. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 I had the complete set and used it by topic. A good friend bought one book per year in numerical order--she never matched her other curriculum as far as I know. One lesson was done by each child weekly. The dc worked incredibly hard at it and loved them. Showed us their art books whenever we visited. They are all young adults now and do still draw to varying degrees for pleasure. I would probably plan on 2 a year if you choose this route. At the time my friend started home ed curriculum was much harder to find and I think she was partly trying to ensure she had something as long as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motherdear Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 :iagree:ME TOO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daisylynn Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Thanks! So, using them by topic...they don't build on skills then I guess? I tried to look at examples but couldn't see enough to know for sure. Also, if I decided to just have them start at the beginning of the book and work through (instead of matching it up to the curriculum), I wouldn't need two of each book for my 2 kids then, is that correct? I could start one with book 1 and one with book 2 and they would be fine? I would love to get 2 complete sets and do them by topics to match our curriculum, but I don't know if that's in the budget, so I'm trying to figure the best way to do this:) Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PookieMama Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 I don't feel like it's a building-on-skills-as-you-go-thru-the-book thing, it's just topical to me. And there is really no need to get 2 sets. It's non-consumable. Just let the 2 dc share. If you go to CBD.com and look at the Table of Contents, you'll be able to see what is in each book. Here is Book 1, for example: http://www.christianbook.com/write-farm-kids-critters-storybook-characters/marie-hablitzel/9780963930712/pd/30710?item_code=WW&netp_id=128058&event=ESRCG&view=details Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeindeed Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 My children (5-9yo) love the Draw Write Now series. We have all 8 books. Nice step-by-step instructions on how to draw all sorts of stuff. We have several different series of step-by-step drawing books, but these are the ones my dc reach for over and over again. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 (edited) I do a mix of teaching from the 1st couple volumes and pulling lessons from all the volumes. Book 1 is a bit easier. Drawing people is taught in the first couple volumes. I made up this worksheet to supplement DWN. I often have the student draw the background only on scrap paper. Then draw the the main foreground item on scrap paper. And then combine them. All too often we only use the BACKGROUNDS in geography lessons. As time goes on the students learn to mix and match things they have learned to draw already. We have also used the basic shapes to zentangle. Ours don't look this good, but this will give you an idea of what I mean. Edited August 30, 2012 by Hunter 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daisylynn Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 I don't feel like it's a building-on-skills-as-you-go-thru-the-book thing, it's just topical to me. And there is really no need to get 2 sets. It's non-consumable. Just let the 2 dc share. If you go to CBD.com and look at the Table of Contents, you'll be able to see what is in each book. Here is Book 1, for example: http://www.christianbook.com/write-farm-kids-critters-storybook-characters/marie-hablitzel/9780963930712/pd/30710?item_code=WW&netp_id=128058&event=ESRCG&view=details Great, thanks! I was thinking that they were to draw IN the books. Good to know they don't so I only have to get one set:) I'll check out that link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Five More Minutes Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Thanks! So, using them by topic...they don't build on skills then I guess? Thanks! They don't build on skills (apart from the mapping to some degree); however, I feel that the drawing lessons in later books are slightly more difficult or complex than those in earlier books. I noticed that my children (5 & 6) would sometimes bog down if they chose an animal or item from Book 7 or 8; if we found something suitable in Book 1 or 2, they could quite easily handle it. Just my observations in our home. YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tranquility7 Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 (edited) We are LOVING Mark Kistler's online video drawing lessons. They are exxcellent! Neither DS (6) nor I have any particular art talent, but both of us are learning so much, and are very inspired! We are excited to take what we are learning and apply it to drawing botanicals for our nature study notebooks. The videos are easy to follow, but they go fast, so we pause sometimes so we can catch up to him. DS often watches videos on his own and rewatches them several times. We bought it through HS Buyers Co-op for 60% off (which it is still selling for). We have been doing the lessons for just a couple of weeks now (DS has probably watched 15; I've watched 4), and already both of us have produced some really lovely drawings, and as Kistler does the drawings he touches on all sorts of great art concepts (so far in the lessons I watched I can remember him talking about contour, shading, light source, shadow, value, drawing compass, foreshortened square and circle, depth, horizon... I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting). It has been SUCH a pleasant way for us both to learn to draw. I can't believe what we are able to learn from these simple video tutorials!! Here are our dragon drawings from last week. The first one is DS's, the second one is mine. I'm delighted at how much we are learning :001_smile: Edited September 3, 2012 by Glory 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Glory--just wanted to say those are great drawings. Really impressive for so few lessons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tranquility7 Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Glory--just wanted to say those are great drawings. Really impressive for so few lessons. Thanks, Sawuk. I posted them only because we really *don't* have any actual talent - the lessons are just SO GOOD that Kistler is teaching even *us* how to draw!! If we can do it, anyone can. Truly :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deezin Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 (edited) I've never seen the Big Yellow Drawing book before...I'm going to give that one a try. I just bought the 2 books in the Drawing for Kids series - Drawing with Letters and Drawing with Words that my kids really love. I'm also looking for a book that will teach my kids perspective drawing..not sure what I will buy yet. Edited March 21, 2016 by deezin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RKWAcademy Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 Draw Write Now. My 6 year olds use them whenever they want, without my help. I have all the books. They just pick the subject that interests them and start drawing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachelpants Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 (edited) :bigear: I came across this series the other day. I'm considering it for DD, at least the animals one. I'm going to request it from my library before purchasing it. http://www.amazon.com/Animals-Easy---Read--Draw/dp/084314548X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335134550&sr=8-1 PS - I'm soooooooooooooo in need of a regular art program that satisfies me. You find anything yet? I ordered The Usborne First Book of Art, but it's not what I'm looking for. :sad: Home Art Studio DVD + read the art sections in the Core Knowledge Need to Know books? Edited March 22, 2016 by rachelpants Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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