Drawing Is Magic: Discovering Yourself in a Sketchbook

The media could not be loaded. Drawing is Magic is a fun book to get you into the habit of drawing with a sketchbook.The author is John Hendrix, an illustrator and educator. The text in this book is written in an enthusiastic tone, the drawing activities are fun, illustrated examples lively and ideas plenty.This book is great for beginners who want to pick up sketching, and help you develop a love for drawing. What it doesn't cover are the fundamentals of drawing, e.g. the more academic stuff such as proportion, composition, values, etc. This book is more of an outlet for you to put pen to paper, and you can even draw on the pages inside. If you want to take drawing further, then you source out other drawing books.Other books you might enjoy if you like this book are:Art Before Breakfast: A Zillion Ways to be More Creative No Matter How Busy You ArePlaying with SketchesFreehand: Sketching Tips and Tricks Drawn from ArtJust Draw It!Sketch!: The Non-Artist's Guide to Inspiration, Technique, and Drawing Daily Life(See more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

I really like this book. I like the layout, the graphics, the colors. There are lots of good ideas here and different ways presented to approach one's drawing. However, I do disagree with his basically pen (or crayon) only; no erasing "commandment." Not only have I used both pencils and colored pencils in this book, I have "double-downed" on the importance of an eraser and erasing, at least for me. Additionally, I purchased a set of erasable colored pencils to go with my usual colored pencils. In fact, this book, has taught me the importance of pencils in my artwork and that not even crayons can take the place of pencils for me in artwork. Additionally, I have adapted the "art assignments" to my greatest joy in drawing; birds. Oh Well! So, what can I say about this book. In it own unique way, it has brought to who I am as an artist, including furthering my studying on how the right brain vs. the left brain is involved. So, I thank you, John Hendrix, in your unique way of emphasizing pens, and no erasing, I have realized what is important to me, personally and uniquely, as an artist. Thank you.

This is one of the best books for inspiration and advice for anyone wishing to start a drawing practice. If you are worried that you have nothing unique to bring to the table, you are in for a great surprise. The exercises that fill this book are fun, innovative and interactive and will draw out and help you develop your own ideas and your own individual approach to art. it would be hard to find a better role model than John Hendrix for maintaining a drawing journal. His amazing, delightful art work informs every page and every word of this terrific book.

I have long admired John Hendrix's work. I am an illustrator with a drawing habit. I bought this book because I admire John's art and design. Usually workbook type art books are light on content and heavy on blank pages; this book is heavy on content. It is a treasure trove of advice for artists. I especially love pages 16 & 17 because they illustrate the absolute best advice about drawing: draw constantly + don't care if the results are terrible. No better advice was ever given to artists, and yet this is the hardest part, letting ourselves draw the less than good to get to the good. John wrote and illustrated this book. I love thinking about how he gleaned the information in this book, as well as the design, from his years of sketchbooks. The concise way he presents his words and supporting illustrations is a great example to any illustrator or designer.There is no table of contents, but here are the chapters:1. Draw Everywhere2 .Solve Problems on Your Own Terms (or draw what you love)3. Find Joy in Making (or learn to play)4. Make Stuff. Say Stuff. (or create your own content)5. Expect Failure (or learning = iteration)

fun and motivating. Love the encouragement and creativity.

While I still feel a little weary about directly drawing in a job (for me, I prefer to do most of the exercises in my sketchbook or on loose paper), this book is perfect to boost up the creative juices. It's fun and nonthreatening, and the author's artwork is whimsical and quite inspirational. I got a second copy for my fiancé so we could both enjoy this book without hogging it.

I thought this book would have some interesting, creative drawing prompts but I was very disappointed. The prompts are very childish and mostly silly. I have no desire to draw weird looking animals or strange images that I can't relate to. Illustrating what I just had to eat is also not my idea of drawing the best out of myself. I feel I wasted my money on this.

Absolutely loving this book, I bring it with me everywhere. I was suffering from a creative block for a few months but after using this book, I feel like I want to CREATE again! It has so many fun prompts and pages to fill out to spark your imagination as well as help you make drawing a daily habit. Highly recommend this book.