Lee J. Ames - Draw the Draw 50 Way: How to Draw Cats, Puppies, Horses, Buildings, Birds, Aliens, Boats, Trains, and Everything Else Under the Sun

Draw 50 Airplanes, Aircraft, and SpacecraftDraw 50 AliensDraw 50 Animal ToonsDraw 50 AnimalsDraw 50 AthletesDraw 50 Baby AnimalsDraw 50 BeastiesDraw 50 BirdsDraw 50 Boats, Ships, Trucks, and TrainsDraw 50 Buildings and Other StructuresDraw 50 Cars, Trucks, and MotorcyclesDraw 50 CatsDraw 50 Creepy CrawliesDraw 50 Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric AnimalsDraw 50 DogsDraw 50 Endangered AnimalsDraw 50 Famous CartoonsDraw 50 Flowers, Trees, and Other PlantsDraw 50 HorsesDraw 50 Magical CreaturesDraw 50 MonstersDraw 50 PeopleDraw 50 PrincessesDraw 50 Sharks, Whales, and Other Sea CreaturesDraw 50 VehiclesDraw the Draw 50 Way Copyright 2005 by Jocelyn S. Ames and Murray D. Zak All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Watson-Guptill Publications, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York, in 2012. WATSON-GUPTILL and the WG and Horse designs are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. Originally published in trade paperback in the United States by Broadway Books, a division of Random House Inc., New York, in 2005. Ames p. cm.
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DrawingTechnique. I. Title: Draw fifty way. II. Title: How to draw cats, puppies, horses, buildings, birds, aleins, trains, and everything under the sun. III.

Title.
NC730.A567 2005
741/2dc22 2004058579 eISBN: 978-0-7704-3296-6 v3.1 To Jocelyn with love, always

If we taught children to speak, theyd never learn. W ILLIAM H ULL Thirty or forty years ago, I read this quote. It stuck with me because I believe we often learn best through imitation. In many of my books I have advised that mimicry is prerequisite to creativity. Its wonderfully effective to imitate, copy, or trace what others have done in order to develop ones own tools for drawing before attempting to produce something original. The Draw 50s provide a method, a method of conceiving, observing, developing, constructing, improving, and finishing a subject. The Draw 50s provide a method, a method of conceiving, observing, developing, constructing, improving, and finishing a subject.

I started drawing 50 more than thirty years ago with Draw 50 Animals. Now, there are twenty-seven titles in the Draw 50 series, and each of them walks you through a step-by-step way to draw a particular subject from boats to beasties to cats to dinosaurs. The Draw 50 Way brings together some of my favorite drawings from these books, so you can get a sense of how to draw anything from a cow to a Viking ship. Youll notice that each drawing here is identified by the subject and by the Draw 50 book it came from, so if you find yourself wanting more, youll know where to look. I hope you will enjoy drawing as much as I have for the past eighty years! L EE J. A MES , BTG

Before you begin drawing, here are some tips on how to use and enjoy this book.

When you start working, use clean white bond paper or drawing paper and a pencil with a moderately soft lead (HB or No. 2). Have a kneaded eraser on hand (available at art supply stores). Choose any one of the subjects in the book that you want to draw, and then very lightly and very carefully sketch out the first step. As you do, study the finished step of your chosen drawing to sense how your first step will fit in. Make sure that the size of the first step is not so small that the final drawing will be tiny, or so large that you wont be able to fit the finished drawing on the paper.

Then, also very lightly and very carefully, sketch out the second step. As you go along, step by step, study not only the lines but also the size of the spaces between the lines. Remember, the first steps must be constructed with the greatest care. A wrongly placed stroke could throw the whole drawing off! As you work, it is a good idea to have a mirror available. Holding your sketch up to the mirror from time to time can show you distortions you might not see otherwise. As you are adding the steps, you may discover that they are becoming too dark.

Heres where the kneaded eraser becomes particularly useful. You can lighten the darker penciling by strongly pressing the clay-like eraser onto the dark areas. When youve put it all together and gotten to the last step, finish the drawing firmly with dark accurate strokes. There is your finished drawing. However, if you want to further finish the drawing with India ink, applied with a pen or fine brush, you can clean out all of the penciling with a kneaded eraser after the ink completely dries. Remember, if your first attempts do not turn out too well, its important to keep trying.

Practice and patience do indeed help. I would like you to know that on occasion when I have used the steps for a drawing from one of my own books, it has taken me as much as an hour or two to bring it to a finish. So have fun learning to draw The Draw 50 Way.

Draw 50 AnimalsDraw 50 Animals