Drawing Wildlife

I am so glad I seen this I didn't want to know how to draw deer and what you've told me in the book is wonderful I would buy more of your product.

J.C. Amberlyn is a fine wildlife artist whom I have been watching evolve for almost 10 years, both for her nature art and her cartoon characters (love you, Space Chicken and Space Weasel!). This book does not tell you the magic secret of J.C. Amberlyn's incredibly lifelike animal art--that spark that animates each and every one of her drawings, no matter if it's unfinished or not. But it's the closest she can come, and she shares her unique artistic viewpoint and her 20+ years of wildlife studies with you with no holds barred. I understand that the publishers cut out a lot of her discourse on each animal's habits--too bad, because that was as entertaining as the drawing lessons in the preview edition I read some months ago. A second book, please, with the edited materials and more? But I digress.I am not an artist. I have trouble with stick figures. However, "Drawing Wildlife" gave even me some hope that with a little (lot!) of practice, I can draw something that someone besides my husband will recognize. My first bear (p.86) was actually overtly bear-esque, in fact. My daughter, who draws well, did even better, and my mother, who draws even better than my daughter, produced a wonderful bear on her first try from Amberlyn's directions.Amberlyn uses traditional art teaching methods such as uniting shapes with lines to form a coherent whole--except, when she's doing it, that cougar that consists of 1 circle, 4 lines, 2 rectangles, one triangle and 3 ellipses already has an animated, lifelike pose. As I said, magic! (See page 54). Also, I don't know how she does it, but no matter how unfinished the drawing around them, the eyes she produces stare at you right from the page (pp 22, 34). That's the wonder of J.C. Amberlyn, and although I can't make it happen yet, as I said--this book gives me hope!I can't recommend it highly enough for those who actually can draw. I think you'll see your own magic flow from your pencil in very short order. Way to go, J.C. Amberlyn!P.S.If you have never looked at J.C. Amberlyn's nature art or her cartoons, do yourself a favor and find her online.

The book is well written and we'll made. Unlike some art books out there, it isn't a step A and then step Z, but is more extensive and has a lot more to work with in each demonstration.Just so you know when you buy the book, so that you aren't taken off guard. The whole book is in black and white minus the mule deer demonstration. You don't really need color to learn to draw animals, since it is a drawing book an not a colored pencil book. There are tons of online or book references out there to fill that need in if you desire. This book is a great starter for those learning animal art.It has a lot of line of action style setups (shape and line drafts) which is good too, skeleton anatomy, a little bit of motion for those interested in animation, realism, and some stylized.

I have not yet had time to sit down and work from this book but I am looking forward to it. It has an abundance of illustrations included. If I can't learn to draw the wildlife from this book then frankly I'm not trying. An instruction book can not be all things to all people or it would be called a library, so this book has some good and some missing.GOOD: lots of illustrations, some good closeups of eyes, ears, noses & feet/paws/hooves. Each animal has a completed drawing with sufficient pencil marks so you can see the direction of the fur and the obvious shaded areas for the pose.MISSING: Not all animals are shown with multiple poses and some only show a frontal and full side with no "action" or 3/4 view - HOWEVER - it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out a few things yourself given the amount of material in the book. This book does NOT teach color. There is only one drawing done in a monotone brown, the color photo.

This book should be purchased (or borrowed) by people who already have some basic founding skills in drawing wildlife, or life in general. It does start you out with circles, cones and boxes, but it then jumps straight to detail. So, if you're not that far yet in the process, don't buy this, or you won't learn anything from it, for it is the next stage in developing your talent!The instructions are somewhat limited, but again, the book assumes you're already learned in the drawing process.The illustrations are nice, starting with bone and muscle structure, which teaches you where hollows and points are underneath all that fur and that fluffy animals are not just a big pile of it. They are also simple enough to make you feel like you are on the same level, without overwhelming you with tiny details and "I could never draw that" illustrations that you find in some books.The information given about each particular species and families of animals are keen and teach you how they would behave naturally (very good information for drawing action poses!). It also advises to go to parks and zoos to observe your subject, to get a feel of how they move and act. The author also encourages the artist to "let loose" once in a while and add some style and flair to their drawings (think Disney animals!).Overall, a very good piece of learning material that I think most young artists should have within their reach (I am 20).

Bought this so my daughter could learn more realistic drawing bs cartoon. She loves it and turns out her younger siblings do too!

Amazing book, with lots of instructions. Should be with every artists. Bought for my sister after she showed interest in art

Nothing. To dislike good straight forward book .

excellent

Love the in depth description of the different groups of wild animals.Love the perspective & presentation of drawing from angles...It is a wonderful book to guide novice painter who is attempting drawing of wild animals.

Beautifully illustrated, with a brief introduction to each animal. Very well organised, with animals classed group wise. Excellent paper quality. What more does want? Just loved the book. Bought to learn deer drawing, but now it's inspired me to even draw squirrels!