The Complete Idiot's Guide to Drawing

What Is Drawing?
Drawing is ... The Artist's Answer.
Express Yourself.
Why You Draw, and Why Sometimes You Stop Drawing. Looking Through the Barriers.
Learning How to Look.
Open Up Your Eyes. The Gallery of Life.
Seeing Your Way to Drawing.
Techniques as Tools of Expression. Developing a Way of Seeing and Drawing.

Free Your Mind, Your Eyes Will Follow.
The Wonders of the Human Brain. Are You a Lefty or a Righty?
From "Logical Left" to "Relational Right".
Right-Left-Right: Your Brain Learns to Follow Orders. The Art of the Child.
Simple Materials to Begin.
Paper. Pencils. Eraser. Drawing Board. A Few Other Things.
Exercises to Get You on the Right Side (of the Brain).
Profile/Vase-Vase/Profile. Reviewing the Exercise.
When the Familiar Gets Unfamiliar.
Right Side Up/Upside Down. Copy a Complicated Drawing. Keep Up the Good Work.
Exercising Your Right(s).
Your Sketchbook Page.

Now You See It. Warm-Up for the Eyes and Hand. Entering the Flow. To Begin.
The Next Set-Send Off the Logical Left.
Contour Drawing of Your Hand-Without Looking. Contour Drawing of Your Hand-While Looking.
Another Set to Keep It Gone.
Contour Drawing of an Object-Without Looking. Contour Drawing of an Object-While Looking.
Farewell, Old Lefty.
YourSketchbook Page.

What Is a Picture Plane?
How to Use a Picture Plane.
Historical Uses of Drawing Devices. How a Picture Plane Works. Preparing a Plexiglas Picture Plane for Drawing. Isolate a Subject with the Picture Plane. Transfer the Drawing to Paper.
Your Sketchbook Page.

A Viewfinder Frame. Making a Viewfinder Frame. Using the Viewfinder Frame. Draw What You See in the Viewfinder.
Your Sketchbook Page.

Find Your Space.
The Virtues of Negative Space. Learning How to Use Negative Space.
Select an Object to Draw: They're Everywhere! A View Through the Viewfinder.
Where to Start-Location, Location, Location. Draw the Holes, not the Thing.
See the Object Through the Space Around It. Getting Negative.
Your Sketchbook Page.

Finding Space and Time.
Setting Up Your Drawing Room or Table. Studio Beautiful 101. The Best Time to Draw. What About Drawing Classes?
Beginning Materials You'll Need.
On Paper. Drawing Instruments. Storing Your Materials and Work.
Beginning Techniques to Use.
The Marks That Can Make a Drawing. Simple Geometric Shapes to Practice. Your Sketchbook Page.

What Are You Going to Draw?
Select Your Objects and Pick Your Subject. Choose the Format and the Paper.
How Will You Arrange the Objects?
Seeing Arrangement and Composition. See the View and the Distance.
On the Page.
Next Step: Establish Eye Level. Site the Image on the Paper Using the Center Lines.
Making a Simple Contour Drawing.
The Lightest Sketch to Begin. Check It Over. Correct It Now, Render It Later. Your Sketchbook Page.

What Is a Still Life?
Picking Objects: Classic, Contemporary, and Out There. Why Artists Love to Draw Fruit and Vegetables.
A Few Thoughts on Composition.
Off Center Is Often Better. Centering on Purpose. Charming Diagonals. Other Shapes to See in the Shapes of Things.
Composing a Still Life.
Choosing from a Group of Possibilities. Filtering and Framing for the View You Want.
Space in a Still Life.
Vantage and View. More Work on Eye Level.
Making Things Sit Down, or Roll Over, and Stay.
Ellipses Are Your Friends. When a Cube Is a Cube, in Space. When a Cylinder Is a Rectangle, with Curves. Fitting Other Shapes into the Boxes They Came In.
Drawing That Still Life.
See Your Still Life in Space. Site the Arrangement on the Page. Start with a Light Sketch to Position. Check Your Spacing. See the Detail in Each Object and Draw What You See. Your Sketchbook Page.

Line and Shape Are in the Lead, Form Follows Close Behind. Weight Is in the Rear, but Coming Up Fast. First Things First: Shape and Space. Now Start Again. Getting to That Finish Line.
Your Sketchbook Page.

New Materials.
New Papers. More Drawing Tools.
More Techniques.
Drawing in Circles Is not Going in Circles. Scale Is Sizing Things in Space. Measuring Angles in Space.
Back to That Race to the Finish Line.
And It's Details in the End-by a Hair. Take a Closer Look and See the Detail. Nature's Detail Is Unending.
At the Finish Line Again. Onwards and Outwards.
Your Sketchbook Page.

Why Keep a Sketchbook Journal? Artists on Their Work.
How They Feel About Their Studios and Tools. How They Feel About Drawing.
Different Kinds of Journals.
Travel Journals. Closer to Home.
Your Journal Is All About You. Using Your Journal.
Expressive Drawing. Drawing as a Form of Healing. Therapeutic Drawing. Spontaneous Drawing. Zen and Drawing. Your Sketchbook Page.

Through the Looking Glass.
Seeing as a Child. Look/Don't Look.
Guides Are What You Make Them.
Plastic Picture Plane Practice. A View Through Your Viewfinder Frame. Or, Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide.
Accentuate the Negative.
Making Arrangements. Slowly You Draw, Step-by-Step. Making a List and Checking It Twice. Form and Function. Getting Some Distance on Your Work.
Your Learning-to-Draw Cheat Sheet.
A Form for Form. Exercising Your Rights. Your Sketchbook Page.

Your House is Full of Ideas for Drawing Practice. Time Is of the Essence. Your Kitchen Is a Storehouse.
Silverware. Pitchers and Bowls.
Not Just for Sleeping Anymore.
Fabrics. Shoes. Hats and Gloves.
Drawing in the Living Room.
Try Another Chair. Antique Lamps-and Antique Things.
Objects That Reflect You. Bathroom Basics. A Sunny Window. Out of the House and onto the Patio (Door).
Your Sketchbook Page.

Botanical Drawing Is an Art.
Take Your Sketchbook with You. It Started with Eden.
Be a Botanist.
Work on a Blooming Stem. Butterflies, Insects, and Seashells, Too. Go Wild! The Almighty Vegetable. Garden Pots and Tools.
Gardens Other Than Your Own. What Else Is in Your Garden?
From Figures to Frogs-And a Few Deer and Gnomes. Birds, Birdhouses, Feeders, and Squirrels. Chairs in the Grass. Your Sketchbook Page.

Understanding Perspective.
Perspective Simplified. Perspective and the Picture Plane. Perspective in Pieces.
Tools for Landscape and Perspective. Getting Small and Smaller in Space. Learning to See, Measure, and Draw in Perspective.
Closing the Roof. Measure for Measure. A Few More Tips on Planes in Space.
Detail, Detail, Detail: God Is in the Details.
Your Sketchbook Page.

Go Out for a View.
But Which One? Framing the View.
On the Line-the Horizon Line.
On the Page: Siting Your View. Some Thoughts on Landscape Space.
Tools for Landscape and Perspective. Seeing and Drawing the Landscape. Photographs: To Use or Not to Use, That Is the Question. The Landscape in Pieces.
Trees and Shrubs. A Tangle of Textures, Vines, and Grasses. Beaches, Rocks, and Cliffs. Sky and Clouds. Water and Reflections. The Best for Last: The Small Things.
As Your Drawing Progresses.
Light, Shadow, Atmosphere, and Contrast. Detail Is, As Always, Detail. Your Sketchbook Page.

Evidence of Human Influence.
Roads, Fences, Gates, and Walls. In the Farmyard.
Special Uses, Special Structures. On the Dock of the Bay and Beyond.
Docks, Harbors, and Shipyards. From a Canoe to the QE2.
The World of Vehicles.
Bridges, Trains, and Tracks. Moving Vehicles.
Your World Is What You Make It.
Your Sketchbook Page.

A World of Buildings.
City Mice and Country Mice The Old and the New.
Making It Stand.
Informal Perspective. Formal Perspective.
Keeping the Pieces in Proportion.
It's in the Details.
In the City. In the Country. Materials and Techniques.
Period Pieces and Special Places.
Classical Beauty. Down on the Farm. Out on the Edge. Your Sketchbook Page.

Drawing Animals.
In a World of Action, Gesture Is First. Basic Proportions and Shapes. Bulking Them Up. Fur and Feathers, Skin and Scales.
Go Out Where They Are.
Your Backyard and in the Neighborhood. Field and Stream, Mountain and Lake. Natural History Museums and Centers. Farms, Stables, and Parks. Zoos, Circuses, and Animal Petting Parks. Safaris.
Animal Portraits.
Problems in Portraiture. A Bit on Materials and Techniques.
Animals in Your Drawings.
Scale and Detail, Indoors or Out. Detail and Scale, Close Up or Far Away.
Your Sketchbook Page.

Drawing the Figure.
Getting Some Practice and Help. Use Your Sketchbook.
The Gesture of Life.
Direction and Gesture. Thoughts on Quick Action Poses.
Body Parts and the Whole: Anatomy, You Say?
The Hip Bone Is Connected to the ... Muscle Is Good. Some Basic Proportions.
Age and Gender: Some Basic Differences, As If You Didn't Know.
Body, Age, and Proportion. Where's the Beef? Where the Ice Cream Goes. What We Have to Look Forward To.
Extremities: Getting Over Hand and Feet Phobias.
Hands. Feet. Head and Neck.
More Form and Weight, Now.
Your Sketchbook Page.

Add That Human Touch. No Flat Heads Here: Heads and Faces.
Types and Proportion. Eyes, Ears, Nose, and Throat. Especially for Children.
Likeness and Portraiture.
Some Basic Proportions and Shapes. Setting a Scene for a Portrait. When You Are Your Subject.
Folds, Drapes, Buttons, and Bows.
Over and Under: Folds and How to Draw Them. Detailing: Make the Clothing Fit the Woman or Man.
Putting People in Your Drawings.
Where Are They? What Are They Doing? Action, Gesture, and Detail. Your Sketchbook Page

From Symbols to Realism. Educating the Right Side.
From Hunter to High Tech. Visual Learning for All Reasons.
We All Love to Draw.
Kids Draw at Any Age. The Very Young. Stages from Symbol to Image.
Tactics.
Materials for Kids. Reference Materials. Retraining the Critic. See the Basics. Pick Simple Terms to Explain Things.
When Problems Arise.
Distractions and Quiet. Tension, Frustration, Fatigue, and Short Attention Span.
Fun Drawing Exercises for Kids.
A Place for Everything: How to Start. For "Mistakes" or "Problems".
Above All, Have Fun.
Your Sketchbook Page.

Have Sketchbook, Will Travel. Using Your Own Images. Trading Information: How-To's or Recipes.
Illustrating an Idea or a Technique. Illustrating an Idea. The Story of You.
Illuminating Your Personal Life. Reinventing Your World.
Cabinets and Furniture. Ceilings, Walls, and Floors, but No Driveways.
Expanded Uses for Your Skills.
Focus on Fashion. Cartoons: Humor or Opinion? That Twisted Look: Caricatures.
Further Out: Your Fantasies.
Your Sketchbook Page.

Moving Into the Realm of Color.
Some Brief Words on Color. New Materials You Could Try. Into the Field of Color. Taking a Stab at a Colored Drawing.
Caring for Your Work.
On Storage. Matting and Framing.
Turning a New Page: Fine Art Meets Tech Art.
Creating a Virtual Sketchbook. Scanning Your Images. Printing Your Images. E-Mailing with Your Own Art. Creating Your Own Illustrated Home Page.
How to Learn About Drawing on the Computer.
Computer Art Programs You Can Learn. How to Choose a Computer Art Class. Your Sketchbook Page.

Following the Muse.
Where Artists Find Inspiration. What They Have to Say About Their Work.
Museum Walks.
The Wealth of Museums. Styles of Drawing Through History. Learn by Looking, Then Try a Copy. What Do You Like?
Sharing Your Work.
To Show, to Publish, or Just to Draw.
Take a Path to the Zen of Drawing.
Encourage and Support Your Creativity. Knowing When to Push Yourself Higher. One Inspiring Tale to End.
With Our Best Wishes.