Draw Real People! (Discover Drawing)

I am just getting back into my artwork after many years. Although I have always drawn many things I never thought I possessed the talent or ability to draw a realistic portrait. Whenever I would attempt it, the portrait would be a beautiful picture of someone, but NOT the person I was attempting to draw. I just could not seem to make it look life the person. When I followed Lee Hammond's method using the grid, my portrait came out not only realistic, but it looked exactly like my daughter. My friends and family were amazed by the exact likeness of the portrait. This was on my very first attempt. I would highly reccomend her book. I plan on getting seriously into portraits now. I cannot believe what I was able to accomplish through her instruction. I am definitely going to be purchasing more of her books.

"Draw Real People" is one of the best art instruction books out there. Many art instruction books that teach you how to draw are too boring and difficult to follow, and the drawings aren't really all that interesting either. In Hammond's book she breaks down everything into simple steps. Hammond's techniques, gridding and shading, are so obvious that I wondered why I'd never thought of them before. Throughout the book you'll find step-by-step instructions, exercises, examples of Hammond's own work and before and after drawings of her students. After implementing Hammond's technique, my drawing skills improved greatly. Instead of looking cartoonish and sketchy, they looked realistic and smooth. I was so thrilled with my progress that I went and got the rest of the "Discover Drawing" Series. I was bit disappointed, however, when I saw that half of each book was devoted to gridding and shading. They were the same exact things Hammond taught in "Draw Real People."I recommend to beginners to only get two of Hammond's books: Draw Real People (good for portraits) and Draw Fashion Models (good for people, clothing, hair, etc.). Once you get a hang of gridding and shading you can basically draw anything, so there is no need, in my opinion, to get the rest of the "Discover Drawing" Series. All you'll need to do after that is practice.

This book is the BEST drawing book I own. By following Lee's advice, which included her shading tecnique - it's easy, and makes your drawings look really good, and using circle stencils for the eyes so they look natural, I was able with some practice to draw some realistic looking faces and be told I am a good artist (and truly - I needed help!) Lee goes step by step with each part of the face, then teaches you how to draw an entire face with important facts to remember (like there is one eye width between the eyes). She included some drawings done by her students, and a couple of fun exersizes with scrambled bar graphs where you have to draw in each square how you see it in the right spot to see what the mystery picture is. If you are curious about drawing faces or wish you could draw better, get this book!

Hi. I'm thirteen years old, and drawing has always been kind of an enjoyable hobby for me. My sister owns this book, and I was impressed with it so I started going through it Step-by-step. I did EVERYTHING the book told me to do, and I was AMAZED at the results!! Lee's blended pencil technique is easy to learn, and like she says repeatedly in the book, your drawings will only get better and better. Soon realistic drawings begin to become second nature to you.Try it out for yourself! Do EVERYTHING the book tells you to do or you'll miss out on great things!! It's fun, and rewarding, so go ahead, "Draw Real People!!!"

The Draw Real series by Lee Hammond are, by far, the best drawing books I've EVER owned. My art teacher even agrees and she has over 20 years of experience! When I first got the Draw Real books, I was an "ok" artist. My shapes were distorted a bit and the shading wasn't the cream of the crop. But after getting and studying the books for a while I did some of the best work I've ever done! I highly recomend the books for all artists, even the rookies. NOTICE: I don't recomend replacing hands-on help with the books. You'll get the best results with both a good art teacher and the Draw Real books. My teacher also contributed to my drawing success.