10 Step Drawing: People by Justine Lecouffe

10 Step Drawing: People by Justine Lecouffe

I found this book to be extremely helpful in learning to draw peopleIt is easy to draw what you think you see rather than what you actually see and whilst this book is encouraging you to draw people from simple shapes, it does give you the insight to take this new understanding of basic shapes to apply to real life drawing. I have struggled with drawing people accurately, so I found the use of simple shapes and explanation of proportion a really useful tool.

I was impressed by how, with only a few simple lines, a concise drawing was created. My children also really enjoyed the premise of the book and I will be using it with them. Overall, I think this is a great book to encourage people to start drawing and I believe it has the ability to instil confidence in them so that they are able to move forward and draw more and more. The book also dips in to the use of colour and tone, explained in clear terms, even using a method to draw lines to explain where shading should go. So, in summary, a great book to encourage people into drawing people but may not be for everyone.

Part of the 10 Step Drawing series, 10 Step Drawing: People uses simple lines and shapes to make lifelike images - starting with just one line and building this up in ten steps. The book includes individual elements that make up the face, as well as complete faces and people. Information is also provided on basic colour techniques, as well as a guide to creating the right skin tones.

With this handy primer you can learn how to draw what is possibly the most difficult thing – people! There are thirty different men and women in here to tackle, as well as facial features and body parts front, side and three quarter view. They are all generic, attractive studies but are easier to undertake for a beginner than those with more character. Progress from a simple shape adding details and end up with something that looks recognizably human – it is a good way to learn and is easier than you might think.

This book mostly avoids any of those jumps a lot of beginner art books have where a basic line drawing becomes a fully coloured and shaded piece of art with no steps in between. These have all been added before the colour appears in the final stage so some good results are possible even if you are a total beginner. The brief introduction explains how the book works and suggests how to colour your drawings and the palette shown with each one will help choose the shades you use. I was impressed, as this book really does take much of the mystery out of drawing people and I would recommend it to anybody who wants to learn.

Justine Lecouffe is an artist, illustrator, and graphic designer based in London, UK. She creates digital and traditional hand drawings encompassing fashion, beauty, architecture, and travel, for clients in a wide range of industries, from book publishing to branding for jewellery and fashion designers. Her work has been published in a number of books, including Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls and her major clients include Apple, O2, The National Trust, NHS, Redbull, Nivea and Pandora.