Books on Basic Drawing for Beginners

Although you may want to learn how to draw, classes at a university can cost too much too make it worth your trouble. Rather than toiling away in a classroom full of artists, learning from basic drawing books can be just as good. There are plenty of popular drawing books for beginners that will teach you everything you could have learned in art school.

With more than 200 pages of useful instruction, "Keys to Drawing" is one of the most popular drawing books for beginners. The author starts you with the basics, and the first few chapters deal with the overall drawing process, handwriting and proportions. By the end of the book, you should be able to draw images that use depth, texture and light. This how-to book is laid out so that even those without any experience can learn a great deal about the craft.

Although first published in 1970, "How to Draw What You See" has continued to be a best-selling drawing instruction book. If you have an interest in drawing realistic scenes that you see before you, this book has to be in your library. It teaches you how to see in a brand-new way so that you can put down on paper anything in your wake. Whether it's a bowl of fruit or a bridge over a local creek, you will be able to draw it when you get to the end of the book.

With 17 demonstrations that take you through each drawing technique step-by-step, "Drawing for the Absolute Beginner" is perfect for those who have never put pencil to paper. It's even good for those who haven't drawn in years and are looking for a refresher course. This drawing duo will show you drawing techniques that work for many different kinds of objects. You'll learn how to do it right the first time so that drawing can eventually come naturally to you.