10 Step Drawing: Animals

Prelims: 5pp
Introduction: 2pp
The Drawings: 120pp
Indexes and Acknowledgments: 1pp

About Heather Kilgour

Heather Kilgour is a London-based illustrator, specialising in children’s illustration. Originally from New Zealand, where she qualified in Fine Arts, Heather specialised and worked in sculpture for some years, and was one of a select few artists producing sculptures for Lord of the Rings. After a chance meeting with prolific illustrators Freya Blackwood and Virginia Lee, Heather’s old passion for drawing rekindled and she decided to move to the UK to study and pursue a career in illustration. Heather has been the Featured Illustrator in Words&Pictures online magazine, and is a member of the SCBWI's Illustration Committee.

For more details on Heather and her work, please visit her website: http://heatherkilgour.com

The Artist, April 2019

These guides provide a simple introduction for the absolute beginner. By using a standard way of working and a repeated template, they help to ensure reliable results every time and a level of success that can only be encouraging.

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Artbookreview.net

This new series presents what we might call a quick route to drawing. Each of the 75 projects includes nine outline stages, plus a final one where the colour is added. What is most useful is the simple shapes with which each begins. If youre new to drawing, getting this right can be the hardest part and represents the foundations on which the finished result will stand or fall. Beginners should find the process reassuring and the routines easy to follow and get to grips with. The method and results are really quite attractive.

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The Gingerbread House

With two creative children I need a constant stream of ideas to keep them occupied. Having exhausted our crafting cupboard and my patience I was so thankful when a copy of 10 Step Drawing: Animals landed on our doormat over half term. Both my children love to draw and have endless notebooks full of their scribbles. It was time to take their drawing to the next level and 10 Step Drawing: Animals has been a great introduction for us all. The books aims to help you learn to draw 75 different creatures in an illustrated style, in 10 simple visual steps.

The blank page can be a little daunting, but 10 Step Drawing: Animals offers an easy jumping-off point for any doodler to be creative. Its a great book for adults and children who want to learn to draw.

The book features illustrated tutorials for drawing 75 adorable creatures from exotic animals (such as a cheetah and flamingo), to aquatic mammals and fish (like the dolphin, penguin and octopus), along with furry friends closer to home (such as a cat, a dog and a horse). Every image is fun and easy to replicate in ten simple steps, using just a pen and paper.

Everyone has a favourite animal and I was pleased to see a dolphin (which my 8 year old loves), along with an otter (my 6 year olds favourite animal). They were excited to be able to have a go and the 10 steps means you get instant results. I like the way you can add character with colour and really bring the animals to life.

 

You can read Jenny's full review over on The Gingerbread House blog here.

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Leisure Painter, September 2018

Using just a pen and paper, Heather Kilgour shows you how to turn your doodles into animals in just ten steps. Seventy-five creatures, from toucans and cheetahs, to penguins and dogs are included here. The book is designed to free up your creativity and build confidence so that you will be drawing animals convincingly in easy-to-replicate steps. 

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myshelf.com

Draw seventy-five lifelike animals in just ten steps with this handy primer.  Progress from a simple shape adding details and end up with a drawing you can be proud of.  The introduction explains why it is simpler than you think to draw in this way, and lists what you need, briefly mentions adding color and how to get the proportions right.  The rest of the book is divided into four sections: wild, aquatic, woodland and farm/domestic animals.  In here you can find popular creatures like a panda, baby penguin, meerkat, orca and fox as well as more unusual choices like a skunk, walrus, platypus or dung beetle.  This is a good book for a beginner because you really can draw some excellent studies of these animals just by following the instructions.  Each stage has a short caption explaining what you are doing and before you know it, there is the finished piece.  In common with most such books however although a beginner can produce the drawing, you will need more experience and talent to produce the final colored work.  To be fair this is a book about drawing, not coloring so if you want to learn how to shade and blend using colored pencils (as the artist has used) you will need to get another book.  First you will have fun working through the seventy-five pictures in this one, which I recommend to anybody who wants to learn how to draw animals.

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Not Compulsory

Ever fancied yourself as an artist but never really knew where to start? Welcome to 10 Step Drawing - Animals by Heather Kilgour.Ive not drawn anything since my school days, so am probably exactly the target audience for this book, which claims you can draw 75 Animals in 10 Easy Steps.The first thing that strikes you is the wide variety of animals. Under four main categories of Wild Animals, Aquatic Animals, Woodland Animals and Farm Animals & Pets there is something to suit everyone. Whether you want to create a Ladybird, Giraffe or immortalise the family pet you will find helpful tips here.
The book talks about proportions and the best equipment to use and most animals start with a series of circles. These basic rules will help you recreate everything in the book and give a solid basis for drawing other creatures in different poses.So was it easy? Yes, reasonably so. I armed myself with a set of my sons pencils and gave myself 30 minutes to see what I could achieve. Three animals later I felt quite proud.

See the full review and images here: https://notcompulsory.blogspot.com/2018/07/guest-reviewers-draw-animals-in-10-easy.html?spref=fb