Pen and Ink Drawing: A Simple Guide

I bought this guys book because his tutorials on youtube are second to non I literally went from a horrendous drawer to something approaching half decent simply by watching one of his playlists, I couldn't believe what had just come out of my pen and how well explained and useful and concise his videos are. I am forever indebted to this man for giving me a new passion for something which previously seemed completely out of reach.To thank him, and also because I seem to learn from him really well from him I purchased this book. The cost was arbitrary as I felt like I already owed him money for teaching me to draw! I'm going to be quite honest now, I really like the book it lays things out in a very pleasant way its really easy to look at and nicely presented. The drawings are really inspiring and a lot of the things in the videos are presented which is nice as it gives a good chance to study close up techniques from the videos. For me personally I actually found the book less useful than the videos in terms of learning, and honestly not sure if this is a fault of the book or testament to the videos or just the way I learn. I do wish it had been bound, I'm not sure anyone ever does this but its something that really annoys me with book on a practical skills, why give them a spine making keeping them open a bit of a nightmare when the publisher/author (whoever makes that decision) clearly should know you will need your hands free while using it. I also would have liked to have seen more step by step examples on more of the textures and techniques although there are plenty already, I think these are the most inspiring for me anyway because you feel like you can have a go at whatever it is, following each stage, however there is plenty of this, I just wish there was more. Also a lot of things in the books are already covered in the videos so the crossover of knowledge meant some of the information was a bit redundant to me as an avid viewer of the YT channel.TL/DR A fantastic teacher of drawing, deserves every success for passing his extensive knowledge of drawing on via youtube and this accompanying book, I have some small gripes with the book,but I still love it, think it was absolutely worth the money and have really enjoyed reading and working though it. Maybe would have been a 4 star review on book alone had I not gained so much from the video tutorials already and feel like that fantastic FREE content is easily worth double the price I payed for the book.Alphonso Dunn when you release more books I will buy them instantly, I watched every video you made and am so so so happy with my drawing currently, I cant express it enough, you gave me a new life skill. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Let me preface this review by saying how much love and effort went into creating this guide. It’s not often that you see artists such as Alphonso have so much skill in teaching. Like many here, I have been watching his videos for a while, after choosing to start my journey of getting better at drawing. As someone who never had any formal art tuition, I can’t be thankful enough to this man. He makes everything so much easier to grasp, and most importantly encourages you to step outside of his lessons to experiment for yourself, to find your own creative process(es).The book itself goes over everything that I want (and need) to know as a beginner, and then some. It starts off from the very basics, like how to grip your pen, using your shoulder/elbow/wrist to draw, the different supplies available to you and so on. These are both found in the first two sections on supplies and strokes. I really appreciate his explanation on basic types of strokes and how they can be varied to accomplish amazing effects.There’s more complex, in-depth sections dedicated to shading, texture, sketchbooking, stages of a finished drawing and the secret line of balance. Within that, there’s sub-sections on things like human figured, scenery, animals, faces, composition, movement etc. So everything is there!I feel like the value for money is amazing for what this book provides. Like I said, as a beginner I couldn’t ask for more!

An easy to read and entertaining introduction into drawing. It is not only for beginners, but for all who want to improve their drawing (who doesn't?). Contrary to other books with a similar subject Dunn explains all the basic ingredients that finally make a drawing, like different strokes, shading, textures, forms etc. Even if you think you are good at drawing already, he gives you always some new ideas to try out.This is a unique approach as he focusses not so much on the final product (like "How to draw a cat, a house etc.") but more on the techniques that enable you to draw basically anything. -- He also give you valuable tips on how to make progress with your work - other authors will leave you alone with that. --- What I missed were at least some short notes on perspectives and proportions. Other books will help you there as will Dunn's own YouTube channel. Perhaps he will take this up in his next book (where I also like to learn more about coloring your drawings). But for now this is an excellent book that I can highly recommend.

I purchased this book as I was trying out pen and ink drawing. When the book arrived I found it a bit daunting. I had also bought Alphonso’s pen and ink drawing workbook, which arrived today.Suddenly this book came into focus, I had examples that made sense I could see what I was supposed to do. I am a bit of a slow learner, so when at first I was happy to surrender it to the pile of never to be seen books 📚 I have been working on how to divide my time between the drills and exercises and freehand drawings done with outlines and bits using just black.

I like the book of Alfonso Dunn and I am happy I have bought it. If you like to discover the expressive power of drawing with ink this is a perfect book for you. Easy to use with lots of examples to copy and many to be inspired with.

Will help me more learn about pen texture and the different effects I recommend such beautiful illustrations inside

This is a very comprehensive book, ideal for beginners. It has a nice range of textures to draw and samples of finish drawings you can explore.