[drawing] Drawing Is Magic: The Guided Sketchbook for The Adventurious Self-Discoverer In You

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There's something of the idea of self-discovery and finding your artistic voice in the guided sketchbooks I've seen, or at least, giving you the tools … or even the  courage … to ask some questions of yourself.

These self-questions can be quite grim and serious. You wind up feeling momentous and important and tend to forget that, when done kindly, this sort of self discovery is a fun thing and can be a real adventure. John Hendrix hasn't forgotten this, and his self-guided sketchbook, Drawing Is Magic: Discovering Yourself In A Sketchbook, is bursting with that attitude. Printed in two colors … red and black … the book comes bound in binderboard, giving the look and feel of a true artist's sketchbook.

But … you want to draw. And like a lot of us, you just don't know what. Or where. Or how to approach it. No worries, here. Drawing Is Magic is nothing but games, delightfully drawing graphics, and prompts designed to get you loose and ready to go.

From taking your sketchbook to a movie theater and drawing everything you can during the film to making self-portraits, the preamble to the book warms you up be getting you going on doable drawing adventures in a non-judgmental way. Like the other book I reviewed here last missive, Draw With A Vengeance, it doesn't judge you, but it does insist that you are in charge of enjoying what you make, and by building your own visual grammar (what Hendrix refers to as a visual universe, which is fun coinage, and no doubt) you create an artistic head space in which you can't help but enjoy what you draw because you will first populate that world with things that you love to draw.

Starting with a list of 100 things you'd love to draw, he then moves forward into the main acts of the book which develop that list into an vast range of activities that invite you to play with your pen. You draw scenes inside of cutaway houses, collage dialogue, create chaemerical beasts, design the cover of your autobiography. The whole effect of the book is this lovely gradient which goes from the basics of drawing art to the advanced ideas of knitting things together and telling a story with them.

But in the end? He just wants you to go draw. He lives to draw, and I'd presume he's observed that a lot of people want to draw, and maybe this'll help you get to the happy place were you draw because it's good for you to do. The whimsical illustrations and cheerful mien of the book make it all very accessible.

It's a fun book just to leaf through: Hendrix has posted several page layouts for you to get the idea on his website at http://johnhendrix.com/portfolio/books/DrawingMagic/.

Publisher: STC Craft/Melanie Falick http://www.stcbooks.com, http://www.melaniefalickbooks.com
ISBN: 9781617691379
Retail: $17.95

[art] Draw With A Vengeance: The Guided Sketchbook For Those Who Need To Come To Terms With Their X And Don't Have Bail Money

3353.

Everyone has an 'X'.

You know who they are. An X-lover, and X-boss, an X-friend, an X-spouse. They messed with you and how. It was evil, what they did. And, if this was a fair world, you could have your vengeance and it would be sweet and nobody would turn you in and if they did the courts would see what a virtuous thing you had done and let you off with a sincere apology and perhaps a cash payment for the inconvenience.

You do have a problem though. This isn't a fair world; this is Earth, where such behavior is frowned upon. And you have no bail money in the budget.

What to do, what to do. Well, sweet, sweet revenge comes cheap, actually, and nobody can indict you for it, if you impose a suitable amount of coin upon your friendly neighborhood art-book purveyor and acquire a copy of the guided sketchbook Draw With A Vengeance: Get Even In Ink and Let Karma Handle The Rest. 

This is the sketchbook version of all those friends you get comfort from in the wake of a break-up. They accept you for who you are. They don't judge. They take your side. They don't criticize your drawing style; they just help your catharsis.

The first think after you notice that the author's byline, Helen Wrath, would be a pun on the whole idea if you didn't know any better, is that the drawing prompts inside are friendly in that, though they're potent, the drawings themselves are simple. They get you. They want you to feel totally comfortable drawing there. You can make it as simple or complex as you want, and they won't judge:

• A simply- yet realistically-drawn bear snarling in attack, with a caption encouraging you to Draw X in a meat bikini.
• A t-shirt featuring concentric circles in the chest area has a legend telling you to Draw X wearing this shirt. Tear this page out and pin it to the wall. Get darts. See how many times you can hit the bullseye.
• A drawing of the stern of a pirate ship (complete with Jolly Roger) on the recto comes with a verso instruction Draw a plank. Now draw X on the plank. Now erase the plank.

Not to forget the 'destroy this sketchbook' crowd, Wrath has thought of you, too; As suggested in one of the bulleted points above, several pages are designed to be torn out, and each one of these has a venomous punchline on the other side; the page with a blank space captioned Draw X with open arms. Now tear this page out and use it to pick up dog poo has a large X on the back with the phrase YOU'VE FINALLY FOUND YOUR CALLING. Similarly a page encouraging you to Draw X with 100 tiny cuts. Tear this page out. Squeeze fresh lemon juice all over X is backed with the phrase WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS, USE THEM.

If, by now, you don't get the idea, then you don't have an X yet. Lucky! For those who do, though ...

The debate continues as to whether or not venting is actually any good for you; and we all know art therapy is a thing. We all know sometimes you just need catharsis. Well, this book is cheaper than just about any therapy and allows you to do something constructive with your urge to be destructive. As the back of the book says,

The message here is simple: don't do bad things to bad people. Draw bad things - and let karma handle the rest. 

You can't but agree with that, I think. For those with a dark sense of humor and an X they need to get out of their head, this book is just what you ordered.

Publisher: Running Press, www.runningpress.com

ISBN: 978-0-7624-5919-3

Retail Price: $13.00 US, $16.50 Canada, GBP 8.99