4.75

4

Sep 23, 2014

Well, 1.5 years later I finally finished it. Probably the best book in technical perspective I have read. The author is so rigorous! Very impressive effort!

Ironically the reason it took me so long to finish it was that the more I read and was impressed with his iron discipline it presented the more I felt it was worthwhile to return to the 3D gfx I had abandoned years ago. Funny when you think about it, that a great drawing book would push me away from drawing, but I guess it fits with my Well, 1.5 years later I finally finished it. Probably the best book in technical perspective I have read. The author is so rigorous! Very impressive effort!

Ironically the reason it took me so long to finish it was that the more I read and was impressed with his iron discipline it presented the more I felt it was worthwhile to return to the 3D gfx I had abandoned years ago. Funny when you think about it, that a great drawing book would push me away from drawing, but I guess it fits with my hypothesis that sometimes a great civilization will probably produce it's most impressive works even as it's slowly being replaced by another. I'm betting if this book could be sent in time even just a few decades it would be considered THE manual for perspective drawing.

Reading it I was left with a great appreciation for the effort and motivation to put in that extra effort to make something professional. Great book. Great addition to his superb youtube channel tutorials and as if that wasn't enough the book also comes with it's own series of explanatory videos. A unique book full of great thoughts and analysis of perspective angles, techniques and many inspiring beautiful designs, all elegantly drawn. ...more

5

Jan 08, 2014

The go-to book for any question about how to draw anything in perspective.

4

Jun 25, 2017

Chock full of beautiful sketches and plenty of good instruction, this is more of an advanced refresher than for beginners.

5

Feb 12, 2017

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. good book

3

May 31, 2018

I have no background in the Arts, and I needed to improve my technical sketching skills to better formulate my ideas to paper before going to CAD and final fabrication. The book was basic enough to get me started, and easy enough to read to not lose me. As a self-help book it is OK.

5

Jun 19, 2014

I took a look through this book and it's mind-boggling good, I bought a copy. For one thing it covers several forms of perspective not covered in older works as well as more traditional perspective. There is also 10+ hours of video already associated with this book with the possibility of more in the future. These videos can be viewed automatically by a tablet by pointing them at the page in question, neat! You could learn sketching from this book alone and even you're advanced, you will learn I took a look through this book and it's mind-boggling good, I bought a copy. For one thing it covers several forms of perspective not covered in older works as well as more traditional perspective. There is also 10+ hours of video already associated with this book with the possibility of more in the future. These videos can be viewed automatically by a tablet by pointing them at the page in question, neat! You could learn sketching from this book alone and even you're advanced, you will learn something. ...more

5

Mar 05, 2016

Great book, although the title doesn't describe what it is with great precision - so it's worth having a look inside if this is what you need.

The book focuses on drawing - yes, from your imagination - but almost exclusively those are machines, robots, industrial settings. It puts a lot of emphasis on correctness (in terms of proportions and perspective), so a lot of time is dedicated to getting those right.

The author shares his thoughts on the creative process of conjuring up ideas, which I Great book, although the title doesn't describe what it is with great precision - so it's worth having a look inside if this is what you need.

The book focuses on drawing - yes, from your imagination - but almost exclusively those are machines, robots, industrial settings. It puts a lot of emphasis on correctness (in terms of proportions and perspective), so a lot of time is dedicated to getting those right.

The author shares his thoughts on the creative process of conjuring up ideas, which I found insightful, discusses some ways in which digital and mechanical tools can help you to draw precisely, and dedicates several pages to various techniques you may want to consider using.

The whole thing is printed on high quality paper, and gives an impression of a well-thought-out initiative, quite specialised one, so not for everyone. ...more

3

Jul 18, 2017

Tough. Written like a textbook, but lacking many answers. Not for the faint of heart. You must practice, practice and practice. But even then this does not teach you how to "design" with a "cool" aesthetic. Hopefully, his upcoming design book will cover this extensively.

2

Sep 25, 2019

Great book on perspective drawing but dense and lot of information to take in. It’s a great book if you want to do technical drawing like mech, buildings and vehicles but unfortunately I can’t tolerate technical drawing so I will just give it 2 stars.

5

Oct 12, 2017

An excellent textbook on drawing from imagination! Drawing from imagination is easily the most difficult thing to draw, this book gives sound advice and techniques to simplify drawing from your mind to make sketches become completely realized drawings. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more than just how to draw from life.

0

Jul 23, 2018

Awesome book for anyone who is starting to learn to draw from the basics. I actually followed the exercises and realized that - hey, I DO have artistic talent. Now I wish I continued doing the exercises but for someone who is more dedicated they will see a lot of improvement.

5

Aug 13, 2015

This is an excellent book if you want to learn to draw objects in perspective, but the caveat of course is that with all drawing books, you must actually take the time to do each exercise to truly get it. I find that most artists understand the concept of perspective but to actually draw it accurately is a whole other thing. Scott Robertson's techniques will teach you how to draw not only accurately, but quickly, once you understand how it all works and learn his method. Again, it's very This is an excellent book if you want to learn to draw objects in perspective, but the caveat of course is that with all drawing books, you must actually take the time to do each exercise to truly get it. I find that most artists understand the concept of perspective but to actually draw it accurately is a whole other thing. Scott Robertson's techniques will teach you how to draw not only accurately, but quickly, once you understand how it all works and learn his method. Again, it's very important to do all the exercises and practice them more than once, particularly the stuff at the beginning on drawing straight lines and ellipses. It seems easy just to draw some lines and circles, but when I moved on to the more complex stuff, I found that unless my lines and ellipses were very accurate, I couldn't draw the more difficult shapes well so I'd have to go back to practicing straight lines, drawing from point to point, ellipses, etc. A bit boring and tedious, but well worth mastering.

The second half of this book is mostly tips and tricks on how to draw buildings, cars, and planes, which in my understanding is Scott Robertson's area of expertise (he's an industrial designer turned concept artist and seems to specialize in cars, planes, machinery, etc.). This part of the book explains concept art and design to beginners, but doesn't really provide exercises, it's more to give you tips for designing your own things.

Definitely an excellent drawing book with a lot to offer, particularly if you're into drawing and designing buildings, cars, planes, and any sort of machinery. ...more

4

Oct 01, 2016

I wish this book came as a book/DVD combo. It's much easier for me to learn from videos, but the videos included with this book didn't cover all of the book's content.

That said, there are lots of interesting tips here that I haven't found in other books: mirroring planes/curves; estimating rotation when drawing freehand; making grids using ellipses; wrapping labels around curved surfaces; etc.

5

Aug 08, 2015

A superb book on effectively using perspective for constructing 3D shapes in pen. Its general approach is technical but also practical-minded, and seems intended for someone interested in concept art or similar industries. Very usefully illustrated.

5

Feb 23, 2016

An excellent, thorough resource. I've never seen such an in depth examination of perspective. I would recommend this as something for the serious artist, but perhaps not, say, for your niece who likes to draw sometimes.

5

Aug 04, 2016

Many great ideas. This is a very advanced book but it does have some good starting points for me. I'll have to get it again when I'm better.

5

Jan 05, 2016

Picked up a few things about perspective that weren't covered in art school. Very well organized with accompanying video tutorials/summaries.