Ten-Step Drawing: Nature

This is a lovely drawing book that helps you draw 60 plants and animals from different regions like coast, meadow and forest. It uses the popular style of drawing shapes with pencils and then going over the finished design with ink and erasing the pencil lines, which I'm not a big fan of usually but which helps beginners get great results with rather complicated designs.

Each illustration takes a double page spread to illustrate, showing every step with pencil and then showing suggested colors in the final image. The illustrations are delightful and realistic. Examples are violets, a barn owl, hawthorn berries, a dolphin, a hermit crab, juniper berries, a dandelion in seed, toadstools, acorns and oak leaves, a deer and a (European) robin. This book falls squarely between the very elaborate guides that take hours to execute and the simple doodle drawing books, giving the reader the tools to make lovely and realistic drawings but without the intense amount of time that professionals undertake. It would be a little tricky for younger children, but would work well with older children who are doing nature study. It really inspired me to want to get out my pens and sketch pad and try some out, though I must admit that I'll probably skip at least some of the penciled in shape steps. Either way, I feel confident in creating lovely sketches with this book.

Well recommended.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

I requested an e-copy of this because my husband has taken up drawing comics in his retirement, despite no experience or tuition in drawing, and wants to learn more about drawing wildlife.
This book gives step by step outline drawings of 60 different creatures and plants from meadow, forest and coast, one to a page.
The last image on each page has the finished illustration with suggested colours for completing your own illustration.
I thought the illustrations were charming and made me want to pick up a pencil.. I haven't drawn since school, so I tried out 3 of the illustrations in the interests of completeness.
The instructions were simple to follow, even reading on my phone.
My feather looked a bit like a tree, my hare was recognisable if clumsy, but I was very happy with my hedgehog.

I think this book is suitable for those beginning to draw the natural world and those who want to improve. It seems there are other titles in the Ten Step Drawing series, so I'll be having a look for those.

Cute, concise, easy to follow. Would be a great option for aspiring child artists, or adult patrons that want to find a new hobby. Enjoyable tutorials.

I was able to get a decent result from the ten steps, you need to take your time with it and know how to colour and shade but the process does get you a good sketch.

A wonderful book with easy, step-by-step instructions to help you learn to draw a wide variety of things from nature, such as insects, animals, leaves, shells, and flowers. Perfect for older children, teens, and anyone who would like to learn to draw or improve their skills.
I loved how each set of instructions is spread out over two pages, with a colour palette at the end, and the book is divided into sections, which would be useful when out on a walk.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free digital copy, this is a book I'll be looking out for and recommending when it's published.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a cute book!

It's not necessarily for beginners since there are a lot of steps required and many of them include multiple circles. But it's a good guide on how to draw birds, nests, and some plants.

I wish the book was a little longer but overall it's helpful!

I absolutely ADORE this book! It is full of inspiration, ideas, designs and prompts for drawing nature. I love how each design it broken down into easy to follow, step-by-steps and that they are clear and accessible. I didn't feel overwhelmed at all (and I am not a natural draw-er!)

This is probably one of my favorite how to draw books. The instructions are easy and clear and very simple to follow along.

This is a great illustration guide for beginners of all ages! Not only is this book full of beautiful illustrations but there are also little facts associated with what you’re drawing which is a cute touch.

As an artist myself, I wish there were multiple dynamic poses for a single type of animal or object to help readers truly understand the shapes that make up what is being drawn at different angles. For what this is though, it’s a great resource that people will no doubt be able to learn from!

Loved this book. Drawing steps were easy to follow and my drawings look great. I am working on one every morning for about 10 minutes.

I was very taken by the blue tit and its colors. I had to get my sketch book and draw few bird sketches. At his level of engagement, its easy to see the details, the differences in the claws of the animals. the starting shape which is similar to peeps or pear. Now I have my own models to refer to. Enhances my interest in birdwatching. simialrly botanists and wild enthusiasts can practise 'seeing" their interests more attentively. Some of the dotted lines like symmetry lines improve your way of seeing the composition. The page is well spaced with the step by step progress to the final page. The colors themselves are awesome. Maybe there's another book needed in ten-step painting Nature.

This book is a really great guide for those interested in any kind of nature drawing or journaling. My kids and I love to explore outside and we'll keep track of the animals, plants and sites we find in nature journals. This book has been a great help so far for some of those more challenging creatures. Definitely a great investment!

Ten-Step Drawing: Nature by Mary Woodin Keck details step by step how to draw different aspects of nature from a variety of plants to different animals.

As someone who has figure drawn for the last 7 years, this book is extremely helpful for teaching beginners how to break down the basic shapes found in nature. I highly recommend this book for beginners as well as professionals who want to pick up more tricks.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have a soft spot for step by step drawing books. I think they really do help me to improve on my drawing. This one is by artist Mary Woodin who draws beautifully - definitely someone you would want to learn from!

You can tackle 60 plants and small animals, perfect for the beginner or intermediate artist.

To see how well a child would do, I asked my 10 year old niece to do one of the birds and she did a great job though she had, understandably, some difficulty with the proportions and locations of certain features. She did need a little bit of guidance but seemed happy with what she could achieve. With practice, anyone can create pieces to be proud of.

I experimented with one of the birds too and was quite pleased with the result. I look forward to trying more!

One suggestion for improvement: To make each new set of subsequent steps easier to see, it would have been nice to have them in a different colour from the previous steps.

The suggested palette of colours for each subject is a nice addition.

Thank you Netgalley and Walter Foster Publishing for the ARC. This is my honest opinion.

Drawing creatures and plants found in nature is so easy with the instructions in this book that a novice can do it! The author starts with simple structures, angles, and directions and guides the reader through the process. In addition, circles of the colors needed to make the drawings more lifelike are included below each drawing. This can be used by anyone desiring to develop or improve their skills in this area. With or without some colored pencils, it will also make a great gift.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book provided by the publisher and Net Galley. However, the thoughts expressed are totally my own.

I really enjoyed this book and found the drawing instruction to be very easy and fun to do. Drawing and coloring some of the animals and plants in this book was very relaxing and therapeutic. There are step by step instructions on how to draw each item along with a completed drawing that is colored in, so you can see what it should look like after drawing a coloring. I liked this book so much that I plan to purchase a hard copy for myself! Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this delightful book! #NetGalley #TenStepDrawingNature

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This is such an easy drawing book for lots of nature items. I really want one for myself.

Ten-Step Drawing: Nature
Draw 60 plants & animals in ten easy steps!
by Mary Woodin
This book is brilliant! Easy step-by-step instructions with images to follow to draw a wide variety of plants and animals! Perfect for the beginning adult or child. It breaks down difficult images to simple shapes then slowly builds up from there! Amazingly simple the way it's taught. Definitely going to but it! This was a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. Thanks! Love Walter Foster books!

This book does what it says on the tin really. There are 60 creatures and plants to draw throughout the book which are arranged according to Meadow & Wetland, Forest or coast. Each of the 60 illustrations are set up over a double page with a 10-step process.

Every step is about building up on basic shapes to get the final drawing, which is straightforward and easy to follow. There are 9 steps to drawing and the 10th is colouring it in - although there is no guidance other than a colour palette for this stage.

As with all book of this type however, you are learning to copy a drawing of an animal/bird rather than from a photograph of the actual creature, which is useful but has some limitations for development.

A great beginner's book which will produce a number of cute drawings which look like the original.

Ten-Step Drawing: Nature is filled with instructions for drawing a ton of cute and amazing items from nature. The steps are detailed and the pictures included are easy to follow. I tried out a few of the drawings as I read the book and the sketches were easy to complete and came out really good! The book was broken into different sections of nature, so if you prefer forest animals, you could skip to that section and try sketching some forest items! The majority of the items included were plants and animals. If you’re interested in learning how to draw items from nature, this book is for you!

Very straightforward to follow along and I think even beginners can start drawing realistic birds and shrubs! I followed the first few pages along with just pencils and the pictures turned out great. I can definitely see myself gifting this book to people who are interested in art.

Excellent Guide to Nature Drawing

Even though I don't consider myself particularly visually artistic, I'm always drawn to books like this that purport to teach you about how to draw complex things by breaking the process down into simple steps. I love that this book breaks each drawing into 10 steps. I've often thought the books I've reviewed of this type show far too few steps, often making great leaps toward the end. Ten steps appear to be just about right! The final step shows how the author has colored the finished drawing using pencils. She even goes so far as to show you with small circles the precise colors she used. The book is broadly divided into three sections: meadow and wetland, forest, and coast. It also has a brief introduction and instructions. All in all, I thought this was a fantastic book to learn how to draw all sorts of animals, plants, insects, and other features that you will see if you go out into nature.

Excellent step by step book for learning to draw a wide variety of nature subjects. The instructions are very easy to follow and would suit a complete beginner. Especially those who believe they are not very good a drawing. There was just enough stages to each picture to make it easy and I liked the colour suggestions. This would make a great present for a child or an adult learning to draw. Completing one of the projects to a good standard is very satisfying. Overall a great book.

This lovely book provides step by step guides to draw a range of animals, plants and birds, as well a providing a suggested colour palette for completing your drawing.
I love the style of drawing used in this book and found it easy to follow. It would be perfect for beginners or someone picking up a pencil for the first time in a while and will help develop and improve drawings skills. It’d make a great gift for the creative person in your life and is suitable for young and old alike.

Lovely drawing book that really takes the fear out of practising for the un-arty,. Would make a lovely gift, recommend!