Draw Like an Artist: 100 Fantasy Creatures and Characters

These drawings are past my skill set but it's a great bunch of tutorials for artists who can follow basic tutorials. This uses the standard of drawing circles and lines to show the basic shapes and bends of a creature, then fleshing it out with rougher circles and getting more and more detail, erasing earlier pencil lines as you refine. Other than a very brief introduction to the techniques, this is basically a wordless book and without color. Each of the 100 fantasy creatures is done in black/grey and white. These are fantasy creatures of the sort you'd see in Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons manuals and so on, not child-like creatures. There are a few different ones like leprechauns and gnomes but mostly they're a little darker. Each drawing is depicted in six steps, one per page. All in all, a great sourcebook.

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

This book is a visual reference for drawing 100 fantasy characters. The step-by-step instructions for each creature were really neat.
I wish there was more instruction and it went a little further, like teaching more about basic anatomy and shading. Overall, a pretty cool reference for those looking to improve their skill at drawing fantasy characters!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC.

100 Fantasy Creatures & Characters is a sourcebook and tutorial guide in the Draw Like An Artist series. Released 8th Sept 2020 by Quarto on their Quarry imprint, it's 112 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.
These books all follow the same format. A very short introduction (10% of the content) gives some basic tips and very (very) brief overview of recommended materials. The following chapters contain short step-by step progress illustrations for line drawing 100 fantasy creatures and characters grouped together by category: creatures first (gryphon, unicorn, kelpie, and so forth) followed by characters (sorcerer, dwarf, mountain troll, etc). The book also includes a final chapter with specific original studies in the same 6 step format such as lava swimmer and goulodon.

These are very simple single page 5-8 step illustrations. The finished drawings are not part of a composition, and there is no written direction involved. All of them are simple enough to not really require directions. None of them are beyond the ability of keen amateur level. Correspondingly, there is little here which will challenge advanced artists.

This would make a superlative choice for young artists or adult learners, especially bundled with drawing supplies. There are several other companion volumes available also (flowers, faces, and some others probably).

Four stars (given the limitations). I will say that very many of these were pretty darned cool and would look great printed on cards or used as coloring pages.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This is a book that I will refer to often. It is full of wonderful pictures, illustrating everything from mermaids to mummies, and a lot more. I will attempt to draw one of them soon, and another, and another. Truly this is a book to treasure, and I am giving it five stars, though I would give it more stars is I could. Highly recommended.

I love it when you get a book that goes straight into the craft and doesn't spend ages setting you up. Here you get right into it after only a few pages of "materials". then there are a huge variety of beasts for you to draw- even some I'd not heard of.
Each creature is broken down into 6 easy steps which then made it easier to alter and personalise yourself.
I will probably use this during inktober as a reference guide for mythical creatures.

Draw Like an Artist by Brynn Metheney details step by step how to draw different 100 fantasy creatures and characters.

The designs in this book do seem very complicated and I wish that they had been broken down into more steps to help the reader follow.. I would recommend this book for more advanced artists who want to specialize in learning to draw fantasy creatures and characters.

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

Thank you to the author Brynn Metheney, the publisher Quarry Books, and NetGalley for granting me access to Draw Like an Artist: 100 Fantasy Creatures and Characters in exchange for an honest review.

Draw Like an Artist: 100 Fantasy Creatures and Characters features four pages (two spreads) of written instruction paired with simple examples, then launches straight into 100 creatures on 100 pages (50 spreads.) The method used is the wireframe base, rather than divided blobs, and all 100 creature illustration demos go from wireframe to completed illustration in six phases.

On one hand, I expected a little more written instruction throughout, and I would love to have been presented with a few more focused tutorials at the beginning (focus on a reptilian head, focus on a hooved foot and ankle, discussion of knees vs hocks and when to use them, basics of wings, etc.)

On the other hand, the 100 creatures in six phases are beautifully done, and while a lot of detail is achieved in just six steps, it's all achieved fairly evenly in a way that is easy to follow and spot the differences. This book does not fall into the dreaded "now add details" trap that so many drawing tutorials do. These illustrations are colouring book ready by stage four, and the finer details are spread over stages five and six.

Overall this is a great resource for kids and adults alike who would like a little help in getting started with drawing a vast variety of fantasy creatures. It may only present one pose per creature and move on, but the stages of drawing development build skills a budding artist can transfer to their own efforts, and each drawing does manage to highlight all the important body elements of each creature, no matter what post it has taken.

Picked this up for my daughter, who likes to draw. She has loved it so far, as she has been drawing different creatures every day, and even starting to mix them up together. Perfect for that.

I needed to be able to draw a Sasquatch and this did walk me through it. I did get a recognized Sasquatch.

Brynn Metheney’s ‘Draw Like an Artist: 100 Fantasy Creatures and Characters’ is such a useful source for drawing fantasy creatures. From unicorn and phoenix to mermaid and other sea creatures, the book is full of creatures waiting to be drawn.

Brynn Metheney only offers quick guidance at the beginning of the book, the rest of ‘Draw Like an Artist’ is filled with sketches of six steps allowing the ‘reader’ to draw the chosen creature in steps. While the steps are relatively easy to follow, I wished at moments that there was slightly more commentary on the drawing technique. However, the book is an incredible source of mystical creatures and characters (and how to draw them) – containing hundreds of creatures, some more well known, some unheard of. I really enjoyed the book and trying a quick sketch of Jackalope (a creature I haven’t heard of previously and was interested to explore!). I’m planning to try drawing a few more of those creatures, maybe digitally.

Draw Like an Artist: 100 Fantasy Creatures and Characters is an artists reference guide and stepped instructions for producing wide variety of fantasy animals and characters. There are not enough steps or instructions to make this a suitable book for beginners but it would be ideal for the intermediate artist. I liked some of the pictures but I didn't like the style of others. Luckily there is a good selection so you can pick and choose. Overall a good reference book.

Thank you to the publishers for sending me a copy of this book via Netgalley.

Wow. This book is stunning! I won't say I've mastered drawing the images in this book, I struggled with drawing some of the creatures but on my part, I'm better at drawing humanoid type characters. Some were simpler than others depending on how complicated the image or creature is, most had great results for me but I understand that practice is a big part of drawing so I intend to keep drawing these pictures. I've always wanted to draw fantasy creatures and this book definitely helped me to do that!

There are plenty of fantasy creatures to choose from in this book, with 6-step guides to drawing them. While not for beginners, it's perfect for anyone who wants to learn how to draw fantasy elements or get some ideas. I was surprised there wasn't any text accompanying the illustrations, but the instructions are simple and self-explanatory. A great book that I highly recommend.

At the beginning of the book the author describes his six stages of drawing and some tips for illustrating. After that, each creature has six drawings which go from wire frame to finished illustration. The book is completely black & white. As you move through the illustrations, which have all six on the same page, you can see how the creature evolves. I like how you can still see the faint construction lines, it makes it much easier to see how the author got to the finished piece. The finished drawings are very detailed and to a very high standard. This is a very good reference book for fantasy creatures and I definitely recommend it. Thank you #netgalley.

I loved this book the art is amazing. It is not much of a tutorial and I feel it is for more advanced artists.

The book begins with some tips and some explanations of the best way to get started and then immediately switches to nothing but sets of 6 wireframes that show you how to start and finish the drawing of the fantasy creature depicted. I do love the drawings they are very well done and it has an easy format and layout. However, a less experienced artist would not be able to recreate the drawing with the minimal steps depicted in the wireframes. This is a beautiful and enspiring book for the avid and skilled artist and I do recommend it!

I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Draw like an artist: 100 Fantasy creatures and characters is a 6 step drawing tutorial book for learning to draw mythical/fantasy creatures and characters within the 6 steps on each page. Each page is one character/creature and has no instructions just visual drawings. The first few pages of the book tell you how to use it. The drawings consists of mainly circular sketches which you add more depth and detail to within the 6 steps. I think this book is a bit too advanced for my drawing skills but I am going to give afew of the sketches a go!

I wasn't sure how well this book would translate over a tablet, but I found it informative and interesting. I'll be keeping an eye out for it in stores so I can further study it in my hands!

Each page in this book has a different creature or character in six steps, from basic shapes to finished detail. There are no written instructions or any other information, just the drawing sequence. The results, in some cases, are quite stunning. I don't know if a beginning artist would follow them without some additional instruction or advice, but it would certainly be a good reference for someone who draws frequently.

The layout of this book is typical of the rest in the series. each side of the page breaks down the drawing into 6 sequential steps. The skill level of this book is a little beyond me, but it has great illustrations and you can piece together how the drawings take form. These are lifelike creatures, not cartoony or doodles.