Pen and Ink Drawing Workbook

I've always been into art, but never went through a class, and most books I tried were too frustrating to finish. Due to adult responsibilities and a move, I took about 1 1/2yrs to go through this book from start to finish. The pictures attached were completed on my own as I was working on the last section of this workbook. Before this book, my drawings had inconsistent results, and I didn't touch ink for the same reasons most people don't- it's intimidating. Now I love it! The author makes it feel so approachable. Now I do recommend the accompanying book too. It's worth the cost. But the workbook is more valuable in my opinion. He has many exercises that build strength and skill in an effective way. As a teacher myself (not art) I appreciate the author's teaching skills as well as his artistic ability. And that's honestly what makes this book so amazing. Many art instruction books are written by very good arts, but that doesn't mean they know anything about teaching. It doesn't matter how good a person is at something, if they can't teach effectively, the student is going to struggle to learn. Mr. Dunn will teach you not just about ink, but so much more about art in general. You'll learn about form, value, texture, composition (in the main book), and more. The only basic principle he doesn't cover is color, for obvious reasons, and I do believe he has a video about that on YouTube. This workbook has not only improved my ink skills, but has taught me much that I've been able to apply to other mediums. There's one down side, and it's not the author's fault. The publisher could have done a better job. I won't complain too much about the paper. It's not the best, but it would be very expensive for them to print it on high quality art paper, and this is a workbook; it's not meant for you to take it out and frame it. However, there are a few projects in the back where the publisher altered the shape slightly in order to make it fit on the page. It seems like a small adjustment, but on the bird drawing, the propertions are a little off, and it does affect the end result. It's minor complaint, but one worth noting. Here's some of my favorite features about this workbook: -treats the consumer like an equal who can learn if so desired (non of this gatekeeping nonsense some artists do) -sufficient explanations, and excellent if you pair it with the instruction book -skill and pen control exercises -opportunities to self evaluate -teaches you HOW to draw, not just to copy his work -because of the above, you're free to explore and develop your own style as you go -provides tracings and outlines for projects. Even if you feel confident in doing it yourself, this reduces the time spent and allows you to just focus on your ink skills -ends with projects that give you confidence to branch out and continue learning on your own

Being in my 70's, I needed the right art teacher to realize my lifelong dream of creating art. Scanning YouTube, I stumbled on a video featuring only fingers, a pencil and pen, and paper. A calm and assuring voice wrapped the package! I clicked on the video and discovered Alphonso Dunn. For me, his expressive fingers, drawing examples, and his voice explaining various aspects of art, were incredibly understandable...I became addicted. Discovering he had two art books, I immediately ordered them from Amazon and in a couple days they arrived (thanks Amazon). Tearing open the package and flipping through the pages, I discovered what will be my main go-to for art instruction books. Use of hands and drawing various objects as he explains various concepts, without knowing, is surely his expertise in another art: pedagogy. As a teacher, he uses his skills very effectively. These books extend his teaching avenues to the print field, and are just as impressive as his videos, on which he has based some material in the books. Again, a pedagogical success! Hopefully, as I’m redecorating my house, he has finished pieces I can purchase to both grace my walls, but also as reminders to keep going in this fulfilling adventure of art. Everyone needs a hero! I believe each person must find their own teacher, but Alphonso Dunn came along when I most needed what he offers. Each person must also decide which teaching books will best suit their own way of learning, but having purchased a lot of books, these two will surely be my most prized. If there are more books in the works (and Dunn has hinted that possibility) I’ll be purchasing those as well. I highly recommend if anyone reading this post is looking for an art book, or looking for a teacher, try Alphonso Dunn. I wish him the best as he follows his own art quest, but that as he grows, I also hopes that he shares his knowledge with us who are desiring to do our best to learn and grow. L Terry

If you own and liked this first book then it's very likely that you'll like this one just as much. It includes great exercises to help you learn a lot of the techniques covered in the first book by starting you through them and giving you specific areas within its pages to continue them on your own. All of the examples and other artwork are very well done. In my opinion each topic/technique is very useful--not just for pen & ink--but many carry over to drawing in general. As with his first book this one seems to be geared towards those who have at least a small amount of drawing/sketching experience--it's not a learn how to draw book--although you certainly don't need more than basic drawing skills. At the same time the techniques shown can be used by everyone from those with the basic skills up to advanced artists who may be highly skilled in pencil, charcoals, etc., and are wanting to learn the different skills required with a pen where you have to convey values very differently If you watch his YouTube videos you already know that Alphonso is very skilled. He often draws interesting objects in perspective for use as the basis for his shading techniques. For many people just drawing these starting objects can be a struggle, making it more difficult to get to the point where you can practice the shading. Many of the exercises in this book will start you off with a pre-drawn shape or object, already rendered in perspective, and allow you to practice the shading (or other) techniques. The next step might be having you both draw the object *and* shade it. This is one ways people of different skill levels can find value with this book. I appreciate Alphonso's excellent YouTube channel so much that I'd have purchased this book regardless of its content, but fortunately for all of us he's put the same hard work into this book that he puts into his videos, making the book an excellent resource--not just for those owning its companion book--but for anyone wanting to draw in pen & ink. Of course you'll get more value from this book if you *do* own his first one.

Very useful! I learnt a lot

Love this book! This is exactly what I've been looking for. I'm brand new to drawing and many of the books out there just don't have the practice included that I was needing. I ordered the first book on Kindle to go with the workbook. Perfect! Also, I had great customer service when my book came bent, they replaced it right away.

Good

I always told myself that I wasn't an artist type. I recently decided to change that and I started renting tons of art books from the library and as luck would have it, I was able to rent the companion book to this workbook. All the other art books were good but I felt that you had to have a little bit of a foundation to draw and I wasn't even able to understand basic drawing principles when I personally went to apply it to paper. I decided to purchase this book based on the wonderful experience I had with his first book. I'll be honest, I'm not the type of person to write reviews. Generally, people know what good products and talented folks look like. This book is honestly flooring me with the (almost) scientific method it uses to get you from looking at art to actually being able to draw it. This book, legitimately, is THAT good. I almost feel bad because I think that if everyone started with this book during their first class/session/whatever, we would have way more insanely good artists. I wasn't even especially interested in pen & ink (and now I am!) but this book has such solid technique, such great examples, and such an insightful view into what you should even be looking at when you're doing art that I find it hard to not recommend this book to every single person who wants to know art regardless of what type of art they do. Seriously. If you're reading reviews, you're interested. Just take the leap, it's worth it.

I have the workbook and the drawing book, They go hand-N-hand and I've enjoyed them both.

nice thick book with plenty of exercises to complete. However it lost a star due to the pages being thin- if you use anything other than pencil it will show through. I will be scanning and printing

Bra övningar och enkla, tydliga tips och förklaringar. Klart minus boken kom bucklig och med uppfläkt pärm.

I kept looking at this workbook but felt it was a little over my budget however I bought it as a birthday gift and wow, it was a 6 week course of tips, practice and more practice. I did each activity, sometimes more than once and it took my artwork to a whole new level. I’m so glad I invested in me, if you have a little skill in drawing then you’d probably benefit, it might be tricky if you’ve never drawn before however don’t let that stop you. Don’t look at this as just a book. It really is a course in its own right & I teach! Invest in yourself, you won’t regret it! Have fun x Thank you Mr Dunn x

كتاب أعمال بمستوى عالي من الرسام فيه بعض الشرح والتركيز على الطابع فالكتاب حلو مختلف عن البقية ولكن مو للجميع.🤍✨

Até agora, atendeu totalmente as espectativas, muito bom utilizar o livro para praticar após ler o livro teórico. Após alguns exercícios já consigo perceber a melhoria na qualidade dos meus traços e ainda estou em cerca de 1/10 do material