642 Things to Draw: Inspirational Sketchbook to Entertain and Provoke the Imagination (Drawing Books, Art Journals, Doodle Books, Gifts for Artist)

Love it!! Had my students to purchase it for extra drawing practice.

The book is so much fun and challenging as well. I don’t think I would have bought it myself but my wife de gave it to me this Christmas. I started doing some of the “assignments” and was immediately hooked. Not only is it fun but the challenges are on in every page. I have drawn things with this book I would NEVER had drawn before. It has stretched me creatively. My suggestion is this . . . if you are in any way artistic or just like to doodle, get a copy of this book, a handful of markers, a place on the couch, and have fun.

Very fun and great idea prompts. some spaces are very small like the 4 to a page but I guess that just makes ya use your imagination and creativity more. I have done several pages in the book already and love sitting and drawing. The prompts are not really things I would have ever considered drawing but have been great to help me get more creative. You can do elaborate drawings based on the prompt or also this book of prompts will be good to help anyone learn and practice shading and perspective by just drawing the one item prompt to practice honing their skills. I erase a lot and the paper seems to be holding up good. I would not use markers or gel pens s they may bleed through. I have used pencil and colored pencils. I do wish that these books would leave the back of each page blank so that a person could use any medium and not ruin the next page. But overall I am happy I bought it .

This book really threw me off when I first opened it. I knew from the "Look Inside" feature that the book consisted of just what it says: "642 Things to Draw." The pages consist of a drawing prompt(s), with a space underneath the prompt where you draw the item. The pages vary as to the number of prompts and spaces -- some pages are divided vertically with a prompt for each column. Some are divided into four squares with a prompt for each square, some into three horizontal rows, etc. The prompts are small and understated, and include such things as "a giraffe", "a saint", "first love", "a rollercoaster", "a real estate agent", "cat whiskers." When I opened the book I immediately looked for an introduction. Even just a paragraph or two addressed to the reader, explaining how to use the book (I know it's obvious, but I'm a stickler for instructions). Or, if not explaining how to use the book, at least providing some sample drawings. Or even a simple: "dive in and have fun -- there are no rules." Just ... something! But there was nothing. I thought I was missing it! I looked in the front, carefully separating the opening pages in case they were sticking together. Nothing. The book starts with its first prompt: "a rolling pin." I wanted to know if I should find a rolling pin and draw it by looking at it, or draw a rolling pin from my head, or find a picture of a rolling pin and draw from the picture. I wanted to know things like, why 642? Why is the book set up as it is? etc. I even looked in the back, thinking I'd find SOME kind of message there. Still nothing. This was really bothering me ... until it dawned on me: The author is making a point to keep this book simple simple simple -- there isn't even an author's name on the cover. The whole point of the book is KEEP IT SIMPLE. This way, the reader/drawer is encouraged to focus solely on the prompts and our imaginations. I realized that the author is saying, "It's up to you how to use this book. It's up to you whether or not to draw from a picture, from real life, or from your imagination. You don't need an introduction to tell you that. Just draw." I also realized that my confusion resulted from this being marketed and designed as a book book, rather than a sketchbook. It looks like a book that you read. For me, I think this book would be better if it were designed as a sketchbook, with spiral binding and drawing paper. And if the title included the words "a sketchbook" after "642 Things to Draw." Other than that, I'm intrigued and a bit delighted with the author's creativity and tenacity in how he/she designed this book. Most importantly, I'm excited to dive in and just draw.

This was a gift for an artist friend who loves to doodle and sketch. They found the book to be entertaining and relaxing, and best of all, great fun!

Am I exaggerating? No, I am not. This book has no "how to draw this step by step" parts. You don't want that, I promise. If your goal is to really improve your drawing skills, then get this book. This book gives you blank pages with a random prompt. Your goal is to draw that prompt. No guides. These prompts can range from a skunk, to a crayon, to David Bowie, to a sense of humor. Just random prompts. Why is this the best thing for your skills? If you really want to get good at drawing, you have to practice drawing everything. You haves to expand and understand your mind reference library. The bigger you mind library is, the better art you will make. But you don't know how to draw one of the prompts? I'll let you in on a secret. Artists use references. They look up and learn what they want to draw. All the best to this. From the ancient masters to Rockwell to James Gurney. You can often find their notes and process on famous artwork. If your goal is to become better, or even just learn how to do it, that is what you will have to do too. In fact, however simple and nice those step by steps are, this approach will do much much more for you in the long run. This isn't a big book and the paper shouldn't be used for anything other than pencil or a ball-point pen. But, you don't have to draw in this book. You can take the prompts you find and draw/paint/color them in your sketchbook or on whatever paper/canvas of your choosing. This book is great for breaking out of art-blocks, for figuring out what to draw, for getting you out of your comfort zone, and for helping you improve your skills. Get it. Use it. You won't regret it.

So this book gives you a new drawing prompt on every page. Some pages have 2, some have three. I find the best way to use it is in conjunction with Pinterest. Search for the prompt and tons of ideas will come up. For instance the pictures I drew above! I get up every morning, grab my coffee, and draw for an hour minimum. I started the book on 9/4/23 and as of today I have drawn 115 pictures. Some are easy, like a tea cup…some are more challenging, like the wine opener and accordion! This is my third such book and my skills have improved. I am absolutely hooked! I also don’t hop around, I go page by page. If the prompt seems hard I just push through and do it. Believe me, I have done plenty of erasing! Give it a try!

Lo he comprado dos veces: una para mí y otra para regalar. Te obliga a imaginarte y dibujar cosas muy diversas. Genial!

Ein tolles Buch um immer mal wieder zum Stift zu greifen ! Die vorgegebenen Begriffe sind von einfachen kleinen Zeichnungen wie zb. konfetti bis hin zu größeren und aufwändigeren wie z.b. die Milchstraße. Der eigenen kreativität sind keine Grenzen gesetzt. netter Zeitvertreib!

good variety of things to draw, good to teach yourself how to draw different things

No complaints

As an artist I believe in drawing one thing every day. This book has pages of things to draw and the spaces in which to draw them; from a quarter of a page to a whole page. You can draw from life or use your imagination. Open to any page, pick an item and draw. Because the book gives you the object to be drawn, you draw things you would not normally think of. So for anybody who likes to draw it is great fun. I have completed some of the drawings in pen and ink, Graphite pencil, pencil crayon, pen and ink with light watercolour washes even wax crayon. When finished it will be a source of materials for picture book illustrations, for others it will just be a source of great fun. I highly recommend this book.