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Book Review

How to Draw

The hardest book you will ever love. Strict, mathematical perspective construction for industrial design.

How to Draw
Rating
5/5
Price Range
$$

Tech Specs

  • Author Scott Robertson
  • Pages 208
  • Focus Constructive Anatomy

Best For

Concept Artists Industrial Designers Vehicle Artists

The Good

  • Teaches you to draw 'through' the form
  • Demystifies complex curves in perspective
  • Includes video tutorials via QR codes
  • Essential for sci-fi and hard surface

The Bad

  • Extremely dense and technical
  • Dry reading (it's a textbook)
  • Steep learning curve

The Engineering of Art

Scott Robertson teaches drawing like engineering. There is no “feeling” here; there is only geometry. If you want to draw a spaceship and have it look like it can actually fly, this is the book.

X-Y-Z

The book drills the concept of the 3D grid into your brain. You stop seeing a blank page and start seeing a 3D volume. You learn to carve shapes out of that volume using mirroring, section views, and grids.

The Videos

One amazing feature is the companion app/videos. Robertson demonstrates the complex drafting techniques in real-time, which helps bridge the gap between the diagrams and the execution.

Verdict

It is not fun. It is work. But if you complete the exercises in this book, you will gain a superpower: the ability to draw anything, from any angle, from your imagination.