30+ Best Drawing Books for Beginners to Learn How to Draw

Drawing for the Absolute Beginner by Mary and Mark Willenbrink is a comprehensive guidebook for novice artists. The book offers tips ranging from selecting materials and holding a pencil correctly to more essential concepts like drawing reflections, getting proportions and perspective right, and creating compositions.

This book contains 24 mini demos leading up to 9 full step-by-step demos- each demo builds on the previous one as you develop your skills.

How to Draw: 53 Step-by-Step Drawing Projects consist of simple-to-follow drawing tutorials that will teach you how to draw a variety of subjects, including people, animals, everyday items, and even fundamental forms like cubes and spheres.

This book will guide you through each step-by-step instruction from the first stage to the completed artwork. However, if you are picky with subjects, it might favor the young ones, but it is fine for beginners. 

The Human Figure Drawing Techniques is for all the artists that want to learn gesture drawing.  It includes the author’s procedural method from gesture, Glenn Vilppu’s world-famous figure drawing technique, basic shapes like spheres and boxes, helpful lighting techniques, form, and even feelings. 

Starting Drawing Atelier is a workbook by best-selling author Juliette Aristides that simplifies the drawing process by presenting its many steps progressively and excellent illustrations.

Here, you will learn the fundamentals of drawing and the terminology and cultural background you’ll need to produce exceptional, well-crafted drawings.  Line, shape, volume, value, and form are all discussed.

“Art for Kids: Drawing” by Katherine Temple is a fantastic book that helps children develop their drawing skills in a fun and engaging way. 

The book is packed with creative, educational, and beautifully illustrated lessons that show budding artists how to draw fundamental shapes and forms, utilize light for illusion, and sketch various subjects, including people, animals, and landscapes.

Whether you’re an intermediate artist looking to enhance your skills or a beginner wanting to learn the basics, “How to Draw Faces” by Jasmina Susak will guide you through the process from start to finish.

The book is simple to read and grasp because of the many illustrations that show you how to do things step by step. It provides in-depth information on various face drawing topics, such as facial features, skin, and especially hair

“Lessons in Masterful Portrait Drawing” by Mau-Kun Yim is a guide that teaches the classical approach to portrait drawing. The author’s philosophy and practice, which are based on the belief that traditional techniques are the only way to capture the essence of life in portrait painting, are present throughout the book.

It includes 12 step-by-step tutorials and an extensive gallery of beautifully executed portraits, figures, sketches, and busts that will inspire aspiring artists.

“Drawing the Head and Hands” by Andrew Loomis is an excellent resource for artists who want to improve their skills in drawing portraits and hands. 

These complicated details may be drawn with the help of the book’s thorough instructions and accompanying illustrations. The author covers everything from the structure and proportions of each feature to tips on shading and creating texture. 

Another one from Jake Spicer, “You Will be Able to Draw Faces by the End of This Book,” is for someone who wants to become confident in drawing faces.

The book covers the fundamentals of portraiture in a clear and easy-to-follow manner. This book is excellent for anybody wishing to hone their portraiture abilities since it emphasizes anatomy, form, light, and shadow. Also, it guides your most basic facial structures to more complex elements like hair and wrinkles and provides plenty of room to practice.

How to Draw People by Alisa Calder is an excellent resource for children, teens, and adults looking to improve their drawing skills. 

With over 75 easy-to-follow tutorials, this book covers various poses and figures, from sitting and standing to lying down. It’s simple to follow, thanks to the step-by-step structure, and each instruction takes you from the very beginning to the final artwork.

“Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth” is a classic art book written by Andrew Loomis, first published in 1943. The book offers a comprehensive guide to figure drawing, including instructions on the fundamentals of proportion, anatomy, and composition.

One of the standout features of the book is its detailed illustrations, which showcase Loomis’s masterful skill in figure drawing. The book includes numerous examples of both male and female figures in various poses, providing readers with plenty of opportunities to practice their own figure-drawing skills. Additionally, Loomis offers insights into his own artistic process, sharing tips and techniques for achieving lifelike, dynamic figures.

The easy-to-learn approach that “Drawing People for the Absolute Beginner” by Mark and Mary Willenbrink makes it possible for anyone to achieve accurate drawings every time. 

With 13 complete figure drawing demonstrations, you’ll learn how to draw people of all ages and body types. Various model types, lighting setups, and postures are used in each step-by-step lesson, making it simple for you to follow along and improve your drawing skills.

“Anatomy for the Artist” by Sarah Simblet is a masterpiece for anyone looking to improve their understanding of the human body in art. 

Through her detailed sketches, Sarah Simblet unveils the remarkable structure of the human body, including its muscle groups, skeletal strength, balance, poise, and grace. The book provides six lessons that teach you how to draw the human body from the start, from the skull to the ribs to the pelvis and the extremities.

“Drawing Nature for the Absolute Beginner” is a guide for beginners on how to draw plants, animals, and other natural components. This book was written by Mark and Mary Willenbrink to assist budding painters in overcoming their fear of painting and gaining the confidence and abilities necessary to create accurate and emotive nature drawings. 

The book covers a variety of topics, such as fundamental sketching skills, composition, perspective, and color theory. It also contains guidelines and exercises that lead readers through the process of drawing various components of nature, from flowers and trees to animals and landscapes.

“Drawing: Landscapes with William F. Powell” is a how-to book for artists who desire to enhance their landscape drawing skills. William F. Powell, a well-known artist and author of several instructive art books, wrote the book. It covers a variety of landscape drawing subjects, such as composition, perspective, texture, and color theory.

The standout features of this book include clear and concise instructions on landscape drawing techniques, helpful tips and tricks to improve your skills, step-by-step demonstrations and exercises, and guidance on using different materials, such as pencils, charcoal, and pastels.

“Essential Techniques of Landscape Drawing” is a how-to book for artists who desire to improve their landscape drawing skills. Suzanne Brooker, an acclaimed artist and instructor, wrote the book, which covers a variety of landscape drawing themes such as composition, perspective, texture, and color theory. 

Beverly Johnson, a skilled artist, wrote the book. “Draw Fantastic Characters and Creatures” covers topics such as tools and materials, shapes, personalities, facial expressions, body language, character interaction, and costuming. Characters other than people are highlighted; learn how to draw animals, plants, creatures, and more.

The “Modern Cartooning” by Christopher Hart, a popular cartoonist and author of multiple instructional art books, is a thorough handbook. The book is intended for beginning artists who want to improve their skills in creating modern cartoons. It’s also a terrific resource for the innumerable lovers of cartoons, animation, and comics who want to discover how their favorite characters and artwork are created.

“How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way,” published by comic book icons Stan Lee and John Buscema, is an influential reference for comic book artists. This famous book introduces readers to the technique of making dynamic and entertaining comic book artwork. It is the best-selling book, with 5871 ratings on Amazon.

The standout features of this book are practical advice and inspiring examples of Marvel Comics artwork throughout the book. The authors are both legendary figures in the world of comic books who provide their expertise and experience to the content. The techniques and advice provided in the book are still relevant and useful today, making it a timeless resource for comic book art.

Christopher Hart, a well-known how-to-draw author, has curated an anime drawing book that will assist aspiring artists in their pursuit of producing attractive anime characters. The Master Guide to Drawing Anime delves into the six most popular types of anime characters: schoolgirls, schoolboys, preteens, vengeful villains, comedic personalities, and fantasy figures.

The book provides a large number of templates for each character type, including a wide range of head and body types, clothing, and accessories. This book is a wonderful resource for anyone wishing to enhance their anime drawing skills, with detailed, easy-to-follow, step-by-step demos and sketching exercises.

Written by the popular YouTube artist Mark Crilley, “Mastering Manga with Mark Crilley” is an exhaustive instruction to sketching manga characters. The book covers face expressions, body language, clothes, and other fundamental methods and skills required to create manga-style characters.

The book has galleries of 101 eyes, 50 hand-drawing techniques, 40 hairstyles, 12 common facial expressions, and 30 classic positions, among others. These galleries help artists improve their drawing skills and create more lifelike characters. The book also contains tips on constructing realistic settings, which are helpful for artists seeking to enhance their backdrops.

This book is a complete guide for aspiring artists who want to draw cute and interesting animals and creatures in the manga style. It includes detailed instructions for drawing cats, dogs, bears, and legendary creatures like dragons and unicorns, as well as chibis, which are tiny characters with big heads and expressive faces.

One of the standout features of the book is the detailed guidance on creating different poses and expressions for the characters. The book also provides instructions on how to add depth and texture to the drawings, giving them a more realistic feel. The book includes tips and tricks on using various art materials, including pencils, markers, and digital tools.

Featuring the artwork of 50 skilled artists, “Sketching from the Imagination: Creatures and Monsters” is an art book that displays sketches and illustrations of a wide variety of imaginary creatures and monsters. This book offers readers an in-depth look at the creative process of these artists, displaying their individual styles and techniques when sketching creatures and monsters.

The book’s varied spectrum of creatures and monsters represented, from fantasy beasts to legendary creatures to sci-fi monsters, is one of its prominent aspects. The book contains sketches in various stages of completion, ranging from original concept sketches to more complete renderings, providing readers with insight into the artists’ thought processes.