This trick of drawing, anyone can do.

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Product Description

As "Commander Mark" on his national PBS TV series The Secret City, Mark Kistler has taught 10 million viewers of all ages how to draw. Mark Kistler's Draw Squad gathers all his zany, effective shortcuts to basic drawing skills into a book that will delight would be artists of all ages.

Like his TV show, the thirty lessons in this book are peppered with jokes, tips, and slogans, and organized in easy-to-follow steps. "Warm-up" exercises generate enthusiasm; the "Key Drawing Words" develop specific skills; practice pages are provided for hands-on participation; and the Commander's own lively sketches and "contests" invite you to add your own creative touches. His bubbling energy, flashes of whimsy, and talent as a teacher make learning to draw fun and easy -- even for those who swear they can't draw a straight line!

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25401 in Books
• Published on: 1988-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780671656942
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
From the foreword by James M. Clarke Former President, Texas Art Education Association and Art Curriculum Director, Aldine School district, Houston, Tx. Mark Kistler is the most noted art educator in the history of modern art education. -- Review

Review
Betty Edwardsauthor of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and Drawing on the Artist WithinKids love cartooning. This book will help keep drawing alive until children are ready to learn to draw from life and nature.

Ray BradburySuper! I wish I had had Mark Kistler 's Draw Squad when I was ten!

From the foreword by James M. ClarkeFormer President, Texas Art Education Association and Art Curriculum Director, Aldine School district, Houston, Tx.Mark Kistler is the most noted art educator in the history of modern art education.

About the Author
In addition to his popular TV drawing show, Mark Kistler is a cartoonist, illustrator, and school workshop leader. He lives in Oceanside, California.

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Customer Reviews

Anyone CAN Draw!
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This book is for EVERYBODY. Elementary school children will take to it with no reservations or inhibitions; Kistler knows how to prepare and motivate his readers to just dive right in. Adults (I am 44) will discover that the ONLY prerequisites for learning to draw fluently are a few 3B pencils, a cheap sketchpad -- and Kistler's book. The lesson/exercises could not be more easy, painless, or fun. If you go through the entire book as I did -- once you start, it's almost impossible to stop -- you will have accumulated an impressive collection of well-drawn doodles, sketches, vignettes, illustrations -- and at least one gigantic mural. And YOU are the artist.

Kistler doesn't teach you merely to "copy" figures, he gives you insanely simple projects that become a kind of alphabet / repertoire for assembling a larger, more grandiose project, and then he exhorts you to go and do just that. And you do go out and do it, because now you can.

You don't just learn to draw objects, you acquire the ability to visually invent, create, generate and connect pictorial ideas and expand on artistic themes. By the time you get half-way into the book, you begin to see your dining room wall as a nice place for your own "Guernica" mural or "Historical Pageant of the Milky Way Galaxy". By the end of the book, you understand why Michaelangelo couldn't just paint the Sistine Chapel beige with a roller and quit at five o'clock.

RDB

Great art program for teachers, children and adults!
As a fourth-grade teacher who was never very good at art, I always found teaching art to be very difficult. Elementary school teachers aren't provided with any real curriculum, and the majority of ideas out there in books and teachers' magazines are simplistic cut-and-paste busy work that don't really teach any art concepts. Then I found this book! This is incredible! My whole art program is set up around this book! It teaches art concretely and step-by-step so that the most art challenged students (including myself) are able to learn from it! The kids love it, and its great for teaching mathematical and geometrical concepts like shapes, angles and terms. I couldn't recommend this book for any teacher (or child, or parent) more! You and your children will draw great pictures, even if you are as bad at drawing as I am!

a great starting point
If you are looking for a place to start learning to draw, and the books you have seen before only make it harder, your search is over. Mark makes it easy for anyone at any age to get basic drawing skills, the building blocks you need to get started. He teaches the skills that other books make seem complex, without the stress or making it go over your head. His way of teaching is simply the easiest method a person can have to start drawing. And if the books are good, his old show on PBS and his videos are even better. Mark makes drawing so fun kids beg to use the book again and again. He does not start by intimidating you with the completed project, in fact you don't always know what you are drawing until you are done. He takes you one line, circle, or square at a time and before you know it you have a fun drawing. I also reccommend you try the books from Ed Emberly, or check my lists on Amazon for kids that want to learn to draw, or be a cartoonist or animator.