Pen and Ink Drawing: A Simple Guide

I have recently retired and needed something to do with my free time, so I took up photography and adult coloring books. I had wanted to learn to draw for a long time, but there was nothing that I could find for a truly beginner, I did a lot of research on YouTube on learning how to draw and came across Mr. Dunn's channel. After watching more videos than I probably should have at one sitting, I purchased Pen & Ink Drawing, A Simple Guide.. I have had this book for about 2 weeks now and feel I can give an honest and thorough review. Pen & Ink Drawing - The book This 165 page book is easy to understand with clear explanations and examples that you are encouraged to do yourself. The chapters covered are supplies, strokes, shading,simulating texture, sketch booking, stages of a finished drawing, and secret of line balance. Each chapter goes into specific detail and is well organized. There is an extensive chapter on shading which, to me, is the most important chapter in the book, because without shading, your drawings will not look realistic, There are a lot of drawing books on the market, but they are filled with pictures and examples that you can copy. Mr. Dunn has taken that to another level explaining the "why" behind each stroke, simple forms, etc., which is what sold me (I'm the type of person that needs to know why I'm doing something and the reason behind it - maybe a little OCD going on). For example In the chapter, "Lines of Balance," he explains what the line of balance is and examples of how to draw animals, portraits, nature, hair, the human figure, discusses rhythm and a lot of other things you would never think about that goes into drawing. Throughout the book he gives a "why" to whatever he is doing. You can tell Mr. Dunn put a lot of effort into his book, not only showing you, but explaining the "why" behind it.- very well done! To supplement this book, I would highly recommend you watch his YouTube videos where he covers some things in the book in more detail and you can also draw along with him as he takes you step by step, There is a video that tells you about basic lines (which I would have like to have seen a brief chapter in the book about). Watching his videos is like sitting in an art class with an instructor who knows what he is doing and what he is talking about. In the videos he goes into great detail about simple forms, how to pay attention to structure and proportions and too many others to list here. In addition,he has video series on landscapes, etc. - just too many to mention - Just check them out and have your pen ready to take notes. You won't be disappointed! The most important thing that stuck with me while watching the videos is to not just look but observe as well. When you observe, you can see simple forms (cubes, cylinders, spheres, triangles) in everything you look at. You have to adjust your thinking and think about everything before you put your pen to paper. (this too is covered in the videos), so now I literally don't look at things the same :) What I would change - The order of some of the chapters. After the supplies chapter and before the stroke chapter, I would have included a small section from the Youtube video, the 7 basic lines of drawing. I thought this was really important to explain vertical, horizontal, parallel and perpendicular lines. Another thing, which is totally personal preference, I would have put a table of contents in the front rather than an index in the back, or maybe both (I was looking for a table of contents). Other than these, two issues, there is absolutely nothing I would change. Conclusion - This book is for the beginner as well as the seasoned artist. I had no experience in drawing and wanted to learn and now I feel very confident that I can do this (though haven't started using a pen yet, but I'm working on it). My sketch book is full of practice pages and everyday I look forward to and am excited to work on something..One thing I would recommend is to make a chart of the basic type of strokes (page 24 so you can have it handy when you ink your masterpiece. The key to a fantastic ink drawing, sketching or anything is practice, practice, and practice some more. Everyday I get better and better, but most of all, with my photography and now my pen and ink drawings, I am having fun!! Thank you, Mr. Dunn, for your generosity in sharing your knowledge. I look forward to whatever you have in store next! On a side note, I also purchased "How to Sketch: A Beginner's Guide to Sketching Techniques" by Liron Yanconsky.

TLDR; Great book. inspirational. Authors has good instructional attitude. Clear and concise. This work is well put together. It has nice illustrations. Teaches pen and ink technique, not the whole theory of how to draw well. What it is, is a book about pen and ink. What it is not is a basic text on drawing in general. I really enjoyed this book. There are a few reasons that I appreciated it as well as I did: first, the author's attitude is great, his approach to instruction is easy going and inspirational, and while he stresses the value of certain practices he is never dogmatic about them. Second, this book is concise on verbiage and yet conveys well the concepts it seeks to communicate... I really appreciate it when extraneous material is left out of published work. Thirdly the format and layout are really well done, it's always nice to see something which is has been thought through. Fourth, I enjoy the artwork in the demonstrations, of which there are many. It may not be a wise trait but I have to admit that if I dislike the art within an instructional art book, then I probably won't buy it or read it. Lastly it teaches it's own subject and does not seek to teach you how to draw, but the particulars of pen and ink. This book covers really all of the fundamentals of pen and ink, even some not-so-fundamentals, and clearly illustrates how to apply this medium to works of art. It does not go into all techniques that can be used, but covers probably the most important ones. It also doesn't go very thoroughly into any one topic, but gives you most relevant facts and then encourages you to try them out for yourself. It does not cover in any great detail the intricacies of any one method of applying ink (ball-point, dip pen, fountain pen, brushes, etc.) but briefly hits all of the main ones, so that the reader understands what they are and that they can be applied to making art in pen and ink styles. I actually really like the fact that so little time is given to such usual art book topics as perspective, light and shadow, composition, anatomy, etc. but if what you need is a basic art book, then you won't find what you're after in this work. Some time is spent with drawing fundamentals but it is far from complete, and the emphasis is on doing it in ink, not the general theory. And I actually prefer that, since those topics are explained really well in other books and this i a book about pen and ink, not the subject of drawing. That said there is rather a lot that you can take from this book and apply to other media. Finally. I did get this book partially to support the author. His youtude channel ([...]) was a big reason I got started in pen and ink drawing.

I watch Alphonso Dunn's drawing tutorials on YouTube and purchased this book in support of his efforts. This man is not only an incredible artist but a great teacher as well, so I wanted to show my appreciation for everything I learned by purchasing his first book; however, let me be clear, this book exceeded my expectations. At first skim, it looks like any other basic drawing book, but once I sat down with it, I was amazed at how Mr. Dunn broke down seemingly complex drawing techniques so simply that I am over confidant that I will be able to replicate some of the drawings and there's no doubt in my mind that my drawings will improve overall. WHAT THIS BOOK IS: This book is a beginners guide to basic drawing techniques. The techniques that are the foundations to good drawing skills--skills that you can use in your repetoire to build drawings that look complex but are really very simple techniques combined together that give your drawings that advanced-skill look that many beginner artists are trying to achieve. If you're looking for a book on basic techniques that will teach you how to build on simple techniques and apply them to drawing compositions, this is for you. Very simple to follow yet the results are exceptional. WHAT THIS BOOK IS NOT: This book is not a step-by-step how-to drawing book, but it is a beginner's drawing book. You will get a solid foundation in technique and there are many examples to practice on, but there are no step-by-step examples (e.g. (1) Draw a straight line (2) at the top of the straight line, draw a curved line (3) at the bottom of the straight line, draw another straight line). I hope Alphonso's next book is a step-by-step instruction manual on how to draw, say, houses, faces, or urban landscapes. If he were to create a step-by-step series, even better. Kudos to Alphonso Dunn for this book. I highly recommend this book to a beginner looking to learn technique.

This review is also attached to Dunn's workbook. Both are excellent: 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

Progresses nicely from basic concepts to more complex techniques.

Excellent book. The artist has a phenomenal channel on YouTube as well. I highly recommend the book and his channel as well

Kindle edition of this book: fabulous. I am amazed,surprised, delighted with this extraordinary book. That one person can write about complicated subjects in such a simple, understandable, relatable way, and that you can actually follow the instructions understanding the principles and build up on them over time without over explaining. I have tons, I mean, TONS of book on drawing, and this is the book I wish I had a long time ago. If you have an intuitive, basic but OK ability to draw, (meaning when you draw a tree other people can recognize a real tree, not a Dr Seuss tree) this is the book that will clear your mind and push you to get the best of yourself. If you are a total beginner I would recommend to buy the exercise book , jump into it and have this one, the Simple guide on the side so If the drawing exercise is not working compare notes in that very moment so you are able to grasp what the exercise means. I would recommend to have a separate sketchbook to do the actual exercises instead of drawing on the practice book, that is just my opinion. It helps to write your own notes, catch your errors and good steps. Being a novice you can even try to use tracing paper to give you the outlines and transfer to the sketchbook, and make this lessons less intimidating. It's a first step, over time you won't need to trace because your eyes, hands and brain will work better together, trust me It will happen if you practice. The other things I would strongly suggest is to recreate the exercise in real life when possible with real life objects in your home. Just grab items similar to what the exercise book has and place them the same. Put a lamp close by and draw. You will get more focused on the values when drawing in graphite. Color is another story, I would stick with graphite. A more intermediate person will understand, I believe, more readily the concepts on this book, because of experience already accumulated. I can go on and on. I bought the Kindle edition of this book because I can take it with me everywhere. It helps me to reinforce all this amazing info even when I'm sketching at a cafe, in my car, etc. I catch myself having more Aha! moments than I can say. Thank you Alfonso, I hope you know how much we get from your wonderful books!

In my opinion, the best guide on pen and ink drawing in terms of content and layout. Dunn is one of my favorite ink artists. He has fabulously rendered examples for every idea, technique, and concept he demonstrates throughout the book. The explanations are concise and clear without crowding the pages. Artists of all skill levels can benefit greatly from these principles, steps, and examples. Personally I’ve been drawing since high school and after inactivity for many years, I cracked open Dunn’s book and it was perfect for helping me dip my toes back into pen and ink. The cherry on top is that the vast majority of human subjects portrayed are people of color. Perhaps a small inconsequential detail to some, but being Asian myself I notice that most art instructional books are white-centered in both authorship and subject. It’s very refreshing to have a POC-centered perspective: a black artist showcasing portraits of mostly black people throughout his guide. Highly recommended to my fellow artists and those starting out wanting to get into pen and ink.

Duidelijk en handig boek voor een beginnend tekenaar.

Perfect for anyone who would like to learn pen and ink drawing, but also for those who have some basic knowledge. There's plenty of advice, and the techniques are clearly explained. Together with the workbook, this is a great book for artists. Highly recommend!

Alphonso Dunn is a talented artist and a good teacher, or I should say a great artist and a very good teacher, he delivers in a simple and clear style without showing off. The book explain basic and more advanced pen and ink techniques giving solid foundation, but above all the drawings use various styles and are also very inspirational. Highly recommended. Be sure to check the author Youtube channel. Chapters: Supplies, Stokes, Shading, Textures, Sketchbooking, "Secret Line of Balance".

Fantastic guide for the beginner! Very comprehensive teaching! Highly recommended!

Boken kan jag varmt rekommendera med dess tydliga teknikförklaringar och tips. Men, av tre inköpta böcker kom tre bucklig, så, kanske bättre undvika Amazon's böcker?