The Cartoonist's Big Book of Drawing Animals (Christopher Hart's Cartooning) Paperback – February 19, 2008

Updated review!I am changing my review of this book from 2 to 5 stars. This is a profound change of heart, so read on to see why!This isn't a great book for teaching anyone the fundamentals on how to draw, it's pretty lousy for that purpose. Yet If you already know how to draw, this is a great book of cartoon animal reference.The style has grown on me lot, and I have learned to greatly respect this book and find that it's a fun collection of ideas. That's the true power in this book... design ideas are strong in this one. The drawings look so simple but pay attention to what he's trying to show with them! Just about every page is loaded with fun design tricks that are sure to teach you something. Even if you don't want to draw characters that look just like Harts, the ideas you will learn here can only make you a better artist.Ultimately though The better you are at drawing the more fun you'll likely have with this book. When I was terrible at drawing from ref, I had no love for this book. Some people are naturals at drawing from ref and might like this book from the get go, but I'd say this book is best studied by people who can draw from ref decently, but also have a competent understanding of 3 dimensional drawing which also ties into perspective. Then you can much more effectively mine the golden ideas from this book... Of course small children are not ready to learn such ideas, so just put down any book they find fun! Whether adults or kids, the key is to keep drawing and just never stop!This book I purchased over 5 years ago... one of the first books I ever got on how to draw.... this very same book I used to hate, and blasted here on amazon, is actually a really darn good book! I apologize to the creator for my old review, and to the people I mislead.I have less love for some of Hart's figure drawing books *though they are also not quite as bad as I initially thought*, but this book here is a winner and I strongly recommend it to people who have a good grasp on drawing and want to improve their sense of design on animal drawing.

My kids love this book! The drawings are not difficult and my kids get so proud when they finish their artwork. I believe i had this book or one similar when i was younger— i can still draw most of these easily and it helps me participate and guide my kids while keep they are learning.

I just got this book and have gotten through the first section on bears. It’s fantastic. Chris Hart breaks down construction into parts and through example you get different facial and body expressions. It will help to make your characters more expressive and dynamic.This book is NOT for beginners who are completely new to drawing. It’s not quite an intermediate book but you do have to be comfortable drawing an approximation of what you see. You should have gotten past the stage of learning where you’re hesitant and disappointed when your drawings don’t come out the way you exactly wanted them to. (Ie you should be at the stage where you recognize that your “not good” work is actually a great learning experience. Be ok with “bad drawing”). If this is the mindset with which you can approach this book you’ll do great.This is the kind of book where you’ll take bits and pieces of what you learn (like eye and facial expressions) and apply them to your own style. It’s a great book to work through but I can tell will also be a great reference source once I’m done with it.I would highly recommend this book just not for total beginners. And if you’ve been having trouble drawing specific animals (for me raccoons and deer) this book will be tremendously helpful.For the curious the animals covered in detail are1. Bear2. Dog3. Cat4. Penguins5. Horses6. Lions7. Tigers8. Elephants9. Beavers10. Raccoons11. Bunnies12. Deer13. “Assorted animal sidekicks” like pig cow turtle covered in less detail.

Overall a good reference book. There are some unfinished parts of the book and it feels as if it wasn’t combed through in editing. In the boxes that give additional info, it seems there are missing drawings.

This is one of the best cartooning books I have ever bought. I really like that the pictures are very easy to draw. I have been drawing for many years and drawing cartoons and creating comics is my favorite thing to do.

A very good book in drawing cartoon animals.

I purchased this book as a Christmas gift for a family member. I read a few reviews of this product saying that it made drawing so simple, anyone could follow it. That's true! I have absolutely no drawing talent beyond doodles of clouds and stars, I opened this book and drew a really cute cartoon bear! I haven't spent a lot of time drawing things from the book because I don't want to use something I bought as a gift, but I skimmed it and there are many different animals, and many different "personalities" you can give to them. Truly amazing. Bottom line, if you are a decent drawer, this will take you to the next level. If you can't draw at all, start here! Great quality, great value, great results.:)

I'm new to drawing and just happened to see this book on Amazon and thought I'd give it a try. Although my attempts don't quite match the author's, I'm actually drawing some pretty cute animals by following the instructions in the book. I've recently just added a couple of more books to my cart from Christopher Hart, anxious to try other types of drawing. I would definitely give this a try if you're a beginner and want to make some really cute pictures in a very short time!