The thing about art books is we all learn differently.   I had really been struggling with art lately.  I like drawing faces the most.  While I have improved from my earlier drawings with just practice, I still struggle.  Then I realized I have something called aphantasia or a blind mind’s eye, which just means that I do not imagine things visually.  That realization helped me a lot.  One of the things I realized when reading art was “wait people can look at this step, turn back to their paper, and picture what they just saw” whereas I cannot.  I struggle with things like perception.  Line and dot grids help some, but not nearly enough. 

This one helped me so much that I pre-ordered a physical copy.  The focus is on basic shapes and steps.  Other books do that too so who knows why this one struck a chord with me, but it did.  I have not used the body section yet, but have read that section.  I didn’t find it quite as useful as the faces section — mainly because there is a lot more happening in those drawings, and I have a hard time staying focused on new vs old lines even when they are done in different colors.   That is an issue with me and not the book, so still giving it 5 stars.  Especially since the simpler bodies like the relaxed standing figure seem like I can probably do those without a lot of struggles.

Ten-Step Drawing: People
Draw a range of figures & faces in ten easy steps
by Justine Lecouffe
This is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary.
This book is a must for those that want to draw faces or people. The book shows how to draw each facial feature from different angles and different types of the same feature! Then it proceeds to do the same for bodies. Men and women, different poses, different people, and different angles. I thought it was very thought out and detailed. Each one was broken down into parts. The book was bigger than I expected. Another Walter Foster book I am going to buy! I grew up with them in my home, my father 's hobby was painting and I saw these books all my life!

I really enjoyed this drawing guide. I loved the drawing style and I really loved the variety and diversity.

The guide was easy to follow and I'd definitely recommend it to aspiring artists.

Netgalley provided a digital PDF of this book so I could review it. I like it so much that I will be ordering the paperback as soon as it's for sale. 

This book is beautiful, truly -- I love the realistic-looking figures and faces. I have been attempting to draw people since I was in junior high. My friend Rima would play a game where I would draw the "before" person, and she would give her a makeover, because she was much, much better at drawing than I was. I've gotten better since I was 11, but I've still never really figured out noses, ears, how to make a face look masculine without facial hair, and how to make shoes look like more than weird blobs. This book has step-by-step directions for all of these things, and a lot more. I love that there are so many different shapes of facial features presented. 

There are front views, side views, and three-quarter views, too -- I draw everything from the front because I never knew how to give things the right dimensions in profile. There are pages and pages devoted to hands and feet in different positions. How to draw people in a kneeling position! How to draw someone playing a guitar! 

I don't care about this personally, but since somebody might wonder... although multiple skin tones and facial feature shapes are present, there aren't different body types represented in this book. Everyone looks like a drawing of a J. Crew model. There aren't children either.

I thought this book over-simplified the content to the extent that it missed out key instructions, and subsequently made the overall point of the book somewhat redundant e.g.: The book breaks down how to reduce the human form to easy shapes that will eventually connect, but the steps are huge, one step will be a block of cylinders and squares then the next step will be "now join them up", without a demonstration or any instruction as to how body parts interconnect i.e. elbows, knees or ankles. "Add hair" was another example, with the hair on the finished piece being intricate and shapely, but there are 0 steps in the book for how to draw different types of hair or even how to approach placing hair.  Knowing scalp points and parting placements is really important and the book, which is so simple it must be aimed at beginners, just tells beginners to add this intricate hairpiece...

There's plenty of artists on Instagram, Tumblr and Youtube who do far more helpful tutorials that are just as simple.

This book is a great reference for any artist who is looking more into drawing people.
If you already know the basics of facial proportions and proportions to the body, you should be all set.
This book is not for those who do not know how to draw a face already, basic facial structure is not introduced.
I did like that the book goes thru different race and genders to give a better breakdown o features.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy !!!
It is a very self-taught book in which he teaches us to draw and perfect human features and shows you various shapes and positions that can be made.
I love it too much and I feel that I enjoy it more since I like the art of drawing and expressing myself through pencil.
If you like to draw, I recommend this book, it will be very useful.

This How-to book contains a variety of step by step tutorials showing the process of creating a variety of face and bodies. The book is broken into two part, one focusing on the structures of the face and the other focusing of the whole body. 

I did really appreciate the variety or ethnicity and diverse structures it featured. I think think would be best for someone just starting out in learning to draw. I do think for beginners having a step by step guide, which really simplifies the drawing process is a very helpful tool in learning and improving. I would have loved to see it include different types of facial features in the tutorial format but I did really like the amount of example it included. 

I do think this book does a good job on the face tutorial but I felt for the body tutorials some of the steps have big jumps in it, such as adding the musculature or coloring steps to name a few. I also found the book a bit limiting because even thought it teaches to draw people it doesn't really focus on the fundamentals such as proportions. Some of the tutorials also felt a bit repetitive where they included many of the same steps and instructions. I felt than rather including these, they could have been substituted to fill in some of the large jumps between steps. 

I would recommend this for an beginner artist who wants a no non sense guide to creating full fledged illustrations of people.

I requested "Ten-Step Drawing: People" by Justine Lecouffe because my daughter is an avid drawer, but isn't confident drawing hands & feet.  I think this is a wonderful book and gives easy to follow steps on drawing people.  I would definitely recommend this book to any budding artist and will look for other drawing books from Justine Lecouffe.

It's been said that humans are the hardest to draw accurately and I totally agree based on my own experiences! But following the steps laid out in this book I found that I can draw some pretty good portraits, if I may say so myself!

I am really enjoying this series as the artists are good and draw beautifully. Ten steps are given for you so it is really pretty detailed. I like the focus on different parts of the face and body that will help hone the drawing skills of those parts such as the eyes, the nose, the mouth, the hands and the feet. The two pages on body proportions of the male and female figures are priceless for getting things to look right!

The color suggestions for hair and skin are very helpful.

Just one suggestion: It would have been great to have each new step in a different color from the previous one for easier reference as we follow along.

This book does not fully help with drawing a likeness for portraits though. I think that is a different skill altogether and one that I hope the publisher will address in a future step-by-step book. 

I also hope I will have the opportunity to see the other titles in this excellent series!

Thank you Netgalley and Walter Foster for the review copy. This is my honest opinion.

Thank you Netgalley and Walter Foster for the review copy. This is my honest opinion.

Date reviewed: August 9, 2020

When life for the entire universe and planet turns on its end and like everyone else you "have nothing to do" while your place of work is closed and you are continuing to be in #COVID19 #socialisolation,  superspeed readers like me can read 250+ pages/hour, so yes, I have read the book … and many more today. And it is way too hot to go outside, so why not sit in from of the blasting a/c and read and review books??  BTW - stay home and save lives!!!!!!!! No tan is worth dying for.

I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley, the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review.  

From the publisher, as I do not repeat the contents or story of books in reviews, I let them do it as they do it better than I do 😸.

Featuring illustrated tutorials for drawing faces, features, and figures, "Ten-Step Drawing: People" breaks down each subject into ten simple steps. All you need to get started is a pen or pencil and a piece of paper!

With Ten-Step Drawing: People, learn to draw the figure from head to toe, step by easy step. From eyes, lips, noses, and ears to hands, feet, and clothing, beginning artists will delight in rendering a variety of poses and expressions; as well as how easy it is to recreate them in ten simple drawing steps. Handy prompts help encourage artistic individuality and include helpful tips for drawing other subjects not featured in the book. Approachable text and step-by-step drawings make learning to draw fun and easy, and the portable format allows for spontaneous drawing wherever you may be. So grab a pencil and start drawing!

Designed especially for aspiring illustrators, doodlers, and art hobbyists, the fun and approachable books in the Ten-Step Drawing series encourage new artists to get acquainted with the basic principles of drawing so they can learn to create art with confidence. Ten-Step Drawing: People is sure to encourage even the most reluctant artist to break out a sketchbook and doodle to their heart's content.

Also available in the Ten-Step Drawing series: Flowers, Animals, and Nature.

I am not a good drawer but this series of books has taught me to draw better: learning step by step is the way to go for me as I learn by doing, as do many people. I imagine that anyone who wants to learn to draw or wants to learn how to better draw people as a result of this book which will definitely be on our library shelves 

As always, I try to find a reason to not rate with stars as I love emojis (outside of their incessant use by "🙏-ed Social Influencer Millennials/#BachelorNation survivors/Tik-Tok and YouTube  Millionaires/etc. " on Instagram and Twitter... Get a real job, people!) so let's give it ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒

I love this book! Great tutorials, step-by-step approach and everyone can learn how to draw people. 

Highly recommended!

This is a great resource for practicing drawing people, and especially for developing a drawing style. I recommend this book to any new artist who wants to practice drawing people.

Ten-Step Drawing: People is a tutorial and instruction book to drawing people in a variety of poses by Justine Lecouffe. Due out 1st Sept 2020 from Quarto on their Walter Foster imprint, it's 128 pages and will be available in paperback format.

The titles in this series are all formatted in a similar manner and this one is no exception.

A very short general introduction includes a capsule instruction page on how to use the book, and how the tutorials are set up (basic guidelines, geometric step by step shapes, refinement, finishing).  The following tutorial chapters are specific for different elements of facial anatomy in various poses and include specific anatomy: eyes, noses, etc, leading to some full studies (relaxed standing, at ease, profile standing, perchinig and leaning).

I like these tutorial booklets, they're inexpensive and full of useful info for artists looking for improvement in their own work. It's nice to see them being released for beginning artists and learners.

Four stars - for what it covers and for a short tutorial guide, it does the job admirably well.

Disclosure: I received an early eARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Ten=Step Drawing: People by Justine Lecouffe details step by step how to draw different aspects of the human body. This book showcases the different aspects of drawing the human form  from different angles in only ten steps.

As someone who has figure drawn for the last 7 years, this book is extremely helpful for teaching beginners how to break down the basic shapes of the human body. I highly recommend this book for beginners as well as professionals who want to pick up more tricks. 

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thorough step-by-step directions for drawing faces. The illustrations include a nice color palate and are easy to follow. Even my 10-year old was able to follow along and improve his drawings. Thanks for the opportunity to review this book!

Great starter book for those who are getting into drawling with no idea on what to do.  It gave easy to understand instructions and is somewhat detailed.  I think that for someone that really wants to get into drawling this book is a good place to start.  However, if you want to go into more details than this one may not be for you.  Overall, it was a great starter.

This is a REALLY great human illustration guide broken down into easy-to-understand steps. I especially appreciated the many different angles that were demonstrated for multiple body types and genders. I’ve never been able to grasp proportions correctly before but this book offers a simplistic reference that is sure to help out!

Fairly basic book for beginners. Good for proportions and outlines. Suitable for youngsters from about 10+ and beginner adults.

Wow! This book is incredibly and so inspiring. I love how each prompt is broken down into 10, clear steps so that you can recreate it. It makes it look so easy and achievable which is, in turn, then very inspiring.