The Art of the Line in Drawing

I felt so inspired by this book. After sketching every single day as a child and young adult, I am now try to get back in the routine of sketching and the elegant simplicity of Frédéric Forest's drawings truly reminded me of how I love the immediacy of just marking a surface without overthinking or overworking and idea. His drawings are everything I am trying to recover, they are gestural and expressive and there is an immediacy that conveys a full picture in a few choices of material, line or even cropping. Yet, within this simplicity, there is a lot of nuance: he offers examples with several different interpretations of the same subject, and a variety of subjects, from people to interior design. Very, very inspiring and practical.

This book is everything and then some more – perfect for anyone who needs a little bit of encouragement and that last push to start sketching, drawing, doodling and stop being afraid of making mistakes, stop being afraid of the finished result not being “perfect”, whatever that perfect might even be.
Loved the section about materials and tools – easy and gives insight into how you really do not need anything THAT special to get started.
The lessons are great, seriously great. Step by step, simple lines, with plenty of room to improvise.
This book would make the perfect gift for any young or aspiring artist, or for anyone who feels like they would like to start drawing, yet is somehow hesitant to take that first step.
Simple, easy, beautiful. With a variety of subjects to choose from in the lessons section, with a lot of encouragement in the previous chapter to guide you – to look around you, to find inspiration in every shape and object you have around you.

I was curious about this book, seeing as how I am an artist as well. I have to say it was fairly well done! It is done in a way that the people who "can't draw" aren't scared off and are likely to try it. Love it!

This is a beautiful book to browse and the information and examples make me want to grab a sketchbook and a pen!
I like the writing and the words of encouragement - ‘inspiration is everywhere’!
Frederic Forest has his own style and clearly wants the reader to follow their own style with his demonstrations and tips.
The book covers materials from pens to paper as well as deciding what to draw and how to draw it. He also writes about presenting your work when it is done.
I will be adding this book to my shelf and it will be well used I am sure.

This book is incredibly impressive on multiple levels. First of all, it's a great drawing manual, and I really appreciated that every step was supported not by an explanation of what the artist is doing but also why. It's not often you see this in a book.

On a deeper level, this book is a meditation on how an artist sees things around them, Instead of using it as a self study manual it can be read as an insight into the author's mind and an invitation to seeing things from a different perspective, especially for someone like me who never really tried any line drawing before.

Overall I really enjoyed going through this book and trying my own hand (clumsily) at the same drawings. The only complain, if it can even be called a complain, is that I want more! I'd really appreciated a few more animal drawing, a longer architecture section and so on. Nevertheless I'll definitely buy a paper copy of the book once it's out and will also recommend it to my fellow art enthusiasts.

I was once in a hotel lobby with a friend, who expressed admiration for the series of line drawings in the bar. He was impressed with how expressive such simple art could be. Needless to say I am now thinking of gifting him a copy of this book.

Beautifully presented, simple, minimal, lovely. The first third-or-so covers the artists portfolio, tools, and inspiration. Then we move on to "Drawing Lessons". The book takes us through a series of examples covering men, women, portraits, hands, feet, flowers, still life, cats, horses, swans, landscapes, objects, interiors and exteriors. More than enough to provide a starting point for anyone wanting try line drawing. What I liked most though was the insight into how the artist was *thinking* when they drew, and the multiple interpretations of each reference (especially the idea that the drawing can be nothing like the reference - the drawing could be the idea the artist has of what the reference could look like from a different angle). Really interesting stuff.