Illustration School books by Sachiko Umoto

Here are some great little books I discovered surprisingly at Jo-Ann Fabrics a while back. They are by Sachiko Umoto from Japan. Unfortunately, most of her site is in Japanese. There are three books in the series -- Let's Draw Plants and Small Creatures, Let's Draw Happy People, and my favorite, Let's Draw Cute Animals. I feel like I always need help drawing animal bodies. I can get the head right, but the legs and haunches never seem in proportion. Sachiko's books are so simply done and easy to follow. Her instructions are really clever and cute too. While I don't want to copy her unique style, I feel like these books provide the basic forms and from there you can express your own style.

All three are available through Multnomah County Library is you want to preview them before making them a part of your home library. 


Here's some sample pages:

Wizards and witches from Let's Draw Happy People

 

 

 

 

Squirrels from Let's Draw Cute Animals